Blue flames surged across the sky, flickering with purple tints. It was a beautiful yet surreal sight, and everyone at the beach party stared as if caught in a dream. The fire burned high and bright, illuminating the night and clearing away the surrounding darkness.

  Then I realized! The flames were rising from the resort. Everything there was burning, sending blazing fire shooting into the sky.

  “What the…” My dress, my purse, everything I owned was in my room at the resort. All I had left was my phone.

  As confusion clouded my mind, I heard the constant sound of waves crashing against the shore, music still playing from the party, and… a faint scream in the distance, coming from the direction of the resort.

  **Bang!** A deafening sound echoed. Instinctively, I turned to look.

  At the edge of the woods stood a figure completely clad in black, outfitted like a soldier on a mission. He stood still, gripping a rifle in his hands.

  Nearby lay a man in a T-shirt and shorts, motionless on the sand. Blood sprayed around him, soaking his shirt in deep red.

  More figures in black emerged from the woods, each holding a gun. They didn’t speak or give any warning; they simply aimed their weapons at everyone.

  "RUN!!!" Someone screamed desperately, their voice cutting through the cold wind like a knife, snapping everyone from their shock.

  Chaos erupted. People screamed and ran as the relentless sound of gunfire swallowed their cries.

  Deafening gunfire followed by people collapsing before me, like puppets with their strings cut. One by one, they fell.

  My hands began to shake uncontrollably as I struggled to maneuver my wheelchair through the sand. The wheels sank deeper, slowing me down.

  “HELP!!! PLEASE HELP!” I yelled, but my voice was lost amid the chaos.

  Panic washed over me as I realized I was trapped in my wheelchair. I scanned the beach frantically, searching for anything that could aid me. But everyone else was running for their lives—was I going to die here?

  Tears streamed down my face as I called out, “Help! Anyone, please help!” But no one stopped to listen to a disabled woman like me. I don’t want to die!.

  Suddenly, my wheelchair was pulled from behind. I turned to see a woman in a waiter uniform, drenched in sweat. Her face was pale, eyes wide with panic. She gripped the back of my wheelchair tightly and began dragging me backward on the sandy beach.

  We moved slowly, but it wasn’t fast enough. Realizing we couldn’t escape with me in the wheelchair, she yelled, “Hold on to me!” Without waiting for a response, she turned, squatted down, presenting her back to me.

  “Hurry! Hold on to me! We have to run! Now!” she shouted, her voice trembling.

  Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around her shoulders. Without hesitation, she grasped my thighs securely, lifting me onto her back and sprinting away.

  We reached another beach on the island. I couldn’t see the resort anymore, but that blue flame still flickered in the night sky, tainted by dark smoke. Faint screams and gunshots echoed behind us.

  She set me down behind a large rock, hiding me from view.

  “You have to stay hidden,” she urged, desperation in her voice.

  “W… Wait! Please don’t leave me alone.” My hands trembled with fear, suffocating me.

  “There should be a fishing boat somewhere along the beach! I’ll try to find it and come back for you with help… Just stay hidden for a while.” She looked into my eyes, her expression tense.

  After a long moment, she turned and started walking away.

  “T—Thank you! Please survive!” I understood the gravity of the situation; my being disabled would only slow her down, making my heart ache with familiar abandonment.

  “My name is Emma,” she called without looking back.

  “My name is Zara,” I replied, but she just kept walking.

  “I’ll come back for you. Hide here and wait for help,” she promised, then began to run again, her shoulders quaking. I hoped she found help.

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  After Emma's footsteps faded, my breath slowed as I pressed my back against the cold rock, trying to make myself small.

  Phone! I pulled it from my pocket with shaking hands. The screen blazed brightly in the dark, briefly illuminating my face before I saw—no signal. I quickly lowered the brightness, but it didn't change my situation.

  Then something hit me hard.

  "Mom..." The word slipped out, barely a whisper, but its weight crushed me. She was still in that resort. After dinner, she had complained of a migraine and gone to our room to rest, promising to join me later.

  I stared at my useless legs stretched before me in the sand. At twenty-one, I still depended on my mother for everything. Bitterness surged up my throat.

  She was the only one who stayed after the accident. She never made me feel like a burden… Tears streamed down my face as I pictured her trapped in that burning building. Was she okay? Was she even alive?

  I peered around the edge of the rock. The beach stretched empty and dark in both directions. Emma said she'd find a boat, but what if she didn’t come back? What if something happened to her?

  "I can't just sit here," I muttered, attempting to pull myself forward. My arms ached as I dragged my body through the sand.

  But where do I go? Crawling toward the resort to stop the fire? That was ridiculous!

  I bit my lip hard, trying to suppress my frustration. What could I possibly do?

  Pushing myself back behind the rock, I curled up, exhaustion settling in. The cold winds from the sea hit me, and the sound of waves crashing against the shore felt like a rhythmic heartbeat, the screams fading to an eerie quiet.

  I just needed to stay hidden. Everything would be okay, my mom would come with that stupid wheelchair and pick me up. It should be alright…

  It had been a while since Emma left. Maybe she wouldn’t come back at all—maybe she was dead already. I kept checking my phone for any signal. All I wanted was to hear my mom's voice, even if only for a second, just to know she was okay. But the signal remained dead.

  It was around 2 a.m. now. Awfully quiet, too quiet. The night had been filled with screams and gunfire, but now... nothing, as if everything is just a bad dream.

  What was I going to do next? Wait here until morning? Or crawl back to the party and… Just imagining that scene made my body tremble again. I couldn’t go back that way.

  The silence stretched, pressing down on me like a heavy weight. Cold air bit at my skin, but I barely felt it. My body was exhausted from fear and adrenaline.

  A sudden noise made me freeze. A faint ringing sound like a tiny bell swaying in the wind.

  I held my breath, focusing on the surrounding sound. It was close, but what was it?

  “Meow—?”

  Out of the darkness, a sleek black shape moves toward me. It walks gracefully across the sand, tail swaying lazily.

  "It's just a cat." I patted the sand beside me, signaling it to come closer.

  But then my eyes caught something unusual. A delicate piece of jewelry glinted in the moonlight, hanging from its tail, a small golden bell attached to it.

  I stare at black cat with weird jewelry on its tail, but the oddest part is that its eyes remain closed, yet somehow, I felt it looking directly at me.

  Something was wrong with this cat… It approached but ignored the spot I patted, instead sitting at the end of my legs, staring with its closed eyes.

  “You couldn’t walk, yet you survived the massacre,” the black cat spoke in a soft, pleasant voice, gentle yet feels like someone with absolute authority.

  Maybe I was hallucinating, or just too tired. Was I imagining a talking cat now?

  The cat shook its head slightly. “I don’t think anyone is coming to help you, though.”

  "Then what? Are you going to help me, talking cat?" Surprisingly, I found myself talking back to it. The air around this cat felt unexpectedly calm.

  "Hahaha!" It laughed, revealing sharp fangs as it covered its mouth with a paw. "You’re funny. It’s been a long time since a human spoke to me like that."

  “Suddenly a cat is talking to me. Maybe I've gone insane.” The cat circled around me, as if investigating something amusing, but I didn’t care anymore.

  I pressed my back against the cold rock, my breathing shallow. Everything felt like it spinning out of control. This isn’t real. None of this can be real.

  My hands shook uncontrollably as tears blurred my vision. “Why is this happening?” The desperate words slipped out before I could stop them. I bit my lip, but it didn’t help. Desperation tightened around my chest.

  “Your life is fading away,” The black cat continued. “I can feel your fate mean to be ending here tonight.” Its voice remained soothing calm.

  “I feel so tired, so cold.” I admitted, the exhaustion and helplessness gnawing at me.

  “You will probably die soon,” The cat stating it like it is normal. “Maybe they found you and kill you off. Maybe no one will find you and the night will claim you.” Its voice carries an unsettling calm to it.

  The black cat stopped moving around me and sat beside me. “Hmm… Since I’m here, I’ll extend a helping paw. It will change your fate.” I felt something, a spark igniting within me. My eyes snapped open. The cat pressed its paw against my thigh, a warm, firm touch, sending ripples of sensation through me.

  For the first time since the accident, I can feel my legs. The cat's paw was warm, and a tingling sensation spread from the point of contact, radiating through me.

  “Consider yourself lucky, funny human.” I gaped in shock as golden light began to shine from the cat paw pressed against my thigh. “Let’s see where destiny takes you. Interesting, is it not?” The light grew brighter.

  My mind raced, and I tried to yell, “What are you doing? What happe—”

  “Don't worry, weak human. Oh, I almost forgot, I should bestow you with a gift. That will be enough, maybe.” The golden light engulfed me, blinding my eyes. Too much light…

  The beach settles back into its serene stillness. Waves lap tirelessly against the shore, while the cold wind whispers through the sand. Night sky with countless stars casting a timeless, unchanging feeling over everythings.

  Zara isn’t behind the rock anymore, only her phone lies on the sandy beach.