It was night and chilly outside, I sat on the chair on the balcony of my apartment . I could see the city lights and hear the sounds that were echoing through the streets. I couldn't see the stars in the sky, only the full moon. There was a nice evening breeze and I inhaled the fresh air. I let out a big sigh and went back into my house. I looked at the time and it was 11:00 PM.

" I have to leave now." I said to myself. I looked around for my bag but couldn't seem to find it. Luckily I found my sunglasses and put them on. At last I found my bag, and went out through the front door, took the elevator down to the main floor. The receptionist looked at me with a surprised look.

" So you're going out tonight, miss?" the old man said.

" I won't be out too long. Just meeting someone at the cafe." I said with a sigh.

" Miss,  you know it's a full moon, right? It means something special will happen." He said with a wide smile on his face.

" Hopefully." I said with a worried look. Without saying another word I opened the front door and went out into the streets and hailed a cab.

" Where to miss?" the driver asked.

" Downtown please." I said to him.

As we entered the downtown area, I started to feel uneasy. Everywhere I looked, I saw Alexis Syracuse on posters, merchandise, publicities, on the big screen TVs etc... Her face was all over the place. In other words, my face.

" Don't you wonder what happened to Alexis Syracuse?" the driver asked.

" I personally don't care about her. She's a nuisance to everyone." I said with a cold voice.

" I don't know what you have against her but I hope she knows that the whole nation is worrying about her! She's been missing for what? Three months now?" he said.

" Has it already been that long?" I asked.

" Yeah and all of her fans are going crazy with no news from her! Even her company... What was it? Ah! Right, Mnet Media. They've even asked people to look out for her! In my opinion, she ran away without saying anything to anyone! Suddenly packed her bags and left!" he said while making big hand gestures. I started to get really annoyed by his complaining .

" I'm guessing  you're a big fan of hers?" I said.

"  Of course! Her style, her looks, her voice... Everyone loves her here! Who wouldn't? Well maybe except for you of course... May I ask why you don't like her?" he asked while looking at me from the rear view mirror. I avoided eye contact and just stared out the window.

" I blame her for what's happened to me." I said with a quiet voice. The driver gave me a confused look and stayed quiet for the rest of the ride.

***

" You can stop here." I said pointing to a stop in front of a cafe.

" Alrighty then, that would be 35.86 $ please." he said while putting his hand out.

I gave him 40$ and quickly stepped out of the taxi. I could hear him scream " Thank you!" from inside the car and then watched him drive off. I turned around and saw the cafe. I could see through the big glass window that there weren't many people there at this time. I took a deep breath and opened the cafe door. One of the employees noticed me come in and walked towards me. He was a tall man with short brown hair. Behind his glasses I noticed his light brown eyes, he looked as if he was in his twenty's. He looked at me and smiled.

" Table for one, miss?" he said.

" Actually two." I said.

The man gave me a sign to follow him, so I did. He pointed to a table next to the big glass window.

" Will you have anything to drink, miss?" he asked, still looking at me with a big smile.

" No, I'm fine thank you." I said, looking out of the window.

He turned around and walked back to the coffee bar and started talking with some other employee. I stared outside, people walked hurriedly on the side walk, the city lights shone as brightly as ever. I let out a big sigh, and stared out into the distance. Suddenly, a short man was running towards the cafe door with a briefcase in one hand and holding his hat with the other. His black coat swayed with the wind. He then violently opened the cafe door. The employees all turned around to face him with surprised looks. The poor little man panted for 5 minutes until he could get to his senses. He straightened himself up and looked around. His gaze finally fell on me, and he let out a big sigh of relief. He quickly walked towards me and grabbed the chair across me. It was my manager.

" Sorry I'm late." he said, still panting a little.

" It's alright... So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"  I asked with a serious face.

" Listen Alexis, what I'm about to tell you... Please don't overreact." he said with a worried face.

" What's wrong? Did something happen to my parents?" I asked.

" N-no... It's about..."  he paused.

" What's wrong? Spit it out already!" I shouted

" You're contract has been sold." he finally said.

" WHAT?!?!?!?!?!" I screamed.

Everyone in the cafe turned around and starred at me. I apologised and turned back to my manager.

" Is this some kind of joke?" I said, deepening my voice.

" I-I'm sorry. But it's true." he said looking down.

I looked at him in shock. My contract has been sold? This wasn't supposed to happen...

" Why?" I asked

" Listen, when you pulled that disappearing act on us, Mnet did not know what to do. So, they presented your contract to other entertainment companies and they got an offer for it that they couldn't possibly refuse."

"  Well I refuse to go back on stage! I ran away because of it and I'm never going back!" I got up from my chair grabbed my coat and stormed off towards the door.

" Wait!" my manager screamed.

I turned around to face him. He walked closer towards me.

" Think about this Alexis, will you keep running away?"

" It's not like things are going to get any better." I said.

" Believe me, everything will be better now that you're with S.M. Entertainment ." he said.

" Wait, you mean to tell me that S.M. was the one that bought my contract?!" I shouted.

My manager nodded.

" So what do you expect me to do now? Just miraculously show up on stage after three freakin months?! The whole world has forgotten about me now!"

" Are you sure about that? The way I see it, the world is screaming for you to comeback." he said in a calm voice. " Now then, you have a meeting with the president tomorrow and we will settle things over-"

" YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!!!"

My manager looked at me, simply shocked.

" You don't understand do you? I 'm never going back out there, even if my life depended on it. Fame destroyed my life. And now, I can't go back. I WILL NEVER GO BACK!!!" I screamed and darted towards the exit.

From the corner of my eye, I could see my manager looking at me with saddened eyes. I vowed to never go back on stage. And I'm keeping that vow.

***

I walked in the streets in the dead of night, thinking about what just happened. My contract, my apartment, everything is gone now that I'm not with Mnet anymore. I let a big sigh out and continued walking, not really knowing where I was going...

I walked a little bit more until I noticed an alley, I decided to go that way...  After a few minutes of walking in the dark alley, I slowed my pace and listened carefully. I could hear people behind me, getting closer and closer... I turned around and noticed a group of 7 guys, fooling around and walking very weirdly... When they noticed me, they stopped and stared at me.

My heart started to beat very fast, and I turned away and started walking very quickly. I heard those guys calling me and whistling. I quickened my pace and suddenly... It was a dead end.

" Hey girlie." one of them said.

I turned around and put my back against the wall. I was so scared I couldn't even bring myself to scream for help.

" What are you doing so late in the night, huh?" another said, getting closer to me.

" W-What do you want from me?" I said with a weak voice.

" Don't worry you're in good hands." the one right next to me said.

One of them suddenly grabbed my hands and pinned them to the wall behind me.

" Now there's nowhere to run. " he said.  He was so close that I could smell the alcohol coming from his mouth.

It was all over for me. The men got closer to me. One of them put their hands on my mouth to prevent me from screaming. I struggled but I couldn't get out from his grasp, he was too strong for me. I closed my eyes and just gave up. I needed a miracle.

" HEY!!!" I heard a voice scream.

The man's grip loosened on my hands and I fell to the ground, with my head held down. The guys turned around and one of them screamed: " Hey! We're busy here!"

I looked up and I could see many shadows facing me. One of the shadows came closer and said: " What do you think you're doing?" he said with a strong voice.

One of the drunken guys said: " I don't think this is any of your business, punk."

The man that stepped out thru a punch in the drunk man's face. All of the rest of the street gang all went to back him up and started fighting with him. But the man did not show any signs of struggle and beat up all of them in a matter of seconds.

I felt my eyes slowly closing , my heart was beating slowly... The air felt nice, and I could feel my head slowly dropping.

One of the men came rushing towards me. I could hear his voice trying to get to me, calling out to me. He had a small face with black spiky hair, and ear rings too. He wore a black shirt and red pants. He called out someone's name and that person rushed towards us. He was a very tall man, short black hair, black pants and a white v-neck shirt. He leaned over me, picked me up in his arms and started walking towards the group. I turned my head around and noticed the drunk men all on the floor. I looked to the side and noticed the man who beat them up wiping away a little bit of blood coming out of his mouth.  My eyes slowly closed, I felt safer than ever. I noticed a few of the guys gazing at me but then...  Everything went black.