Steps quickening, I moved to my apartment door and tried the knob.

It was locked.

Checking my pockets, I searched for my keys. It didn’t take long for me to realize that they weren’t there. I’d left them in my room before heading out. The loud sound of 70s rock blasted from the door, and I’d lived here long enough to know that neither of my roommates would be able to hear my knocking.

With a sigh, I headed back downstairs. As I passed the counter, Mr. Garcia gave me a knowing look, before returning to help a customer. Past the front door, I turned to the left, coming to an alley closed with a steel gate. Deftly climbing over it, I headed past the dumpsters to the back of the building.

Behind the building, there was a small patch of grass and a single tree, carefully cultivated by the Garcia family since they moved in. I knew for a fact that messing with that oak tree was one of the few things I could do to get myself kicked out of the apartment. The Garcia family loved that tree and fought to keep it there.

The grassy backyard was a strange place to be. You still heard the sounds of the city all around you, but there was a sort of serenity around the little green patch, trapped between tall buildings.

Passing the backyard for now, I found the direct back of the building. There, a rusted red fire escape climbed the wall, zig-zagging all the way up to my living room. Climbing was something that I had practiced many times, and I found myself at the top of the building before long.

The back windows were almost always left unlocked. Though there was some fear of someone sneaking up the back of the building at night into our apartment, the Garcia’s had security lights, locked fences, and security cameras all set up. Not to mention, of course, that I knew Mr. Garcia was well armed, and I had a pistol as well locked in a gun case in my bedside drawer.

Slipping the window open, I hopped inside with practiced ease, landing on a frumpy green leather couch with a plop.

Cindy sat across from me with headphones in. In front of her was a textbook as thick as four fingers. Her eyes traced it with quick moves, her fingers flipping to the next page. It was always astounding to me how Cindy could read a book on the fundamentals of law like it was a newspaper.

Cindy Shepheard was an odd character. She was on the shorter side and had pale skin, paler than mine, even, and had dark hair that always managed to stay well-kempt and straight.

She was as sharp as a tack and studied law at the University of Texas, was patient and thoughtful, strove for cleanliness, and always dressed well. She was about as close to a princess as Austin, Texas could produce, though I knew she had a temper that burned bright. Though it took a lot of work to set her off, when she did get going, you didn’t want to be there.

We spent a lot of time together. Our other roommate, Taylor, was much more social and had many more friend groups. We still hung out, all three of us, but it was more common to be just Cindy and me.

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Side by side we were an odd pair. Where she was short, prim, and proper, I was tall and tended to wear more comfortable clothes. Her hair was straight and black, mine was a light brown and liked to stick out in the weirdest directions. Her eyes were a beautiful blue, and mine were a muddy brown.

Not that I didn’t like how I looked.

I looked a lot like my mom.

I forced away the thought, quickly turning back to Cindy.

“Hey, Cindy. Studying for your test?”

“No, just reading ahead into the next chapter. Did you get the mail this morning?”

“Yep.”

I pulled the letters out of my backpack, setting them on the coffee table between us. Her slender fingers deftly separated the unorganized and messy pile of letters mail into four clean stacks, one for each roommate, and one for junk, before finally stopping on an open letter.

My rejection letter.

“Oh Vic, I’m so sorry.”

I shrugged it off, but I knew she could tell I was still bothered.

“It’s okay. I probably should have realized a web development company that still used mail for correspondence would be a bad bet.”

She chuckled a bit which managed to bring a smile to my face.

We chatted for a bit longer before I headed to my room to change into workout clothes. I wanted to try and catch a quick run before it got too rainy. Exercise always helped me clear my head.

I changed clothes quickly, grabbing my keys and phone before leaving. The weather was changing fast, and there was a storm blowing in in the next couple of hours. I thought I would have just enough time to beat the majority of the deluge home.

My car was parked out front on the street, and I made it to my destination quickly. I knew the route very well. I liked to run under trees, and preferably not on concrete or asphalt, so I liked to go to parks a bit out of town most of the time where there was less traffic. Fewer people.

My destination was a park to the east, outside of downtown. I’d found it a while back just searching online for a place to explore and run and had been a regular since. It was popular enough that I was rarely the only one there, but not nearly as crowded as the more popular places in the city proper.

As I parked my car and stepped out into the lot, I could already smell the rain on the wind. Not wasting any time, I started my jog on one of the quicker trails, which led into the woods and right back out again. The rain was coming in faster than I expected, so I’d likely need to cut my run short unless I wanted to drive home soaked.

I made it almost ¾ of the way before I felt the wind shift as the front crossed overhead. Ominously, thunder rumbled overhead. Slowly, ponderously, heavy drops began to fall to the ground around me. I could hear them falling in the branches above, the once quiet forest now filled with a cacophony of sounds.

Thunder rumbled again, somewhere in the distance.

I shouldn’t have bothered to come today.

Breaking into a dash I cleared the forest, chest heaving from the effort. There were only two hundred meters from me to my car, and though I had still gotten wet, it wasn’t terrible yet. As my shoes struck concrete, I heard another rumble of thunder, this time directly above me, followed by an explosion of sound that left my ears ringing.

Then all I knew was pain. My skin was flame. I fell on the floor as the skies opened, releasing a deluge of water. As the drops landed on my skin, I heard them sizzle from the sheer heat radiating from my body.

*ding*

Congratulations! You have been selected as a beta tester for the global upgrade version 1.0.1. Upgrade begins in 15 seconds. Enjoy! -H.G.

I felt more than saw the strange message appear in my mind. As numbers ticked down in my head, my consciousness began to fade. As the count reached zero, I faded into black.