The stars on the horizon winked out one by one as the towering wall of churning seawater rose impossibly high, swallowing the skyline whole.

Soraya took a step back, then another, as the dark, solid wall of black water raced toward the shore, devouring yards of wet sand and rocks at a terrifying rate. The rushing roar of the wave pounded against her eardrums, and for a moment, Soraya thought she could hear people screaming—dozens of them, hundreds.

A gust of wind slammed into her, jolting her from her paralyzed state.

She had to get out of there.

Spinning around, Soraya lunged for the white double doors, but they abruptly slammed in her face. Her hand shot for the handle, and she pushed—locked!

She pounded on the door while jerking on the handle, but the solid door didn’t budge an inch under her frantic tugging.

Behind her, the sound of a thousand freight trains crashing one on top of the other vibrated through her body. She could feel the wave mounting at her back, ready to crush her against the pearly white door. There was nothing she could do to stop it.

Closing her eyes, her hand clutched the handle, the only thing grounding her in the moments before her death. She thought of Jesmine, Delilah, and their newest friend, Ahvi. She thought of their little apartment, how their lives were finally taking off, and how much she would give to go back…

A tingling sensation began in her chest, spreading outward as if each of her neurons had caught fire. The tips of her ears burned, and all at once, it felt like she had been struck by a bolt of lightning. Then, the solid door was gone.

She was falling forward. One moment, she felt like she was falling endlessly through emptiness, through space. Holding on to the image of her friends—of home. Then she blinked and came crashing back into reality.

Her shoulder collided with a solid floor. The sharp bark of pain was swallowed up by the adrenaline coursing through her, and she snapped her head to look over her shoulder. She watched the towering wall of water loom well above the doorframe, seconds away from engulfing her whole—when the flimsy door slammed shut. Light danced around its edges before going dark.

Soraya’s chest rose and fell, her body trembling as she waited for the water to burst through the door and sweep her away into oblivion.

Seconds passed.

Nothing.

Silence rang all around her, almost as deafening as the tsunami when it bore down on her a second ago. Where did it go? Why was she still alive?

It took her a moment to realize where she was. Quickly sweeping her gaze around the room, she blinked rapidly as she recognized her apartment. It was dark, and the only light came from the streetlights outside.

As Soraya sat on the floor, trying to piece together what just happened, her mind went curiously blank. It was as if a fog had rolled through her thoughts. She could feel it— the smoky tendrils tunneling into her brain, her eyes growing hazy, her ears filling with pressure as the ringing grew louder, then stopped all at once.

She shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs away, and realized she was sitting on the floor of her apartment.

Why was she on the floor? How did she get there?

She sniffed the air.

And why was her nose filled with the smell of salt? She could practically taste it on her tongue, it was so pungent. Was Jesmine cooking again?

Still breathing hard, Soraya got up on shaking legs.

“Jesmine?” she called out. “Ahvi?” The apartment stood silent around her. No one was there, and she realized she was standing all alone in the dark.

She rubbed at her chest as apprehension clung to her ribs. She glanced over her shoulder at the bathroom door, and something in her gut twisted.

It was fear.

How silly was that? Being afraid of the bathroom. Shaking her head, she approached the door and reached for the knob—but her hand hesitated. Her fingers curled away from the metal knob of their own accord. Frowning down at her hand, she waged a short yet critical war within herself, until she snorted.

“Quit being ridiculous,” she told the offending hand. With a quick jerk, she twisted the knob and threw open the door.

See, she told herself, nothing there to be afraid of. It was just her bathroom, with the clothes she had been wearing earlier that day piled on the floor by the tub.

Yet her heart thundered in her chest.

Confused by her body’s reaction, she pushed the door all the way open and swayed on her feet. Her vision swam, and she felt lightheaded. Falling forward, she clutched the bathroom sink, breathing hard as a sharp pain shot through her skull. Biting the inside of her cheek, she used the sharp pain in her mouth to ground herself against the pulsing pressure building inside her head.

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Blindly, she reached for the faucet and flipped up the handle. The sound of running water filled the small room as she tucked her hair behind her ear, then cupped her hands and filled them with water. She splashed the cool liquid on her face. Once. Twice.

The pain subsided, and her hands trembled at the edge of the sink as she watched the water run down the drain. Looking up into the mirror, she bit back a scream at the stranger staring back at her. But…it wasn’t a stranger at all. It was her.

Reaching a hand up, she touched her face, and the reflection did the same. She looked…beautiful. Beautiful yet…wild. Her skin glowed luminously, as if illuminated subtly from within. Maybe it was the streetlights hitting the planes of her face just right…no. She knew it wasn’t the streetlights. And her eyes…they looked as if something…predatory was peering out. She had a moment of deja-vu before her eyes darted to the side of her head.

Soraya froze as her eyes landed on her ear.

Her pointed ear.

Her vision swam as her gaze locked on to the delicate, pointed tip. The sound of the rushing sink water filled her ears. An image of a giant black wave flashed through her mind.

Something broke inside her mind at that moment, like a dam breaking free—and the water didn’t just flow out; it punched through a solid concrete wall.

Memories flooded her brain in rapid succession. Too quick. Her mind couldn’t keep up, and her stomach churned. Bending over the sink, she dry-heaved, but since she hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday, nothing came out. Her head pounded, and her stomach hollowed out as her throat strained and saliva pooled in her mouth. Her whole body felt like it was fighting itself. She couldn’t even catch her breath as she dry-heaved again, stomach cramping and nausea rolled through her until her body couldn’t take it anymore.

Her vision swam, her eyes rolled back, and she fell to the floor—out cold, with the water running endlessly in the sink.

~

“Soraya!—Soraya, wake up!” A familiar voice yanked her awake.

Soraya moaned as she was forced into a sitting position.

“What the hell, Soraya? Did you go out on a binder without me?”

Cracking open her eyes, it took her a minute to recognize the person holding her. “What—Jesmine?”

“Yeah…who else would it be, weirdo?” Jesmine snorted. Soraya tried to stand. “Whoa, wait—“ Jesmine wrapped her arms around her shoulders, supporting her weight as she struggled to stand and failed.

“Jesmine,” Soraya asked, confused.

“Yeah.”

“Jesmine,” Soraya repeated in disbelief.

“Yup…still me,” Jesmine confirmed. “Man, you really got fucked up tonight. Are you doing okay?”

Soraya’s eyes flew all the way open. “Jesmine!” Her hands shot out as she gripped Jesmine’s shoulders.

“Soraya!” Jesmine shouted back with enthusiasm, a smile on her lips. “My party queen. I really appreciate you letting loose, but you should really think about cutting back on weekdays, girl.”

Soraya looked over her friend, ignoring what she had just said. “You’re okay.”

Jesmine’s eyes darted to the side before landing on Soraya again. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

Realization hit Soraya, and she quickly jumped up to face the mirror once more. When she passed out, she had fallen halfway out of the bathroom door, where Jesmine had found her.

Sizing herself up, she looked…exactly how she’d always looked.

She pulled her hair back and checked her ears. Rounded. Not pointed.

“Soraya, what’s going on?” Jesmine asked, concern coloring her voice for the first time. She got up from where she was crouched on the floor, hands on her hips, waiting for her reply.

Spinning around, Soraya lunged at Jesmine, who flinched back but wasn’t quick enough to dodge as Soraya gripped her shoulders. “How did you escape? They were everywhere!”

Jesmine grimaced. “Ow! You have a strong grip. And what the fuck are you talking about?” she struggled out of Soraya’s grasp.

What was she talking about?

“The flying men, water moving on its own, ugly frog-like zombie monsters—a lot of them! You hit one with a car!” Soraya furrowed her brows. “Wait, you don’t have a car—where did you get a car?” She shook her head. “Not important.” She opened her mouth to say more, but the words died off as she looked at a wide-eyed Jesmine, who seemed to have no idea what Soraya was talking about. “You were there,” she said, her voice trailing off.

Jesmine raised her hands in a placating manner, as if trying to calm an injured animal. “Alright, Soraya,” she said, slowly pulling her phone out of her leather jacket. “I’m going to show you some pictures of drugs, and you're going to tell me which ones you think you took, okay?”

Soraya looked at her, bewildered. “You…you don’t remember? How—“ She cut herself off before she could ask how Jesmine could forget.

Soraya had forgotten too.

Until she didn’t.

Her face, her ears…she still didn’t understand why it was happening, but it had happened. She wasn’t going crazy. She knew what happened. So why didn’t Jesmine?

Shaking her head, Soraya slashed her hand through the air. “No, you were there. The flying men—who I’m pretty sure are the boy toys you met at the bar—and the monsters, and the guy who kidnapped me, and, and—“

Alkimos.

Alkimos was on that street with her, fighting those monsters and standing his ground.

Alkimos, who knew Makoto—the kidnapper.

Alkimos, who knew where she lived, where they lived.

Soraya’s face paled. She didn’t have anything personal against Alkimos, but—she looked over to their kitchen counter.

She made a split-second decision. They needed to leave. They needed to leave now.

She didn’t know what was going on, but they needed to get out of there before he—they—showed up at their apartment.

She pushed past a very concerned Jesmine, heading for Ahvi’s door. “I know what I’m saying might sound crazy—“

“Might?” She interjected in disbelief.

Soraya pushed on. “But you have to trust me when I say we need to leave now. Right now.”

“Soraya, just hang on a second—“

She cut her off and kept talking. “I’m going to grab some of Ahvi’s things and tell her to meet us at the cheap hotel by LA Union Station. The one we holed up in when we were running away from those killer clowns, remember?”

“Soraya…”

Before she answered Jesmine, she felt a slight sense of relief upon seeing that Ahvi’s door was cracked open. Usually, she kept it locked at all times. The woman valued her privacy, and they respected that—but now, she wouldn’t have to break the lock to get inside and pack a bag for Ahvi. This was going to be a very long night.

As she pushed open the door, Jesmine continued, “Soraya, who is Ahvi?”

It took Soraya a moment to process what she had said as the door swung open, revealing a completely bare, empty room.