PROLOGUE

Liz sighed and watched lazily as trees, colored in the brilliant colors of autumn foliage, flew by the window of her cousin's tiny car. It was a beautiful fall afternoon. The sun was shining, birds were chirping. In fact, mused Liz, everything was perfect, except for a certain lousy perso-

"Hey, take a look at what James said!" Liz's cousin said loudly, popping her gum and flashing her iPhone in Liz's direction. Before she had the chance to glance at the touch screen, however, her cousin had whipped it back into her left palm and was frantically typing again.

"Trish, maybe you shouldn't be doing that now," warned Liz, blowing her grown-out auburn bangs out of her face.

"Come on, Lizzybee," Liz glowered at the childhood nickname, "You know I am a perfectly safe adult."

"Trish, you're driving with your knees,"

"Oh, boo. Don't sweat it kid, I've had tons of practice," She bragged, still giggling at her iPhone. Sinking down in the passenger seat, Liz buried herself into her green sweatshirt and brought her legs to her chest. She loved Trish, but, well, sometimes she could get a bit reckless. Even though she was fresh into her senior year of college, she was still one of the most irresponsible people Liz knew.

'We would be safer,' She thought, 'If I was driving.' But being eleven, that was a long shot.

Still popping her gum obnoxiously, Trisha jammed her finger into the 'on' button of the car radio.

"Ooh, I love this song!" She squealed. "You got designer shades, just to hide your face, and you wear 'em around like you're cooler than me! And you never say "hey," or remember my name, it's probably 'cause you think you're cooler than me!" The bass line emitting from the speakers jolted Liz in her seat. Scowling, she drew out her iPod, jammed the earbuds into her ears, and scrolled the thumb-dial until she reached her Beatles playlist.

"Lizzy," Whined Trish, as Liz began to draw out a copy of Harry Potter, "Why are you acting like such a loner? Have some fun!" She exclaimed, throwing her hot pink Coach bag into Liz's lap.

"Well, because, Trisha," started Liz ferociously, "my idea of fun involves driving safely, and listening to good music, in the very least,"

Trisha frowned.

"You know what? You've been such a bitch since your parents divorced! I'm sick of it!" She paused, "You know what? Screw this. You're going home,"

"Fine! Good! That's where I want to go!" Liz turned over in her seat and closed her eyes.

The dark blue VW bug suddenly veered sharply to the right, causing Liz's dark green eyes to immediately snap open to attention.

"What the heck are you doing, Trisha?" Shouted Liz above the symphony of horns directed towards them. A flood of oncoming traffic rushed towards the tiny car. Trisha froze, paralyzed with fear. Her iPhone she had been clutching moments before dropped from her hand and onto the rubber floor.

"Drive!"

Trisha finally lowered her toe onto the gas pedal and positioned her hands on the steering wheel when the first car hit. Not having enough time to brake, it smashed head-on into the back of the little Bug. Glass shattered and crumbled into the trunk. The seatbelt managed to stop Liz's body from projecting foreword, but her head still whipped back and forth under the impact, smashing against the window and emitting a loud cracking noise. Dazed and in pain, she shared a glance with Trisha, who was wailing and cupping her bloody nose. Liz's breath came out in shallow wisps, deepening until she was gasping heavily with relief. Now if only they could find Trisha's phone in all of the confusion and call the nearest hospital, everything would be fine. It was all over, anyway, and they were both alive.

Again, she glanced at Trisha. Why did she look so scared? Uneasiness settled into Liz's body as Trisha pointed a single shaking finger towards the window on Liz's side. What was she getting at? Painfully, Liz twisted her neck and rested her head against the cool glass, but it was too late when the realization hit her. Feet away from her face, a terrified driver was desperately trying to put on his brakes before his car smashed full on into Liz's door. Everything before her eyes seemed to slow down as the VW Bug rocked onto it's top from the force of the other car, but not before Liz's face was dashed into the window a second time. Slipping out of her seatbelt, Liz could feel it. This was the end wasn't it? Mouth as dry as cotton, Liz tried to send out a signal to her cousin.

'Save me, save me, save me! You got us into this mess! I'm going to die because of your stupidity!' Trisha's cries soon started to fade, and the warm blood dripping down Liz's face almost seemed soothing.

'Trisha!'

A long, angry, bloodcurdling scream emitted from Liz's mouth as crimson blood dripped down her face and onto her rosebud lips. Death was coming, and she was definitely not ready to go yet. Fading into oblivion, Liz's anger turned to a wild ferocity. Her fight for life wasn't nearly close to being over. It had only just begun.

Two hours later, Liz's parents were solemnly gathered together in the waiting room of the local hospital. A doctor walked in, teeth clenched, his throat hitching with every breath he took. It was right then when he shuffled over to Ms. And Mr. Tanner, and broke to them his devastating news that would change their lives forever. Although they had been fresh from divorce, Ms. Tanner let out a wail and buried her face in her ex-husband's jacket. Awkwardly, the doctor turned to leave.

"Wait," Mr. Tanner had reached out to clench the doctor's scrubs.

"Thank you," He whispered brokenly. The doctor nodded in return and started on his way back to the room where Liz's mangled body lay.

A/N: Oh Lawdy. My second ever multi-chaptered fic, and boy did I work hard on it. Yes, this does include an original character, and I tried to make her as un Mary-suish as possible. So sit back, and enjoy :D

And I will be publishing chapters weekly, regardless of school/homework, yaddah yaddah.