PROLOGUE

Her chest burned as she ran out of the house and past the family dog that barked at the heels of her feet. She felt so humiliated, she wanted to kick something and scream until nothing came out. She couldn’t believe him, she couldn’t believe she ever thought he’d listen. All he did was answer with one word with a blank look on his face before going back to playing his video games. For three hours she had awkwardly sat there, playing with the dog for a bit before trying to start a conversation. And each time she was shut down.

‘I’m about to go off to MIT and he won’t even spend time with me.’ Cassandra wished he had paid attention to what she had been saying. This would be their last week together before she moved into her down since quarantine ended and he didn’t even care. Her walk turned into a run as she made her way down familiar streets and turns that would take her home. She had told her mother she’d be staying the entire night but she’d rather choke than be ignored and treated like a child.

Blinded by her tuberous emotions, she walked with her hands batting at the tears that left her eyes. She wanted to spite him, to leave as soon as possible, and to not even give him a proper goodbye. At MIT she can wait for him to crawl back to her with an apology on his lips and a box of chocolates in his arms. And of course, she may forgive him but she’d let him grovel for a bit. As she thought up such a satisfying fantasy, she walked past numerous people and cars zipped past her.

It was colder now. She shivered and began to regret leaving her jacket at Aiden’s house. It was already getting lower in temperature despite the time and season. Maybe she was distracted, maybe she wasn’t but she felt someone come way too close. She had trouble seeing who it was but as they moved past, their body suddenly came much closer than before. Her mouth opened in a small gasp as the two collided within a moment's glance.

Cassandra felt the wind get knocked out of her body as she was knocked onto the floor. Her knees hit the ground second, her hands having slammed into the cold tile floor first. They burned as she cursed under her breathe, positive that this would cause bruising on her fragile skin. She looked up, eager to curse at whoever had bumped into her in the middle of the night, nearly pushing her into the street. If a car had been coming she would have been done for, splattered on the ground, or slammed into the pavement into mush. She wanted to punch them in the face but she was sure it was an accident due to the lack of light near them.

Her mouth opened only to slam shut when her vision was cleared of any blurriness and she could see normally. There was no one there, the only person on the sidewalk much less in the area was herself. This caused her to laugh anxiously unsure whether not to freak out or call her mother to pick her up. She had felt someone brush against her, she saw their shoulders push into her seconds earlier. Ten minutes ago she had even heard them walking behind her, gaining on her until the collision took place.

“What the hell?” She muttered getting off of the ground. “Did they run away?” Cassandra looked around one more time, wrapping her arms around herself as it became chilly. It was getting darker and she felt her discomfort growing.

‘Maybe I should have stayed with him.’ The thought was unwelcome, making her blush with embarrassment. There was no way she could have stayed with that asshole, Aiden had practically thrown her out with his actions. He treated her so nonchalantly when their relationship was falling apart at the seams. What had been saying was the nail in the coffin and as far as she knew, they were done. No matter how far he went he never stopped and she always ran back to him. ‘Fuck that, I’ll just walk to the shopping center and call my mom.’

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Rubbing her arms, she nodded to herself as she rationalized her choice. The shopping center had many stores that were open twenty-four hours or at least till midnight. As she checked her phone, she grumbled seeing that it was almost eleven and she’d have to hurry up to make it. The idea of eating a warm turkey and cheese melt or sipping hot chocolate from one of the coffee shops cheered her up. Laying down in a booth or heading over to that mom-and-pop bookshop a few feet away. If she wasn’t still walking in the cold with her hands sore and knees bruised she’d be in a great mood, a small smile fighting to stay on her face.

The eighteen-year-old felt the wind beat against her body as she walked, a frost had settled on the sidewalk beneath her feet. Cassandra stared at it for a moment with wide eyes, slowing her jog to keep from slipping. It was the middle of fall and she could feel the snow falling onto her shoulders, her fingers brushing against her wet clothing in disbelief. It made no sense for the air to be frosty with her breathe becoming visible and for the temperature to become freezing so suddenly. She hoped that a surprise snowstorm wasn’t coming or she’d be in trouble. ‘That shouldn’t even be possible in September.’

Quietly she laughed to herself, sighing. Here she was becoming anxious from a weird weather change. She felt like a child knowing that this was scaring her. If Aiden was here he’d be so annoyed with her behavior, no wonder he kicked her out. Especially if he saw her crying from the thought of him pointing and laughing at the way she felt from his actions. Like always he’d belittle her without even realizing it. She cleared her throat but it didn’t stop it from becoming sore as she teared up.

It felt the end of the relationship or what she knew was the beginning of the end was hitting her full force. She felt her chest hurt and begin to tighten with the amount of pressure that was being put against it. She panted momentarily, her eyes widening as she looked around in confusion unable to understand why she was feeling too strange. And the weather wasn’t making it any better, gusts of wind causing her to choke and wheeze for a few minutes. She started to slip on the ground, but she regained her balance, stopping to rub at her chest wondering if it was from how upset she was.

‘What the fuck? Why do I feel like this?’ Cassandra gave a weak cough as she reached into her pocket for her phone again, shock filling her mind as she noticed her fingers were turning blue. It was horrifying but she quickly shook herself out of her stupor and started to call her mother. ‘Come on mom, please pick up.’

But as she typed her mother’s number, she noticed the data on her phone was acting weird. As she put it on speaker mode, she anxiously waited, huddled as she avoided sitting on the ground, for her mother to call. The phone made weird noises that made her anxiety grow worse as she silently hoped for whatever was happening to just stop. Its speaker echoed unnaturally, her mother’s voice becoming muffled and screeching loud at the same time. To the point she struggled to comprehend what the woman was saying, feeling water drip from the inside of phone her case to her horror. More liquid dribbled out, making the call unintelligible.

It even felt slipper her clothes felt slippery and wet despite nothing being able to cause that. In frustration, she hung up and moved to put it back in her pockets only to feel water when she reached in. Her pockets, her skirt, her sweatshirt were soaking wet when seconds earlier she was completely dry. It was absurd and impossible but the teenager felt her breath quicken and her heart hammer as it all settled in. Cassandra was panicking before she was able to process it all, the air reaching freezing temperatures around her as she began to cough harder and wetter than ever before.

It felt like she was drowning in her skin, the liquid in her body burning like gallons of bourbon or a foul poison. Her heart squeezed as she fell onto her knees, her phone falling into where the road should be but instead it sunk below a puddle. Her legs became paralyzed as she desperately fought to take in air and cough up whatever liquid that was suffocating her. It pained her, chilling her down to the bone as she whimpered one last time before feeling a wave of exhaustion slip over her. It consumed her as she lay on the ground, her chest burning and her eyes tearfully staring at the night sky.