2

When she opened her eyes again, it was pitch black everywhere. Although she could move her arms and legs, Selena found that the blackness seemed to extend infinitely in all directions.

Oh. She was dreaming.

Selena had been here before many times. This place was like a black box where dreams and nightmares should occur yet never did for her. If she willed hard enough, she could materialize something, but given the difficulty in doing so, there was something limiting her ability to do so. Selena missed her old dreams and even some of her nightmares, but she had long since given up trying to find a way to 'reactivate' her capability to dream.

Perhaps her loss was due to-

Stop.

Selena shook her head, pushing those memories back into the mental box she had locked them up in. She had no interest in revisiting old wounds and moments when she had vowed oh so long ago to leave them behind.

Sighing, she curled up into a ball, waiting for the moment when she would wake up in the real world. It didn't take too long after she closed her eyes to feel that telltale pull on her body.

Selena woke up to a dimly lit hospital room with an unnaturally clean, white ceiling. Feeling a soft breeze tickling her hair and face, she turned to the left to find a large window left half open, the curtains billowing about as a breeze blew into and around the room. The entire place was quiet save for the soft beep of the machine linked up to her that told her and anyone else who cared to hear that she was alive.

Although she didn't feel like leaving such a peaceful place yet, Selena decided that she should at least get up to have a drink of water. Bracing her arms, she moved to prop herself up on her elbows when a spike of pain shot through her head.

"Ugh…." she grimaced, eyes squeezed shut as she fought through the pain to sit up against the backboard of her hospital bed.

After what felt like an hour, she finally managed to sit up, resting her head against the backboard of the bed. A light coat of sweat covered her, but it slowly evaporated from the breeze. She turned her head to the right, sighting a cup and a kettle that had some steam coming out from it. Scouting herself over the right, she reached over to lift the kettle when she heard the slight click of a door.

Selena stiffened for a moment, but then relaxed as she decided that the water was more important than whoever just came in. She slowly lifted the kettle, her arm groaning in pain, and poured out some water into the cup. Just as she set the kettle down, she heard the clack of wood on wood and turned to find someone settling onto a wooden chair beside her bed.

The stranger was dressed in a light gray suit and matching pants, slightly tight around his limbs. On his broad shoulders hung a long coat that somehow didn't fall off. His dark brown hair was slicked back, revealing piercing green eyes and a passive face. Those eyes instantly sent a cold sweat down Selena's back. It felt like he could see through her, see into her, and sift through every locked up secret in her heart. Everything about him spoke of both physical and metaphorical power which was exactly what Selena didn't want to get involved with again.

"Hello", Selena greeted stiffly before turning back to the water cup. As much as this guy unnerved her, there was no reason to treat him terribly because, frankly speaking, he hadn't done anything bad yet.

As she picked up the water cup, she huffed in a breath before swiftly turning around to lay flat against the back of her hospital bed. Pain shot up through her back and Selena saw stars for a second before they faded away. Although it hurt a lot more than had she turned back slowly, it was better to take that pain all at once.

She blew softly on her water, trying to cool it a little, before realizing that, during the whole process, the man hadn't said a word. She looked up and found her eyes locked into his. It seems he hadn't moved at all.

"Hello?"

No response.

Selena scrunched her brows in confusion before deciding to ignore him all together if he wasn't going to talk.

As she sipped on her water quietly, Selena tried to recall what had happened last night. She vaguely remembered driving the usual route home and the strange emptiness of the streets. She remembered her crossing an intersection, her eye catching sight of a speeding car. The fear, the adrenaline, and finally the crash came pouring through her mind. In the middle of swishing around her memories, she pulled out the one where she saw someone through the driver window of the car. She remembered the dead-like expression on the woman's face and her turning to beckon someone else over. Before her memory ended, she had seen someone dressed in a suit and walking as if they owned the entire place…as if nothing could touch them. Someone…..with emerald green eyes.

Her eyes flew open as she jerked up. Another round of pain shot through her as she settled back onto the backboard before turning to face the other person in the room.

Familiar green eyes met hers as she glared at him through the pain.

"You're….you're that person. From last night."

He blinked.

Then, his mouth formed a smirk as he replied.

"Seems you finally remembered me."

Selena shivered unconsciously when she saw that smile. Everything about it seemed wrong and dangerous.

"..."

"What? Do I have something on my–"

"Thank you for taking me to the hospital."

Selena cut him off, choosing to look away from those eyes and that annoying smirk.

"Well now, cutting me off isn't very nice is it? Shouldn't you be a little more nice to your savior?"

"You're not my savior."

He chuckled. Selena heard the screech of marble tiles and turned to find the source. Instead, she found herself mere inches from his face.

"Hmm~? Don't you think?"

Selena fought the urge to lean back or hook this guy under the chin and kept her face as passive as possible. If she showed even an ounce of fear towards this man in front of her, it'd make this meeting end a lot worse. After all, some of these bastards reveled in striking fear into others.

She let out a sigh before pushing herself even closer to the point where her nose barely brushed his.

"Hey stranger. Two things. One, I'm a non-participant in this whole city underlife thing so that should net me some pretty large personal space. Back off. Two, you're not my savior. I might've been in a car crash, but I ended up with only a couple broken bones and a concussion. Whether I would have come out disabled in some way without your intervention is up to contention, but I definitely wouldn't have died."

The man blinked before leaning back into his chair and letting out a chuckle.

"Interesting. You've got guts, little lady. Fine, I'm not your savior. But I am the one who paid for your hospital bills."

"Who asked you to do that?"

"No one."

"Then why'd you do it?"

"Because~"

Selena looked away from him for a moment, fighting hard to push down the part of her that was yelling "He's so freaking immature!!"

Turning back towards that smirk, she let out a sigh before asking,

"What do you want in return then? I can reimburse you in terms of payment."

"That'd be with interest y'know."

"No, it wouldn't be. Hospitals don't add on interest till after you've decided to choose periodic installments over paying it all in one go."

"But I paid for you. Therefore, whether or not there is interest is up to me."

"I refuse."

"Miss-"

"Rejected."

He closed his eyes, pinching his nose bridge, before opening them back up to look at Selena. In an instant, Selena felt that she had gone too far. Whatever sort of false playfulness that had lit up his eyes earlier was now extinguished. Instead, those eyes became deep pools that spoke of dominance and authority.

When he spoke, the man's voice dropped even lower than before, a warning.

"While this whole banter has been quite amusing, I suggest that you do not push it too far. Participant or not, our dealings can be considered as part of the overworld so I can still take repercussions if you continue to refuse."

Swallowing back a lump in her throat, Selena glared back in response before asking, "Then how much do you want?"

"500 grand."

"What's option B?"

"Move onto our area. And take commissions from us. You work for that company after all."

"So that's why you're showing so much interest in me."

"Interest?"

"Yeah. I was wholly expecting you to kill me or something and then use your influence to frame it as an accident."

"Hmph. If I killed that easily, wouldn't my organization run out of willing workers very quickly?"

Selena grimaced internally. That was equivalent to saying that he'd wring the usefulness out of everyone who works under the group before doling out death sentences. It was the most logical progression any organization would follow, but hearing it out loud was still pretty gruesome.

"I'll pay. Let me check out first and then withdraw that from my savings."

"Oh? That's quite rare. To think that you had that much in your savings….although I wonder, what is it all for?"

"That's not for you to know."

"Alright, alright. Then here. You can transfer the money to this number. Make sure to double check all the digits."

"Thank you."

He bowed slightly before standing up and brushing himself off.

"It's been a pleasure Miss Selena. See you soon."

"As in never", Selena retorted.

"Oh, we'll see about that. Do note, if you ever wish to take option B, I will refund you that 500 grand."

"..."

With that, he left Selena's room. As soon as the door shut, Selena let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. It had been a literal lifetime ago when she had last dealt with underground participants like him and, frankly, her abilities were a little rusty. That said, she knew better than to get herself associated with anyone like him. Disregarding her own demons, getting involved meant taking on the risk of becoming a target. Her own job, as safe as it was, was only that secure and guaranteed her life so long as she wasn't involved with any organizations.

After taking another short nap around two hours long, Selena felt the pain in her limbs dull down and decided that it was finally time to check out. A nurse had come by earlier to give her a rundown of her conditions and none of them seemed too bad. A concussion that was mostly gone, a broken hand that only needed a couple weeks to be back to normal, and bruised ribs that required her to take it easy for the next handful of days. Nothing permanent.

Leaving her room, she was directed towards the front by a couple of doctors who had walked by. As she left them, she faintly heard the words "governor" and "coma", but decided to ignore it all in favor of not knowing what was going on.

After checking out at the front desk, changing clothes, and trying to ignore the side-eyes from other employees in the hospital, Selena was almost ready to make her way to the door when the TV caught her attention.

The news was playing and seemed to be covering the story of Governor Seliug who had apparently ended up in an accident and wouldn't be able to give his speech. As Selena moved to sit down in one of the lobby chairs, her mind unwittingly began to connect the dots. The whispered words from the doctors, the side-eyes from the employees….something was missing. Selena shook her head and refocused back onto the TV just as the image of a totalled car appeared. Although the car was nearly unrecognizable, Selena could make out the white paint job, simple headlights, and not-very-fanciful exterior. For someone who probably earned a lot of money both over and under the table, Seliug's car was as low-key and cheap as one could get. Suddenly, the host had the picture focused onto the license number.

"86…..K…N S…R V"

Huh, Selena thought, what a weird plate. Usually, it's 3 numbers and 4 letters….

Her heart stopped. Although she didn't remember the plate clearly, this thought had passed through her mind yesterday night…..which meant…

"Shit", Selena muttered, her hands crossed in front of her as she stared at the floor. If only she hadn't stopped to listen to the TV then maybe she could've left without realizing anything.

No, that wasn't right.

Given the obvious knowledge that Seliug had connections to a powerful organization, they were probably pretty darn pissed that their little government puppet ended up in the hospital in a coma. And they would probably hunt down whoever did that to him which meant they'd eventually trace some of it to her. Knowing that possibility was better then walking around in broad daylight blind.

'Thank you and f*ck you, my curious mind', Selena grimaced to herself.

'Damn. I could just drop off the grid again and try to wait it out. But how long will that take? I really don't want to do-!'

Selena felt something similar to a hand touch her shoulder. Without even thinking about it, she grabbed that foreign object and flipped it over her head and back.

'Arm. Person.'

In a couple of quick close-combat moves, she knocked the person to the ground and trapped them between her legs. Her hand found a nearby pen and she was about to thrust said item into the person's eye when the person's outfit caught her eye.

'Scrubs….it's an employee.'

Her hand stopped, the pen mere centimeters from blinding one eye.

"Ah….I….I'm sorry."

Selena got up as fast she could, pulling the other person along with her. She bowed slightly, unable to meet their eye.

"I….I apologize for that. You caught me off guard….um, goodbye."

Without even waiting for their reply, she turned and ran out the door as fast as her still healing body could carry her.

"Taxi!"

She called out towards the line of parked cabs along the road.

"Over here miss!", came a voice from one of the cars. Hopping in, Selena let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"To Sterlington Avenue please. You can drop me off at the Harrison intersection."

"Got it, miss. Please buckle in."

"Thank you."