Chapter 8

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 was about to explode from my power which I chaotically released all over the place. Only that it was 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 it also hurt. Well, I could have easily died as it wouldn't hurt as 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 furniture were exposed on the wall in front of me, next to a door. On the right wall, a big wardrobe, a cosmetic table with a mirror and another door.

So much luxury.

Allaya!

Someone knocked on the door from my right and then it opened. I stared at a girl for a few second until I recognized her and I was shocked.

"Andrea?!"

"Mia! You have no idea how happy I am to see you! And your hair is sensational!" She said with a sincere smile, then she giggled.

I was staring at her, not being capable to say a word. I was still in shock, with tears in my eyes. 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: 62 kg and 1,75 tall. The college brought us together and we clicked immediately. We shared the best time of our life 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 took care of her all this time. She is a well-known designer with a successful clothes line collection. His brother is a businessman who started an online business in IT. After several years, he owned one of the biggest buildings in the capital. Oh, well. Only very rich people can afford to live like the rich.

After college, she left to Kowa for a year, to help the poor and sick kids, 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 week. Turns out, we never got the chance.

"I'm so glad you're alive!" I finally said. "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, nor my neighbors 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."

She kissed me on my forehead.

"Listen to me. We will help you find Karl. I promise!"

"We?"

A short knock on my door and it slowly opened. My heartbeats raised insanely fast. A tall man with black hair and deep blue eyes was standing on the doorway. It was him. We were looking at each other and I had flashbacks with the crucial times in which his eyes appeared, invading my mind.

"You were out of patience, weren't you?" Andrea asked.

"Andrea, may I?"

His voice was silvery.

"Yeah, sure…" she sighted.

The door closed and he stopped at the bottom of the 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 slightly smiled in the right corner of his mouth.

"Such a rude way to thank the person who saved your life."

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

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

"Your back was hurt really bad. We cleaned the wound and you will receive a treatment. 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 very angry and besides, my body was in pain and all sweaty.

"You need the medicine. If you refuse it, I will force it on you without remorse, trust me."

"Charming! Do you say this to all the girls?"

"Among other things." He winked.

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 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 to the door. He opened it, then turned to me.

"I am Alexander. Alexander Petersen."

And the door closed.

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 became anxious and 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 bad I got dizzy. I closed my eyes and tried to breathe in and breathe 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. Actually, I was getting tired of being a mess almost all the time. Things had to change, Mia.

And what's with the dramatic exit? Who is he, James Bond? That thought made me laugh a little bit. 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 two more rooms. Two on each side with a considerable distance between them. Mine was on the right side, followed by the next one. I thought about the waste of space.

Anyway, I knocked on the door in front of me, but nobody answered. I tried to the next one 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 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 favorite way of relaxing." He giggled.

"Planting? Are we talking about the same Andrea?"

"She's doing a great job, actually. I will take you to her, but you should have rested. Wondering around will 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 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.

Outside was almost summer and the sun ruled over the cloudless sky. At a distance of around 50 meters, the majestic gates surrounded the whole huge place. Between the front gates and the villa was a beautiful garden full of grass and beautifully groomed bushes. Andreas told me about the second garden situated on the right of the villa. That's where Andrea was.

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

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

I felt something breaking on my back, but I didn't care. Selena stepped back with her nose bleeding. She let out a scream of rage and 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 will do it again and again until you lie dead, you fucking psycho!" She shouted, attacking me.

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

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

"Mia, stop! Please, stop! Focus on my voice. 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 between us, deadly serious and with such a look in his eyes, that I unconsciously stopped the attack.

The distance between us was so small I could feel his breath on my cheek. Then a powerful pressure invaded my head and my nose instantly started bleeding. I leaned forward with my forehead resting on his chest and my hand hanging on his right shoulder. I was barely breathing. He didn't move.

"Fight me." He calmly said.