Prologue

The crisp rays of sunshine hovered the loud bustling city in California as multiple engines noisily buzzed as it resonated from the crowded multiple-lane highways. Mass of people walked along the smooth sidewalks donned in business outfits, while a few wore something more casual.

In one of the smaller streets was a two-storey building in one of the corners where a lovely cafe was in. It has a simple style of white bricks as it's walls with black lines lining each brick. A wooden white door was placed in the middle with it's center having a window— with a sign "open" hanging inside by a beaded thread. Just up the second floor was also a mini library as large windows allowed the lights in.

A soft jingle sounded as the door smoothly opened— a woman almost in her twenties exits the building. She has big rounded glasses with thin metal frames, and her chocolate brown hair tied high on her head, with excess hair framing her face. She wore a simple sleeveless black dress reaching just above her knees decorated with different flowery patterns. A pink ribbon was tied around just above her waist and her feet covered in a pair of black sandals with two inch thick heels as a thin strap was strapped around her ankles.

She calmly wore her small black backpack which has a long strap that it reached below her waist. Opening her phone checking the time, she saw that it was past noon already and turned towards the corner, her pace neither fast nor slow.

She had a good time in the library and found another interesting book to read. Because of that, she even smiled at the walking passerby's due to her great mood.

She has a fair rosy complexion, with a pair of attractive green eyes that has visible black outlines paired with her long lashes. Her nose was tall and slim and lips cherry red. Only wearing a simple makeup composed of powder and lip tint, she however, still looked like an enhanced delicate beauty.

With the sun glaring at her, she opened her black umbrella to hide from the burning rays.

Remembering the passing time, she hurried her footsteps and walked towards the nearest bus station.

Her name is Katherine Jade Anderson, but she prefer people calling her Jade more. She's nineteen this year and just celebrated her birthday on May. She's now in college and studies writing— though it was after a debate between it and Astronomy.

As today is Friday, which is when she only passes her works and assignments, she decided to do a short round of reading in the mini library before going— which is because the deadline was until 6 o'clock at night.

Jade passed through different streets before seeing the waiting shed which was currently occupied by an intimate couple and three other people. All of them wore casual clothes except for the last one sitting at the edge wearing a high school uniform. Since there are apartments near here, Jade didn't question even a bit in her mind.

As there are no other places to sit, she just stood under the roof and waited, calmly placing her umbrella back in her bag. She then took her phone and browsed the internet— more like finding more soft copy books in suspicious websites.

Thankfully, she has a friend who's an expert about these so she managed to avoid the ones that could've transmit viruses into her gadgets.

In a matter of seconds, Jade noticed the slight decrease of the temperature. The wind blew cooly as it softly brushed against her skin, her hair gently blown by it. Then, the sharp rays started to dim, gray clouds quickly formed and covered the blue sky— the sun hidden by its layers.

The passing people quickly ran back to their houses or to the nearest shelter. Even the people waiting with her left except for the guy at the very end, earphones plugged into his ears with its cords under his uniform.

With the sudden change of weather, Jade felt lucky that she always brought her umbrella. The weather forecast didn't really say that it'll rain too.

Impatience slowly grew inside her as the supposed bus still didn't arrive. It usually arrives at 12:45 every time but it's already ten minutes passed that.

She lifted her foot and walked a few steps forward, and peeked at her left, hoping to see a bus-like figure. But all that passed her were cars and there are no signs of any buses.

Annoyed, Jade looked up and glared at the darkened clouds and blamed it for no reason. With the sound of rain slowly getting louder as it get nearer, she was about to take a step back when a huge bolt of lightning even thicker than her rushed down from a single cloud not yet merged with the others. Then, a smaller one followed, their directions right at her head. As she was still looking up, she saw the compressed streak of electricity strike her head, as brightness engulfed her sight.

Pain.

The sensation of being burnt into a crisp by its high voltage quickly rushed into her senses. But because it burnt her skin down to her bones and didn't spare a nerve, the feeling died down. She can't even mutter a scream when it happened. It's appearance was too quick for her to realize what was going until it hit her.

Am I going to die? She thought, as regret washed over her. Why did she go to the library before passing her requirements? If she didn't, then she'll probably still be there and she won't get struck by lightning. If the bus arrived earlier she might've escaped this catastrophe. If maybe she moved farther away maybe it'll just hit right next to her. And there's the fact that there are many higher objects than her, she didn't even do anything which attracts lightning. But all of these are just what-ifs. It already happened and her dying is a fact.

I never even thought of going under a lightning tribulation. I'm not even the protagonist of a rebirth novel. She complained, before everything turned into nothingness.