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disappeared, she let out a sigh. Her therapist was going to be pissed.

CHAPTER TWO
     
    Thursday, December 13th 2012, 7:52am
     
    A bby did a lot of dreaming and usually knew how to recognize a dream from reality. But she rarely had nightmares or dreams of a real serious nature. Typically her nocturnal adventures were made of talking kittens and sexy movie actors . Which was why she was so surprised to find herself in the whirlwind of chaos that filled her sleeping mind.
    People ran all around her, circling like frenzied, panic stricken sharks. Towers of fire sprung up from the ground like geysers out of the pits of hell. The earth shook beneath her feet. Piercing screams invaded her mind. She pressed her hands to her ears to block out the horrifying sound.
    As she looked up on top of a high, grass covered hill she saw a fair skinned man dressed from the waist down in leather breeches . P ieces of metal jewelry wrapped around his neck and wrists. Tattoos stood out on the pale skin of his upper arms, moved over his shoulders and spiral ed onto his neck. With a wooden staff in one hand, he raised his arms above his head, and looked straight into her. His eyes glowed like liquid jade as he opened his mouth to speak. Over the sound of the entropy around her, Abby heard his melodic voice ring out clearly as though he were standing right beside her.
    “The Destroyer comes. The end is near. We must prepare for the arrival of the Ancient One. The Destroyer of Worlds approaches! Prepare yourselves!”
    His tone turned into a chant as if he were reciting a song he knew all too well. His arms rose up higher towards the turbulent sky. Light glinted off the stones that hung from his staff and clouds swirled angrily above him.
    “When blood drops upon the Earth, the Destroyer will appear, and mountains will open up and belch forth fire and ashes. Trees will be destroyed and all living things engulfed. Land will be swallowed up by the waters, and seas will boil.”
    Behind the man a storm raged, but it was a storm like no other Abby had ever seen. The sky was red and glowing as if the sun itself had begun to surround the planet. The heat was overwhelming and Abby suddenly realized that the people who were once running around her in terror had begun to collapse at her feet. She was gripped with the sudden urge to save them all but didn’t know how. She had no idea what was killing them or how to stop it. A sense of hopelessness overcame her making her knees feel soft under her weight.
    She ran, stumbling over fallen stones, to the children and cradled their limp bodies. Blood stained their angelic faces and Abby let out a grief stricken wail. Tears sprung to her eyes before she could stop them while a petrified scream escaped her lips. Then all at once the world went black.
     
    * * *
     
    When Abby awoke the night had gone . Rays of sun streamed in through the window and right into her olive eyes. It took only a second for her to realize she was not alone in her bed. It took another second for her to remember that was no longer the norm.
    Alex’s familiar arms wrapped around her waist and she could feel his early morning arousal pressing against the curve of her backside. She quickly pushed his heavy arms off of her and slid to the edge of the bed. She turned fiery eyes on his sleeping face before smacking his cheek just hard enough to sting. Alex’s eyes flew open immediately.
    “Jesus Abby. What’s gotten into you?” He covered his face with his hand, his jaw hanging in shock.
    “Are you serious? Really? Are you just tuning in to this broadcast? Yesterday I find out that you slept with another woman, which by the way is a pretty huge deal. So we split up. Was I the only one who was clear on that? We broke up Alex! Over. Done. Finished.” She paused for effect and continued. “Then I very kindly agree to let you stay on the couch, my couch, so you don’t have to be turned out on your ass. And yet this morning I somehow manage