As I recall, it was a Thursday when I first encountered Gabrielle and from the second our eyes met, she had me.  The night was cold, cold and darker than usual as I trudged through the deserted London streets from a friends house; it was almost one a.m
             My footsteps were loud in numb ears and my breath plumed out before me a thick mist as I tried with frozen fingers to dial the local taxi firms number on my mobile. "Shit!" I exclaimed aloud as the 'beep, beep' of the engaged tone taunted me. The High Street I stood on had everything but a rank. Shops were illuminated with neon signs and festive decorations, suspended from lampposts, zigzagged back and forth across the road and off into the distance, melting into one big blur of colour at the other end. The re-frozen, grey slush at the side of the roads twinkled red, yellow and green.
            I blew into cupped, raw hands and looked up and down the desolate street.  Deciding that I had better attempt to walk or risk being found frozen in the morning by some underpaid, begrudgingly festive shop worker, I walked on against a biting wind and headed in the direction of the town centre.
            I smiled to myself as I walked hesitantly and clumsily over hard ridges of glassy, frozen snow, remembering where I had been earlier.  I was still smiling when I heard the crunch of snow under slowing wheels beside me, and the buzz of an electric window. I turned to face my own reflection in a pair of shiny, black Ray Ban's, resting eloquently on a Romanesque nose.
            Blood-red lips parted to reveal dazzlingly white, flawlessly straight teeth and leather-gloved fingers held a cigarette, smoke twirling out into the night as the window came to a halt and I had a voice to match the face, "You look like you could use a lift."
            I turned back to face the way I had been walking and smiled, "My mother told me never to accept lifts from strangers."
            A slender, now un-gloved, hand snaked out of the window, the nails perfectly manicured and painted as black as the night. "My name's Gabrielle, now we're not strangers."
            I stopped and rolled my eyes heavenward in amusement, slowly turning to face the car once again as it came to a halt next to me. Gabrielle lowered her glasses and emerald eyes held me instantly captive as she looked up at me; laughter, mischief and something I didn't recognise danced invitingly in them, and with a slip of a record needle, my world stopped.
            I was seeing the whole of my past and immediate future flickering before my eyes - as if watching a home movie through warped green gels.      Noises crashed around my head like dodgems in the dark and gaping, twisted mouths screamed silently at the back of my eyelids.  I placed a hand on the cold metal of the car to steady myself as I fought with this rush of emotions; blood surged through my veins and into my brain far too quickly. I squeezed my eyes shut as tight as I could - desperate to force these images away - and as quickly as they had appeared, they vanished. An instant feeling of serenity and love washed over me, replacing my previous fear with complete peace. Slowly, and with apprehension, I opened my eyes.
            The mysterious woman was out of the car now and before me, hands gripping my arms, head cocked to one side, eyes concerned. "Are you okay?" she asked, her voice low.
            I swallowed hard and exhaled, my senses still tingling and alert, suddenly the sounds of the night were exaggerated, the things visible in it, sharper, I must have been swaying as she held me tighter whilst I looked at her questioningly, "What the hell happened there?" I managed to ask.
            She opened the passenger door and guided me into the seat, my legs remaining outside the car; suddenly feeling the need to keep them in contact with solid ground. A concerned hand rested on my knee as she brushed hair from my eyes with the other, her eyes no longer initiating fear in me, they were full of worry and soft on mine as she spoke. "You'll be okay Jessie, I think you just had a funny turn."
            I rubbed my temples for a moment and then looked at her with confusion while her words sank in, "I didn't tell you my name, how did you--?"
            She silenced me with a gentle finger to my lips "It doesn't matter. You need some rest. You're coming with me."
            I started to get up but an insistent hand on my chest kept me back. "I can't, I need--"
            She brushed soft, butterflylike fingertips over my eyelids and breathed, "Ssssh," her voice willing me to relax, to trust her and getting more distant and quiet by the second. I felt myself slide uncontrollably into a strangely welcome semi-consciousness.