[h1][color=Crimson] Alice & Oliver [/color][/h1]

 Alice awoke with a jolt, heart racing, eyes scanning the room wildly; a stone floor, a few vases of flowers, luxuriously traditional décor… where was she? She glanced at Oliver, still asleep next to her, face relaxed and head leaning against the wall behind the sofa she woken up on. It wasn’t often that she saw him so deeply asleep, they’d both become acclimatised to a few hours of rest at the most… her stomach knotted, had they been drugged? Was Oliver’s father waiting in the wings, ready to whisk them away? Was this the end? 

 And then suddenly, it all came back; Oliver’s contact, the late night departure from the unusually high end hotel, the promise of safety, freedom, a home. Slowly, her breathing began to deepen and slow, and she leaned back into the couch. Safe… she hadn’t been able to very safe for a while, but if Oliver was willing to trust this place, she supposed she could give it a go too. 

 She scanned the surroundings again, but more slowly this time. It was decorated in the same vaguely expensive way as the private boarding schools she’d attended as a child, conjuring to mind images of successful alumni with Oxbridge degrees and whitened teeth (although she knew just [i]surviving[/i] such a life would be feat for most of this particular school’s alumni), and it made her vaguely nostalgic. She’d thought she’d never go back to the life she’d left behind, but here it was, and she wasn’t sure if she was grateful or just uncomfortable.

 She turned to Oliver, finding him snoring lightly, mouth slightly open, and a trail of drool creeping down his left cheek. She snorted, this was probably the most unattractive looking she’d ever seen him. She decided to leave him alone, her attention instead trailing to the huge windows lining the walls. They were tall, and sunlight filtered steadily into the foyer, cutting across the floor. They made her nervous, but also curious. Generally, even sunlight that she wasn’t in direct contact with made her uncomfortable, and during the day, she usually spent her time curled up under three heavy duvets with an extra blanket thrown over the closed curtains, desperately trying to avoid all contact with the harmful rays. But here she was, in a well-lit room in the middle of the day, and not even a headache to show for it. 

 Filled with a mix of curiosity and trepidation, she stood, and inched her way over to stand nearly directly in front of the window. Squinting slightly, she peered outside. It was bright, unbelievably so, and she nearly pulled back out of sheer surprise. The most shocking thing though, was that it still didn’t hurt, not even a little bit. Her head spun with the implications; she could go outside, she could wander through the forest in the middle of the day, go on hikes, all of the things she used to do. The possibilities where endless, not only was she safe, she had the freedom of the daylight to be safe in. 

 Outside in the daylight… the temptation was overwhelming, and she really didn’t want to wake Oliver up. Slightly nervous, she made her way towards the door. With a hesitant push, it swung open, and she stepped onto the path outside. The first thing that hit her was the sheer amount of people, they were everywhere, and they were all loud and busy. Her pulse quickened, and she shrank back towards the wall of the building she’d just emerged from.

 She couldn’t do this, couldn’t be here with all these people, any of whom could have been sent by Oliver’s father. They could waiting in ambush, waiting to take her back…Her lungs were begging for air, throat tightening, hands sweating. She could feel the echo of the steel handcuffs, digging into her wrists, drawing blood and pulling her deep into the cellar. She was going to be caught, Oliver was going to be caught, and it was all going to be for nothing. 

 She screwed her eyes shut, and sunk to the floor. This was ridiculous. She had to calm down; she couldn’t be at a school this busy if she kept jumping at shadows. Slowly, she took deep breaths, and managed to force her erratic pulse to slow. She was safe here, Oliver had promised. She could do this. She took a step out into the courtyard, and then stopped. She really did not know what she was doing, and she got a feeling that just randomly following someone wasn’t going to work. 

  She balled up her fists. She could do this; this was a chance to start anew, somewhere safe and away from her sire. She just had to find someone who looked like they knew what they were doing. Everything was most likely going to be fine, possibly.