Try as she might Beth was still as clumsy as ever, she had a tendency to forget that limbs were attached or because she enjoyed showering by candlelight Beth had managed to bump her head pretty nicely while leaning over and lathering up, she'd forgotten all about the soap rest that jetted out ever so slightly from the wall. And just like that she smacked her head hard and straight between her the eyes. If she'd been of the cursing persuasion she more than would have cursed in a time like that. Thankfully there was no blood, nor had she passed out in the moments to follow, she felt well enough to sleep.
Sleep was restless however and hard to come by, she fought against the creatures in her dreams, the man who had attacked her, but this time Desmond was not there to save her, and come morning she'd lost the battle only to go up in flames as the sun rose along the horizon. Her body ached with the memory, she'd always hated fire and though she could not place a bad experience that involved fire the fear remained. A nightmare that often times changed, altering and bending as the years passed, but still, always the same. A basement surrounded by dust ridden mason jars and though the light trickled through the tiny windows it did not allow much room for climbing, for survival. The smoke would kill her if she lucky before the flames ever reached her, but she was never lucky. Beth kept her nightmares as a secret, she dare not burden anyone with them but she wandered where each vision originated, what inspired such evil images, and what would erase them, certainly not time.
The morning sun crept along her window ledge, brushing past the blinds, until it danced along her exposed skin and she sighed, stretching and rubbing her eyes. She'd forgotten about the knot on her forehead and winced as her fingers moved along the faint bruised skin. It didn't take long before Beth had pushed herself from her bed, washed her face, brushed her teeth, and began her day, the same as always with an morning run before class. The fear was there still, ever present, and in the forefront of her mind, she worried that her attacker might return but she knew that she couldn't let fear rule her life. She slipped into her clothes, pulled on her running shoes on and grabbed her iPod before heading out. With a turn of the knob she watched a note fall to the floor, unexpected note, confused but smiling all the same Beth opened the note and read it while standing the doorframe of her on campus apartment.
She was confused and it was a mistake to express such feelings upon her face, she winced a bit, having forgotten about the knot on her forehead. Beth sighed, she couldn't leave him to wander this world filled with such unhappiness, it wasn't in her nature, everyone deserved to be happy, and everyone needed a friend. Running along the campus paths she stopped only momentarily to ask a few passersby if they had seen Desmond, a few simply shrugged having no idea who she was referring to, others apologized, explaining that they had not seen him. But still she continued to run along the paths in hopes of finding the man that she considered to be her friend, the man who had saved her life.