CHAPTER 02 — A SECOND CHANCE

Darkness.

Endless darkness.

It stretched around Seraphina, swallowing every trace of light until she could no longer tell whether her eyes were open or closed.

She couldn't move. She couldn't feel the cold. She couldn't even feel the pain that had consumed her only moments before.

Am I dead?

A tear slipped from the corner of her eye.

No, she thought. I'll make them pay. I'll protect my parents. I'll protect everyone this time.

Tristan. You won't get away with this.

Her lips moved without her permission, as though she were trapped inside a nightmare she couldn't wake from.

Then, a strange sound reached her.

Pages turning. Pens scratching against paper. The low murmur of people whispering nearby.

Her brow furrowed. What is that?

A voice called out.

"Seraphina."

Her eyes flew open.

She gasped, sucking in air like someone surfacing from drowning, her heart slamming against her ribs as she shot upright out of her seat.

She looked around wildly.

Rows of desks. Students. A whiteboard. Sunlight pouring through tall windows.

No blood. No zombies. No screams.

Her pupils trembled. "Aren't the zombies supposed to be here?"

The classroom fell completely silent.

Every eye turned toward her.

"Zombies?" someone whispered.

A few students exchanged confused glances. One let out a nervous laugh.

At the front of the room, the professor frowned. "Miss Ashford?"

She stared at him blankly. "...Sir?"

"Are you feeling alright?"

She didn't answer. She looked around the classroom again. Everything looked normal.

Too normal.

The professor cleared his throat. "If you're quite finished interrupting my lecture, please take your seat."

"Lecture?"

"Yes."

Still not fully believing what she was seeing, Seraphina turned slowly toward the whiteboard.

Her eyes widened.

October 20, 2021.

Her breath stopped.

"No."

She pulled out her phone with trembling hands. The screen showed the exact same date.

October 20, 2021.

This isn't possible. The apocalypse hadn't even started yet. This was three years before the world ended.

She reached over and tapped the shoulder of the student beside her. "What's today's date?"

He blinked at her. "...The twentieth. Did you hit your head or something?"

Seraphina turned toward the window. Warm sunlight fell across her face. She raised a trembling hand and pressed it to her own cheek.

Warm. Alive.

No blood. No poisoned air. No monsters outside, only students crossing the campus, laughing without a single care in the world.

They had no idea what was coming.

Tears blurred her vision. "I really came back," she whispered.

The classroom stared at her like she'd lost her mind.

Without another word, she turned and bolted for the door.

"Miss Ashford!" the professor called after her.

She didn't stop. She couldn't. She tore down the corridor as fast as her legs would carry her, students jumping aside to avoid being knocked over.

She collided with someone. "I'm sorry!" she gasped, already running again before they could answer.

Behind her, a few classmates exchanged worried looks.

"Should we go after her?"

"Something's wrong."

"Maybe she's having a panic attack."

A handful of them followed.

Seraphina finally stopped outside the university gate, bending over with both hands braced on her knees, chest heaving.

Footsteps approached.

"Seraphina!"

She turned. Several classmates had caught up, their expressions a mix of worry and confusion.

"Why is everyone following me?" she managed between breaths.

One of the girls hesitated. "We were worried. You started talking about zombies and ran out of class. We thought something happened to you."

Seraphina forced herself to breathe evenly. She straightened and offered them a faint, unconvincing smile.

"I'm fine. I just need to see my parents."

Before anyone could stop her, she turned and ran again, toward the only people she wanted to see.

She didn't slow down, didn't look back, until she reached her own front door.

She knocked.

No answer.

Panic clawed up her throat. Did I come back too late? Is no one even home?

She knocked again, harder. Still nothing. She raised her leg, ready to kick the door in, when it swung open on its own.

She froze, staring at the woman standing there.

Tears spilled down her cheeks before she could stop them. Her lips trembled; she bit down on them to keep from sobbing outright.

Her mother looked her up and down, clearly bewildered. "Is something wrong with her?" she murmured to herself.

"Seraphina—"

"Mom." Seraphina threw her arms around her and held on, refusing to let go.

"You're going to strangle me if you don't loosen up," her mother laughed, though she hugged her back just as tightly.

"M-Mom," Seraphina stammered, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

"What is it, sweetheart?"

"I missed you so much."

"Huh?"

"Honey, is that you out there?" her father's voice called from inside.

Seraphina let go of her mother and threw herself at her father instead, the force of it nearly toppling them both onto the couch.

"Dad," she said, pulling back to look at him properly.

Both her parents stared at her now, clearly alarmed.

She reached out and touched her mother's face, then turned to check her father over as if making sure he was really there.

"Did you hit your head somewhere?" her father asked carefully.

"I'm sorry, Dad," she said. "I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't mean to. I was blinded by love, and by greed."

"Sera, are you alright?"

She nodded. "I'm so sorry. It's never going to happen again. Not while I'm here."

"Sera." Her mother's voice was gentle but firm. "Talk to me. Were you bullied? Did something happen at school?"

"No, Mom. No one bullied me."

"Is it that boy again? Tristan? Did he hurt you?"

"Ask Dad about it later," Seraphina said quietly.

Her parents had never trusted Tristan. She'd ignored every warning, chosen him anyway, and that choice had eventually cost her parents their lives.

"I'm so sorry, Mom. Dad."

"For heaven's sake, Sera, you're scaring us."

She stepped fully inside the house, running her fingers along the edge of a photo frame on the wall, as if confirming it was solid.

"What on earth is wrong with her?" her mother whispered to her father.

Seraphina turned back to them and pinched the back of her own hand, hard.

"Ow!" she yelped. "That actually hurt."

"Sera—"

She pulled them both into one more hug. Everything was real. The old photographs were still on the walls. The house stood exactly as she remembered it, whole and untouched.

"I really came back," she whispered.

She pulled out her phone. Daisy's photo was the first thing to appear on the screen.

"I never thought I'd get to see you again," she murmured, wiping at fresh tears.

Then a photo of Tristan and Grace loaded beside it, and she wiped her eyes again, harder this time.

She remembered being shoved over the edge. She remembered the sound of their laughter.

"I'll make every single one of you pay for what you did to me."

She looked down at her stomach, remembering the child she'd lost. "Don't worry. Mom's going to make them regret this. This time, I'll protect everyone."

A voice echoed through the room.

She spun around. Her parents hadn't reacted at all.

[Searching for compatible host...]

She froze. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" her mother asked.

The voice spoke again. Blue light bloomed in the air, a transparent panel unfurling before her, a small cartoon figure hovering beside it as words began to form.

[Congratulations.]

[Apocalypse Survival System initializing.]

[Binding host: Seraphina Ashford.]

She stared, lips parting. "What—"

[Binding successful.]

[Welcome back, Player Seraphina Ashford.]

[The Apocalypse Survival System has officially awakened.]

Her blood ran cold.

"Player?"