Ari

Chapter 1: Death and Rebirth

My name is Kim Ahri Gaumond, a simple employee who usually spends most of her time working, doing charities, or attending my treatment. I never really had a chance to give myself a break since I am not an outgoing person.

For the first time in my 30 years of life, I decided to finally give in to my dream of having an international vacation not related to work. I may not be outgoing, but I still want to experience a life of leisure in a faraway land.

My destination is the City of Love, Paris-romantic, isn't it?

If you are asking if I am traveling with my boyfriend-I'll say, "Hell no! I am traveling alone but not lonely."

Yes, I know it is awkward for a single person since birth like myself to travel to the City of Love alone, but I don't care. I just want to travel overseas, hoping to finally find my soulmate elsewhere despite my special condition.

The reason I have been single since birth was because I have an extreme fear of men, causing me to work only in a company run by women. It took me years to adapt to my condition. I was home schooled and never had a chance to attend a regular class ever since my family discovered about my illness. I have been diligently undergoing therapy and medications, but it didn't actually cure me from my phobia until now.

Living in constant fear is actually tiring and depressing so I decided to go on a vacation on a whim. My mother and my doctors were all supportive with my travel plan, but my manager was really shocked. She was extremely opposing my travel plans so went to ask the general manager instead.

The higher ups granted me a leave of absence immediately upon checking that I already finished my current tasks at hand ahead of time. I was given a week paid vacation since I never used my vacation leaves ever since I entered the company. The company diligently promotes work - life balance, so it's only natural for them to grant vacation leaves as long as the tasks at hand are handled ahead of time. My manager was just an exception because she loves to dump her work to me, especially if it was regarding the charity events that the company was supporting.

I already prepared my stuffs the night before the scheduled flight, so I woke up 4 in the morning to prepare myself to set out early and checked-in at the airport. I rode a cab and took a nap on the way since it will take me at least an hour or two before we could arrive at the airport.

It was still early when I arrive at the airport because it was a must to check-in at least two hours before your scheduled flight. My heart was pounding really hard when our flight number was called. I was nervous but excited at the same time, especially when I walked to the runway.

I only availed an economy class seat, so I will be sitting next to a stranger, and it made me so anxious knowing that the person who will sit next to me might be a man. I chose a seat next to the window so that I could see the view despite being anxious.

I took my medications upon boarding the plane because a man was seated beside my designated seat, and I don't want to look awkward.

I was so excited when the plane started to run. The attendants were diligently reminding everyone about the safety reminders during the flight and I double checked everything - from the seatbelt and the emergency kits that are being demonstrated by the flight attendants.

I pulled up the hood of my jacket, wore my headphones, played a music at a loud volume, and took a nap after the announcements.

Suddenly, I felt an extremely unpleasant feeling, making me wake up from my nap. I thought it was just my phobia, so I just ignored my feelings and kept my eyes closed.

I was shocked when I opened my eyes-there were hijackers aboard the plane.

I was panicking in my mind and my heart was beating so fast. My anxiety was already overwhelming me as one of the hijackers pointed his gun at me.