Chapter 3

Leah felt the world spin.

An invisible whirlpool seemed to pull her in, and every sound vanished, leaving an utter stillness.

When the dizziness passed, she slowly opened her eyes. She stood in an unfamiliar place.

There was no visible ceiling or boundary. Soft, warm light spread from the empty air and reached every corner.

The light illuminated everything clearly yet was gentle on her eyes.

She stood on a patch of open ground. A few withered flowers and weeds lay scattered near her feet.

Beyond it stretched an area with no visible end, its edges veiled in thin mist.

Leah turned.

Not far away stood an enormous rectangular slab of green gemstone, like a screen.

Its color was deep and vivid, as though it had formed over countless ages.

It rose into the void above her, its top nowhere in sight.

Leah knew little about gemstones. She could only tell that its color resembled her bracelet.

She reached out and touched it. The surface felt remarkably smooth.

When she leaned closer, she saw patterns inside it that seemed to drift like clouds.

In the soft light, layers of dark, vivid, and pale green shimmered beneath its surface.

Interlocking patterns and winding floral vines were carved along the bottom. Fine gold dust seemed to fill the grooves, catching the light.

Leah walked around the slab. About six feet beyond it stood an old courtyard.

Its gate had fallen off, and most of the wooden fence around it had collapsed.

She entered the yard. A lone wooden house stood amid the wreckage!

Inside, the house was empty apart from a wooden table in the middle.

Outside, to the left, lay a broad stretch of black soil, roughly the size of two soccer fields.

Beyond it, Leah could make out what looked like a low mountain through the white mist.

She wanted to take a closer look. At the thought, she appeared at the edge of the black soil.

She tried to walk toward the mountain, but an invisible barrier stopped her.

It felt warm and soft beneath her fingertips, yet she could not pass through it.

To the right of the courtyard lay another open area, about three times the size of the black soil.

Far beyond its edge, something seemed to glimmer.

“Could that be the sea?”

The thought had barely formed when Leah appeared on a beach.

It really was the sea. Endless blue water stretched before her, like a vast sapphire set into the space.

But it felt too still!

There were no swells or waves, as though some mysterious force held the water in place.

Leah tried to move closer.

Sure enough, her body met another invisible barrier.

At least she could reach the beach, which stretched beyond sight.

The white sand was fine, soft, and warm beneath her feet.

She pictured the gemstone slab and appeared in front of it.

She held her breath. Was that water dripping?

A faint but distinct drip reached her ears. She followed the sound around to the back of the slab.

A square recess was carved into its lower right side.

A milky-white crystal the size of an egg was set into it. Light seemed to swirl inside.

One clear drop of water hovered over the crystal. As Leah watched, a second drop formed from thin air, then a third...

They fell into a round stone bowl below.

That was the dripping sound she had heard.

The bowl was about a quarter full.

When she leaned closer, she caught a faint, fresh scent.

Could she drink it?

Leah did not dare try!

The whole space looked like an untouched stretch of wilderness.

Against it, the carved gemstone slab seemed completely out of place!

Leah happened to look up and saw a row of numbers floating in the air:

2 hours, 46 minutes, 23 seconds... 22 seconds... 21 seconds... 20 seconds...

The numbers kept changing.

A countdown?

Why was a digital timer hanging above such a primitive place?

It was too strange!

Leah gathered her thoughts and silently said:

“Exit.”

In an instant, she was back on the hotel bed.

She looked into the space with her mind.

Sure enough, the numbers had stopped!

So, the countdown really did show how long she could stay inside!

She looked at her wrist. The bracelet was gone.

In its place was a faint green ring that came and went beneath her skin. A trace of spiritual energy seemed to flow through it.

Leah tried to place her phone inside the space with a thought. It appeared in the area shrouded in the mist.

She then tried to move it to the table in the wooden house.

The phone appeared there at once.

Then something remarkable happened: Its screen lit up!

“Could it be?”

Leah held back her excitement and moved the phone into the misty storage area again.

The screen went dark!

She spent the next few minutes moving the phone with her mind.

She placed it on the ground before the gemstone slab, on the black soil, on the beach, and in the open area to the right of the courtyard...

Every time, the screen stayed lit.

Time stood still only in the storage area surrounded by mist!

This was perfect!

Since her rebirth, the painful memories of her previous life had weighed on Leah without a moment’s relief.

But now, all she wanted to do was laugh aloud!

Perhaps fate really did give its chosen ones a chance.

This time, she would grow strong. She would never let anyone decide her fate again.

She would change the fate of the family and friends who died in her previous life. She would make those monsters in human skin pay for what they had done!

Her family.

Her teammates.

And Hayden—the captain who had quietly protected her through all four years of the apocalypse, though she only learned of it from someone else just before she died.

This time, she would find them and do everything she could to protect them, just as they had protected her.

“Dad, Mom, Uncle, Aunt Lillian, and Connor... This time, our family will stay safe. We’ll all survive.”

Leah pushed down the grief and hatred rising inside her and slowly sat upright.

She leaned against the headboard and gripped the bedsheet so tightly her knuckles turned white.

She eased her legs over the side of the bed, slipped her feet into soft slippers, and stood.

Yes. There was no pain. She really had come back!

“But there’s one practical question... Where exactly am I?”

She had been so excited about unlocking the space that she had not stopped to think.

Leah hurried to the floor-to-ceiling windows. She slid open the glass door and stepped outside.

A private pool lay beyond it, its clear blue water glinting in the sunlight.

Beside the pool, an elegant woman with a gentle face reclined on a lounge chair. Her eyes were closed as she enjoyed the sun...