*Tick..tap..tick...

Tap.

Tim looked over his shoulder, his eyes scanning for any sort of danger.

Nothing. Only the black void of the night meets his eye.

Yet, beyond that void, Tim KNOWS something is there.

He just don't know what it is.

Yet, his basic instinct, also known as fear, tells him that he will be fertilising grass a few hundred feet below the surface if he stopped.

Hence, using that few mili, perhaps nano, seconds which he just had to catch his breath, Tim started running again.

As he ran, he kept his eyes locked in front of him. Not daring to even sweep his glance around, hoping that he won't see anything that would be the last thing he saw.

The street was dark. The buildings were old and worn, effects of a civil war that has destroyed a once rich and popular country. Now, even the toughest of the rats would move out within days.

And yet, Tim was still around. Running endlessly from an unseen opponent, in a wasteland which no one even cares, or even remember, about.

Though another street. Past another building. The silence of the area destroyed only by his heavy panting and the echos of his running footsteps.

Finally, his legs gave way. His body unable to cope with his mind's demands.

How long had Tim been running? Minutes? Hours? Days?

Time became non-existant suddenly, as though hell itself had decided to suck his soul, time, and everything else into it's fiery pits this very day.

Tim knew that not moving at all will automatically mean death. Staying out in the open would mean that his death would come faster.

Being a survivor, he crawled to a nearby wall, and hid himself behind some crates. Now that he can't run, he will just have to hope for the best by hiding.

Keeping his head low, he mentally chanted off prayers he knew, some he didn't, and some that he invented, hoping that he will be able to survive this..encounter.

Suddenly, Tim felt something, a presence, behind him. Turning slowly, fearfully, curious, but unsure and afraid of what's behind him, Tim met the gaze of another human being.

Hazel coloured eyes. A neat jet black hair. Square jaw, and a perfect nose.

It took a while for Tim to register what he was staring at.

He was staring at...

Himself.

His wail of terror and pure raw emotion echoed through the stillness of the night, before finally being swallowed whole by the darkness of the night.

Then..silence.*