1 PreFaCE

"The black night holds you close until dawn, always your cloak until you are ready for the dawn. It is that friendly blackness that allows your eyes to rest and let your dreams take centre stage."

Words echoed throughout my system, over and over again. It felt like my entire existence was crumpled between the words, like it was everything and nothing. I wasn't sure if I had been dreaming or day-dreaming or stuck in oblivion. Nothing mattered other than the unknown, the comfortable darkness.

Until my growing shadows were interrupted by a voice, hostile and annoyed. "Are you just going to lie there all day? You've seriously been lying in the exact same spot for over twenty-four hours, and believe me; you look like a freak. And just so you know, you're getting seriously red and tanned at the same time, which is weird."

I straightened up, slowly, very slowly as if I were carrying a huge load over my body. As I slowly let my brain lose the dark and gain the light, I realized I was lying on the hard concrete, with a teddy bear in my hand. My clothes were in rags with dirt and blood covering most of it. I had no memory of anything that could sync with my current state. I felt torn between dimensions. My head spun over something, that was quiet there but I couldn't reach. I didn't look at anything, I couldn't. Nothing felt right. I didn't feel right. I held my gaze pulled back, I couldn't risk looking at anyone or anything around, it was all so alien. My emotions sickened with every passing second and I pulled my soft toy close to my body, to my soul as if it would save me.

I didn't know how many 'horis' passed on, and I didn't care. All I wanted was to get out of this weird plane, but again, I didn't know why. A million questions filled my head, questions I didn't understand myself.

With quick half glances, I could see a larger crowd gathering around. A few of them were looking at me like a science experiment, but the majority were scared, and afraid. The 'lege magistratus' were looking me over, judging if I was to be taken to a mental asylum or not. I felt like a rag doll who could burn any second by my audience's burning looks.

But all the heat melted away when a tall boy with emerald eyes made his way through the crowd, to me. At that moment, he was all that mattered. For once, in what felt like forever, he didn't feel exotic. He felt more real than my own existence. As weird as it sounds, there was a familiarity to him I just can't shake, not exactly a memory, but echoes that call to my intuition. (scoffs, my memory is doing a good job in making me feel dead).

He knelt down to meet my eyes. As our visions met, warmth spread over my soul. I felt ecstasy wash me over. Nothing mattered, other than him. He was all I wanted, all I needed. Staring deep into his eyes, I noticed tears filling his vision chamber. Weirdly, I felt his pain as my own. His eyes, those green gems, seemed to convey a message, something I should have been able to understand, but couldn't. It was all eerie, and I didn't mind.

Hesitantly, I put the unknown pieces of my brain together, and said, "What are you trying to say? Why are you crying?"

"What I'm trying to say," he paused, with love and regret brimming over his features, "is that after all the suffering you went through, I can't believe you made it out alive. I am so, so glad you did. I would not have forgiven myself if you hadn't made it out. You are the bravest person I've met in my entire life. And I am so lucky for you to be a part of me. I can't take it, I can't bear the fact that the universe messed you up so bad. I love you." He cupped the blood-dried side of my face. I saw vulnerability in him that resonated so perfectly with mine.

His words were bizarre. My materialistic mind and soul interrupted the words to be that of a mad man. But with him, my unknown yet familiar stranger, it was my inhuman part that took control. My words and actions were governed by a strange familiarity.

"I can't believe you can love me, because I don't deserve it," I whispered from beyond my conciseness.

"Let's make things clear here and now: the one that doesn't deserve to be lucky here is me. And with you, I hit the jackpot, so don't tell me again that you can't believe me, because you're a miracle and I thank the universe every day not only for having you in my life, but for letting you keep going with the mess you had to face." His expression was hard on concern, not that it scared me. He continued, with a lighter tone of the grave, "You're not alone any more. And you'll never be again." There was a 'We will be together forever' echo in the silence that continued.

I am Orla 'no-name', or that's who I thought I was. And this is my story.