I woke up screaming. Somebody was literally burning my back. I was lying on my front, with my body tied down to a surgery table. My chest felt like it was about to explode from the power I was chaotically releasing around me. Only it was being absorbed.

How?

I’ve heard a scream.

“Claude!”

“It’s too much!”

A hand touched my head and I fainted.

I woke up again and it hurt. I tried to breathe, but that hurt too. I could have easily died then, since it wouldn’t hurt so much as being alive. I was counting my breaths, while analyzing the room.

White walls, a modern lighting suspension. To my left was a big balcony hidden by a curtain, made from a fine material. A table and two armchairs were placed there. A big TV and expensive looking furniture were exposed on the wall in front of me, next to a door. On the right wall sat a big wardrobe, flanked by a cosmetic table complete a mirror. Another door stood next to them. So much luxury.

I heard footsteps.

Allaya?

Someone knocked on the door from my right and then it opened. I stared at a girl for a few seconds before recognizing her. I didn’t think I could get shocked as easily, after the last few days, but I did.

“Andrea?!”

“Mia! You have no idea how happy I am to see you.” She said with a worried face.

I was staring at her, not being capable to say a word. I was still in shock and I couldn’t believe she was there. I forgot how gorgeous she was, with her blood-red hair. It was long, thick and shiny.

We are the same age and have almost the same size and height. It was college that brought us together and we clicked immediately. We shared the best time of our life there and she helped me move on from my family tragedy. Andrea comes from a rich family and she has a brother I’ve never met. She tried to hook us up, but he was traveling all the time and I was too busy with my first job.

Her parents live in another country and her brother was the one that took care of her all this time. She is a moderately well-known designer, with a successful clothes line collection. Her brother is a businessman, who started an online venture in IT. After several years, he came to own one of the biggest buildings in the capital.

Oh, well. Only the very rich can afford to live like that.

After college, she left to Kowa for a year, to help the poor and sick children, along with a professional team, paid by her brother. She returned three days before the apocalypse and we were to be settled in an emotional and long-waited get-together that very week.

Turns out, we never got the chance.

“Andrea, oh my God! I’m so glad you’re alive.” I finally said, trying to hide my emotions. “Is your family safe?”

“Yes, we’re ok, thank God! Is Karl…?”

“Alive? I hope so…”

“What do you mean? Didn’t you find him?”

“He… disappeared. I couldn’t find him on any list. Neither did my neighbors, when they searched after him in our demolished house.”

Her face suddenly became serious and worried.

“What? What happened? Tell me!”

“No, nothing happened. I’m just worried for Karl, that’s all.”

“I know when you hide something from me, Andrea. I always knew and I still do.”

She caressed my hair and her gaze was warm.

“Listen to me. We’ll help you find Karl. I promise!”

“We?”

A short knock on my door and it slowly opened. My heart started racing again. It did so worryingly often these days. A tall man, with black hair and deep blue eyes, was standing in the doorway. It was him. I had flashbacks, in that moment where our eyes met, of the crucial times in which those very eyes appeared, invading my mind.

“You were out of patience, weren’t you?” Andrea asked.

“Andrea, may I?”

His voice was soft.

“Yeah, sure…” she sighted.

The door closed and he stopped at the bottom of my bed. Andrea quietly left the room.

“Hi! I presume you kind of know me.” He said.

“Hi! Did you not presume I didn’t want to?”

He raised his eyebrows and slight smile appeared, in the right corner of his mouth.

“Such a rude way to thank the one who saved your life.”

“You made me think I’m crazy. I thought somebody was messing with my mind, because of a… a stupid evil game. And speaking of it, what a coincidence that all my roads led straight to you, isn’t it?”

He was pale. His breathing was labored and his left hand was encased in plaster.

“Your back was hurt quite badly. We cleaned the wound, to the best of our abilities and you will receive a treatment for it. Also, your…”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“I like to start with the important things. Call it pragmatism.”

“I need to know what you want from me. Call it prudence.”

We looked into each other’s eyes and my first instinct was to look away. Which I… did? Well. That was a first. I was angry and besides. My body was in pain and all sweaty.

“You need the medicine. If you refuse it, I will force you to take it with no second thoughts. You can trust me on that.”

“Charming. Do you say that to all the girls?”

“Among other things.”

I snorted. He smiled.

Damn him!

He took the medicine from the table and helped me get up. He sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for me to take the pills.

“I will take, it if you answer a question, at least.”

He stared at me for a few seconds, seconds that felt hours, and nodded.

“Did you… When you woke up, in the forest, was it you who hurt me?”

“No. I would never do such a thing. I killed the stalker who hurt your back.”

“How do you know he was MY stalker?”

“That would be two questions.”

I smiled sourly and took the pills. He got up from the bed and headed towards the door. He opened it, then turned back to me.

“I neglected to give you my name. I am Alexander. Alexander Petersen.”

With that, he closed the door and left.

Alexander Petersen? ...Alexander …PETERSEN! The guy from the meeting. The one who looked at me over Ken’s shoulder like he knew me, like… he was there for me? Did he know about Day Zero? I suddenly grew anxious while my mouth dried up.

I looked for a phone or a laptop, but I couldn’t find anything useful in the room. I wanted to search for his name, hoping to find relevant information about him and his family.

Andrea!

I could ask Andrea.

I tried to get out of bed, but my back and my shoulder hurt so much I got light-headed. I closed my eyes and tried to breathe in and breathe out. In, out. Crawling out of bed, little by little. A white, over-sized dress was covering my body, down to my feet. My hair was messy and dirty. Oh well, I’ve been worse. To tell the truth, I was getting tired of being a mess for most of the time.

Things had to change, Mia.

And what’s with the dramatic exit? Who is he, James Bond? The thought made me want to laugh a little. If I was still able to laugh after everything that happened, maybe I wasn’t a lost cause after all. Bravo, Mia! Keep hanging in there.

I got out of the room and I made my way to a big hall. Across from my room was another one along with a couple more. Two on each side, with a considerable distance between them. Mine was on the right side, followed by another one. I thought about the waste of space.

I knocked on the door in front of me, but nobody answered. I tried the next, from the same side and a man opened the door.

He was gorgeous.

“Hi! You must be Mia.” He said with a warm voice. “I’m Andreas, Andrea’s boyfriend.”

Of course, he is. They were both gorgeous. Even their names matched!

“Aa… Hi! Yes, I’m Mia. Nice to meet you.”

We shacked hands and he smiled. I half-smiled back.

“I’m looking for Andrea. Can you please tell me where I can find her?”

“She’s in the garden, planting trees. Her tried and tested method of relaxing.” He fondly said.

“Planting? Are we talking about the same person?”

“She’s doing a great job, actually. I will take you to her, but you should have rested. Wondering around can only cause you more pain. And problems for me.”

I followed him down the hall, to the stairs. I looked over the railing at a gorgeous and enormous living room.

“What kind of problems?”

“An endless discussion with Alex, kind of a problem.” He smiled.

“Ah, that guy.” I said with a flat voice.

He looked at me with a surprised look on his face and started to laugh heartily.

“That guy, huh? This is going to be very interesting.” He said amusedly.

It was the middle of the summer outside and the sun ruled over the cloudless sky. At a distance of around fifty meters, a pair of majestic gates surrounded the entire huge place. Between the front gates and the villa sat a beautiful garden, full of lush grass and beautifully groomed bushes. Andreas told me about the second garden, situated to the right of the villa. That’s where Andrea was.

When we got out to the house, on the front stairs, I came face to face with Selena. I was stunned, staring at her and felt my anger grow out of bonds.

“You bitch!” I said, punching her in the face.

I felt something breaking on my back, but didn’t care. Selena stepped back, with her nose bleeding. She let out a scream of rage, though her return blow was blocked by Andreas’ hand.

“Stop! Mia, what’s the matter with you?!”

“She hunted me with those damn assassins. I bet you and your two friends enjoyed punching me half to death, didn’t you?”

“And I would happily do it again, if you act like this, you fucking psycho.” She shouted, trying to land a hit on me.

I directed my power at her head, but before I could do anything, a protective shield appeared between us, blocking my lightning.

It frustrated me! I was blinded by rage and instinctively increased the amount of electricity.

“Mia, stop! Please, stop! There is another way to solve this.” Andreas said while making the shield stronger.

But I didn’t stop. I made it even more powerful.

While I was looking into Selena’s eyes, savoring the fear in them, Alexander appeared from nowhere to stand between us. He was deadly serious, but that wasn’t what stopped me. It was the look in his eyes that did, stopping me cold in my tracks.

The distance between us was small enough I could feel his breath on my cheek. Then, a powerful pressure invaded my head and my nose instantly started to bleed. I leaned forward absent-mindedly, with my forehead resting on his chest and my hand hanging on his right shoulder. I was barely breathing. I was barely thinking.

He didn’t move.

“Fight me.” He calmly said.