1 CHAPTER 1

Heavy rainfall beats down on a small town in the middle of nowhere. The clouds became darker as the strong winds blow past the empty streets. Branches of nearby trees got blown out as the wind blows stronger causing the streets to be littered with leaves, twigs and trash. Sounds of thunder echoed through the town followed by strikes of lightning. The place resembled a ghost town, as everyone stayed in their homes, waiting for the storm to pass.

As the storm continued on, the strong wind carried a random bird, forcefully propelling it towards a small glass window of a small rundown house, causing it to crash right into it.

Moments later, a skinny figure slowly walked towards the window, with her thin hands tucked away in the pockets of her worn out jeans, she stared blankly at the bird stuck on the other side of the glass.

"How unfortunate." She mumbled, seemingly emotionless as the bird struggled to get up with it's broken wing. Her eyes glanced up at her reflection in the stained window, only one word could describe how she looked, haggard. She walked away from the window, not wanting to see her reflection anymore. Her skin was pale and unhealthy, with sunken cheeks and dry unkept hair. Underneath her sunken eyes, were dark eye bags. She didn't seem to be sleeping well.

"Would I have been like this if..."

Before she could finish her sentence, something caught her eye. Her pupils dilated as she faced a roach crawling on the stained walls of her home. On instinct she quickly stepped away from the roach on the wall. Though she sees them everyday, she despised the sight of them.

'Disgusting...'

Alya muttered and walked towards a tiny termite infested bookshelf beside a small white mattress on the floor, which felt more like a boulder than a bed. She reached for the only book on the shelf that had been there since she found the apartment years ago. With no electricity she lighted a lantern and sat on the worn out sofa right next to it. Alya opened the book to find the first three pages torn, she was not surprised.

'What thing ate the book now?'

Right between the second and third page of the torn book, a smaller cockroach was resting. Instantly, in a panic, Alya closed the book and threw it on the floor. The roach then came out of the book and quickly crawled away for it's dear life.

Alya was getting tired of this, she bared her teeth frustratedly.

She tried to quell her anger so as to not worsen her high blood pressure but her left eye suddenly started to twitch out of anger. They just kept on multiplying, no matter what she did.

She took a deep breath and rubbed her temples, trying to stop her twitching eye.

Alya sighed deeply and picked up the book on the floor. As she did a piece of paper fell out. She took the piece of paper and read what was on it. She already knew what it was since she was the one who kept it there. She stared intently at the message on it then sighed.

"What's the point of using it now?" she thought to herself. She had a long way to go before she could use it.

She sat back down on the sofa and slowly opened the book again, not hoping to find another one. She kept the piece of paper back where it was then slowly exhaled and tried to read what was on the first page, though it was futile. She closed the book. She had read it about a hundred times already.

Before she could keep it back on the shelf, her stomach rumbled loudly.

"....."

She groaned, then slowly stood up to her feet. She walked up to a small wooden table in the middle of the room, her chocolate brown eyes spotted two dollars and an apple.

Hesitantly she grabbed the apple and took a bite out of it. She cringed at the sour taste, but managed to gorge it down.

'It must've gotten bad on the inside.'

Alya's stomach felt uneasy as soon as she swallowed it, she quickly ran to the kitchen sink and drank a glass of water. Alya could no longer hear her tummy rumble, with the loud crashes of thunder outside. She had barely eaten in the past few days, and her stomach couldn't take it anymore.

With no other choice, she pulled out a small phone from her pants pocket and dialed a number. The phone rang twice but went straight to voicemail.

"Nikki, I'm a little short on cash right now, so if you don't mind, can you please send me some? I promise to pay you back as soon as I can. Please call me back when you hear this." she cut the call and sighed, then stared back at the two dollars on the table.

'Just need to pull through for now.'

Alys was so angry she could've broken something, but she couldn't. She quickly thought of the piece of paper then quickly calmed down and exhaled once again. Just thinking of her past gave her a strong migraine.

She grabbed the money and ran to the door. She tied her tangled brown hair up in a ponytail, quickly wore an old pair of brown boots, and a black raincoat. She then placed the money in her coat's pocket, took the only umbrella and left the rundown house.

She opened the umbrella and started to run a few blocks. Minutes later, Alya reached a small store but found it closed. She stared at the sign breathless. That was the only store that could be opened at this time. All other shops were closed due to the rain. She hadn't really eaten anything, and that was her last chance to eat something for the day. She slowly clenched her fists.

But just as she was about to throw a fit, a bolt if lightning struck a large metal pole nearby, which caused it to wobble. Alya's eyes widen in shock and she slowly started to back up.

Before she could pick up the pace, the pole suddenly stopped wobbling. Alya exhaled deeply in relief as she wiped off the sweat on her face and walked away. She could have gotten seriously injured if the pole were to hit her, or worse. She didn't have the stomach to eat anymore.

At that exact moment, the bottom of the pole broke and started to fall.

Alya's ears perked up at the loud screeching sound and quickly looked back, she stared at the large pole that was about to fall on her. She tried to move, but her feet wouldn't budge. Her surroundings seemed to be in slow motion. She prayed for her body to move or just react, but she couldn't even lift her finger.

'Move....come on.'

Just in the nick of time, her body managed to move out of the way before the pole could crush her. The pole fell to the ground with a loud bang.

With that sudden close to death experience, her body felt numb as her legs could no longer hold her up and she fell to the ground, dropping the umbrella she was holding. Her clothes and hair were getting soaked in the rain.

"I....I could've died." she stuttered, out of breath. All this time she had forgotten to breathe.

Almost five minutes had passed and Alya was still in the same position. She fumbled for her umbrella and found it seconds later, then grabbed the umbrella and closed it.

Just as she was about to stand to her feet, lightning struck her in an instant. The lightning bolt engulfed her entire body. Her once pale skin was now fried to a crisp. She could feel the electricity down to her cells. She tried to scream, but not a single sound came out from her mouth.

'I can't die like this.....'

'I haven't.... gotten it yet.'

Alya gritted her teeth in anger as tears threaten to spill out, but it never came. The pain she felt was so much and so long to bear. She knew she would die soon, but she still couldn't accept it. She tried to move but she felt only pain. Her vision got blurrier by the second.

She could no longer feel her legs or arms, she couldn't even hear her own voice anymore. Her eyelids grew heavier until it finally closed. As she felt the darkness surround her, she let out her last breath.

'I need....to wake up.'