"I advise you leave. If you exit in two minutes..."
Jasmine's eyes snapped open.
"...you might actually make it out of here alive."
The voice was a haunting resonance, echoing in her ears as if the speaker was standing right over her.
But the room was empty. Cold and dark.
"What a nightmare," she muttered, kicking off her sheets as she slipped her feet into her yellow slippers walking up to the window.
She rolled up the curtains, but there was no twilight to greet her.
Outside, the world was a blurred, grey tomb of water. It had rained for eight days straight, but tonight, the sky looked even more bruised and vengeful.
Jasmine let the curtain fall with an exasperated sigh.
'It's been like this since the beginning...'
She grabbed her umbrella and stepped onto the porch. Before she could even open it, the rain lashed at her sneakers, soaking the canvas instantly.
A jagged bolt of lightning ripped through the clouds, followed by a crack of thunder which shook her bones, making her shiver.
'..Every dream I've had always came true... one way or the other,' she thought, her heart hammering in her chest.
'And right now, I have this stinging urge to go outside, even if it is exactly what would trigger the nightmare.'
"I need to think," she whispered. "But not under this downpour."
There was only one place where the clouds supposedly parted: The city of Meryeline.
She had tested the legend herself. It was an atmospheric anomaly and her only chance at peace.
She hadn't made it halfway down the street when a sleek, grey sports car glided to a halt beside her. The tinted window wound down to reveal the breathtakingly handsome face of– Draco Vinhertte.
He was undeniably handsome, with sparkling green eyes and a bronze complexion that contrasted sharply with his dyed grey hair.
But Jasmine knew better than to be blinded by those shimmers.
To the world, he was a superstar; to her, he was the arrogant self-serving boss who made her question reality itself.
"Fancy seeing you here, Jia." he said.
Jasmine bristled. She hated that nickname more than anything.
"Give me a break, Draco. And quit pretending you didn't know I lived on this block." She adjusted her umbrella and kept walking.
The car crawled alongside her.
"Then let's cut to the chase." Draco's voice turned serious. "I need to speak with you, and I can't do that while chasing you through this flood."
Jasmine stopped. "Fine. But I'm going to Meryeline. Take me there, or I'll go there on foot!" She finalised, walking faster.
Draco stepped out of the car, instantly opening an umbrella large enough to shield a small crowd.
He caught her arm. "Do you have any idea what this does to my reputation? People will think I'm a monster if my personal secretary is seen wandering the streets like a stray cat."
Jasmine scoffed at the sarcasm.
"What, am I your wife now?" she shot back.
"No, but you're my employee. You should start acting like it or you're fired!"
The threat hit her square in the guts. Jasmine thought of her debts and the mountain of tuition fees she still owed.
She sighed and climbed into the leather-scented warmth of the car.
The drive was short and tense. As they crossed the border into Meryeline, the rain vanished as if a faucet had been turned off.
Even the signpost was dry as hay.
"We're here, Happy?" Draco announced before Jasmine could even start a conversation.
"God, you're boring!" She snapped, slamming the car door behind her.
"Twenty minutes, Jia! Don't make me wait!" Draco shouted after her.
He stepped out, holding up his umbrella habitually, but then paused.
He looked up at the clear star-lit sky, his expression blank with confusion. "Wait... it's not raining?"
Jasmine didn't wait for him to figure it out. She sprinted toward the old tower at the edge of the district, ducking into its stairwell.
"He'll never find me here!" She puffed her chest, but the sight of the rows of stair coiled up endlessly above her made her shoulders slump.
"This isn't like I remember~"
She climbed until her lungs burned, desperate to reach the top.
Then she stopped. She'd heard it before and thought it was in her head. But this time, Jasmine was sure that the sound came from below.
"A free meal," a raspy voice hissed behind her. "And out here in the open."
Jasmine froze.
Because standing by the ledge down below her, was a creature which looked like a man, but its skin was the color of raw muscle.
It smiled, revealing rows of yellow sharp teeth stained with something dark and dripping wet.
She scrambled back as the creature—the Hades—stepped toward her.
Her back met the cold iron door behind her. She turned the knob desperately, but it wouldn't budge.
"Running won't do you any good," it croaked.
Adrenaline surged through her veins. With gathered strength, she pushed the door down and ran into the terrace.
Suddenly, the wind whirred.
There was someone who had long been standing at the rink of the terrace, long before Jasmine even got there. His aura was radiating white when he turned to meet her gaze.
Jasmine didn't stand to ask questions. She lunged forward, grabbing onto the stranger's heavy blue cloak and hid behind him.
"Please," she sobbed, pointing towards the door. "Help me!"