Prologue
Libby
I'm falling.
No.
Floating.
Darkness swaddles me as I am on the verge of fainting. The pain is unbearable. It’s burning a path through my core, while the blood cools my heated skin and dampens the evening gown that was so carefully selected for today’s event.
So many people died tonight.
And I was right next to them, watching as persons turned to corpses.
I was sacrificed.
I ran. I was pulled to run.
And then I was saved, swooped up by a strong hand still holding the gun that pierced a bullet through my body.
A deep voice uttered ominous commands while I was carried away from the mayhem.
I'm helpless. I'm at his mercy. I have nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
I can't run, can't hide.
Tonight was supposed to be about ringing in something new.
A tower, high and mighty with its powerful light, leaving an imprint on the entire city.
I was there. A small and irrelevant sparkle among the stars.
I was smiling, pretending.
Living a lie.
And then my world collapsed.
It was loud, violent, a savage massacre.
But it's quiet now. Just a cold breeze kissing my ears, drowning out everything else.
I'm falling.
A dark abyss waiting for me.
Flooded with blood.
And I know that nothing will ever be the same.