Aya Brea opened the doors of Carnegie Hall, her "date" at her side already making a fool of himself. Although, honestly, she hadn't been too enthusiastic about the occasion to begin with. Not only was the guy an annoying prick, as well as some relation to one of her friends, but she also could not stand operas. She wasn't even sure why she had picked to come here, especially on Christmas Eve.
Maybe tomorrow morning I can catch a flight out Detroit and head up to Canada for the week...
The front doors opened and she heard the beginning lines from one of the performers, a wave of relief inwardly sweeping over her as she realized they were already late, meaning the show would be over sooner than expected. She walked forward, opening the next set of doors into the main hall and sat a few rows from the front, trying to focus on the story, though she spoke very little Italian. Somehow, she gathered that a prince had fallen in love with a woman proclaimed to be a witch, and now he didn't want her to be burned...
Aya watched as the performer playing the accused witch stepped forward for her solo.
It should be the midpoint... Good, we missed the first half...
A gleam showed in the performer's eye, and Aya felt for some reason as though the show had her every thread of attention. As the actress began to sing, the room grew warm, almost insufferable.
Maybe I'm imagining it? No one else seems bothered by it...
No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than a group of elderly people in the front three rows burst into flame, as did the room itself. Watching in horror as others in the room either spontaneously combusted or ran in a futile effort to escape the flames, getting caught under flaming debris. Her eye caught the filth she'd come in with frozen in fear as a flaming rafter fell just above him. Leaping toward him, she tackled him to the ground and stood, drawing her Beretta from a purse she had hidden it in and running to the stage.
"Freeze, NYPD!"
The actress turned, eyeing Aya with a smirk. "Hmph...You're the only one who seems to be fine..."
Aya felt confusion sweep over her as the actress spoke so calmly, not even slightly bothered as to what she had seen.
"What?"
The actress turned her back to Aya, the smirk growing a bit.
"You should be awakening soon..."
"Wha... what are you talking about?" She kept her gun aimed, level with her target's head.
"Listen... Your cells are trying to communicate...
They're...calling out..." The actress emitted an evil laugh, her eyes beginning to glow a bit.
"What's happening...? My body...It's... It's getting hot!!"
"... Just as I thought..."
Aya doubled over as the sensation burned throughout her body, dropping to her knees in pain.
"What... is this? What did you DO TO ME?!"
Her eyes burned with anger as she struggled to remain on her guard.
"Our bodies are communicating with each other..."
"...WHAT? Communicating what? What do you want?!" Her eyes began to tear slightly as the pain grew overwhelming. Her gun still clutched in her hand, she felt the weight lowering her arm to the ground.
The actress turned back to her, the smirk growing ever-wider with each second as her eyes began to reflect her nature. "The more you use that power, the more you will become
like...me..."
Aya grew pissed, her temper flaring slightly as she firmly fought to grasp consciousness. "Power...? What power?! Who ARE you...?!"
Her face immediately shrank into a look of annoyance. "Eve."
"Eve?"
She crossed her arms, back to Aya again, and began to walk away. "I'm surprised you don't know me, Aya. You should know me well..."
Aya felt everything spinning, and began to see it all fade to white. She hit the floor, one sweeping question fleeing through her mind. "What?"
18 Years Ago...
The bed was cold, hard... metal. Was this what they called a hospital? So uncomfortable. But Daddy had said the doctors would fix what was wrong with her. They were going to make all the hurt go away. She trusted Daddy, especially since he was all that she had left, now that Mommy and Maya had died... She watched her vision blur as the bright lights came on, and the doctor walked over to her, putting a mask on her face.
"Now, count slowly backwards from 100."
She nodded, her eyes growing heavy. "100... 99..." Unconsciousness swept over her.
Aya awoke to find the stage empty and Eve gone. Dragging herself to her feet, she shook off the uneasiness and walked around the curtains to the backstage area, a large hole eaten through the floor by what appeared to be some form of controlled flame. She shook her head as she heard the E-911 responses outside.
Backup... And probably an ambulance. Too bad I'm the only one who survived...
She turned her gaze to the hole, its depths not reaching very far, but rather down into the dressing room area.
"I know she's down there..."
She took a deep breath, wondering how she had come to be so 'lucky' as to have such a day as this, and leapt into the hole, though the landing would not hit for several moments...