PROLOGUE

West Berlin, East Germany

Really, this was absolutely ridiculous.

"Hi, this is Lily, just calling again to let you know my electricity still hasn't been turned back on,"

I mean honestly, there's only so many times you can call the power company before your patience runs out.

"It's been three hours since I first called, I'm freezing because I can't turn on my heater and, I would appreciate it very much if you could get back to me soon"

There had to be divot in the carpet where the fibers had worn down from how much I was pacing. A sigh escaped my lips as I basically threw my phone on the counter, and then jumped because it was dark, and the clanging sound echoed eerily throughout the tiny cramped shack.

My hands were showing obvious signs of how the cold was affecting me, namely, shaking like no tomorrow. I ran them through my hair, pausing to tug soothingly at my scalp before letting them fall to my sides.

"I'm just stressed out, tomorrow I swear I'm going to have an off day, no work, no assessment and no stupid power outages" My last statement was punctuated with another sigh.

Yep, that sounded excellent, and what better way to further accustom myself to Berlin than go out shopping or something. It's not like I'd seen much of the city yet, from the moment I got off the plane it was all meeting university officials, organizing the apartment, taking classes, doing assessment and work. A smile slowly curled on my lips as fantasies of a relaxing day drifted lazily through my mind.

Absently I let my feet guide me towards the tiny kitchen, knowing that there would be nothing edible in the cupboards, but deciding to look anyways in the hope that my luck was getting better and that food had somehow spawned there.

Two minute noodles, moldy bread, uncooked pasta. My eyes popped at something that might've once been sticky date pudding, but now resembled a pile of black sludge with several growths. Most likely something a previous guest had left behind.

I went to take a closer look at the thing but was startled out of my trance by the sound of knocking. Elation bubbled up inside of me, and I could almost feel the blessed warmth that would come with the electricity being fixed.

Finally, this must be someone coming to fix the power.

I scrambled towards the door and shoved it open with a smile.

"Hi there Miss Lily, I'm Tom, and I'll be helping out with your electricity problem this evening" He looked to be a pretty average guy, a little shorter than me with bland straw like hair, but in that moment, he was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

"Thank God you're finally here, come on, I'll show you where the power box is" I grabbed his wrist and dragged him to wear my problems for the past three hours had originated. He seemed to take me physically handling him with grace, and laughed over it after we'd stopped.

The next five minutes could've been most stressful in my life, and I struggled to find the unlimited patience I'd had from earlier. At last he finished tinkering with the box and turned to me with a smile on his face.

"There you go Miss, all done" I hurried to thank him, pay him and get him out the door so I could turn on my heater and bask in its warmth. Uncaring as to whether or not I had given a bad impression, because I was almost frozen at this point. Not yet used to the frigid temperature of Germany.

"Ahhhhh" The heat was doing amazing things for my frozen limbs, that is, until it sputtered and gave out, along with the rest of the power. Again.

"OH MY FUCKING GOD!" I jerked up to a standing position and started repeatedly kicking the stupid machine, each kick was accompanied by a word.

"WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. HELL!" My leg viciously lashed out one more time, before I stormed off to the power box and wrenched it open. It didn't seem that hard what the guy did, in fact I'm sure I could do the same, and actually properly fix my electricity.

After staring at the different control's for a couple of minutes, I determined what I should do, and reached my hand out to touch the box.

That was possibly my most stupid idea ever.

- ~ . * { (A.N.) } * . ~ -

Authors Note

Dear Readers,

I am Badge Nightmare, an aspiring fanfiction author who writes in her free time, or whenever the mood strikes her.

I cannot promise that this story will be updated regularly, but I can say that I would like to continue this.

Feedback/Creative criticism is greatly welcomed, as I know my writing isn't the best, and I'm always looking for ways to improve it.

Please forgive me if the structure of the prologue is a bit awkward, as I do not regularly write in first person.

Thank You

Badge Nightmare