Prologue
“Stop being a total party pooper, Ivy, come on!” Sadie grunted at me, frustration etched across her face as I moved toward the exit of the clubhouse. The blinding lights were making me dizzy fuck my alcohol intolerance. “No, Sadie. I really want to go home na. I’ll call your boyfriend to pick you up before I leave,” I said, resisting all her attempts to drag me back to the lounge area. Sadie was a year younger than me, and she usually pulled me out of my shell, considering I spent most of my days inside my small, cozy apartment. She was carefree in a way that perfectly balanced my solitary personality. She stomped her feet, and I shot her a glare. She would never want to see me like this. Sensing my annoyance, she pouted. “Okay, fine! That’s why you never get a boyfriend, you're scary.” I rolled my eyes at her. “Give me your phone, or you can just call Ryan instead.” She slipped her hand into her Chanel clutch and drew out her phone. The loud party music faded as we walked through the exit, and I finally felt like I could breathe again. “Okay, fine! Don’t pick me up, I’m breaking up with you!” Sadie yelled into her phone in a high-pitched voice. I snatched her phone from her hand, it always amazed me that Ryan had lasted two months with her. She protested, complaining about me taking it, but she knew I didn’t tolerate this kind of behavior. “Hey, Ryan, are you busy right now?” I asked, trying not to sound overly formal, though my voice came out stiff. His husky voice answered, clearly indicating he hadn’t slept much. “Okay, that’s fine. I’ll just book Sadie a cab,” I said, ending the call and glancing at Sadie, who was now sulking. “Can you please give your boyfriend a break with your attitude? You know he’s been reviewing for the bar exam, and from what I heard, you didn’t tell him you were out at a bar,” I added. She exhaled sharply. “You don’t understand, Ivy. You never had a boyfriend.” This girl I didn’t want to stoop to the level she was implying, but honestly, she deserved some mutual attitude. “Oh, that’s really mature of you, Sadie. You know I could get a lot of boyfriends if I wanted to. I just choose not to. Don’t start a fight with me.” Now she looked apologetic, lazily closing the distance and clinging to my forearm. “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean that. Are you hungry?” I swear, my eyeballs rolled to the back of my head. “No, let’s go home. I have an early day tomorrow.”
We leaned against the curb of the driveway, waiting for the cab I booked, the clubhouse lights flickering behind us. Sadie rested her cheek on my shoulder, half-asleep. “I swear, Sadie, if you puke on me, I will slap you and leave you here,” I said, half-laughing and half-breathing. “I’m not dizzy,” she whispered hoarsely. I sighed. After a minute, the cab pulled up to the curb, doors opening with a soft click. I helped Sadie climb in, leaving me and the clubhouse lights behind. I leaned forward and said the address: “45 Gorordo Avenue.” The driver nodded and merged into the quiet street. As I watched Sadie’s cab get swallowed by the other cars, I took a deep breath and pulled out my phone. A taxi was out of the question. I booked a motorcycle instead, knowing it would be easier on my stomach. I thanked the rider before sliding onto the bike, leaning back slightly as we sped toward my apartment. By the time I reached my floor, I was exhausted. I walked lazily along the stairwell, mentally noting that I should move to the ground floor someday. Climbing to the third floor in four-inch heels was murder. I fumbled a little with the keys, my vision still blurry from the three shots glass of margarita and ride, but somehow managed to insert the key into the lock. The door clicked open, and the familiar scent of flowers greeted me like a quiet welcome. Smiling without realizing it, I stepped inside. This was why I’d never trade my room for a clubhouse because it smelled like nature, like calm. I kicked off my heels and set them neatly on the shoe rack, then walked to my vanity mirror. I tied my hair up and began removing my makeup, tracing each line with care. Clothes followed, peeled off until I was left in just my undergarments. Living alone meant there was no need for modesty just me, my room, and the comforting quiet. I stepped into the shower, letting the warm water wash away the day, the sticky heat, and the last traces of the club lingering on my skin. Afterward, I went through my night routine, moisturizer, serum, a soft spritz of floral mist before slipping into the comfiest pair of pajamas I owned. Wrapped in soft cotton, I sank into my bed, the faint scent of flowers still clinging to the air, and let the day melt away. I was just about to drift off, the warmth of the blankets wrapping me in the kind of comfort that made my body relax completely. My thoughts were hazy, swaying between wakefulness and sleep, when it hit me I hadn’t checked if Sadie had made it home safely. Half-lifting myself, my fingers fumbled for my phone, heavy with sleep. After a few clumsy taps, I sent a quick message
To Sadie:
Did you get home okay?
Relief washed over me, tiny and fleeting, like I’d done my good deed for the night.
And then it happened
The light beyond didn’t merely illuminate the sky, it split it apart. What fell from the sky was not a shooting star, nor a harmless streak of light. It was an enormous, blazing sphere, a gigantic fireball tearing through the sky, its tail extending infinitely behind it as if the heavens were being pulled into chaos. The night burst into brilliant whites and fierce oranges, clouds on fire as if they were made of paper.
The air screamed.
I swung my legs off the bed, my fingers trembling as the blazing light outside filled the room. My eyes locked on the massive fireball tearing across the sky when the shockwave hit. The apartment groaned like it was alive, glass splintering in a thousand shards. The force slammed into me before I could even react. I was thrown across the room, my back smashing against the wall with a sickening crack, the impact jolting my teeth and knocking the breath from my lungs. Pain exploded across my shoulder and ribs, and a ringing surged in my ears as my head snapped against the corner of a frame. Dust and shards of glass swirled around me, cutting my skin. The heat pressed like molten iron, invading through the broken window, the walls, the floor. Every nerve in my body screamed, my heart hammering as if it would leap out of my chest. Outside, the fireball swallowed the city in its blinding fury, a relentless blaze devouring everything I had known. I couldn’t think of buildings, streets, or cars, only my family. My sister, somewhere else in Cebu, probably asleep, unaware until her world turned upside down. My parents, my brother, scattered across a city that no longer existed. Would they survive? Were they even alive? Was I even alive?
Oh God help me...
A tightening in my chest made it hard to breathe. I thought of all the things I had never done, never had the time to live for myself, never had the chance to start my own family, never checked off my bucket list. All the little dreams I’d tucked away now meant nothing. Everything I had planned, every tomorrow I had imagined, was slipping away like sand through my fingers. Blood dripped from my head and pooled in my mouth while I lay stretched out on the fragments of glass of my window. My body wouldn’t react, I was unable to move. Desperation gripped me, and all I longed for was for this to be a bad dream. It can't be real... it can't be real..
This can't be real…
It hit me then, deep in my bones, with a cold, sinking certainty. This wasn’t just destruction, this was the end. Not just of cities, not just of islands but of everything I knew, everything I loved. The land itself would burn and blacken, the air poisoned, the skies swallowed by fire and smoke for years. My country, its people, its forests, its seas would be gone, erased in an instant, and nothing would ever be the same again. My chest tightened so sharply I could barely breathe. The world shook violently, light and heat devouring everything outside my window, and in that impossible glow I felt the full weight of my helplessness. The last thing I felt before darkness claimed me was the unbearable truth: I could not survive this. I could not save them. I could not hold on to the life I loved, or the people I would never see again.
