Chapter 25: Rebirth

An hour before JJ's record label and Bright Summit Entertainment Company's announcement.

Almost two years since Iris Long disappeared from the public eyes, she had remained silent online. Even when a commotion broke out after her social media accounts were wiped clean, and when Fan Luo and Jin Chonglin almost caused a scandal involving her with their blog posts, nobody heard a word from her.

This fateful morning, however, all of her empty social media accounts were finally updated.

No greetings, no words.

It was just a single video.

The video started with the back view of a teenage girl wearing a skimpy dress and high heels. Club music echoed in the background, as she walked out to a parking lot and climbed into a sports car.

She drove away and then the scene suddenly blacked out with the sounds of squealing tires and a loud crash.

An ambulance siren blared.

Next was a frantic scene at a hospital with paramedics wheeling the unconscious teenage girl whose face still wasn't shown; her blood splattering on the white floor tiles. The door to the operating room closed behind them.

The next scene showed a hospital room filled with several life support machines. The girl on the bed laid unmoving, her face still not shown.

The camera shifted its focus to a calendar atop a table beside the bed, its pages flipping to the next month again and again, faster and faster, showing how much time passed.

Then the screen gradually turned darker and darker until it completely blacked out. Muffled sounds could be heard, like that when one was underwater.

Sounds of breathing and heartbeat, loud and regular at first, but gradually weakening and slowing down until everything became silent.

A few seconds of total darkness and silence.

A small speck of light appeared in the middle of the screen, gradually becoming bigger and brighter until it swallowed the entire screen.

The next scene showed an ethereal paradise-like mountain forest. A fairy with golden hair and emerald eyes flitted among a garden of colourful wildflowers. She wore a flowing white dress which sparkled delicately whenever she moved.

The beautiful fairy walked towards a deep, blue lake and sat by the shore, leaning over to caress the still waters with her graceful hands.

A loud gasp! The water pulled her violently down into its dark depths.

As she sank deeper and deeper, a shadowy figure could be seen floating slowly towards her direction. As the two neared each other, the other figure became visible. It was the teenage girl still wearing the skimpy dress. Her eyes were closed. She looked lifeless, her black hair billowing out in the water as she was slowly pulled upwards.

The fairy and the teenage girl finally appeared in the same screen, floating in front of each other. They had the same face, yet looked completely different, especially the aura they emitted.

The teenage girl was sickly pale, dark shadows under her closed eyes. The fairy, on the other hand, exuded a soft ethereal glow within her. Her golden hair floated around her like a halo, her emerald eyes glinting with divine light.

The fairy stretched out her arms and gently pulled the unconscious teenage girl into her embrace. The two fused as they touched, until only one figure remained.

The new figure wore the teenage girl's skimpy outfit, a dimming ethereal glow on her skin. Her golden hair gradually turned black. Slowly, her emerald eyes opened before dimming into a dark brown colour.

She gracefully swam upwards like a mermaid until her head broke out to the surface. The scene abruptly cut and reverted to that of the comatose girl on the hospital bed opening her eyes. A faint emerald light visible in her dark brown pupils.

The screen faded to darkness. A rich beautiful fairy-like voice sang a melody without lyrics in the background.

The back view of a young woman appeared. She wore an elegant, deep emerald long dress. Her long, straight black hair flowed behind her like a natural cape.

Her figure stood under a blooming sakura tree, the blossoms raining down like pink snow. She turned and the camera closed up and focused on her beautiful face. Her dark brown phoenix eyes looked fierce yet detached at the same time. Her plump, pink lips lifted into a mysterious smile.

Black out.

And then the word "Rebirth" appeared in big characters, followed by the name "Iris Long" and a date two weeks from now. The logo of JJ's record label appeared before the video finally ended.