Zoe closed her eyes to a starless sky. She turned in a puddle of city lights, her lips severed, coughing up heaps of slime.

When she opened her eyes again, she Sorci standing over her.

She could see the solid line around his body, lanky yet toned with muscle. His dark hair was much lighter now with a slight green tint. He was still intimidating, if not for his soft smile. He almost looked human. “Except your eyes,” she said. “They’re too bright.”

His mouth moved as water filled her ears again. All she could hear were murmurs.

A color she had never seen before came upon him, upon everything, turning the world into an empty void. In it she thought of her while life, so much of it spent alone, stuck in one institution or another. She felt lucky for her mother, Gwen, and Luca. If only she saw them more, instead of laying in bed for months at a time, crying for no reason and taking medications that never helped.

Now it was too late. There was no coming back from this. It wasn't game over, but another game entirely - A second chance at life with different settings and new rules. She hoped there would be a tutorial for beginners if she could even make it to the beginning. She could barely make it as a human.

Her ears popped to the sound of busy streets as the puddle beneath her began to evaporate. Suddenly her blurred senses started to come together, more acute than she ever had before as a human. Strange, she thought, how she could see the microscopic particles of water.

Stronger now, she lifted her body and wrapped her arms around her torso. She could feel her ribs poking through her skin and was reminded of Gwen and their plans to lose weight. Guess I beat her to it.

She looked down at what remained of the puddle. Her reflection stared back with eyes that had grown considerably, particularly the pupils, full and expansive, like an owl at night. She noticed the colorful metallic hue of the dried tears on her cheeks, and the tiny gem shined in the middle of her forehead.

Her breathing adjusted, giving her enough strength to stand on her feet.

My bones, she thought, they feel light as air.

The clothes barely clinging onto her skin were so soaked and partially dissolved, she felt as if she were wearing nothing at all. Her sneakers were nothing but rags. She took them off and walked barefoot at what appeared to be the top of a building. It wasn't until she got to the heart-stopping edge that she realized it was a skyscraper.

She squinted at traffic lights and electronic billboard screens below. When she looked toward the darker the sea, she realized where she was. Poking the sky was the statue of liberty, just as beautiful and promising as the pictures.

But what was she doing there of all places?

She walked away from the edge, scared and afraid she would never go home again, the only place she truly wanted to be.

In another puddle on the cement roof, she noticed something small and fuzzy.

Her heart dropped into her stomach. It was Pumpkin, deflated, a pile of skin and hollow eyes.

She sat beside his limp body, wanting to hit herself for bringing him into this. Now he was dead, and it was all her fault. She fell apart. Cried and cried until her eyes burned. He was the sweetest cat. Gentle and kind. He loved everyone he met. He...

"Mew."

Her eyes shot back as he began to inflate like a balloon.

"P-pumpkin?"

His new pupils made his eyes look black, and he, too, had a small gem in the middle of his little forehead.

She went to pet him, but he hissed and bolted.

"Wait! Pumpkin!"

She went after him, suddenly struck by a blistering gust. There was that feeling again, the empty void all around her. It had no color, no sound, no taste, just a force like wind. A sickness carried with it, enough to make her want to faint.

"Miss. Clark."

It was Sorci.

"You should tell your mother goodbye,” he said. “Aip says she can't be making a fuss."

"Who?"

“You'll meet him soon enough."

Sorci flipped out a small device as a flash of light beamed like lightning, cutting a slit, dividing the air.

In half a second, she wound up back in her bed in Caldron. She barely made a noise, yet the ground trembled, and a visible wave blew through the room like liquid-wind, knocking over a music box.

She picked up the box, glad it didn’t break except for a slight gap. Inside was a lake of black glass surrounded by sticks and foliage, and tiny swans that moved when you wound up the song Swan Lake. She had gotten as a little girl in a trade with Gwen. She forgot what Gwen got out of it.

Everything else about the room was the same, just as it was before she left. The skies were still dark, but she wondered if it were all a dream. If it were still 4 in the morning, and she never left for the factory at all.

She ran downstairs with a lightness in her chest until she noticed the light on in the kitchen and heard the low voice of a man.

She stiffened by the edge of the wall and glanced to see who it was.

A cop! He was sitting at the kitchen table, Kristy across from him.

“We’ll keep looking,” he said, . “But this sort of behavior isn’t unusual for kids with a record like your daughter’s.”

“You don’t understand,” Kristy said. “This isn’t like her. She would never run away.”

The cop sighed. “Can I be brutally honest for a second, Ma’m?” He said. “Your child was dropped off at a Ukrainian orphanage after being found only miles away from the Chernobyl disaster. She came to America only to have her adopted parent's divorce a few years later. She’s been in and out of mental institutions. In school, she’s in mostly special education classes for learning disabilities. Oh, and you’ve called 911 on her twice this year for a suspected drug overdose. Now tell me, why wouldn’t a girl like that run away?”

Zoe expected Kristy to burst into a rage at any moment, but she didn’t. Tired and exhausted, she didn’t say anything.

What was there to say anyway? Zoe thought. It’s all true.

The cop pulled out his chair and went to the door. “I would take a look into the medications she was taking,” he said. “In the meantime, we’ll do everything we can. We already have her picture up in about a dozen Wal-Marts.”

The minute he left, Zoe ran from behind the wall and into the kitchen.

Kristy’s reddened eyes were barely able to focus. She stood up from the table, holding in a terrible gasp. “Where? What? I was looking everywhere.” She stumbled over to Zoe with open arms. “My God, what happened to you?”

“You never believed me.”

“I always believed you, Zoe,” Kristy cried. “I just wanted you to be normal. I wanted you to live a good, safe life. You deserve that much. Now you’re…” She looked up at what remained of her old daughter. She was a little taller now, and so much thinner. Her new eyes, black as onyx. The shining gem.

“Mom, listen,” Zoe said. “I don’t know how much longer I have to be here.”

“What...What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. Tell the police I’m with Dad or something in Carolina. Stop the search.”

“But how did you get here? What happened?”

Zoe tried to find the right words, but supposed there were none. “All I really know is that I was going to die this year. From fate I guess, so something from another world decided it wanted to take turn me into an alien hybrid. That’s what I am now. You have to believe me before I go back.”

“Go back where?”

“New York City. Pumpkin’s there too. He…” A tear rolled down her cheek.

Kristy didn’t question anymore, staring at the strange colored tear she knew would be beyond known science.

Zoe felt the pull of forces calling her back. “I’ll be okay,” she said. “Just keep this all as quiet as you can. It won’t help if you look crazy too.”

“Zoe, wai-”

Zoe fell hard on the cement rooftop. The wind was blowing harder, foggy with the unknown color, thick with dread and despair.

“Ralph?” she called out.

“Damn thing.”

Was that him? She couldn’t even see her hand in front of her.

“Behind you.”

“How did I get home?”

“Some chip,” he said. “We’re hooked up to this device. Put in the coordinates, and you’re there.”

The wind blew harder, crashing against them.

She felt around for something to hold onto and found his arm. "Wow,” she said. “You're real now. I mean, alive."

“Pay attention,” he said, making their way through the fog.

They soon came upon an open hatch door leading down a set of stairs. She followed him down to a door that brought them to a fancy hotel hallway. In the warm light, she noticed how normal he looked compared to her, dressed to the 9’s in his expensive-looking clothes, more fitting for the era.

He took out a card key from his pocket and opened the door to room 667.

“Go on, talk to him,” he said. “Let him tell you how the world is going to end.”