Evelia held her breath, unsure of what to expect. Like her, Chuo and Adam remained frozen in place, staring at the balcony door, waiting for their friends to come back.

As the longest seconds of her life ticked away, the image of the gargantuan hole in the sky rose up before her again. It's your imagination. You'll see! She tried to shake off the icy grasp of fear. You're stressed out about being late.

"All solutions to the Drake equation are uncertain," Chuo said, making himself speak calmly. "The probability of alien life is negligible."

Then the air filled with the cries of awe and shock of her friends.

Adam took Evi's hand between his and kissed it. "Fuck probabilities! I'm with you ... no matter what. You hear me?"

She replied to his promise with a faint smile.

"Adam, I want to—"

The balcony door opened. Ernest was the first to get back. His face was screwed up in confusion. Without saying a word, he went straight to the emergency exit. Claudia strode behind him, astonished.

"Wh-what happened?" Chuo asked.

"We are going to the roof, Santiago replied, taking a moment to hold Vera's hair, so she could lean forward and puke. "Better?"

Vera raised her thumb and took a deep breath. Before crossing through the same red door as her friends, she turned to Chuo. "Get the camcorder!"

Chuo's eyes widened as he stuttered a refusal.

"Chop-chop," said Santiago, his head peeking out around the doorframe.

This put a harried expression on Chuo's face, but Evelia didn't intervene. She would never go in his stead or let Adam do it either. No way! If Chuo wished to remain behind with them, well, good. What she wanted more than anything was for her friends to stay the hell away from the roof. She also knew she couldn't dissuade them. Their stubbornness was part of what drew them together.

"Jesús!" Vera shouted, snapping Chuo out of his absent-mindedness.

He obeyed her reluctantly and plodded to the doorway. As the door closed behind him, his terrified eyes pleaded Evi for help one last time.

A wave of relief washed over Evelia when Adam said, "We are leaving."

She grabbed her boyfriend's hand and hurried him to the staircase. When they were about to reach the opposite side of the corridor, a strange buzzing made them stop.

"What's that?"

"Vera's stereo?" Evelia asked. "But there's no power."

The revolting noise grew louder, making each office window vibrate. And it wasn't just the stereo; all the speakers from all the computers were blaring the same maddening din.

"Fire alarm?" Adam grimaced in pain.

That was no alarm. It was unlike any sound from this world. She could feel it reverberating inside her skull, and it made her retch.

Adam mouthed something inaudible and pointed his finger to the red door.

"No!" Evelia shouted. "We—"

For a moment, Evi feared she had gone deaf. A high-pitched ringing pierced her eardrums, and then... Nothing. Soon, she found out, in the worst possible way, that her hearing remained intact: a shriek coming from the party hall shattered the silence.

Evelia's breath stopped in a shocked gasp. Another scream came from below. She moved away from the stair rail as if it were red hot. By the time she had walked back to Adam, a fresh volley of screams had broken downstairs.

A loud bang, almost like a shotgun blast, made them turn around. Claudia had opened the emergency exit and was staggering towards them. Her glasses were cracked, and a thread of blood trickled down her forehead.

"Clau, what's wrong?" Evelia peeked at the door. "Where are the others?"

Claudia's eyes darted everywhere until she recognized Evelia. She started crying, collapsing into her friend's arms, drowning in her own words.

"Clau?"

"Run!" Claudia bawled.

A blast of red light forced Evelia to turn her face away and clench her eyes shut. Struggling to half-open an eyelid, she saw an intense crimson beam cutting through the darkness from the balcony. She then sensed something large crawling with dozens of legs through the emergency exit. She had no idea what it was, and she never wanted to find out! An unspeakable fear coiled inside her, just like the hideous, gigantic centipede was coiling around the walls and ceiling behind them.

"Dear God," Adam muttered.

"Evi!" Claudia fell hard, and something dragged her to the light as she screamed.

Evelia worried she'd be next when someone pulled her up. Even though she noticed it was Adam grabbing her arm, even after she realized that they had made it to the second floor (although she didn't remember going down the stairs), she couldn't stop shaking. Horror was obliterating her sanity.

"Evi, look at me." Adam's voice sounded muffled.

"I let her go." Evelia looked at her hands.

"Listen to me!"

"I let—"

"We have to hide!"

Hide? Is he crazy? She laughed. No! We must escape! Evelia pushed him away.

"Evi!"

He gestured to her to hide behind a desk. She backed away.

"No."

Why didn't he understand? Wasn't that unnatural creature enough for him to realize that if they stayed, they would die? And she couldn't afford to die. Not if—She touched her belly and blinked her eyes hard, driving back the tears.

"I'm sorry," Evelia said.

The disbelief on his face as she walked away was, somehow, worse than the fear in Claudia's eyes when that thing had snatched her. Adam had promised he would be with her no matter what, so she waited for him in the hallway for an agonizing moment. She thought he'd follow her or try to convince her to stay, but he didn't.

"I'm sorry," Evelia repeated to herself.

Not too long after that, her survival instinct silenced her sadness and pushed aside that horrible doubt tightening her chest. She turned around and walked through the light, trodding down the hall, fumbling her way out with one hand as she shielded her eyes with the other.

The muscles in her legs burned with exhaustion. Although she was heading downstairs, she stopped, panting, several times. How much farther was it? A strange numbness made it difficult to think, so she only focused on putting one foot in front of the other.

One more step.

Her brain felt like wet cotton.

And then another.

And another.

Until she made it.

"Thank God," she muttered, pushing the door open.

The night breeze made her neck hair stand on end.

After only a glance, fear consumed her.

She wasn't in the parking lot, but on the rooftop.

Ernesto, Vera, Chuo, and Santiago stood in line, looking at the otherworldly light that burned the skies. If they weren't blind by now, they would be soon enough. This didn't seem to matter to them, however. Their bodies were shaking, not in pain but ecstasy.

The truth was, she too wanted to look up. Yes. Oh, God, how she wanted to! It would be wonderful. She wouldn't have to think anymore. She'd be free. Free of her free will.

Evelia put both hands on her abdomen and decided that she had to walk some more.

One step. Another step.

She didn't want to give in. It would be glorious, but she wouldn't give up.

One step. Another step.

She moved closer to the edge.

Something touched her back. Was it the same thing that had taken Claudia? It didn't matter. One more step and she would escape.

And so she did.

Evelia raised her foot and stepped into the void.

With this part, the prologue has come to an end.

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