A/N: I want to thank everyone who favorited my story and for the reviews. I know I've been kinda slow; been busy with work and stuff. I have every intention of finishing this story entirely, so no worries! I just want to inform those of you who favorited my story a while back that I cut down the first chapter in smaller pieces (5 chapters), so that's why you probably got all those different notices. For those of you who are new to my story, the first day was all one chapter, so it was really long lol.
Also, you guys will notice the layout for this one is a bit different because I'm including Daniel's small part in it, and I just want to clarify that I didn't write it in error; Daniel is in third-person, and Aya stays in first-person. Well, I hope you guys enjoy this latest chapter, and give me lots of reviews! Also, if you haven't already, don't forget to subscribe so you'll know when the next chapter is up.
It's been 20 minutes already since Aya ran into the park all by herself. Daniel remained standing outside the gate she ran through, staring intently at nothing. It killed
him that he couldn't do a thing to help her. He's her partner, and yet he can't do anything to help? Is he really so useless? Such thoughts occupied the veteran cop's
mind as he waited patiently, hoping beyond hope to see the bright mess of golden hair in the distance. "Aren't you tired of waiting there?" a voice spoke out from
behind him. Daniel turned to see that it was Chief Baker, before shaking his head and looking into the park again. "My partner's in there all alone with some kind of
monster, and here I am doing nothing. How can I relax?" he replied gruffly. Chief Baker let out a sigh and stepped closer to Daniel, standing by his side. "I know. I
want to send in help, but you know that's not possible. I'm not sure what it is we're dealing with exactly, but for some reason Aya's not affected like the rest of us.
We'll just have to leave it up to her." he told him. Daniel growled at this, turning angrily at the Chief. "She's just a kid! She-!" he started, but Baker gave him a stern
look that made him hesitate. "I know, Daniel…" he responded simply, closing his eyes. Biting his lip, Daniel looked down at the pavement beneath him, his hands
balled into fists.
After another few minutes, Baker turned away to leave. "I need to get back to the station. Daniel, I'm putting you in charge here." he told him, walking away towards
his car. Daniel said nothing, looking back into the park, wondering how Aya was doing.
The interior of a car. The back seat. A darkened sky outside the adjacent window, trees passing by in quick succession. The driver… can't make out the driver… A
bright light coming from the wind shield. The car suddenly jerks to the side. A long, loud, deafening sound…
I instantly gasped out, opening my eyes to see the stage all around me. Sweat dotted my face as I breathed heavily, sitting on the floor, my arms hugging my knees
to my chest. A dream… when did I fall asleep…? I turned my head toward the audience, the silent, unmoving remains still present. My breathing calming down
somewhat, I released my legs from my arms' grip and straightened them on the floor, my hands planted on the floor behind me as I arched my head up to look at the
sky. I'm not sure how long I was asleep, but the moon looks like it's still in the same spot, so it can't have been long. Not to mention that I can still sense Eve's
presence. I looked back over at my audience, noticing that the giant blob was gone. How many people died today? Died these past 2 days? Will more die? I didn't
want to think about it. I didn't want to think that all these people died because I was powerless. I didn't want to think that Ben and… Turning away from the audience, I
picked up my gun from the floor next to me and stood up, loading a new magazine into the chamber. I have to find Eve. I have to stop her somehow.
I exited the dome through one of its back exits, where Eve had flown off. I was standing outside again, looking around dumbfounded. "How am I going to find her?" I
muttered to myself, before something caught my eye towards my left; it was the little girl from Carnegie Hall. She stood several feet away from me, appearing from
behind a tree, giving me a small smile and wave. I smiled and waved back; I wasn't too shocked to see her here. I made my way over to her, but she then started to
run away from me, heading down one of the beaten paths. "Wait!" I called out as I ran after her. I'm starting to honestly believe that this girl is some kind of ghost.
She seems solid and lively enough, but it doesn't explain her disappearing acts. As I gave chase to her, she would disappear from my sight as I passed a corner, only
to appear again some distance away. Is she leading me somewhere? Is she leading me to Eve? At this point, my doubt of what's possible and not possible is wearing
thin. All I could do right now was follow this girl.
One officer made his way over to Daniel, who remained standing outside the entrance, stopping behind him. He cleared his throat to announce his presence, but
Daniel made no indication he noticed, though this didn't deter the cop from his intention. "Sir, it's been almost an hour now since Aya ran in there. She hasn't made
any contact with us yet, and nothing's changed. You don't suppose…" he spoke out meekly, before Daniel suddenly swung around and grabbed him by the collar of the
shirt. "I DARE you to finish that sentence!" he screamed out angrily, shaking the cop. Two other officers ran over and tried to break them up, but Daniel wouldn't let
go. "Don't ever say something like that again! She's fine! I know it!" he added, before releasing him. Fuming, he turned away from the trio, looking back into the Park.
He wanted to believe that she was alive and well. The moment he starts to doubt, he'll have given up on Ben and Lorraine. Aya promised to bring them back safely.
There's no room for doubt.
At that moment, as if on cue, Daniel saw something odd in the distance. He had to squint his eyes slightly to get a clearer view, but when he was able to identify what
he saw, his heart skipped a beat; it was Ben! Without a second thought, Daniel ran right into the Park toward his son. "BEN!" he shouted out hurriedly. The little boy
looked up at the voice of his father and smiled broadly. "DADDY!" he screamed back, running toward his father. The two of them met in the middle and Ben jumped
into his father's open arms, Daniel hugging him tightly as tears silently ran down his face. "Ben! Thank God! I was so worried!" he exclaimed, falling on his knees, still
embracing his little boy. "Daddy! You're crushing me!" the boy giggled, but his father didn't let up. At least, not until he realized that Ben was alone. He slowly released
his boy, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Ben, what happened? Where's mommy?" he asked him. Ben frowned when his father asked this question, looking down at the
concrete beneath them. "I don't really know. Last thing I remember I was with mommy at home. And then I was here in the Park, on the ground. I tried looking for
mommy, but I can't find her." He murmured before gasping to himself. "Oh! Mommy was acting really strange at home! Stranger than normal!" he added. It took only
a quick moment for Daniel to piece everything together. It has to be what Aya said. Lorraine was acting strange because of the ticket. Ben had one too, so that's
probably why he doesn't remember anything. He probably wound up tripping somewhere again, and dropped the ticket. That could be why he's back to normal. Daniel
nodded his head, standing up fully. "Don't worry Ben. Daddy is gonna find Mommy, and we'll all go home together." he told his son, whose eyes shown with delight.
"Really?" he exclaimed, to which his father nodded.
It was then that Daniel realized he was standing inside the Park. He didn't really think on how stupid it was to run in when he could've caught fire, but since he didn't
he took it as a sign that Aya must've made progress. He left his son with his fellow officers and told them to stay on guard and contact the Chief. As for himself, he
was going to back up his partner.
I eventually came out into a small clearing in the Park. I hadn't visited the Park in so long, so I had forgotten just how huge it really was. I walked into the clearing,
looking all over the place for the girl, but she wasn't anywhere in view. But before I could dwell on this, a shrill laugh erupted above. I already recognized that
disgusting laugh, pointing my gun upward to see Eve hovering overhead. "EVE! I swear you're gonna pay for what you've done!" I shouted angrily, my eyes flaring
and my heart heavy. Eve merely laughed as she always had, glaring down at me amusingly. "How rich! Placing the blame entirely on my shoulders because of your
incompetence! How very human of you!" she cackled mockingly, but I wasn't amused. "What did you say? You killed all those people!" I shouted angrily, but Eve
merely laughed again. "Yes, that's correct! And you let me kill them! You sat there, watching them die, and you didn't do anything to stop it! You're just as guilty as I
am!" she bellowed. A painful twinge grabbed onto my heart, but I shook my head at it, glaring up at her again. "No! I tried everything I could! I-"I shouted back, my
gun lowering itself while Eve laughed some more. "Did you? I know you're capable of so much more than what you're showing me! If you really wanted to, Aya, you
could've stopped me. But you didn't. Why do you suppose that is?" Eve continued, lowering herself down toward my level. I quickly backed away, lifting up my gun
again, unable to provide an answer, but Eve didn't seem to mind. She merely grinned as she gave her answer to me. "It's because you wanted to watch them die.
You're just like me, after all. You're far more superior to those disgusting humans. You did nothing because you chose not to." I growled at her, glaring at her angrily
as I took a step forward. "No! You're wrong! I'm nothing like you!" I shouted out shrilly, my hands starting to shake slightly. Eve started to cackle again, slowly circling
me as she spoke. "Oh, I'm afraid you'll come to understand that we are more similar than you think. As you continue to evolve, you'll come to understand yourself
more and more. You'll come to crave the destruction that you can cause, and you'll be drunk on your own power. You'll come to understand your place in this world,
and when you do, you'll find just how worthless the humans' lives really are."
As Eve spoke, I slowly shook my head, my gun lowering as I closed my eyes. No. She's wrong. I'm… I'm nothing like her! She's wrong! She's wrong! She's wrong!
She's wrong! She's wrong! I then spun around when Eve hovered behind me, pointing my gun at her. "You're wrong!" I shouted out, firing a round at her, but it merely
stopped in mid air as it always had, with Eve flashing me a small smile. "You'll understand in due time." She replied, hovering up into the air again. "Hold it! I'm not
letting you get away!" I shouted at her as I followed her with my gun. "Then come after me, Aya Brea!" Eve merely challenged as she cackled again, flying away
above the trees. Growling, I started to sprint after her when something caught my eye, forcing me to stop in my tracks, my eyes widening. In the thick of trees before
me, a shadow started to emerge, revealing the shape of a large, golden male lion the size of a small car. My heart started to beat rapidly as I took a few steps
backward, staring in shock. You've got to be kidding me! A fucking LION? Seriously? Shaking slightly, I raised up my gun at it, swallowing hard as the large beast
slowly made its way out of the trees and into the clearing, its eyes looking right at me. I took a deep breath in an effort to calm myself. It'll be fine. I just need to
perform as I have been. It'll be fine.
I tried to calm myself down, but it really was hard with a lion the size of a car bearing down on me. It purred softly in its throat, but it was far from cute. It showed off
its large fangs, as if letting me know that that's how it will tear me apart, but I glared back at it, tightening my grip on my gun. Not wanting to let the big cat have the
first move, I started to fire some rounds at the feline, intending to end this quickly. I don't care how efficient my healing is; I won't let this thing tear me up! But,
something a little unexpected, even at this point, caused me to gasp in surprise: the cat suddenly vanished, the bullets I fired embedding themselves into the trees in
the back. I blinked my eyes a few times, lowering my gun in disbelief. Did I imagine it? That's what I was starting to think before I realized that the lion was standing
farther to the right. I quickly jumped further away from it as I pointed my gun in its direction again, my heart beating faster now. How did it do that? I tried to assess
the situation I was in, tried to figure out how such a large cat moved over such a distance in such a short amount of time when the sudden realization made my skin
crawl; it was just that fast…
As if sensing my thoughts, the lion reared back and pelted forward with a mighty roar. By the time I realized it had moved, it was already right in front of me, reared
up on its hind paws, its right, front paw lifted up over its head as it towered over me, ready to strike. I started to lift up my gun towards its face, but it already swung
down its paw, claws extended, toward me...
