"A strong person is not the one who doesn't cry. A strong person is the one who cries & sheds tears for a moment, then picks up their sword to fight again."- Unknown.
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Chapter-2c "Eagle eyes"

I was scared of the darkness, I always was. It consumed me, pulled me into a dark void of isolation where no sound filled my ears and not a single flame of light flicked, where everything felt cold and dead, all that remained and I felt was a melancholy of silent chaos.

I didn't try to come back, but I embraced it and I braced for the impact,
No matter what, I will not break down!

I felt my tensed body slowly loosen, my clenched teeth release. Then my fists opened and my breathing returned to a rhythm and I felt the warmth, the light, the sound. And I heard it.

"It's uh...Liii..."
She pulled the word on, just to add some dramatic effect. Some gave up throwing their hands in the air, as they heard 'L', someone with my name might have puffed their chests to suck in all the victory, but I braced for the fall anyways.

She continued, "Liam Chan!"

And my heart dropped to the ground, bursting with a splash, like a water-balloon. I left the air out of my lungs that I didn't even know I was holding until. My vision wobbled with a blur, What was I expecting? That was So naïve of me.

I slouched forward and lifted my gaze, my heart had already become cold and calm. I searched for his face, he sat there looking straight into my teary eyes, it was stern, not sympathetic and not concerning.
Pete probably did understand my feelings, but he didn't say a word and I appreciated it. Last thing I needed was someone holding my shoulder to comfort me, breaking into my personal bubble of space and that aside, certainly I didn't want it to be some stranger that I met just a few hours ago.

I had always been alone and I liked it. It gave me freedom. Moreover - just a side note- I would never want to break down into an ugly cry in the middle of a crowd.

My imaginative hand patted my back, as my mind consoled my self,
'you did everything in your control, it's okay, it was not your fault!'
Was it though? It was indeed my fault, I shouldn't have ruined my interview in the first place.

The lady started speaking again and I assumed it was some sort of scripted wrap up, it went something like this-
"Guys! Surprise, surprise! Yep. You heard it absolutely right. We have a teeny-tiny added change this time, any guesses? We have an extra winner. Cheer up you guys. So the winner is.."
she paused briefly clearing her throat and hopped over to a desk to drink some water.
Then she resumed back to announce
"It's Leela Das. Congratulations!"

I didn't hear any of what had happened before, but the last part of 'Leela Das' caught my attention.
And I whipped my bent neck up, that whip was something that could potentially break all the bones in my neck, leaving me paralysed for my whole life.

I stood up, still unsure of the situation, and glanced at the crowd to cross-check if somebody else was the lucky one, but it did seem like it was me. All I saw was disappointed faces, jealous looks. I was in the same situation just minutes ago. But then again, this somehow made me guilty and proud at the same time.

I spotted those same ice blue eyes, he gave one-third of an actual nod, as if it was so precious. His lips tugged up, ever so slightly​. And I beamed with utmost happiness.

And the meet wrapped up. The crowd started dissolving and l fell limp into the couch with my heaving breaths and nervous laugh, as if I had escaped out of a lion's den- alive, safe and sound. Within​ a blink, Pete was gone. I looked around the lobby, it was empty, everyone was gone. I didn't even realise that already minutes had gone by, after the wrap-up.

I picked up my blue folder and started to the elevator, but it all seemed so confusing that I fumbled and just walked to and fro for atleast ten times. May be I was a little too overwhelmed. I took a moment to manoeuvre my erratic breathing into a normal rhythm and approached the lady in the lobby.

I asked politely about the direction of the elevator, she didn't even look up and just pointed her index towards a heavy door. I thanked before l left the desk.

I squealed in happiness. Just in time, the fancy elevator door dinged open.
There was a scrawny old man inside, I just settled to a corner of the shiny metallic lift and leaned back, rubbing my head.
All that adrenaline and blood that my heart was pumping, was throbbing my forehead, as I could feel every pulse plummeting my temples. Oddly enough, it felt a little less painful, not enjoyable but still acceptable. If this was what people called 'success', then so be it. I could churn and drink the same every day in my minion coffee mug and double the sugar.

The door opened and the old scrawny man left the cabin picking his nose, gross!
But that aside, I squealed even louder as the the doors shut back and I buried my face in my palms. A blink and the elevator doors flung open again, without any further ado I walked out.

But oddly it appeared sunny and plain, with only clear blue sky and occasional black birds.
No freaking way!
I was on the terrace of Nova-Gen tech-tower, the highest place in the whole of our pristin-city. I turned around to notice that the elevator display showed number -two. I had to wait a few minutes, till it reached the huge terrace that I was stranded for the moment.
How foolish of me that I didn't even press 'zero' while I got into the elevator?

So, I took in a long breath and waited crossing. I turned around to see the sky, it was clear with cottony clouds scattered sparsely. I heard the eagles screeching as if they were inviting me to soar up above in the sky and fly with them.
I walked near the railing, the air felt fresh and warm, as it swept my silver hair back.

I peeked down the skyscraper only to feel all dizzy as every detail on the ground appeared as tiny dots scattered against a brown and green background. Even the big alloy orb which was planted in front of the lawn appeared nothing more than a marble. I jerked back and shook my head massaging my throbbing temple.

"Careful kid!"
A stern, deep voice sounded from behind me.

I was hundred and fifty percent sure, that it was a security guard trying to stop me from horrendously falling down the tech-tower to commit suicide. But I was not, of course.

I turned around still rubbing my temple,
"I am not trying to suicide or anything, I just was waiting for..."
My words trailed off, as I saw him, the meta-human, the super-human or whatever​ they called him. But in his case, he was a super-villain.

I felt like my breath was caught midway inside my chest, my vocal ability was tuned down to nothing more than a three year old's goo-goo's and ga-ga's as I stuttered,
"Nnn...nn..Neon...bla..blaze, Neon-blaze!" Finally I blurted his name.

"Hi Miss Lee!"
His voice was deep but unrecognisable due to robotic tone.
His muscular self was flawlessly hugged by a thick black elastane fabric. Emerald green leather gloves covered his arms till elbows and he wore a pair of matching green knee length boots. Although he had his arms folded across his chest, I could notice his signature emblem of neon green lighting bolt, almost in the form of 'N' with each of its ends curving backwards to form a circle around the bolt.

My eyes unknowingly traced down to his thighs and then to his feet, which were floating in the mid air with a trail of neon green light which faded to nothingness, just above the ground.
Then my gaze flung right back to his face which was almost covered in a mask with a slit of dark glass for his vision, making his mouth and cheeks barely visible. It matched perfectly with his suit.

He commanded me to move away from the place I was standing and continued,
"Never ever look down from 75th floor, Leela. Most of humans are afraid of heights!"

Pfft! Well I was not. It's just the horrible head ache, it made me have funny turns.
I have taken many roller coaster rides and boy, never have I once fallen sick after.

Nonetheless, I started walking back towards the elevator and while I did, I turned back a couple of times to only notice his hair which was wavy, but was glowing neon green, which didn't seem that astonishing after all, as I asked myself,
'he is a villain right? Why the heck did he save me?'
He didn't save me in actual sense. There was nothing bad that was going to happen to me either, even if he didn't come.

As if on cue, the elevator doors opened and I went in with no second thought. But he blocked the closing doors asking, "you alright? I can walk you, if you want."

"No." My face instantly frowned. He was taken aback with my loud response.
"I mean, I am fine. Look..." I squeezed my lips and composed myself and continued, "I didn't come here to suicide or anything, okay?"

"Who said so?" He still held his hand blocking the elevator, as my frown grew into a shock.
"Mehh...I just felt that you were uneasy. You do look queasy, don't you?" He cocked his head, sagging the corners of his mouth. That nerve.

"No, I am fine, thankyou!" I shook my head and pressed the button again, urging him to let go of the door.

"Oh, sorry. Here you go!" He released his blocking hand, and I couldn't help but notice his smirky face disappearing in between the closing doors. I was shaken by the fact of how young he seemed; not even close to what I had imagined him to be at all.

I walked out of the Nova-Gen skyscraper, passing by a giant aluminium orb with two alloy rings circling it, making it look like some sort of atomic structure.
I looked at the sky only to notice his tall figure with neon trail, watching me from a height, as if he waited only for me to walk out of the building.

I felt the tingle run down my spine as I realised how random, yet spooky it felt. I signalled a taxi and hopped in, I asked the driver to just leave soon and didn't even bother to tell my address, as I felt his eagle eyes still spying and gawking at me.