Chapter 1

Three. That was the number that kept popping up in Jake Adam's life. It was the date of his girlfriend's birthday, March 3rd. It was the number of years he had been gone in Iraq. And the number of weeks since he had gotten the letter.

When he arrived at his apartment he placed all his bags down. Not even bothering to unpack them. He quickly took a shower and changed into a suit. Jake looked at the clock. It was 1:05 he didn't have to be there until 3:00. He walked into his bedroom. There was a large window on the west wall and a large TV on the southern wall. A large bed faced the TV with two bedside tables on both sides. Jake walked over and picked up a framed photograph. It was a picture of him and Lilly at their college graduation. They had been dating for three years before he left to serve in the military. The letter he received three weeks ago notified Jake that Lilly had died in a car accident. Today was her funeral.

Jake looked up to the sky. The dark clouds were threatening to rain down on them. "rain at a funeral, how cliché." he mumbled to himself. He stood in the back. Not really paying much attention to what was being said. After the service was over, Lilly's father had spotted him and was making his way towards him. Not wanting to engage in a sad, sappy conversation, Jake turned quickly and jumped on his bike and sped out of the parking lot. He was the last to arrive and the first to leave. Jake turned right at the stop light and headed back to the city where his home was.

He laid down on his bed, not bothering to take his suit off first. Jake wasn't tired. He wasn't feeling anything. He had no emotion at all. He didn't know what to think about. He just laid there. Staring up at the ceiling, memorizing every bump and discoloration.

Jake finally turned his head to pay attention to what was going on around him. It had gotten dark outside, but the city lights washed into his window so it was light enough. He stood up and went into the kitchen, grabbed his keys, and headed down to the parking garage. There was his motorcycle. It was covered by a tarp to protect it while he was gone.

He sped down the highway, heading back to the cemetery. It was located up on a hill on the outskirts of town. The dark clouds still lingered in the sky, blocking the moon. It was too dark to see anything. Jake wandered through the grave yard, until he came upon upturned soil where it was recently dug into. He glanced at the grave stone. He shuddered. It was Lilly's. His breath caught in his throat as he ran back to the parking lot. Jake leaned up against a tree and breathed deeply. Tears swelling up in his eyes.

He jumped onto his bike. The engine roaring to life as he cranked the ignition. He sped away into the darkness. Instead of turning left, to head back to the city, he choose right, not bothering to stop at the red light. As he went farther into the rural area, the faster he went. All the emotions that he had been holding back were finally breaking out. Jake wanted it to end. Wanted for all his regret, all his memories gone. Street lights had disappeared. All that was left was the bright headlight of his motorcycle. The trees blurred by him. A signed warning "bridge maybe slippery when wet" flashed by. When the bridge was in view, he only went faster.

The bike bounced and slid as he made his way across the icy bridge. Jake lost control as he came to the end of it. All in a flash, the bike flew off the road, into a ditch, throwing him from the wreckage. He landed with a thud on the ground. He heard a snap and a sense of pain shot up through his arm. The shock of the impact put Jake in a daze. He opened his eyes slowly and saw some of his belongings laying out in front of him, one of them being his wallet. The flap was open, exposing a picture of Lilly in her prom dress. He thought about how beautiful she looked and wondered why she had to go so young. He heard tires screeching to a stop somewhere nearby.

Then nothing... Nothing but darkness