Silent Fall

could barely see a foot in front of her. Tall trees and fog had completely obliterated the moonlight.
    Fortunately she had her hand out in front of her when she ran into a cement wall that rose several stories in the air. She must have hit the side of one of the park buildings. Pausing, she caught her breath and listened. She could hear nothing but her own ragged breathing. Maybe she was safe, at least for the moment.
    Leaning back against the cold cement, she pondered her next move, but she didn’t know what to do, how to escape. She was out of options.
    How had she come to this? Running for her life and all alone? This was not how it was supposed to go. This was Dylan’s fault. He’d put her in this situation, and dammit, where the hell was he?
    But she couldn’t count on him to rescue her. She had to find a way out on her own. She couldn’t let things end like this. She’d fought for her life before, and she’d won. She would do it again.
    Her heart stopped as a nearby branch snapped in two. A confident male whistle pierced the silent night. Whoever was coming didn’t care if she heard him or not. The bushes in front of her slowly parted. Terror ran through her body. There was nowhere left to run.
    She screamed and screamed and screamed...
    Catherine awoke with sweat drenching her body. She sat up straight in bed, disoriented, the terror-filled cries still echoing through her head. She was in Dylan’s grandmother’s house, she realized. Her gaze moved to the clock. It was two thirty-seven. Something was off.
    The door flew open and she put up her hands in defense, letting out a breath when she realized it was Dylan.
    "What the hell happened?" he demanded, his eyes wild and worried. "You were yelling your head off."
    "A nightmare." She tucked a strand of sweat-dampened hair behind her ear and drew in a shaky breath. As always a restless, relentless energy filled her body, a desperate need to release the fear and darkness inside her. She swung her legs off the bed and stood up. She didn’t have her paints set up, but she had to find a way to release her emotions.
    "What are you doing?" he asked.
    She moved over to her portfolio and pulled out her sketch pad and colored pencils. Sitting cross-legged on the bed she began to draw, her hand flying across the page, constructing lines and angles that came out of her subconscious. She didn’t stop until her hand cramped and the pencil fell to the mattress. She set the pad down on the bed and blew out a breath. As she did so she realized Dylan was watching her, and that he’d been standing at the foot of the bed the entire time she’d been drawing.
    He leaned over and picked up the pad. "This isn’t like your other pictures. It’s more distinct, more specific. What is this place?"
    Catherine didn’t need to look to remember what lines she’d drawn. Dylan was right: She’d remembered more details than she usually did, thick trees and bushes, a shadow of a figure crouched in front of a wall, hiding, fearful. Her heart began to beat faster as reality set in. "I think Erica is in trouble. I heard her screaming."
    "Are you sure it was her? You said before that you’ve had nightmares off and on for most of your life and that you always hear screaming."
    "This one was different. Usually I wake up at four forty-four."
    "Why?"
    "It’s just when it usually happens," she said, not willing to tell him exactly what the hour meant to her. It had nothing to do with him, so he didn’t need to know.
    Dylan glanced at the clock. "That’s not for another two hours. What else do you remember from your dream?"
    "Someone was chasing me. I ran into a wall. He kept coming. I could taste the fear in my mouth." She gazed into Dylan’s eyes. "Erica is the figure in the drawing. She’s trapped."
    "In a park, right now, as we speak?" he asked.
    "I can’t say for sure if it’s now, but it was dark in my dream. And the park was spooking her. She realized how isolated she was."
    "There are a dozen parks in the city."
    "It was big. She was running for a while. She went off the path. The trees were tall and the bushes scratched her arms. She thought she could hide."
    Dylan dragged a hand through his hair. "I’ve got to go to the park."
    "You just said you don’t know which one."
    "The biggest one is Golden Gate Park. It’s in the heart of the city, and there are several buildings