CHAPTER 1 – THE STORM

No matter how fast I ran on the sidewalks, I could not stop the rain from soaking me to my bones. I knew the weather was going to be terrible but I also knew that if I had stayed at home, I would have probably gone mad. So I went to the diner and picked up a double shift, not caring that it would drain me. 

I barged into the tiny apartment that I lived in with my best friend Tasha and I saw her all dressed up. She was clearly heading somewhere and I knew exactly where she was going.

"Oh my God, you took the job?!" I asked her, shocked at the betrayal. 

Tasha's head spun as she heard my voice and she became defensive. "Alright, so I took it. Amara, you need to calm down. You and I both know that SteeleTech funds half of the start ups in this city. Do you really want me to keep waiting tables while you continue this fruitless journey of chasing ghosts? 

I could not believe how arrogant she had gotten. Throwing the keys to the floor, I screamed. "That explosion was not an accident and you know it! For Christ sakes, my parents died because of SteeleTech." 

Tasha looked at me, clearly frustrated. "For the love of God Amara, we were fifteen years old! It's been ages ago and somehow you are still trying to code your way back into the past. Do you really think that if you build something big enough it will somehow bring them back? Well, it won't! Nothing is going to bring them back." 

I looked at her with no emotions. "Well, at least its better than selling my soul for a stupid paycheck." 

The words hit a nerve in Tasha, I could see it. "Have you ever thought that maybe I am just tired of surviving? Maybe I am so fed up with watching you drown in your pain while you continually act like you are the only one who lost something, huh?"

My blood boiled, how could she compare the emotions she felt to what I felt? There were my parents, not hers. She doesn't know what I had gone through and I realized in anger that she never will. 

"Get out," I said softly but my words held deep emotions and I could tell that she had seen it because after hesitating for a while, she picked up her things and left. 

I stood in silence and watched her walk away and when she had gone a long distance, I picked up my coat and keys and ran in the rain, trying to hide the tears pouring out of my eyes till I got to the car. I wasn't thinking and I had to fix that, so I drove right into the night, trying to null those crippling feelings I had. 

"The universe is clearly fucking with me," I muttered to myself as I rode my rusty Ford through another pothole. The rain beat against my windshield like it hated it and my wipers were losing in their fight.

The highway was nearly deserted—just miles of shadows, water, and regret.

I could hear the lightning and I knew that soon, it would pour but then I heard it, a crash happened up ahead. I heard the loud boom and I could swear it felt like the crash was a collision of a car and a tree. 

Hitting the brakes on my car, I shivered as my truck skidded sideways before it finally pulled itself into a stop near the tree line.

Groaning in pain, I managed to lift my eyes up and I saw the flames lit up the night. A black, sleek and expensive looking car was wrapped around a tree and it had smoke pouring from its hood. 

Immediately adrenaline shot through my body as I jumped out and ran towards the car. "Hey," I yelled with everything in me. "Is anyone in there?!" I kept yelling even when I got no response. 

Just when I wanted to believe that no one was in the car, I saw a figure through the smoke and shattered glass. I squinted my eyes some more and the figure became clear, it was a man slumped forward, bleeding, barely conscious. 

The driver side door was jammed shut but still I yanked on it, hoping it would give way. It didn't. Slowly running out of options, I took a rock and smashed the glass. The shards of glass flew everywhere but it opened the window at least. 

That gave me the opportunity to duck in. "Hey, hey, can you hear me at all?" I asked but the man just groaned. His face was a total mess, all covered in bruises and blood. 

"W-where...?" He tried to speak but I knew that it would be better if he reserved his strength, so I answered the questions for him before he could even answer. 

"You were in a car wreck," as I spoke, I wrapped his arms over my shoulder. "Your car is about to blow up and we need to get you out of here." 

"I don't remember..." he struggled to speak. I could see the fear in his eyes and suddenly I remembered that in scenes like this in every movie, the hero always tried to get the name of the victim. I did the same thing, hoping that would calm him down. 

"Name?" I asked as I rushed to the passenger side of the door and got into the car. 

"Jace, I think." He responded, wincing and dazing

"Okay, Jace. Lets try our best to not die tonight," I muttered as I dragged him out of the car just as it burst into flames and we hit the grass. I looked at the car that had just exploded and wondered if my life would have ended like that. 

I laid on the floor for a while, my chest heaving as the weight of this man that I did not know threatened to crush me. 

"You saved me," I heard him speak from on top of me. His voice was very rough, but i could tell that he was grateful 

“You’re lucky I was too broke to take an Uber.” I responded and heard him give out a hoarse chuckle that immediately turned into a cough. 

Amidst his cough, I could hear the sirens in the distance and I knew help was coming. Looking down at him, I noticed his dark hair was soaked in the rain and he was still bleeding from an injury he sustained on his temple. 

I got curious. This man did not look like the type of person who would hang around areas like this. "What exactly were you doing out here Jace?" He did not answer and his eyes closed again. 

I sat there in silence, letting the rain soak my skin, enjoying the faint scent of his perfume. I didn't know who this man that I had just saved was but I knew that he was very familiar and that was a very unsettling feeling.