There was a moment in my life when I thought that happiness was just an illusion. As soon as it ended, the most terrible feeling crept onto your heart. The same feeling punched me in the face again.

How could I have been so stupid enough to let my eyes think, even for a second, that there was a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel?

I snatched the ticket out of each of their lifeless hands .

Suddenly I felt as if there was a dark figure lurking behind my back. I turned my head and the old man stood there, a wicked smile stuck on his face.

"Don't you dare take a step closer to me!" I screamed.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? How did you manage to escape?" he asked with the most dreadful voice I'd ever heard.

"You're a monster! What are you going to do with all of us?!" I shouted, ignoring his question.

Suddenly his body enlarged into a giant cockroach with electric scales that had current flowing through them.

He slithered closer to me.

"Eat, of course," he said as if it were obvious. Shoot. How do people kill electric cockroaches again? Oh wait, nobody has ever one it before.

I cautiously bent down, my eyes stuck on the animal hoping that he wouldn't notice my subtle movement, and grabbed a plastic rod from Hunter's back pack along with a rope.

"I do this for a living you know, I'm a predator that produces electricity."

"But if I drain the energy out, then you'll die right?" I smiled. I quickly tied the rope to the end of the rod and aimed it into his skin.

"Wait what are you doing-" he hissed. I quickly put the other end of the rope into water and the bottle suddenly exploded. Was that supposed to work? Wait, isn't water a source for electricity-

"You thought you'd get rid of me that easily?"

I dared to look up, but I wash I hadn't, and the old man stood there angrily.

"I thought I just pulled all the electricity out of you," I said, my knees knocking against each other.

"Oh, you stupid girl, water makes me stronger but the rod did hurt," he said pointing to a bloody hole on his leg.

I cautiously backed up, stepping over my friend's bodies. Tears started rolling down my cheeks as I stared at my fail to save them. I couldn't let their deaths go to waste.

I began getting flashes of the night that she'd died.

The dangerous man's hood seemed camouflaged with the darkness of the night.

"GIVE ME YOUR MONEY," his voice muffled behind the cover.

"Stay behind me," she had said as she stepped forward to attack the man, but he went ahead and mercilessly stabbed her several times. Every time the knife was plunged into her, it felt as if it was into my own heart.

I screamed causing some of the neighborhood lights to turn on.

"I didn't want to kill her. She should have just given me the money," he told me before running off like a coward.

"We didn't have any!" I roared as tears sprawled down my face as I chased after him for a few blocks.

The moment I'd lost him, I sprinted back to her and held her close to my chest.

"Please don't leave me," I'd whispered until the police had snatched me away from her.

The old man's laugh bought me back to reality. I couldn't let them die for nothing. I definitely wouldn't make the same mistake again.

I ran over to Ash's bag and pulled out a small dagger.

"What are you going to do with that little thing?" the man roared as he chased after me.

"I don't know but hopefully murder you."

His laughs were nails pierced into my ears.

My grip on the knife became tighter as he sprinted closer to me. My hands ached as I struck it into his chest.

"That knife isn't going to do anything to me little girl-"

Suddenly the knife glowed a bright blue before he vomited a pool of blood. I jerked my hand back as he collapsed to the ground and began bleeding.

I laid my body on the ground as I stared at the soulless bodies around me. I closed my eyes as I buried my head into my hands. This was my fault. Only if I had gotten to them sooner...

***

I jerked my eyes open and found myself lying inside a jeep strapped inside seatbelts.

I was sitting in the middle of Ash and Gaby.

"I had a bad nightmare," I said causing a few heads to turn my way.

Gaby squeezed my hand. "Thanks for saving us Burn."

"That was no nightmare," Ash chuckled. "and thanks for using my brand-new weapon to kill that electric killing machine."

"You always have the best ways of thanking people," I said. "Wait, how are you guys still alive?"

"As soon as you killed the old man, we woke up. Man I felt as if I was on fire when the guy clicked his fingers. You murdered an Eletope," Hunter said while driving.

"And now we're going to the party to celebrate."

My heart skipped a beat, looking around and seeing them alive. Alive and happy.

Atlantis would have been happy if she saw this. I showed them that I wasn't just a small girl.

"You know Zane carried you back into the car," Eleanor exclaimed.

Ash scoffed. "And he wouldn't let anyone else touch you as if you were his property."

I smiled to myself. "That's very kind of him."

I thought I saw Ash roll his eyes, but it might have been the trick of light. Was he jealous?

Soon the jeep pulled up in front of a grand mansion, 'Stromo Hotel'.

"So you told me that this party's just for eighteens and under right?" I asked, worrying that we might encounter an old man again.

"A hundred percent," Gaby replied with a smile.

The atmosphere was purely eccentric with a dj, disco lights- food. I was having some serious deja vu.

"Alright guys!" Eleanor smirked waving to get the attention of the large group. "You can split apart in your groups now. Just remember to meet back here at eight sharp and if you don't, then well, you're left behind. Have fun!"

I saw a few nods before we split into groups of two or three; Eleanor ran after Ash to dance and the boys separated from the girls.

I didn't want to dance after yesterday's breakdown, so I glanced around for a seat ut instead, I felt a light tap on my shoulder.

Zane stood there with a big grin. "I didn't get to thank you for saving our butts earlier. So...thanks. Anyways, wanna dance?"

"Oh, no thank you," I replied politely.

He frowned. "Why? Your dancing the yesterday was wicked."

"I'm sorry, I just wanna stay away from all that for a bit."

"Alright then... what are we going to do?"

"Oh right... I was just heading towards the food section," I said, smiling like an idiot.

"I'll come with you-" Zane began saying.

I quickly cut him off. "Oh actually, I need to go to the bathrooms."

"I'll come with- oh alright. I'll just head off with the boys if that the case then."

I chuckled and hurried off to the tables that were lined up with delicious dishes.

I grabbed two plates of desserts and sat next to the exit sign. Then, I plugged in a pair of golden headphones that I'd found earlier into my phone.

'Epic Playlist.' A song had just begun when I heard it. A voice as clear as glass boomed into my ears. At first, I thought it was part of the song but soon enough, I noticed that it wasn't and that it was playing in my head as if a loud speaker had been attached into it.

"Burn Archer. Look to your right, and you will see me," the voice boomed.