SUNNYVALE

(100) THE CLIFF FROM WHICH ONE COULD SEE THE WHOLE CAMPUS

Christen sighs. 

"This place doesn't ring a bell?" Leah carefully asks, frowning. 

The pair were sitting down at the edge of a (secured) cliff with the view over the whole campus, as well as the city where Melas College was, after Leah accepted to help Christen remember what her past life was - although the dark-haired knew very well it wasn't her life at all, and that somehow her arrival coincided with a change inside the people of Melas' brain to make them believe she was there. It was so real to them, and yet Christen knew it was all a skam - she could not help but feel bad, because this lie is Leah's reality - and so many others. 

Christen starts shaking her head slowly.

"Should it ?" she then asks, confused.

The blush on Leah's face said it all, but yet she still answered: 

"Um... this is awkward : this is where we almost kissed for the first time."

"Tell me about it" Christen asks, curious.

"Well" the British girl says, trying to gather her memories, "It was after one of your games, you were upset 'cause you guys lost, so I prepared this whole picnic with fruits and everything you liked - loads of avocados - and we just watched the sun go down right behind that hill"

Pointing right in front of them, Leah just takes a small break. 

Christen suddenly feels bad - although this life wasn't hers, something was waking up inside of her body : the Christen Press of Melas University, who was a fuck girl and did not care about people's feelings, seemed so far away from the Christen Press of Sunnyvale that she could not make sense about why, in this reality, somebody thought she was like that.

After a while, Christen encourages Leah to continue:

"Then ?"

"Then, uh, we just talked for hours - about our previous relationships, our families, school... Everything, really. Then you told me that you wanted to change your life, that you did not feel at ease with manipulating girls and everything, that you wanted to form meaningful relationships... You said that looking at me - you know, you didn't communicate like you do right now, so words were hard for you. And there was a moment when we just locked eyes and... yeah,  you leaned in and I basically ran away from you because I did not trust you with my feelings for you..."

"I am sorry, Leah" Christen suddenly says, frowning. Visibly upset, the dark-haired continues: "For what I did, I am sorry. And I am sorry for making you go through all that because I don't even remember being an asshole..."

"You weren't an asshole, if that reassures you" Leah concedes, smirking. 

Christen raises her eyebrows.

"Well, I kind of was, since Jill Roord's brother killed himself because of me, and that I played with so many people's feelings and hearts..." she argues, visibly upset.

Leah suddenly and naturally grabs Christen's arm, and when she does, she only says:

"The Christen I knew - how you were with me when we were alone just the two of us - was not  an asshole: she was a good person who made the wrong choices..."

But Leah's voice seems far away, as Christen feels electricity running through her whole body in a matter of second: she reacts by taking her arm back, breaking the contact with Leah, which immediately stops the electric signals inside her. Highly confused, she gets on her feet, before throwing a cold look toward Leah - this wasn't possible.

Nodding her head while frowning, and she did not have anything to say so she just turned around and walked back to the dorm she was sharing with Lindsey.

When she gets there, however, she had a surprise guest...

***

Jill enters the locker room, and she immediately regrets doing so.

One strong hand immediately grabs her neck and holds it tight, not a second letting it down easy: Jill grabs the strong arm, but there was nothing she could do. Choking, she just tries to remain calm and regain her breath. 

This is when she realises what kind of person is in front of her: the girl with dark hair had huge, white wings coming out of her body, while her deep, greenish eyes seemed to be drowned in hatred and pain.

Still being strangled, Jill manages to stammer:

"I... am... on... your... side... angel" 

Frowning, the dark-haired still doesn't release her grip: it is only when Jill concentrates enough to make her power - invisibility - work that the woman in front of her realises she was aiming at the wrong person.

She lets go of Jill's neck, as the blonde falls on the ground, catching her breath little by little. The angel did not really care how bad she's hurt her ; rather, she continues to look around and search for what she was looking for in the first place - and her eyes set on team's pictures announce the colour to Jill.

The Dutch suddenly realises she hasn't introduced herself, so she only says:

"I'm Jill Roord, by the way, and I'm friends with Christen and Crystal... does it ring a bell?"

But the angel doesn't answer.

Instead, she just starts getting angry at herself for some reason, before losing it a little and throwing the whole table filled with match day sheets on the ground, making them fly in the process.

Jill sighs.

"I guess that's a yes."

"Just be glad I didn't kill you..."

Just as things were heating up - in a bad way - between Jill and the newcomer, the door of the locker rooms open, and Christen appears, her eyes going wide, as she is followed by Crystal.

Quite immediately, Christen exclaims:

"Ingrid! How did you-"

"We don't have much time: if I was able to find you, then it means everyone can..."

Just as those words left her mouth, a big noise is heard on the whole campus of Melas, and that certainly did not sound good...

*** 

Ashlyn turns to her wife, on her nerves, as she says:

"Shelina created a distortion."

"By creating another reality?" Ali asks, confused.

"By recreating our whole sense of reality, you mean" the Goddess corrects her, setting her jaw. As Ali's eyes turn dark, she adds: "Those aren't realities... those are fucking dimensions, that I did not know about..."

"... How's that even possible ? I mean, you're God, for fucks sake! You're supposed to be omnipotent and everything..."

Ashlyn loudly sighs.

"I haven't been since my daughter was born: she took away some of my powers, and I am afraid that the only way to gain them back is to... well."

Ali's eyes sparkle a little.

"We have to kill Shelina Zadorsky."

***

At the edge of the cliff Christen and Leah were in only hours ago,

With a view on the whole campus of Melas University, that was now drowned into the night,

A brief halo of red light lit up the whole sky, leaving then only a shadow at the edge of the world it seemed.

Abby Dahlkemper has returned.