Chapter 1

Rain relentlessly hammered the rooftop, a percussion that was in perfect rhythm with the howling wind. Alana sat up straight, her body aching from hours of being hunched over her computer screen. Despite the discomfort, she couldn't help the huge grin that spread across her face. She had finally finished her satirical comic book about the reincarnations of Leonardo da Vinci, which her boyfriend, Nate, had beautifully illustrated.

Alana's eyes sparkled with excitement as she uploaded the final panels of their collaborative masterpiece. The words " The End" seemed to shimmer on the screen, and she couldn't help but feel a deep sense of satisfaction. Her heart pounding with anticipation, she immediately reached for her phone to call Nate.

"Hello?" Nate's voice sounded distant and distracted, as if preoccupied with something else.

"I did it, Nate! Our comic about Da Vinci is finally finished and uploaded to the publisher. We did it!" Alana's voice was shrill with excitement.

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line, and Alana's heart skipped a beat. Had she caught Nate at a bad time? Was he not as excited as she was?

"Sorry, Alana, what did you say? I'm just in the middle of a project," Nate responded dryly.

Alana's heart sank at Nate's lackluster response, but she tried to brush it off. "I just wanted to celebrate with you," she said, trying to hide her disappointment.

Nate's voice was rushed and fumbled as he replied, "I can't right now.

Maybe later."

Something beeped in the background, and he let out a grunt. "Hey, I just got somewhere, and I have some things to do, so I'll talk to you later." And with that, he abruptly cut the call without saying goodbye.

Alana couldn't help the growing sense of unease that gnawed at her.

She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something about Nate's reaction didn't feel right. Was he really busy with work, or was there something else going on?

As she sat in her silent apartment, Alana couldn't shake the feeling of uncertainty. Had Nate lost interest in 2their project? Or was there something else that was causing him to with-draw from her?

Despite her attempts to focus on other things, Alana found her thoughts constantly drifting back to Nate and the strange call.

In the past few weeks, Alana noticed that Nate had been distant to her, and Alana's attempts to reach out to Nate were met with vague excuses and un- returned calls. Slowly, she realized that their relationship had reached a crossroads, and it was time for her to face the truth.

As she gazed out at the rain-soaked city streets, Alana realized that the storm outside was nothing compared to the tempestuous emotions swirling inside her. With a deep breath, she picked up her phone and dialed Nate's number one last time. This time, when he answered, she found the courage to finally speak her truth.

"I can't keep pretending that everything is okay between us, Nate,"

She said, her voice steady despite the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks.

"I need to know what's going on. Are you still in this relationship, or is it time for us to move on?"

There was a long silence on the other end of the line, and for a moment, Alana feared that Nate had hung up on her again. But then she heard him take a deep breath, and when he spoke, his voice was filled with regret.

"I'm sorry, Alana. I didn't mean to shut you out. I will be back home in a

bit."

Chapter 2

Alana sat in the silence that was more deafening than it was quiet; a sense of dread crept up on her. Her mind raced while she was searching for any hint of what could have made Nate behave so distant.

Tears welled up in her eyes, and she let out a deep sigh as she wiped them away. The storm outside seemed to mirror her inner turmoil as raindrops hammered against the roof, and the wind howled past the rattling window.

She anxiously spent the rest of the day curled up in her bed, lost in thought. She could-n't shake off the feeling of unease, and her mind kept conjuring up different scenarios that might have caused Nate to act that way. Her phone lay forgotten beside her as she tossed and turned, her emotions in turmoil.

The night wore on while the storm intensified, unleashing its full fury upon the city. Lightning flashed across the sky, and thunder rumbled in the distance.

Alana was lost in her thoughts when the sound of the front door opening broke through her trance.

She heard Nate's footsteps as he rushed inside, rainwater dripping from his coat and hair. Without a word, he headed straight to his laptop and began typing furiously, hardly casting a glance in her direction.

Alana watched him in silence, unsure of what to say. She could sense his tension and could tell that he was preoccupied with something. She waited for him to finish whatever he was working on before speaking up.

"Nate, is everything okay?" she asked tentatively.

His fingers flew over the keyboard as he finished typing up some notes.

Finally, he let out a deep breath and turned to face her.

"Sorry, Alana. I didn't mean to be distant earlier. I was just caught up in this project. It's been crazy, and I didn't mean to take it out on you," he said, sounding apologetic, still working on the laptop.

"Would you like a glass of wine?" Alana said, her voice barely above a whisper as she held up the bottle behind Nate in the kitchen.

"For what?" Nate asked.

"To celebrate me publishing the story, silly?" Alana tried to force a smile.

There was a brief silence. Nate didn't even glance up and was absorbed in his work as if his life depended on it.

Alana's eyes prickled with tears again, and her face burned with disappointment.

"Hello?" She said, her voice trembling with a hint of desperation.

Nate snapped his head up, his eyes barely registering her presence,

"What was that?"

"Don't you want to celebrate that the story is finally edited and published?" Alana's voice shook with frustration as she held up the bottle again. "It was the first thing we created together. I just figured we could have a drink."

Nate furrowed his brow, the sound of the wind whistling through the gap in the kitchen window.

"I'm just finishing up some notes," Nate said.

"But you said tonight we'd celebrate." Alana tried to hide the quiver in

her voice.

"I said MAYBE, but then I got busy," Nate replied with a shrug, still typing away, "I will let you know when I'm finished."

"Can't you pause for a couple of hours?" Alana's disappointment had turned to anger. "Why are you being this way?"

Nate paused, looking up from his laptop, "I have a new project that will be bigger than anything I've ever done. Including that silly comic."

Chapter 3

Alana knew that Nate had been consumed by an idea for a long time- an idea that involved harnessing the energy of the universe using crystals as a form of a capacitor. His inspiration for this concept came from the fact that quartz crystals were being used as future data storage, and fused quartz was known to produce energy when rubbed together. He was convinced that the giant quartz crystals present deep inside the Earth, closer to the core, held the key to free energy for the planet.

Suddenly, Alana felt anger surge through her like wildfire as she clenched her fists, slamming the bottle of wine onto the counter to get his attention. She couldn't take the cold-ness and distance he showed her any- more.

"This whole energy thing has driven you insane. You spend all your time on it, ignoring my existence. I can't bear it anymore," she said as she snatched her bag and keys, heading towards the door.

Nate's glare met her as she turned to face him.

"Do whatever you need to do to make yourself feel better, and come back when you're ready to support me," he said with a hint of bitterness.

She furiously banged the door shut and quickly walked out of the house to her car. Her fury quickly dissipated as she drove down the deserted freeway, the thick forests on either side of the road providing a sense of solitude that calmed her nerves. The wind howled outside, and the trees swayed in unison like a symphony of nature.

Driving was her solace, a place where she could lose herself in thought and music.

Crying and saddened by the fight, Alana drove the car at high speed when suddenly, a deer leaped out onto the road, and she swerved to avoid it, inadvertently crossing into the opposite lane and nearly colliding head-on with another car.

Her scream was cut short as her car careened off the road and crashed into a tree. The impact was jarring, and the front hood crumpled on impact. The world spun out of focus as the arms of oblivion dragged her into the velvety darkness.

The other driver jumped out of their car, "I've called 9-1-1!" their panicked gasps mixed with the sound of the emergency services siren in the distance.

The jaws of life were designed to cut people out of the hands of

death…

When he arrived on the scene, Fire Chief Gordon couldn't help but wonder if tonight they would live up to their name.

"Ma'am, can you hear me?" the firefighter asked as he approached the wreckage. "We're going to get you out of there!"

But there was no response from Alana while the firefighters worked frantically to extract her from the twisted metal.

A sense of dread settled over the scene, and the sound of the siren wailed like lamenting ghosts.

Chapter 4

Nate was asleep when the phone rang; he awoke with a start, his heart pounding in his chest. His phone was ringing beside him, and he groaned as he lifted his head from the desk where he had fallen asleep working on his project. His mind was still foggy when he answered the call from the emergency room nurse.

"Is this Nate? My name is Andrew, and I'm calling from the Brooks Medical Institution about your girlfriend, Alana. She was brought into our hospital this evening because she has been in a car accident."

Nate's breath caught in his throat, and he struggled to focus on the nurse's words. He rushed to the hospital, his heart in his throat and his mind racing with fear.

When he arrived, the doctor informed him that Alana had suffered severe head trauma and was undergoing surgery.

Nate paced back and forth in the waiting room, his heart thundering beneath his chest, sweat coating his forehead. He couldn't shake the feeling of dread that gripped him, and his thoughts were a jumbled mess.

Finally, the surgeon came out and pulled Nate aside. His face was pale and drawn as he delivered the news.

"She was pretty banged up when the paramedics brought her in. We did everything we could, but for now, she is currently in a coma," the doctor said, leading Nate into the recovery room.

The sight of Alana made his breath catch in his throat.

A reddened, swollen scar on the left side of her shaved head was stitched from her eyebrow to the back of her neck like the crescent moon had sliced her.

Her once vibrant features were now lifeless, and her skin faded of all color and warmth. Her hair on the right side was knotted and unkempt, and she looked nothing like herself.

It was as if she had been transported to a different realm, her soul al- already drifting across the cosmos, waiting to find her final resting place amongst the stars.

"We have put her on life support," the doctor said, his voice somber. "But it is unlikely she will survive."

Nate felt a lump form in his throat as he looked at Alana, hoping against expectation that she would wake up and be okay. He knew that the coming days would be filled with uncertainty and fear as he waited for any sign of improvement, but for now, he could do nothing but watch and wait, praying for a miracle.