Prologue

Sydney gripped the ledge as hard as she could, her feet desperately searching for something to steady herself on, but she found nothing. She could hear a faint scraping sound from the building's roof.

Throwing a quick glance down, Sydney saw the busy city streets of Zurich sixteen stories below. The sight made her stomach begin to cramp up. She could feel her fingers slowly sliding on the rough concrete. Her head began to throb from the unpleasant combination of an earlier blow to the skull and the dizziness of looking down. The scraping sound had changed into heavy footsteps, slowly moving towards the edge of the roof.

How did I end up here? Sydney thought wildly. How could I let this happen? Fear began to take over her body and her mind, making her surroundings seem cloudy, sounds muffled. She felt weak and powerless, knowing she could not hold on much longer.

The footsteps were above her now. Sydney looked up and saw a person's silhouette looming above her. Their face was a blur, obscured by a bright light behind them. Sydney knew the end was near.

"Hello, Sydney."