Miracle

The first night .......

It was too silent. Amidst the ear-splitting silence, all Alyia could hear quite distinctively was the sound of her labored breathing. Her throat was parched and every inch of her body screamed pain.

Wait....where was she? Her brain was foggy and her eyelids too heavy.

She tried to open her eyes. It wasn't easy. They felt like they were glued together. She was groggy and had a terrible headache. Was she drunk? Or maybe she was drugged?

She tried to establish a connection to her brain to look for her last memory.

For the first time, maybe even in her entire life, she didn't receive any response from her mind.

Finally she managed to open her eyes completely. The last image which was etched in her mind was of the plate of the roast beef she had for dinner. There was no party. No alcohol or any kind of other drug. At least none that she could remember.

The blurred sight in front of her was becoming clear. It seemed like a magnificent marble cushioned throne like chair right in front of her. Everywhere was so shinny that blinded her eyes.

She tried to turn her head to scan the area around her. Everything was so impressively modern, the high celling and the numerous small lights which adorned the entire Hall. The place was enchanting but at the same time equally cold and clinical. The whole place was a total contraindication.

She was sitting on a chair which was surprisingly soft but the terrifying realization was that although she wasn't strapped to the chair she could not move her arms or her legs!

As much as she tried she couldn't move a muscle. And there was no sign of a shackle or a strap anywhere on the chair. She was getting agitated.

'think Alyia, think.' She repeated to herself. First step was finding out where she was. She surveyed her surroundings. Nothing was familiar. She had never been there. That was for sure. The only furniture in the huge white Hall was her own chair and the one facing directly opposite from her.

'Why was that hall so huge when it was nearly empty?she wondered. The hall was quite luminous but there was even more light coming from a big oval shaped structure on the ceiling. The pale blue light gave the impression of a window but it wasn't actually a window. The whole scenario seemed to be more out of a Sci fi movie than a real life experience. Maybe she was asleep and it was all a dream? But she couldn't remember ever having so vivid dreams.

Alyia was busy struggling to free herself of the invisible bounds around her limbs when the silence was broken by footsteps. They were methodical and firm.

This was the moment Alyia saw him for the first time. He was approaching her just like a lion would his prey. From far away he appeared tall at about 6'4 and well built. The closer he got to her the more he resembled a Greek God to her. Or at least what she had seen of the Gods of the ancient Greece.

Maybe she had died and gone to heaven and he was her guardian angel? Alyia thought to herself hopefully.

It was like the molecules in the air vibrated around him as he walked gracefully or better to say pranced toward where she was sitting. Stuck to the chair although, at that precise moment not just because of the nonexistent bounds on the chair, but more because of the mesmerizing creature before her.

He was dressed impeccably in a designer black suit without a tie. The top buttons of his classic oxford shirt were open.

Eventually he reached to the throne chair just opposite from where Alyia was sitting.

Alyia stared at the beautiful creature before her. Emerald green eyes a color so vivid that she had never seen before in her life was gazing intently at her.

When he finally sat down, it dawned on her in an earth shattering moment that she had been very wrong in her previous assessment of him.Her breath hitched. He wasn't just a Greek God. He was certainly the most glorious creature whose beauty was beyond human nature.

Simultaneously, she was engulfed by the sweetest aroma. He brought about the smell of something like a combination of chocolate and vanilla. One of her hobbies had always been trying new perfumes. But this one was something else entirely.

She was lost in the enormity of his presence when at last her gaze was locked in to the forest of a pair of emerald green eyes. However that was not a cheerful forest. It was a chilling haunting dark forest.

She felt a shiver ran down her entire body as she held his dark penetrating gaze.

He had messy slightly damp thick light brown hair with streaks of gold shinning between here and there.

Alyia's eyes darted back from the golden streaks of the Adonis which occasionally caught the shiny light of the room to his eyes. They were a total enigma to her. Dazzling but frigid at the same time.

He had the most perfect profile. Straight nose and sculpted jaw. Perfect for the cover of the fashion magazine.

She was sure she hadn't seen him ever in her life. There was no chance she didn't remember him. But those eyes were eerily familiar. This splendid Man.God creature she hadn't met before but those eyes she wasn't sure.

She had a very high IQ. Around 160. If she had met him anytime in her life she should be able to remember him, although she wasn't sure about prior to 'that' certain incident in her childhood. Anything before she woke up in the hospital that day when she was eleven was very fuzzy in her mind. For once her brilliant mind was silent.

The problem was that she still wasn't sure if she was living in a dream or if this was reality and she was awake. Being in a dream justified the reason why none of her limbs worked.

"Don't struggle. Its futile. If I were you I would just save my energy. Believe me you will need it for what's to come. "So the beautiful guardian angel in her dream speaks!, though the combination of the iciness in his voice and his eyes could have easily frozen all the fire in the hell.

As the seconds passed by though, he seemed to be transforming more in to a devil with a beautiful face than a nice guardian angel.

She really needed to wake from that damn dream or nightmare or whatever the hell that was, though the million dollar question was how to wake up.

What did he mean by what he said? Save energy for what? Where the hell was she? Alyia wondered for the umpteenth time since opening her eyes, which now she wished she had never opened them. Maybe if she closed her eyes again all this nightmare would go away and she would wake up in her own bed? Alyia wondered desperately.

"My name is Evander Pierce. However you should remember to call me 'sir' at all times as long as you are here and under my care. As you know you are in our small city which is called 'Azure' Are you ready to start Alyia?

Evander asked in his usual cool opening statement reserved for this meetings with the newly arrived inmates.

To him they were all projects. It had been like that from a very long time ago that success had been his first and end goal. If Evander set his mind to accomplish something he would give one hundred percent of himself to it and he would do it flawlessly. He was brilliant at anything that he did.

He was probably the only person in the world who had an MD along with multiple PHD degrees in psychology, engineering, biotechnology and genetics all at just twenty seven.

He had been introduced as a world renowned master of the mind by several academic centers around the world.

Most professors didn't believe his capabilities until they saw the results themselves. He could take the mind of a person and literally mold it not only through psychology but also literally. It meant that with Evander and his team of scientists' new discoveries they were able to modify and repair defected genes which played a role in human destructive behavior.

He was nominated for the noble prize because of this and several other significant achievements.

He prided himself on being meticulous. In his line of work and the extensive 'city like facility' which he ran he had to be very thorough. He had started only with a small dream but now after years his dream had blossomed in to not only a proficient business but a city which belonged to future.

Most if not all of his scientific inventions were still a secret but when released to the world he would be one of the most influential men in history. It was however necessary to add that from the beginning when 'Azure' was just a theory, Evander had the absolute and undivided support of one of the most powerful men in the world intellectually and financially. Thomas Peirce, Evander's father was his mentor and also his benefactor. Evander owed him everything. If he hadn't taken Evander under his wing, no one knew what would have happened to him in the streets of New York. After escaping from the foster home, Evander was wandering the streets for months. Of course at first Evander was more than a challenge for the Peirce family. He was extremely aggressive and out of control but Thomas was able to get through to him and save him from himself. After that Evander made it his life mission to change the world to a better place. And he thought he had been successful by creating a replica of a world where there was far less crime, divorce, abuse, hunger, poverty, unemployment and child neglect. And Evander had the results of his own self made city to prove that with correct behavioral techniques, training and a change of family cultures and effective discipline, the entire world would be a better place.

Evander had taken a lot of heavy projects inside the psyche section of 'Azure' city. So far fifty two cases of the most dangerous criminals, mostly psychopaths were doing well inside 'Azure'. Some had regular jobs and some even pursued education. All were the results of his brand new project for healing mind. He needed to take a break for a while. His father had recommended a visit of the new space shuttle 'Azure's' space technology team had launched. They had an imminent program to make a habitant in the moon.

However Evander was not ready to give up playing with the mind yet. He just wanted to take up a light case. Usually he would appoint the more mundane projects to the others in his team. Giving the others the opportunity to explore the secrets of human mind and how to shape it appropriately.

As his father and his ultimate mentor always said even the brightest minds needed rest sometimes. Which, of course by rest he meant a trip to the outer space.

Even space travel didn't give Evander the pleasure that exploring, bending and shaping different minds did.

Speaking of healing of minds, the lady currently sitting in front of him was not categorized as a challenging case. According to his research which of course in this case came from the information that, Ethan, his second had gathered. Evander always did his own very detailed research. Digging up each and every information possible. However, this particular lady, Miss. Monroe, was supposed to be one of Ethan's charges. The change of plan came at the last second and here he was sitting across from her bound figure. It seemed that training her mind and reforming her behavior would be fun for him.

There was just a nagging feeling at the back of his mind. Even by looking at her and at the first few seconds he could tell she was not exactly what Ethan's report had pictured her to be. Something was off.

The consistency of his rules meant he would find out the slightest of habits about his charges before meeting them. This was the very first steps of a very elaborate plan, which for this particular case had been done by his second man 'Ethan'. Evander knew that Ethan had certainly watched the interviews from prison and included the results of his own observation from Alyia in his report.

Ethan had so far proved himself to be very efficient at his job. During the last two years Ethan had learned a lot from Evander's teachings. Since then, he had completed several successful projects single handedly. And some of his charges, the ones who had committed less serious crimes, were already ready to be re-introduced in to the outside world, which was if they didn't prefer to stay in 'Azure'.

The truth was that most of their charges ended up staying at the city, even after they were deemed ready and free to leave the facility.

The girl sitting in front of him could have actually been another suitable charge for Ethan to start work with and reform in to a better person. However it was time Ethan too moved to the next level of his training and started new experiences at mind-sculpting with more challenging and complicated case.

Evander had spent the last day before Alyia's arrival immersing himself in all the information Ethan had provided. He had to admit they were very detailed and deep. The data was vast including almost everything even her bathroom habits and details of her food and sleep patterns also all her likes and dislikes. There was however the matter of her prison interview. It just didn't add up to everything else. Her body language seemed off.

Evander wasn't certain, but now sitting across from Alyia Monroe it seemed that more aspects of the documentary he had reviewed seemed to have discrepancies.

On paper Alyia wasn't much different from the typical runaway girl who lived on the streets. The usual shoplifters and the prostitutes he had encountered.

They all had very superficial lives which served no purpose and their very existence or otherwise mattered virtually to no one.

Truthfully many of them were more of a damage to society, others' lives and to the environment.

Perhaps he hadn't realized it yet but Evander's real dilemma and the turning point in his life began the second he stepped foot inside the zero Hall.

Zero Hall was the introducing part of the reforming plan at 'Azure'. By his order and supervision all the new projects started from that Hall.

The design and architecture of the Hall was done personally by him. Everything was supposed to instill a new beginning, a new life. The bareness of the Hall prompting the inmates to leave their past behind and embrace a new path.

There had to be no distractions in the hall. Only a pair of minds having a preliminary conversation.

There certainly were lots of options in the Hall. Hidden doors to other rooms which, served different purposes and also hidden furniture which appeared by command from under the ground,Not to mention the option of serving food from the channels in the walls and also by the serving robots.

Like every place else in the little city of 'Azure', the Zero Hall was very modernized. The habitants of the city enjoyed many perks that weren't even released to the outer world yet.

At that moment, to the outside world Evander seemed his usual aloof, distant and calculating son of a bitch sitting there, a true commander. He seemed in control of the situation one hundred percent like always.

However, this time, fate had other plans for him. He wasn't sure what went wrong, whose fault was it or what could be done to avoid it.

Only himself and perhaps his father who was the sole individual on earth more adapt at reading people, knew he sounded uncertain at that moment, and for an unknown reason which he couldn't explain to himself even concerned, which certainly was a first. Because truthfully he couldn't remember the last time he was concerned about something, maybe .........just maybe those years ago........No wouldn't go there.

Evander had assessed the situation carefully as soon as he entered the Hall. Everything was exactly as it should be, down to the last detail. The only variable which was creating a deep sense of unease and uncertainty appeared to be the Lady currently sitting before him.

The first thing which was irritating him for no good reason was a very pleasant and vaguely familiar scent wafting around the hall. What the fuck was that scent? He couldn't remember the last time he had a charge that smelled so nice! Was that the scent of roses? It was odd but he didn't know why it was bothering the hell out of him.

The number one rule had always stated clearly that all the charges should be brought to the Zero Hall immediately after the 'Marking' process was done, and the that process included implanting Nano implant GPS devices inside the body. They were very tiny and the whole process was done while the charge was still drugged.

Most of the charges were told about the presence of the tracking devices at some part during their sessions, depending on their own behavior and cooperation with the program.

This particular girl, though, seemed to have been bathed in the roses while in the prison. Strange.

Evander couldn't remember the last time that a fragrance had made him mad. Hell, he could barely remember the last time he was mad period.

Mostly everyone at 'Azure' were professionals. They knew what was expected of them and they all worked perfectly.

As he studied her profile and really stared at her, though, the fucking scent of her became the least of his problems.

The second huge contradiction of that day was those huge ocean blue eyes which held his gaze defiantly. They screamed innocence.

And very soon, everything was getting out of his hands. This wasn't right. For a split second he wanted to just turn around, walk out of the door and cancel the session. He knew he should have done that.

His first rule which he insisted from the first day and always demanded from his team to follow, was to be in the right state of mind while conducting a session, especially the first session.

It was obvious to him that for an unknown reason he wasn't feeling well. He was irritated, agitated and sad.

Unfortunately he decided to go through with the session. Alyia. Monroe had to be an excellent actress. Evander thought to himself.

The fact that she was by far the most gorgeous woman he had ever encountered in his entire life, certainly made matters worse.

Just Perfect! Evander thought to himself. Not only was he mad, but now he was also aroused, the most dangerous combination for a healer of mind. He was trying to convince himself that she was just a very pretty face with exceptionally heavenly perfume.

Evander started by introducing himself. However he was very aware of those striking set of eyes all the time.

Those eyes seemed to invade through the deepest layers of his stony soul. It was like she was dissecting every part of his essence with just staring at him and it was quite disturbing.

He wasn't sure however that he had anything resembling a soul or a conscience left.

There had been a time in his life that he had been happy. He felt emotions. He had hope. Days were bright and beautiful. There was sunrise and sunset. And more importantly there was laughter and joy. Those days seemed far away. And he didn't want to go there.

The only emotion which, he felt deeply during all the years after the accident that, tore his life apart had been only pain. Agony had been a close friend of his through all the past years. He didn't want to review those agonizing past memories now. They seemed to have no purpose other than distracting him from the important tasks at hand. He had to focus. And for the first time he need willpower just to focus!

Maybe this girl had discovered the degree of his depravity. It seemed impossible. She knew nothing about him.

"Where is this place? Why am I here? Alyia asked with the strongest tone of voice she could muster under the circumstances. Dream or not, sleep or awake she wasn't going to show anyone that she was afraid.

Mike's words had always been a guide in her life. Never show fear in the face of your opponent. The moment they feel your fear they can take advantage of that and take your mind under their control.

The question was routine enough for Evander. They always started with that. Although they had complete knowledge of coming to the 'Azure' to serve the rest of their sentence but still almost all of them wanted to play dumb.