Chapter 2
I
Alena awoke the next morning feeling tired and unrested. The nightmare had kept her from sleeping well, as it had for several days now.
After laying on the bed and staring at the ceiling for a few minutes, she got up, went over to her closet, and began to get dressed. Then, after checking her appearance, she went into the kitchen for some breakfast.
She was the only person in the house, as her mother had already gone to work..Her mother worked as a receptionist in a law firm several miles away, and usually did not come home until around seven. Her father had died in a strange accident several years earlier.
After eating breakfast she went over to the sofa and picked up the book she had checked out of the library the other day. She sat down, opened the book to the page where she had left off, pushed a lock of her blue hair out of her eyes, and began thinking about her hair.
She was the only person she knew about that had naturally blue hair. Most people refused to believe this however, preferring to think that she had just dyed it blue. She had tried to use hair dye before, but it hadn't worked. For some reason, her hair resisted any attempt to change it's color.
She stopped thinking about her hair and began to read.
She had been reading for several hours when she heard a strange noise outside. She was going over to the window to see what was happening when the ground suddenly lurched and there was a bang louder than anything she had ever heard before.
When she managed to regain her feet she began to head toward the window. She thought something had exploded, and what she saw when she reached the window seemed to confirm her idea.
Several blocks away, she could see thick black smoke billowing into the clouds. The wail of the police sirens as they rushed to the scene was deafening. She thought every cop in New York must be on their way.
She stepped away from the window, wondering exactly what had happened. There would probably be something on the news about it later. She would have to make sure she watched it tonight.
She dwelt on the accident a moment longer, then went back over to the sofa and continued to read.
II
Phara looked at the smoking remains of the street. Ghaleon had thrown everything he had at her, but she had managed to deflect most of it. She was still hurt, however, and needed to get away from here before the police arrived and brought her in for questioning.
She went into the remains of an old alley and teleported back to her apartment. She would have to resume her search for Alena tomorrow. She needed to heal herself and get some rest. She didn't have long though, and would need to resume her search in the morning, whether she was healed or not. Ghaleon couldn't be allowed to reach her first, and she had no idea how much he knew about Alena.
She lay down on the bed and, with her thoughts dwelling on Ghaleon and Alena, she fell asleep.