Case File: Sevrin West
April 21, 2008- 11:03 p.m.

Sevrin awakes to a bright light. The narrow beam casts her surroundings into darkness. She raises her hand to her eyes. Where is she? Beneath her is a cold smooth surface: concrete. Sevrin peers into the gloom. She can see no walls or ceiling, the room must be large. She looks down and sees she is wearing a short red dress with a tear down one side. The air is cold, sending shivers down her spine. She isn't wearing any shoes. There is a sharp pain in her right hand. Looking down she sees the palm of her hand is bleeding. Her knees are bruised and scraped. Sevrin begins to panic. She scans the pool of light, looking for her phone. Groping in the darkness surrounding the narrow spotlight Sevrin experiences a sudden splitting pain in her head and a scene flashes before her eyes.

A crowded room: laughter, drinking. It was a party. Surrounded by her friends she felt a tap on the shoulder: a nervous face with hungry eyes.

Sevrin gasps and throws her hand to her head. It is wet with blood. Sevrin's eyes begin to cross and she convulses with pain as another onslaught of recollections explodes in her head.

She was at the bar, ordering another drink, her second. She heard her name called from across the room. Heading in that direction she found no one she knew. She turned back. Her drink was waiting. Sevrin threw back the drink and went over to her friends. It seemed like several minutes passed until her friends' faces began swimming before her and the whole room went fuzzy. She felt sick. She needed to go home. Sevrin grabbed her purse and stumbled towards the door and out into the dimly lit street. Fumbling for her keys she got hold of them only to drop them on the sidewalk. Crouching down she noticed the outline of a man across the street, smoking a cigarette against a graffitied wall. Tripping on her heels she started off towards her car a few yards ahead. The man put out his cigarette, twisting his lips into a smile as he ground the butt into the sidewalk with a metallic crunch. Sevrin could barely walk, clutching the wall for support when she noticed her progress was being mirrored by the man across the street. A dull sense of panic swept over her. She picked up the pace as the street multiplied in her vision. Adrenaline coursed through her system as the man drew nearer and nearer until Sevrin could feel her heart beating out of her chest. Kicking off her heels she set her bare feet pounding on the pavement. The only sound that mixed with Sevrin's heartbeat was a steady metallic click. Sevrin turned the corner and pushed her body to run faster. Blinking furiously to fight the double vision, she had to find someplace to hide. A gaping open door to an old factory building caught her eye. The metallic footsteps were fading out. Sevrin threw herself into the dark space and slammed the heavy door shut behind her. There was a light in the distance. She sprinted breathless across the cold smooth surface toward it. It was getting closer, she could feel its warmth and then suddenly her frozen foot met with a thick cable, invisible outside the pool of light, and the light went to black.

Sevrin is dazed from the swarm of recollections. Her pain and confusion turn to fear. Then suddenly, mixed with her labored breathing, Sevrin hears a familiar sound from somewhere in the dark. It is the sound of metallic footsteps coming steadily towards her.