Chapter One

Outside of Jane's window the city was shaken by a fierce wind, that made her windows shudder. Another violent gust of air forced its way into her attic and made the wooden beams below her roof creak ominously. Jane wasn't normally scared of thunderstorms, but the occasional flash of lightning projected flexuous shadows across her walls and the howling noises of the storm outside made falling asleep impossible.

The fact that she had received an anonymous letter earlier that day didn't make it any easier. It had entailed a very unoriginal death threat, glued together out of cut out newspaper articles. Her first reaction upon opening it had been to snort. She couldn't believe people actually did that sort of thing. It had looked ridiculous and not at all frightening.

Well, now, being alone in her flat with hellish weather outside, she had to reconsider.

Another loud creaking from above roused her completely. She could feel her heart thudding rather quicker than normal and a cold sweat had broken out on her back. Jane put her head in her hands and forced herself to breathe evenly. She was a cop, for gods sake! She should be able to handle this and not embarass herself by almost wetting her bed! She groaned at that thought. She could imagine Loki saying something along those lines, except he'd probably call her out on embarassing him and not her.

Loki hadn't reacted to the news that one of his officers had been threatened at all. He had merely demanded to see the letter, then skimmed it once and handed it back to Jane without even looking at her. Instead he had adressed the room at large and demanded that someone bring him a bagel.

Jane had been relieved in a way. She had been sure to receive a reprimand of some sort at least. Loki's indifference was much better than his temper. That her wellbeing seemingly was of such little importance to him had irked her though. Only a little, of course, because who cared about what Loki thought, right?, she told herself on her way home, trying not to look too paranoid while looking over her shoulder every few seconds.

When she arrived at her street, her irritation with her boss had vanished and been replaced by a sort of grudging relief. A police car had stood in front of her house, the silhouette of an officer inside just visible through the pouring rain.

Feeling a bit better, Jane had entered her flat in a hurry, wet like a fish and dripping all over her floor.

Silently, she now made her way over to the window. The car was still there, lights out and unmoving. She really didn't envy the guy who had been assigned to watch her in this kind of weather. She was still grateful. The sight of the police car soothed her a bit, just as it had when she first saw it.

Without thinking about it Jane leaned her forehead against the icy window pane and let the pattering of the rain calm her nerves. She hugged her arms to herself, if for warmth or for comfort, she didn't know. After staying like that for a while, she decided she had been pathetic for long enough and went back to bed.

A loud crash ripped Jane from a fitful sleep. She shot upright, pulse hammering against her chest. Her throat constricted painfully and she felt cold all over. The sound had come from downstairs, where Darcy's room and the kitchen were. 'Thank god Darcy's not at home', was Jane's first coherent thought. Her second was, 'Someone is in the house'.