ℂℝ𝕆𝕊𝕊ℝ𝕆𝔸𝔻𝕊 𝕆𝔽 𝔻𝔼𝕊𝕋𝕀ℕ𝕐 (𝕖𝕩𝕔𝕝𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕤𝕟𝕖𝕒𝕜 𝕡𝕖𝕖𝕜)

Prologue

It was late one evening as Destiny drove up a cliffside road, her hazel eyes straining to focus ahead as heavy rain poured down mercilessly on the car's windshield when she suddenly received an incoming phone call. Upon answering, a familiar voice sounded from the speakers. "Dez, where are you? Are you here yet?"

It was Hannah, her close friend since grade school and college roommate. Carefully, Destiny adjusts her wheel to make a slight turn ahead, her eyes squinting to see through her blurry windshield. "Not yet, Hans. Has the party already started?"

"Yes, like an hour ago, and now it's dark and cloudy, probably raining where you're coming from. You should have carpooled with us."

Destiny scoffed. "No way am I getting inside that piece of junk your boyfriend called a van."

"Well, that piece of junk would have got you here in time." True, but the ride would have been torturous, with random objects in the back compartment hitting you at each turn of the stirring wheel.

"That's okay, Hans. I'd rather go solo."

Hannah lets out an exasperated sigh from her end. "Uh, again, with your references. You're so infuriating, you know that?"

Destiny bites back a mischievous smile. "Um, I love you?"

"I know," Hannah replies as Destiny imagines her friend rolling her baby-blue eyes. "Now, hurry up before I knock your brother out for making you watch those movies with him."

"Roger, roger."

"Liam!" Hannah shouts in the background before the call ends, her voice instantly replaced by the battering rain on Destiny's white 2018 Toyota Corolla as its high-beam headlights pierce through the darkness ahead. Maybe she should have gone with them instead.

As the thought crosses Destiny's mind, something unusual catches her eye in the distance. A dark, vaporous silhouette figure stood in the center of her lane, its features shrouded in shadows against the beaming headlights. When she drove closer, she noticed the still figure undisturbed by the oncoming vehicle. Not wanting to hit this random person, she presses on her brake, but to her shock, it doesn't work.

Destiny hastily slams her foot on the brake, but to no avail, as her car steadily approaches the disturbing dark silhouette ahead, eliciting panic and her heart racing frantically. Once her car reaches within 10 feet of the shadow figure, her blood runs cold when a terrifying feature forms on its face beneath its hooded veil – a skull.

Letting out a terrified scream, Destiny instantly reacts without thinking, turning her wheel in one direction to avoid a collision, only to hit a guardrail to her right. Upon impact, she felt herself and the car flip over the guardrail, gravity pulling her down into the forest valley below.

******

With a gasp, Destiny opens her eyes but immediately regrets it, shutting them close from the blinding light as a piercing headache wreaks havoc through her skull. She groans in pain, pulling a hand to her head as she gradually blinks her eyes open. Vision clearing from the brightness, she inhales a sharp breath at the sight of a million stars twinkling above her with cosmos swirling in various hues of color.

Enthralled by its beauty, Destiny raises a hand to the cosmic sea as if she could hold out and touch the stars, but it is far out of reach. Then, reality settles in as memories of a shadowy skulled figure and her falling over the cliffside flash through her mind.

Eyes widening, Destiny immediately sits up and looks down at herself, inspecting her body for any injuries from the accident, but unexpectedly finds everything intact. However, she noticed her clothes were now switched with a shimmering silver long-sleeved dress. What the –