Chapter 1

It had been an absolutely normal day that Thursday morning. Everything at work was the same, she still had that faint lily smell in her apartment, and the streets were busy.
Ella had just exited the building when suddenly everything went dark: the traffic lights, the buildings, just everything. Her apartment was only five or six blocks away. She could walk there and find out what was up.
So she made the trek to her apartment only to find that the air conditioning was completely shot. Completely. In 95 degree weather, she was devoid of air.
After pondering for a few minutes, she came up with an idea, "I'll go visit Princess."
Ella headed down the stairs and began to walk to Pier 16.

"Hello?"
"Hi, Adam. We got a copter out of here. Where are you?" Jesse asked from his cell.
"No where that I can get there in time."
"Still at the pier, huh, Mr. Songwriter! This is so nice, let's see if it sparks anything in my mind. I'll catch up with ya later. Good job, Adam."
"Hey," the twenty-five-year old protested. "I'll keep my promise. I can't get to Times Square without a miracle, I catch up with you somewhere else."
"Adam? Are you insane?" the familiar voice of Ryan Dusick now came screaming from the small cell phone. "You're an LA boy in the middle of the Big Apple. What are you thinking, man?"
"I'm thinking that you all should just head out of the city and somewhere else. Honestly, this is pointless. Head to Jersey or something. Just not New York, the entire state is probably blacked out. I'll find a way out, I promise. Just call me when you land somewhere, ok?
"Alright," Ryan gave in, "But if you're not here tomorrow, we're sending out the search party, okay?"
"Deal. Now I've got to get out of here, talk to you later. Bye."
How had he managed to get himself into this? He had just wanted to stay at the pier for another hour, it was so inspiring. Damn that songwriter mentality of his! He just had to stop and now he was stuck in one of the World's Largest Cities with nowhere to go and no way out.
"What am I going to do," he sighed as he sat down against a pier wall and watched everyone scurry by panicked. There was no where he could possibly go now. Not even a cab could get him out of here, the streets were jammed. Even if he had had a way out of here, where was he going to go?

She saw everyone scramble around her, but she was calm. Well, as calm as can be when all of New York's gone dark and damp in 95 degree weather.
Making her way to the pier, she noticed a young man, about her age, leaning against the familiar pier wall. His head was completely against it. It either meant he was frustrated or a homeless person. She guessed it had to be the former judging by his clothing.
On any other day, Ella Bloom would have kept on walking. But then again this was not any other day. The 5' 7" blonde began her journey to the young man, confident on the outside. Nervous on the inside.