Alexander woke up, once more, gasping for air. It had been almost half an hour since the incident, and this half hour was literally hell for Alexander. At first, he felt relief at the last moment of passing out, but in the next moment, he woke right up gasping.

And in the next moment, fainting once more from sheer brain pressure. Alexander felt like his brain was melting in real life.

He did not know what to do, so he did the only thing he could hear, and that was to move forward and away from what he just did.

Somehow he made it through 1 floor down without an incident, but just as he was midway through the second, he vomited again, lost his balance, and started falling through the stairs, rolling. Halfway through it, he directly fell in between the stairs as he vomited and was struck left and right as he fell down.

He fell on the ground floor headfirst, covered in his own vomit and blood, and the pain—the pain was literally eating him inside out. And he did not think for a moment that he could move a single muscle, but then some kind of voice in his head urged him on.

He stood up or rather crawled forward to the nearest wall or elevator, something he really could not tell, as all he saw in his vision was red and blur.

Reaching it, which seemed to be the start of the stairs, he stood up and vomited once again, though by this time the vomit was only water and mucus.

After finishing this time and not seeing the corpse or rather his work immediately, Alexander got a breather. He took three or four deep breaths, at which point he felt a cool sensation in his chest. And in the next moment, the world around him started spinning, and Alexander fell flat on the ground, unconscious.

“What the fuck, man up.” This is what the voice, or rather his ancestor, yelled out at the end in his mind, but Alexander, of course, did not hear that as he was truly unconscious for good this time. His mind relaxed a bit after experiencing the pressure, and it instantly gave out, a change he very much welcomed.

Ana fidgeted around with her legs as she stood under the lamp. She felt angry, expectant, shy, and yet excited. She had never felt all these emotions at the same time. It almost overwhelmed her. And she wanted to blame the cause of this emotion and his audacity to make her wait, but at the same time, it was another giddy feeling in itself.

But lucky for her, she did not dabble in these newfound emotions for long as the man she was waiting for had arrived. A bit late, but he arrived. All of her being urged her to throw a jab at him for doing so, but she decided to be magnanimous; she would forgive him this one time.

Shit, shit, shit. Fucked up. He completely fucked up. He never should have wasted time on those videos about the first date, dress-up, and picking the perfect gift. Oh, the gift! It took too much time. He never should have wasted thi...

Chase’s thoughts came to an abrupt halt as he looked at Ana in her white skirt, standing under the lamppost like an angel standing in the darkness. All the time he spent listening to gurus and all the preparation he made, all of it was just thrown out of the window. The whole of his mind was consumed by her.

Ana seemed calm, outwardly at least. But inside, she was a mess. I mean, who dresses this well on the first date? And these accessories, it seems each one was hand-picked and placed by the fashion lord himself. It was as if he intended his date to have a scattered brain and it seems it was working, working too well even. Not to mention his smile—oh, Ana didn’t even try to look his. She would truly go crazy and loos herself if she took peck.

For a moment, the two lovebirds just stood there, unable to talk or do anything as they just stood there admiring each other. Ana wanted him to take charge and break the stalemate, but the way he was looking at her—well, at her—it gave a special feeling in her stomach. Is this what they call getting butterflies?

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“So where are you taking me?” Though she also wanted to feel Chase's eyes on her for longer, people were looking.

“Oh, right. Here, here is the place I told you about,” Chase almost stammered out of his stupor as he said it.

They started walking forward.

Chase beat himself up for freezing up like that and being nervous, which he now tried to mask with a super attempt at making conversation, throwing out topics at random as they walked. Which made him seem more nervous.

On the other hand, Ana was too busy in her own head to notice that. She got a bit red after she asked Chase where he was taking her. I mean, what kind of girl asks that?

Then, as if some naughty thought struck her, she got even redder as she practically tried to push her head inside her neck. What if, what if Chase thought of it in that way?

In all their silliness, what both of them did not notice was a giant-like silhouette tailing them from behind. A 7-foot giant silhouette.

After 5 minutes of this show on the road, they reached their destination: one of the few 800-floor buildings in the city, on top of which was one of the most renowned chefs’ small restaurants. This was a place supremely hard to enter. How Chase managed to get entry here was beyond Ana’s comprehension.

For a moment, she even forgot her embarrassment. Yes, they were both embarrassed, as both of them were red like tomatoes—especially Ana, the redness popping off her white skin.

The reason? Well, that was simple. This was a popular place for dating, and one look from the veterans, and they could tell the first-time lovers apart in an instant, which elicited some muffled laughter, to say the least.

Fifteen minutes after they reached the 727th floor, where the restaurant was. Yeah, just the elevator took 15 minutes to go up. A special feature of this building was its elevator, which was a scenic elevator providing a gradual panoramic view of the city as they went up.

Everything aside, Ana would lie if she said she was not impressed. Reaching the floor and opening the restaurant room, what she saw completely mesmerized her.

The restaurant spanned the whole of the floor, which was massive. The floor was all black marble, and the pillars, the lights were all pristine and pure golden. And this gold and black theme was carried out all throughout the place. With the table being black, the cloth being gold, and even the utensils and plates and absolutely everything.

And there was not a single wall in sight; even the perimeter was covered in glass. No doubt the tables adjacent to the glass were far more prized as they offered an unmatched view. There was a reason it was rated as one of the best restaurants not just in the city but the whole of the planet. She had to at least take a photo along with the glass before going.

Just as she thought that, one of the waiters saw them and came up to greet. At least this time Chase picked up. Seeing Chase take charge, she was just enjoying the view, not even paying any attention to what they talked about. Chase was the man, and according to her mother, in this kind of situation, men were the ones who should take charge.

“Follow me. Table number 13.” Finishing the talk with the waiter, Chase came back as he said with that charming smile of his.

Ana followed him to the table, and she had to admit, well, at this point, she was not just impressed but downright amazed. He did it; somehow Chase managed to get a table by the edge. A table for two bordering the glass walls and offering an excellent view of the city below.

Ana tried hard, but it was impossible to hide her shock, which Chase noticed as he flashed a toothy grin toward the now even redder Ana.

But before she got overwhelmed by embarrassment, her date was sensitive enough to pull out the chair as he invited her to sit. A gesture she truly appreciated.

Chase sat across from her, and finally, they both just sat there, looking into one another’s eyes. Ana tried to put up a brave front as she looked back directly at him as if they were having a staring competition.

But it was hard, hard for Ana to actually look at those eyes and not feel something, so needless to say, she lost. As she was about to open her mouth, she did not see any menu.

But before she could do so, the waiters came one after another with various dishes. It just kept coming, and in minutes the table was full. There was seafood, meat, vegetables, and all that. But seafood was the more prominent one, which was unsurprising as that is what the restaurant was famous for.

But she was truly surprised when at last they even brought two pristine glasses and a transparent high glass with what seemed to be clear yellow wine inside.

Wow, now she felt uncomfortable. Because this was too much, especially considering that this was their first date.

“I am sorry, if I make you uncomfortable or if you don’t like it, but I tried my best.” Chase said as he opened the bottle of wine and poured into both glasses, handing one over to her.

On the other hand, how could she be mad at a face like his? So she did what her entire being told her to do. Forget everything and enjoy his presence and efforts.

She took the glass and raised it towards his. Both of their glasses clinked in the middle for their dinner to begin.

But just as the glass clinked, suddenly far away a place lit up. In the neon lights of the city below, the golden pillar-like lights stood out. And also, it seemed as if it was waving and dancing, giving it a unique look.

Both Chase and Ana took it as a sign. And it seemed most around them did as well, as they too raised their drinks.

But soon something felt off, and it did not take someone to yell out, “That’s fire!” as the surroundings were filled with sirens of different authorities, alarm sounds as heavy trucks, mostly that of fires, zoomed past, and so did various flying crafts as traffic halted, and the huge country-sized city had a wrench thrown into its ever-rotating clockwork.

For some reason, she remembered that boy in the class, what was his name again? Oh, Alexander. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. He was a good boy, but why was she thinking of him instead of enjoying the most beautiful moment of her life?

Alexander walked, his ordinarily clothes devoid of all fashion, now accessorized not with rings or chains but with his own vomit and blood, maybe his, maybe his victims, or maybe both. He did not know and did not care.

There was a limp to his walk as one of his legs was completely bent. But he walked, walked forward as the building behind him burned. Burned in golden fire, as if harkening the rituals of old.

..........

In the grand scheme, much was unknown—

A moment, three figures, two paths alone.

Two worlds divide, each story untold:

One of peace and joy, gentle and cold.

Her life of ease, happiness her guide,

While he seeks conquest, power by his side.

For her, contentment, a life serene—

For him, oceans of blood for all to glean.