Chapter 2

Pain tore through her, sharp enough to reach her bones.

Curled into a ball beneath the covers, Leah shook as she struggled to bear it.

“I need revenge. I don’t want to die. I need revenge. I can’t die like this.”

A stifled, agonized groan came from beneath the covers.

“That’s right. I have to survive. I have to live.”

Ring, ring, ring...

The alarm clock on the bedside table suddenly rang.

Leah’s eyes flew open.

For an instant, it felt as though a bright light had pierced the darkness.

Her vision blurred at first, then slowly focused. The room around her came into view.

Cold sweat soaked her clothes, and its clammy chill made her shiver.

Every drop seemed to carry a painful memory that weighed on her heart.

Her rapid breathing made her chest ache.

She gasped for air and tried to calm her fear.

Each breath rasped through her throat.

Her chest heaved, and her heart hammered so hard it felt ready to burst out.

She could still feel fierce pain in her wounded calf and back.

The pain of the bullet striking her forehead seemed etched into her soul.

The alarm kept ringing beside her, its shrill sound cutting through her dazed thoughts again and again.

“What’s going on?”

The bullet had gone straight through her forehead. She could still remember the cold touch of death.

No one could survive a wound like that.

Yet she... was alive?

Leah struggled to sit up and looked around in confusion.

She lay on an oversized king bed in an unfamiliar room.

The duvet that slipped from her shoulders was plain white, like the bedding in a hotel.

Above her was a ceiling dotted with stars.

Dark teak furniture stood among soft furnishings in beige linen.

Sunlight filtered through wooden blinds and fell across the curtains, where shifting shadows of leaves danced.

Then she looked up at the wall of floor-to-ceiling windows and froze.

Lush tropical greenery filled her view.

A clear blue pool nestled among the plants. Its rippling surface reflected the trees and drifting clouds.

The scene was so peaceful it hardly seemed real.

Her fingers trembled as she reached beneath the pillow by instinct.

They touched a cool phone.

She lit the screen, and her eyes widened.

February 23, 2051.

Had she been reborn?

Or was it all some absurd dream?

In the next instant, the final moments of her previous life came rushing back.

Bodies lay scattered across the ground, cold and torn apart.

Familiar faces flashed through her mind—

Dad, Mom, Uncle, Wendy, Evan, Cyrus, Shawn, Avery, Lucas, Liam...

And Hayden, who died on top of her.

“Ah!”

Leah clutched her head so tightly her knuckles turned white.

Pain threatened to split her skull apart. Grief, despair, and regret surged through her, almost drowning her.

“That’s right. Hayden. The bracelet…”

She instinctively reached for her wrist. The instant her fingers touched it, her eyes widened again.

The smooth, cool emerald bracelet was right there on her wrist!

She really had been reborn!

If she hadn’t, how else could she explain it? Before the apocalypse, she had not seen Hayden for three whole years.

How could the Chase family’s heirloom bracelet have appeared on her wrist?

It wasn’t a dream!

She really was back!

She had returned to a time before the apocalypse, before any of those tragedies took place.

Leah slowly lowered her hands. The despair in her eyes gave way to a cold, unshakable resolve.

She dug her nails into her palms. The pain cleared her head and left no doubt that this was real.

But could someone be reborn and bring a bracelet from their previous life with them?

She shook her head. She had no answer, so she set the question aside.

Her fingers closed tightly around the bracelet. She could almost feel the lingering warmth of Hayden’s palm.

Leah closed her eyes and forced the agonizing memories of her previous life deep inside. She refused to dwell on the despair and betrayal.

She knew better than anyone that she did not have much time.

In a little over two months, the apocalypse would begin.

Perhaps all those lives lost in her previous life had moved fate to show her mercy and give her another chance.

She could not sit here grieving. She had to pull herself together.

Leah gathered her thoughts and forced herself to stay calm.

Then, for no reason she could explain, she remembered the apocalypse novels she read in her previous life.

Their protagonists often stumbled upon a portable storage space that let them shop and stockpile without limit.

In many of those stories, they activated the space by dripping their blood onto a gemstone or another piece of jewelry.

Yes, a gemstone!

Leah’s heart skipped a beat. Wasn’t she wearing an emerald bracelet that had followed her back from her previous life?

She rubbed her thumb over its smooth green surface.

Could it be...?

She hurriedly grabbed the small bag beside the bed and searched for something that could prick her finger.

But apart from makeup and tissues, the only thing in her bag that might work was a small nail clipper.

Leah stared at the small, sharp blades and hesitated.

If she used the clippers, she might have to cut off a bit of flesh. The thought alone made her wince.

She lowered her head and rubbed her chin, her brows drawn tight.

Then she noticed the decorative brooch pinned to the neckline of her dress.

Her eyes lit up. She removed it and carefully took apart its outer decoration.

As she hoped, a tiny safety pin was hidden inside.

She pulled out the pin and bent it straight. Her fingers trembled slightly with excitement.

Leah gripped the pin and took a deep breath. She pushed down her nerves and anticipation, then drove its point into the pad of her index finger.

A small sting followed. The point broke her skin, and a bead of dark red blood appeared.

Leah quickly raised her wrist and held her bleeding finger over the emerald bracelet. Drops of warm blood fell onto its smooth green surface.

One drop, two drops, three...

The blood slid down the bracelet and dampened the skin beneath it.

But the bracelet showed no reaction.

Leah slowly lowered her hand. The sting in her fingertip seemed sharper now.

She stared at the unresponsive bracelet. Her hope faded into disappointment, and she gave a faint, rueful smile.

“I guess I let my imagination run away with me...

“I’ve already been given another chance at life. How could I ask for more?”

She shook her head and put the pin away.

She carefully removed the bracelet and ran her fingers over its cool, smooth surface.

Then she felt a slightly raised pattern on the inside. It did not seem like a natural marking.

A thought struck her. Leah took out her phone and switched on its flashlight.

She held the light close and studied the inside of the bracelet.

Two words appeared in an old-fashioned script:

“New Life.”

New Life? Rebirth? Had this bracelet brought her back?

Hayden said it was a Chase family heirloom. Did he know its secret?

Had he simply given it to her as a keepsake before he died? Or had he known what it could do and given her the chance to be reborn?

Tears blurred her vision. Leah trembled as she traced the two words again and again with her bloodied finger, hardly aware of what she was doing.

Suddenly, the bracelet in her palm burst into dazzling green light.

The light was gentle yet piercing, and it enveloped her in an instant.