Dark. The city was dark, but the lights were bright. They told her to jump. Stubborn.

On a roof top of an abandoned rundown building a young woman sat down upon the ledge and peered down at the cars and people walking about. The people were more like shadows at this time of the night and the cars were more or less, glowing beetles on wheels. The surrounding city lights looked like stars plastered upon these huge concrete and metal monuments. Some of which were larger than the great pyramids of Giza.  The air was muggy and damp. The sky was a hue of different colors bouncing off the deep dark but highly saturated blue.

“Jane. Jane. Jane.”

The woman stood up. Her scuffed and wet black leather round-toe combat boots rested heavy on the ground. Tall legs covered by fitted ripped jeans stood her body of about 5ft9. A rusty chain hung loosely out of one pocket and into another which complemented the brown buttons and zipper stripe on her deep brown and cracked leather jacket. On her sides, her arms hung loosely. Her fist accompanied by a pair of beaten up high-end leather gloves. Her pinky poked out of her right glove tip as it revealed her snow pale skin.

“Description. Description. Description.”

Her lips curled upward at the skyline. Her deep hazel eyes glowed brightly as pieces of her wild, reddish shade of brown chestnut hair land over her right eyelid. Her ears were not pierced and her skin clear of any marks.

A shadowy figure a couple hundred feet away in the back of her stepped forward. The young woman continued to direct her attention at the city skyline.  Another step was taken by the shadow. And then another step. With each step the shadow took, it grew a foot or two closer to Jane.  Every 3-heart beats meant another step for the mysterious figure that had been closing in onto her ever since she stood up.

“Heart beat. Heart beat. Heart beat.”

Jane stood there feeling empowered and in control of everything in her universe. All the troubles that been in her mind a day ago vanished. The trials and turbulence of life couldn’t break her. The greed and fear of the world did not devour her soul, body, and mind. Unique and special? No. There are others out there. A rarity in numbers but they are out there.

“You are not special.  You are a rarity. Not special.”

The shadow continued on.  She wondered about the many years of heartbreak and rejection from the people around her for a moment before turning around and eyeing the shadowy figure.

Jane is 25 years of age. She struggled for most of her teenage life working odd jobs, saving, studying, and focusing on her dream to own her own department store. The building she stood on is abandoned until all the paper work is finished with. All she needed now was the call.

It took a lot to get where she was. Her father owned a successful Design studio in middle Manhattan and always encouraged her to follow what her gut told her to do. Intuition was huge and with that she studied ways to develop a stronger gut. Growing up in the age of Google, the answers were everywhere.  Eventually she grew to have an abnormal connection to the Universe. Everything spoke to her allowing her moves to be as smooth as water.  Some called it luck. Who would have known she’d own her own building in NYC. This created much more opportunity.

“Its over now” The shadow spoke.

“Is it now…” Jane thought back. Her eyes fixed on the dark blur.  She turned back around and continued to stare at the city skyline.

“One last fight… “ The shadow started. “One last fight and if I win, you jump.”

“That’s not going to happen!” Jane laughed. “You don’t get it do you? It’s over. I won. You should just give up to be honest.”

“If I give up then you wouldn’t have anything to push you.” The shadow replied back.

“Fine… But I’ll win. I won’t allow you to stop me in my tracks.”

“We’ll see about that!” the shadow exclaimed as it took a fighting position drawing some sort of shadow sword out of its body.

Jane turned around without saying another word. Her eyes fixed on the shadow and it’s sword. Jane lifted up her hand as a blade begun to fabricate in her right hand. It was also a sword. Jane thought back to how she’d fought this foe in the past, over and over again. Every time she fought the shadow it was a challenge. At the end of every challenge was growth.

“I’ll end this swiftly.” Jane thought as she took the hilt of the sword in both hands.

The shadow lunged at her with great speed and force, tearing the ground to pieces as its feet lifted off the ground. It’s blade ready to pierce the heart of Jane.

Jane froze for a second; unaware of how fast the entity was going. She’d never witnessed that much power before but this wasn’t going to stop her. She continued forward with just as much speed as the shadow. Never had she moved this fast before but Jane was determine to strike this enemy down and continue on the road to her dreams.

“I won’t lose!” Jane yelled as their swords clashed with one another. Her arms shacked uncontrollably as she struggled to hold the weight to the shadowy figure. The Shadow pushed her back a bit as Jane fell backwards towards the ledge of the building.  “I… I won’t allow you to destroy me. Everything I am.” Jane thought to her self. Just as the shadow took its death strike to the young woman, who was sitting at the ledge of the building, a bright light began to glow from in back of her. Jane quickly stood up and drove the sword straight into the shadow’s mid body.

“…” Without a word, the figure evaporated into the air. Self doubt. Limitations. Fear.

Ring. Ring. Ring.