Chapter 1

Natalia looked at herself in the bathroom mirror, trying to see if anything had happened to her in the last few hours.

Automatically she reached for the hard case in her pocket where her glasses were safely stored but she stopped reaching because, at the moment, she could see every single little hair of her eyelashes.

Astonished, she moved closer to the reflective glass to see how those fine hairs were sprouting out of her eyelid. She admired her newly grown thick and long eyelashes realizing she could ditch all her costly products she used to use to create the perfect fake eyelashes. Now they were already perfect!

She stared, fascinated at her irises as she discovered she had little red spots scattered all over the olive green swirls which gave her eyes their vivid spark! Only then she was aware she didn’t need any glasses. She had a 20-20 vision; actually, she was convinced it was even better than that.

Open-mouthed, she looked at the fine luster of her cheeks and she was convinced she could see every pore of her skin. With her heart in her hands, she traced her finger over her silky soft skin just to gain some measure of certainty with what she saw: it was flawless! The skin of her face used to be littered with the little scars of her acne when she was a teen but all those annoying imperfections had disappeared as well as the dark rings under her eyes.

“No way!” she whispered to herself as she suddenly noticed that her unruly eyebrows were immaculately styled into the latest fashion.

“I’m dreaming,” she concluded as she turned her face from left to right to admire her flawless complexion, “this is not possible.” Still astonished, she stroked her fingers through her long hair which seemed to be much shinier than before.

She had trouble remembering what the man had said to her; it had to do something with the additional effects of the nanites. They were microscopic small devices that had the amazing ability to replicate living tissue. Natalia had agreed to be injected with a batch of 1 billion nanites because it was the only way to heal her from her disease.

“You could see the collective as a friend,” his voice echoed in her mind, “a friend who could help you in many ways.” She suddenly realized he never had given his name and she thought it was strange that she never had the urge to ask him either.

Well, at this moment she was completely baffled; but she managed to smile gratefully and whispered to her reflective image, “Thank you. This is really amazing.”

She didn’t know whether she was imagining it but it felt as if her body was briefly a little warmer as if someone had given her a hug.

She hesitated, deciding whether she should acknowledge the ‘hug’ but to be on the safe side she smiled warmly and winked to her reflection. It was strange and a bit unsettling to confirm those nanites were aware of her but she had to admit to herself that it was worth the awkwardness. Suddenly she couldn’t keep herself from blushing when she realized the irony that she had flirted to a bunch of minuscule devices!

Recognizing the unsettling high number of those little creatures which were freely roaming in her body made her doubt whether she was doing the right thing. After all, those nanites had done the job: she was cured of her fatal illness.

She had to admit she had trouble getting used to the fact that the ‘collective’ had some kind of consciousness but knowing what an amazing job those minuscule devices had done to her face, she was in serious doubt.

He had told her she could give the nanites the final order to leave her body. Once given that order she would never receive another batch. When he explained the consequences of that option his face had a certain unforgivable expression as if he would condemn her by doing so.

With some trepidation, she looked at the reflection of her body knowing that her now flawless face didn’t match with the rest of her body. She had given up trying to keep her body in shape after she discovered she had an incurable disease and been told she had little time left on this Earth: A few months, tops.

But that had changed.

It was only a few hours ago that she had been saved by this strange man.

The situation in how it all happened was unique and she had to admit to herself; if she’d met him on the street with the unreal promise he could heal her, she’d smiled to him telling him friendly to sod off.

She still couldn’t believe how lucky she was, considering what could have happened to her if that man hadn’t intervened.

She recalled the precarious situation in the pub where she had already spent a small fortune on drinking champagne. Alcohol was her best and only friend to numb the harsh reality of her life.

There was a hot guy at the other end of the bar she’d fancied and she had tried to get his attention, but he had studiously ignored her daring looks. Then all of a sudden she saw him leaving the bar and, without any hesitation, she decided to go after him and quickly settled her bill hoping the guy was still waiting for her.

By the time she rushed out onto the street the guy had already gone.

Disappointed, she turned around to get back into the pub but she found herself surrounded by a group of men. Shocked, she stared at them, vaguely recognizing the faces she had seen in the pub. They looked creepy, wearing filthy clothes, and she could smell the foul stench of stale beer combined with sweat.

“Ah, poor you,” said the tallest man in a honeyed voice, “it seems he’s gone already.”

The others chuckled and another man continued in a condescending voice, “Maybe we can be at your service. We’ll gladly help you with filling some holes.”

“Yeah,” said a man hoarsely, “you have a real fine tail. Don’t mind to show how I would like to ride you.”

The poor lighting gave their faces an almost unreal and sinister look which gave her goose bumps all over her body.

She knew she had to run.

Nervously she looked around recognizing the street she was in and she knew there were two narrow alleyways she could try to run into. She remembered that one alley had several side alleys that were leading back to busier streets which could save her from being gang-raped. The problem was that she couldn’t remember which one was her chance to get out of this situation.

She slowly stepped out her heels, feeling the cool pebble stones street underneath her bare feet, knowing it was the only way to have even a small chance of outrunning those men.

“Oh! Look at that!” said one of the men, “what will you take off next, sexy?” All the men chuckled a little manically which only caused raised hair on her neck.

She kept silent, cursing for not be able to give any lip to those fools.

She managed to smile as she bent through her knees to pick up her shoes while keeping her eyes fixed on the group. She briefly considered taking her Prada’s with her but then she knew she could use them as a distraction.

She prayed she had chosen the right alleyway as she made herself ready to sprint towards freedom. She tensed her muscles in her legs as she nonchalantly tossed the pair of heels towards the men in a high lob and shouted, “Catch!”

To her disbelief, all the men moved as one to make an attempt to catch her shoes and she almost forgot to run away.

Pleased that it hadn’t rained for days, she ran away secure in knowing the danger of slipping was reduced to a minimum. She was already in the alleyway before the group even realized she had fled.

“After her, you fools!” shouted someone, “Don’t let her get away!”

Her heart sank as soon as she had turned the corner of the alley: it was a dead-end!

With her heart in her mouth, she swept her gaze around the alley and saw there were a few doors that might give her the opportunity to escape. She rushed towards the first door hoping it wasn’t locked. She crashed into it, slamming her shoulder painfully into the sturdy wood as she forcefully pulled the rustic handle down.

The damned door was locked!

Somewhat dazed she stumbled back and ran towards the next one while the frightening noise of shouting men became louder by the second. She knew she was doomed if the next door was locked.

Ignoring the stabbing pain of her feet she ran towards the door hoping she would be spared the horror of gang-rape.

She rushed up the little step and frantically pulled down the door handle but to her dismay, the door didn’t budge. “Oh come on!” she screamed as she slapped her hand on the door, “This is not fair! Let me in!”

Suddenly a blue light reflected on the glossy black paint of the door and she heard a gentle voice behind her saying, “Come, quickly!”

She swung her body around and dashed towards the door opening, practically diving into the brightly lit room.

She tumbled forward and landed painfully on her hands and knees but she didn’t care because she was saved from those filthy men. The petrifying noise of the shouting men, which reverberated in the alley, was suddenly cut off and at that moment she knew she was safe.

Breathing heavily, she managed to say, “Thank you.”

As she tried to get back on her feet her whole body started to shake. She felt sick and the staggering amount of alcohol she had consumed made it even worse.

“Oh my,” she managed to say before her stomach started to convulse.

A second later she found herself throwing up into a bucket while a warm hand was rubbing her back. She thought it had taken forever before her body was satisfied that it had released all the toxic fluids.

Slowly she sat back and she gratefully let the bucket go.

A moment later a large glass of water was hovering in front of her face and the gentle voice said, “Take a few small sips. Let your stomach get used to it first.”

With trembling hands, she took the glass and took a little sip. The water tasted almost sweet and she savored the cooling liquid in her mouth. She swallowed it and wanted to take another sip but she felt a hand touching her shoulder as the man warned her gently, “Wait for a few seconds. Let your body recover.”

She slowly looked up and saw a friendly face carefully observing her. He spoke with a soothing voice, “There’s still a lot of adrenaline coursing through your veins which demands a lot of blood. Your digestive system has been shut down because of that, hence it had decided to get rid of the contents of your stomach. Just wait a few more minutes and you’ll feel much better.”

She stared at the bright blue eyes which had a compassionate expression and the only thing she could do was nod a little. Her breathing gradually slowed down and she took another tentative sip of the water. She felt the cool water flowing down giving her the feeling her body was recuperating from the stressful event. She sighed deeply, pleased that her body had accepted the water.

“What’s your name?” the man asked.

She couldn’t take her eyes off the man’s enchanting blue irises and responded hoarsely, “Natalia.”

“Well, Natalia. Welcome to Enzuinia.”

It was the first time she smiled for a long time and she said somewhat subdued, “Thank you for rescuing me.”

“You did rescue yourself, Natalia,” he said softly, “Now let’s take care of your feet first. I think a nice hot soda foot bath would do the trick and while you’re having your soak I’ll explain some things about Enzuinia.”

The mentioning of a hot soda soak suddenly felt very enticing as her feet were quite sore and she was sure her little adventure at the street had given her some nasty cuts.

“That would be wonderful,” she gushed, “I think I have stepped on some glass here and there.”

“Yes,” the man replied, “your right foot seems to be the worst but luckily all your toes are fine just a little dirty.”

“Great,” Natalia replied relieved.

“I can carry you to the room where I can prepare the bath but maybe you prefer to walk there on your tiptoes. It’s not far just a couple of feet.”

She studied the man a lot more thoroughly this time, especially when he offered to carry her. Allowing a man into her personal space had to be well considered.

She estimated his age being into the forties and he was well built but not overdeveloped. He was dressed in an immaculate white shirt, no tie, dark blue jeans, and black shiny leather shoes. All in all what she saw confirmed he was a man who took care of himself.

She saw a slight smirk appearing on his lips as she looked straight at him. She had to admit that he was handsome and those piercing blue eyes seemed to have seen a lot. His raven black hair made his clean-shaven brown face look like an Italian gangster but with his heart in the right place.

Feeling how sore her muscles were, Natalia longed to be carried but decided against it. She had the urge to stay in control because there was something strange going on but what it was she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

“Thanks for the offer, but I think I can walk the short distance.”

The man smiled as he got up and lent his hand to pull her off the floor.

She grimaced as she accidentally put her full weight on her bad foot and skipped a little to find her balance on her left foot.

“You’re okay?” he asked concerned.

Natalia nodded but then looked down to the floor and was shocked by the amount of blood that had gathered around her feet. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I’m ruining your floor!” she exclaimed.

“Don’t worry about that. Trust me, there’s a really sophisticated cleaning system around here which will deal with this in no time. Just come along, it’s not that far,” he said with a jovial tone.

Natalia looked around and realized she hadn’t paid any attention to her surroundings since she had leaped into the door opening. The oval hall they were in was large and the white walls were immaculately smooth plastered with a material she never had seen before. The pleasant lighting seemed to come from nowhere, at least there were no light sources to be pinpointed. There were four doors equally spread from each other and they had a different pastel color: red, green, blue and pale golden yellow. She turned around, curious to see which color the front door would have but to her amazement, there was no door.

The man smiled as she turned to him again and said, “By the look on your face I can see you have several questions. Let me guide you to the place where you can sit and I’ll explain.”

A little unsettled, but also quite intrigued she nodded.

“Right,” said the man clearly relieved, “let’s go then.”

He walked towards the pastel red door which opened silently as soon as he was within a few feet. “This place Enzuinia is old, very old,” he said as he walked slowly through the door opening.

Natalia couldn’t believe her eyes as she entered the adjacent space: it was a garden enriched with the most exotic plants she had ever seen. The grass, which was immaculately maintained, was divided by many paths which led to different buildings scattered over the flowing landscape.

“This,” he said as he spread his arms out, “is the main garden. Everything you see is harmless to us. Meaning you can eat any fruit the plants are offering, however, some of them might not taste that well.”

He started to walk again. “Let’s move on, Natalia. Your feet definitely need some attention.”

Natalia was completely awed by the vastness of the garden and it suddenly dawned on her that this amazing place was not possible to be in the city. “Hold on,” she said as she stopped hopping after him, “this place can’t be real.”

The man turned around and bowed to her as he said, “My compliments dear Natalia. No one ever was so quick to question the reality of this place.”

Natalia’s heart started to beat in her chest, knowing that something was really off.

“Look up Natalia,” the man said in a soothing tone, “what do you see?”

She did as he asked and was stunned to see that the sky was littered with moons of different sizes and there were three suns clustered together which gave the sky a pastel blue luster. There were no clouds floating in the sky and the pleasantly warm suns gave the garden a healthy glow.

She snorted as the ridiculous idea sprouted in her mind that she must have been teleported to an alien world.

“What’s so funny?” the man asked a little uneasily.

“I’ll bet your story will start with that I’ve been teleported to this place.”

“Err,” the man’s eyes had grown larger as he said, “You’re right, I was planning to start with that.”