VERONICA

Fists banged on the door, their laughter coming from outside, echoing within the walls. I covered my ears with my hand, tears slipping down my cheeks. 'Please, please, God. Help.' I kept praying within.

I didn't dare to move from the spot. I couldn't.

My clothes stank and I was covered with filth. The small space was also starting to smell bad, churning my stomach. But I preferred it over going out. I had to wait until the school was empty. If I ran into any other person from school, perhaps I wouldn't survive this time.

I didn't know how long it had been, but eventually my tears dried. I placed my head against the wall, replaying the torments of my life.

Damon turned out just as vile as the rest of his friends. It was foolish of me to even consider him as a good person when all his friends were so vicious.

I wanted to cry again but no tears came, instead my eyes burned. It was so bad and slowly my eyes turned heavy and I didn't realize when I fell asleep.

I woke up with a nightmare of drowning in rotten cakes. My heart raced heavily as I sat up straight.

I blinked, confused at first, but slowly, I realized I was in the closet. Then reality crept in, aching my heart. I wished all of this was a nightmare as well...

Thankfully, there was no sound coming from outside. I waited for another moment before stepping out cautiously.

However, the moment I stepped out, panic kicked in. It was dark outside!

How long was I in that closet? How did I manage to sleep for such an extended period? I had completely forgotten to prepare my father's meals. I must return home as soon as possible!

I rushed to the exit gate, but it was already locked. Luckily, the fence wasn't too high, but climbing over it with my weight would still be twice as hard.

However, there was no time to spare. I needed to return home promptly. I could only hope that Father had remained out late today. This would afford me sufficient time to prepare his meal before his return.

Otherwise, it was going to be... 'No! No! Don't think anything stupid!' I reminded myself. 'It'll be fine. You'll be fine.'

I grasped the top of the fence and hoisted myself up. As I placed one leg on the ledge, it creaked under my weight, and I prayed hard so it would not give way. I certainly did not need any additional difficulties.

I threw one leg over the edge, and holding on tightly, I crossed my leg to the other side. My pants caught in the tip and as I struggled, it ripped my pants and cut my leg.

"Agh!" I let out a squeal when I landed with a thud on the floor, scraping my elbow in the process. Not only was I a dirty, smelly mess, but I was also injured now...

I dragged myself home through the night. I was nervous as hell because I knew the implication of what I had done.

God, how could I be so stupid?!

The light on our front porch was on and there was no sound coming from inside. Papa would still be outside. There was usually chaos inside the house whenever he was around.

The front door was open and I stepped inside. Mama and Ethan were sitting together when I entered.

"V-Vero.." Ethan called. It was difficult for him to speak because of his deformity.

Born crippled and with a speech deformity, he didn't get basic treatments or speech therapy. Papa turned his eyes away from him as soon as he saw that he couldn't be the child he wanted. His attitude towards mama also changed. She was a shadow of her former self but she still loved papa and worked hard to pay off his debts...

"What happened to you?" Mama asked, bringing me back to reality. Her eyes darted between me and the door.

"Why are you home late? Where did you go?" My elder step-sister, Elena barked, suddenly appearing in the staircase.

"I didn't go anywhere." I murmured.

"What is wrong with you?! We were going to have a quiet day if you just came home early." She was angry. At me, of course. She didn't care about my appearance or the injury I had.

"Where the f*ck have you been?" I heard my fathers voice and I froze. He wasn't supposed to be back home!

Before I could respond, he grabbed my hair and dragged me deeper into the house.

"I didn't go anywhere" I screamed but he only tightened his grip.

"That's a lie. She tried to seduce a boy in school and left with another!" I heard Elena's voice.

"It's not true" I sobbed but papa paid no heed.

He slammed my face into the wall repeatedly until everything started numbing within me.

"I'm not going to raise a fucking whore" he spat and let go of my hair.

I heard the sound of his buckle coming undone...

The first crack of the belt on my back felt like hell, I remembered what had happened in school and I even felt more pain. When Dad was done with what he called 'discipline' my back hurt as hell.

"Go back to wherever you're coming from. I don't want you in the house!" He snarled.

"Where do you want her to go this late?" Mum's voice came to my ear.

"I don't care." He hissed. "She can go to hell! I don't care for any whore!"

I was sobbing on the ground, torn and broken, and Elena only came to add fuel to the fire...

"That serves you right. Who do you think you are? Confessing your feelings to Damon. Who are you to even have feelings for anyone? I only wished dad would have killed you!" she mocked and left me.

"V-vivi" Ethan called but I wasn't listening to him.

"Veronica" my mum tried calling me too but with the last ounce of strength in me. I dashed out of the house.

As I ran, I thought about how my life was a living hell?

"Why did you have to bring me to this earth to suffer, Lord? What did I ever do to make everyone hate me so much? Why am I not perfect like other people?"

"Fuck my dad! Fuck Elena? Fuck school? Fuck everyone who has ever mocked me?" I cursed loudly as I kept running. I climbed the fence to the school just as I had initially done. I wanted to hide in the closet again. That was the best place for me!

I ran upstairs, as I was running I missed a step and I tried my best to stop the fall, yet I failed...

My head smacked on something hard and my movements grew weaker.

My vision blurred. I could hear screams, they were fading. The flash of the light, it was darkening.

Mama's helpless face flashed before my eyes. Her efforts and helplessness.

Dad's angry face replaced hers... If I survived this, he would say it was my fault.

He would say I embarrassed him again.

Yesterday floated within me. About mastering my courage. About saying "I like you."

I had always waited. Waiting for kindness. Waited for someone to choose me. Waited for things to change.

Yet, they never did...

My chest hurt so much I thought it would explode. Everything was darkening before my eyes.

I tried to move, but I couldn't.

I wished I could do it again. If I could, I wouldn't beg. I wouldn't hope. I wouldn't wait for anyone.

I would be strong. I would never let anyone push me like this.

If only I had another chance, I wouldn't live like Veronica.

Darkness closed in. The pain faded, going far away from me, and the world went silent...

---

THIRD PERSON POV

(ABYSS) 2ND LARGEST HEADQUARTER, BLUE HEAVEN ISLAND– 9:30 PM

"Is everyone safe?" Hunter asked as he moved through the people who had been removed from the building.

"Savanna" Lena cried frantically. "Savanna didn't make it out."

Hunter couldn't believe his ears. Nothing could have survived that explosion. If Savanna didn't make it out with the others, then there was no way she could survive it. And that was a huge problem.

Savanna was the best they had in Abyss.

"We found a body!" one of the men yelled and Hunter ran in that direction. Lena was not far behind, going to see if the body indeed belonged to her best friend.

The body was burnt beyond recognition. Hunter hoped that it had just been another person and Savanna made it out in time.

But when Lena started sobbing again, his hopes dipped. "The necklace" Lena went closer, taking it from her neck.

He recognized the necklace very well. It belonged to Savanna. Ever since he knew her, she always had that around her neck. She never took it off.

"My friend is dead!" Lena dropped to her knees, grieving while the others watched.

"I have to call Master." Hunter muttered and moved away from the scene.

Master was the head of Abyss and he had been away when the explosion happened.

He needed to know that Savanna was dead. He would be furious, yes, but he must know.

This was going to be a huge problem for their organization...

******

CAMPUS CLINIC, NORVALE (A COUNTRY SIDE SMALL TOWN OF BELVAR)- 9:45pm...

The unmoving body of Veronica remained on the bed. Her mother was still in shock and her father was absent.

She didn't expect Veronica to bleed so much and pass out. The tears wouldn't come no matter how long she stared at the corpse of her daughter.

It was her fault. She should have done something but she watched Veronica suffer. And now, she left them forever.

Ethan sobbed beside his sister's unconscious body. He knew what happened. He knew she was gone and he would never see her again.

He wished he had stopped it. He wished he could do something.

"M-Mom" Clara turned at the sound of her son calling out to her. But she was even more surprised when she saw Veronica sitting up in bed with a strange look in her eyes...

SAVANNA

When my eyes opened, I felt confused. I didn't recognize the faces of the people around me. I was in a strange hospital, with a splitting headache throbbing in my head.

"V-Vero," a voice called out and I turned, only to find a boy. His eyes were wet with tears and yet there was a wide smile on his face.

"V-Vero," he called again.

Vero? Who's that!? Why does he keep looking at me that way? Who is he?

Damn! Where am I!? What the hell is happening here!? ....

I had a million questions. And sitting at one place wasn't going to get me the answers I needed.

I tried to get up but I was stopped by a small woman with a surprisingly tight grip.

"Stay here. I'll go get the doctor." She let go of me and dashed out. I wasn't one to take orders though. Much less from a person I didn't know.

Ignoring her words and the little boy, who was still beside the bed, I left the bed, even though it ached like hell. But no pain could have ever stopped me.

I walked towards the first door and it led me straight into a bathroom. Blinking, I turned around to leave, but something froze me. My head snapped toward it, and- What the fucking hell?...

There, through the mirror, staring at me was a strange face of a girl. I stepped forward, eyes on the girl as disbelief crawled within me like a tyrant.

This wasn't me...

I touched the face slowly.

"What just..." Nothing came out of me.

I tried to remember what happened. What could have led to this situation?

Did an experiment go wrong?

No... We weren't working on any experiment that I could remember. The harder I tried to think and remember, the worse my headache became.

Suddenly, the door flew open while I was hunched over the sink and a doctor entered with the same little woman from before.

"Come back to bed Veronica. Let the doctor check your head." She said, "You hit your head hard in the car accident."

Car accident? I touched my head, and a splitting ache made me hiss.

"Let me check you young lady. It's a miracle you're awake."

"What?!"

"You died. For approximately thirty minutes. We were about to move you when you suddenly woke up. In all my years as a doctor, I've never seen anything like this."

If there was one thing I didn't believe in, it was miracles. I was a woman of fact and reality. There was nothing like a miracle to me.

But the man's words enlightened me on what had happened. The owner of this body... Probably named Veronica had died for thirty minutes.

In that time, something must have happened to me and I was transported into this body. If that was the case... then this girl was currently in my body!

"How far are we from Blueheaven?" I asked suddenly. The doctor and the little woman frowned.

"Blueheaven!?"

"Yes. I need to get there now." I couldn't hide the urgency in my tone. I do need to know what happened.

"No. You need to get your head checked." The little woman gasped.

"You are badly injured. Besides, you've never even been to the nearest town. How will you go to that faraway island?!"

"Calm down madam. She must have hit her head really hard and it may be disturbing her slightly." The doctor spoke. "There's nothing a check up and some rest cannot fix. Your daughter will be alright."

So this woman was my... no, Veronica's mother. I didn't have a mother. None of us at the Abyss did. We were all nameless children picked up from the streets.

A sudden memory hit me and I clutched my head. I remembered being at the lab doing something on the pannel and then... I rushed hurriedly.

I remembered seeing Lena before everything blew up.

Shit! Lena.

I pushed past the two people in search of a television. If there was an explosion, it would currently be broadcast now.

Like I expected, in the waiting hall there was a huge television and they were talking about the explosion at the BlueHeaven.

My real face was displayed on the television and the caption underneath shook me.

'Savanna was dead.'

'The greatest assassin on earth, Savanna was dead.'

But I wasn't dead. I was alive and in another's body. I staggered on my feet. What was really happening!?

"Let's take her back to bed," I heard behind me but I didn't register it. I let myself be led away and into the room I had awakened in.

What could have been the cause of the explosion? The lab was secure so it couldn't have been an attack. There was nothing being done that could set off an explosion.

Unless... unless somebody from the inside did it.

I had told myself countlessly not to trust anyone within the walls of that organization. Every single one was evil and selfish.

Especially Master. He was the origin of evilness.

Then what about Lena? Had she been hurt?

"The Abyss. Was there any other death recorded?" I asked.

Veronica's mother stared at me in awe. Her expression told me she wasn't expecting such behaviour from her daughter.

"Hello?" I waved my hand before her eyes.

She blinked and shook her head. "Savanna was the only one who died. Others were evacuated safely."

That made things even more suspicious.

I tried to think more, desperate to figure out what exactly happened, but my headache sharpened again, and I clutched my head... This time, some fragments of strange memories were creeping into me.

Creepy Laughters... Fatso... You're a shame... Whore... Sorrows... Accident... Blood... Fire...

Those things jumbled in my head, shaking me violently.

"Vero... Vero, what's wrong?" The woman's voice came again, but I wasn't in the situation to answer her.

I didn't know how it was happening, but the memories of this body were within me now and only these two people- I glanced at Veronica's mother and brother... These two were the only ones who ever loved her.

The rest- only bullied her.

"You okay?" Veronica's mother asked again.

"Hmm..." I slowly nodded and her face relaxed.

Veronica's spirit wasn't exchanged. But, I am in Veronica's body... I glanced at the two people beside the bed. They looked happy knowing their Veronica is alive, yet, it was hardly the truth.

Besides- there were things I still need to figure out. How did everyone get out of the lab but me? Was it a targeted attack? That would explain a lot of things.

I leaned against the bed. My brain was calculating each part of the situation.

I was here now, I didn't really die. For now, I could keep low in this body and investigate until I discovered what really happened at the organization.

And for Veronica- My fists clenched tightly as the ache of hers slipped through my nerves.

"You don't have to be afraid anymore. If they try to cross the line again, this time, they have to go through me first..."

*****

KINGSPORT (THE HEART OF BELVAR )

THE ABRAHAM ESTATE, VICTOR ABRAHAM'S HOME - 11:45 pm...

VICTOR

Cassius, my trusted assistant, walked through the spacious living room.

Typically, he would pause to appreciate the magnificence of my home. Each corner of the house was adorned with expensive decors of a high-taste. Custom-made items were incorporated into its design. Only the most exquisite of everything could be found within.

But today wasn't the day...

He expected me to already be upset because of the news that shook the world... Savanna was dead. Killed in a lab explosion.

I wouldn't hide the fact that I was, but- that wasn't for them to know. I had learned hiding my emotions way before I had grown understanding because this world demanded only domination.

I walked into the living room with my usual calm and coldness.

My eyes were as cold as Arctic ice at the moment, making the whole house feel like an ice cellar.

Good, they should be aware of it.

Cassius immediately lowered his head, hiding his gaze, his expression turning submissive.

"Boss..." Cassius greeted with a shaky tone. "As the news said, Savanna is indeed dead. I've confirmed it with our guys and confirmed that the lab doesn't have any exits to escape."

"...It's been blown to rubble there," he added hesitantly as he glanced at my hardened face.

"I know." I responded eventually, my voice was calm, yet a warning coldness was evident.

I waved him off.

Cassius immediately backed away, not daring to stay another second. Anyone who had ever known me knew that the quieter I was, the angrier I was.

I was still staring at the computer screen in the study. Precisely, at the woman on the screen.

She was a genius assassin, but she also had another identity, she was a talented doctor.

But what made everyone remember her was always her stunning beauty and her confidence that she looked down on everything.

No one believed that she would die like this.

But I knew well the ability of my subordinates to do their job. The information would not be wrong.

My gaze once again returned to the top of my father's case.

"It's a shame," I whispered, "Dad's sickness might not ever find someone to cure him again..."