Disclaimer: I don't own anything, sadly I am not Pittacus Lore

CHAPTER 1

Call me Maybe by Carly Jepsen pounded through my iPod ear buds. I rolled the window down and let the warm wind rush inside the car. I didn't bother to look at my mom in fear that she'd make me put the window back up. I liked the wind, evaporating the moisture from my eyes, and plus, my ear buds were in and I couldn't even hear her.

We were on our way to Colorado for the weekend. My mom had another job interview. "This is the one," she would say, "this time, I'm going to get the job of my dreams!" she would always tell me this whenever we moved. But it never was.

We moved about every six months or so. She has always homeschooled me. She's fifty, and she's super overprotective, too. I honestly don't know another parent on the planet that's more protective than her.

One time, I went for a walk and somebody asked me for my picture. I said sure and he took it. He asked me for my name and I gave it to him. He said I was very pretty, that's why he took the picture.

When I got home and told my mother, she flipped out and tracked down the man and made him delete the picture. I was so embarrassed. How could my mom humiliate me like that?

My dad left us when I was four. Mom said he took everything when he left. Except for me. And she says she is so lucky she has me. She tries her hardest to be the best single parent possible. But she really doesn't get me. She majored in college for science education. I, on the other hand, could not care less about science and math. Too confusing. But I think she expects me to be just like her. I giggle at the thought of me doing an autopsy of some foreign creature from Japan in the future. I'd be bored out of my mind.

I felt a nudge on my arm and turned my head, taking out the ear buds and rolling up the window.

"Laci," said mom, "when we find a good home, I'm thinking about signing you up for a science summer camp." And these are how arguments usually start. I don't know why she does this.

I gave my mom the meanest look I could muster up. Then I closed my eyes and set my jaw. "Mom, I don't want to take any kind of camp this summer. I already told you, I have to work. I'll be sixteen in June. " It was March, now. "I can get a job and earn money." I slowly put my ear buds back in and crank my music louder.

A tug from mom and the music stopped. I looked down. She had taken out the plug from my iPod. I sighed again and said, "What?"

"Laci, listen to me." She started, "you're not having ANY job this summer, got it? And now that I think about it, a summer camp would be way too risky."

"Why mom, why? What is so important that you have to keep me locked up in this isolated little world for?" I asked her. And this time, I expected a true answer.

"It's nothing, Laci. I don't like when we fight. I-"

"Mom, look out!" I screamed. What I saw was a huge truck driver losing control and swerving into us from my right side.

What happened next was almost in slow motion. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my mom turn the steering wheel sharply in one swift motion. The car lurched and the engine squealed.

The moment of impact was sudden and jarring. The truck rammed into the back of our car with the front directly behind me. I was thrown forward towards the windshield. I put my arms out to brace myself, and then felt a sharp pain and heard a snap. My face was thrown forward into the flying glass and slammed into where the air bag should have deployed. But no air bag came out.

Stars danced across my vision and I blacked out.

…

When Iwoke up, it was a dark out. I blinked many times, trying to clear my blurry vision. I didn't feel anything. I just looked into the distance. I guessed that I was lying on the ground. A faint beat pulsed through my body. Was this my heart beating?

Little bit by bit I started to gain consciousness. I could feel a small breeze swish across my body. My face was caked with dried blood. My lips were cracked and dry. I tried to lick them, it didn't help. My tongue was a dusty rock in my mouth. I needed water, and soon. Or else this would be a very long night.

I tried to lift my head and torso which was a very bad idea. A jaw dropping pain ripped through my body and I breathed heavily. I must have some crushed ribs. I slowly lowered myself back into my previous position which made me dizzy from the pain.

I was laying stomach down, my right cheek pressed on the cool ground, my head facing the low moon. I couldn't feel my left arm, my painting arm, that is. I would have to turn my head so that my left cheek was against the ground this meant that I would have to turn my head.

I braced my muscles, and my mental state, ready for much pain to come as I would have to turn my head.

I lifted my face off the ground and started to turn, very slowly. I had to squeeze my eyes open and shut several times in order to clear the stars from my vision. I felt dizzy and sick, like I was going to throw up. I couldn't even imagine the pain that would cause my ribs.

I finally made it. I had to catch my breath for a second which with every inhale, sent new waves of nausea and pain through my body.

When my breathing slowed, I looked at my arm and almost gasped. What I saw did not resemble an arm in the least bit.

First of all, it was at a weird angle, with my palm up and my elbow snapped back. There was a white bone sticking straight up out of my skin.

I couldn't look any longer; or else it was surely going to make me vomit. I closed my eyes and blacked out again.

…

I woke up again in a panic, thinking of my mother and how she could be dead. It was late night, or early morning by now. I was out for probably a couple hours. I opened my eyes as wide as they would go, trying to see anything in the darkness. Nothing.

I took a breath- a real one. Before, I had pretty much been doing small little breaths in order to keep myself from blacking out from the pain. But this breath hurt so badly, I didn't know if there was ever a worse pain.

My body lurched and twisted which made me so nauseous. I could feel the vomit in my esophagus begin to rise. I swallowed which did no good.

I vomited everything up. But I'll spare you the disgusting details; all I'll say was that the smell was horrific.

My ribs were on fire. I felt like someone was stabbing them with a lit torch over and over.

I tried to yell for help this time. So I gathered up my strength.

"Is anyone here?" I cried. My voice was high and squeaky. I needed to clear my throat.

I heard a noise to my right. And froze, which really was all I could do anyways. It's not like I was going anywhere anytime soon.

The noise sounded off into the distance. I wondered if it was an animal. What kind of dangerous animals were out in the "nowhere's" of Colorado?

I racked my brain for any project, book, or History lesson we had done on Colorado in school. Nothing.

I frowned. This was going to be a long night.

Suddenly the noise came again. This time closer. The creature was moving around in the tall grass around me.

My heart was pounding so hard. This was it. This is where and how and when I probably will die.

I closed my eyes and waited to be eaten alive by whatever was out there. It seemed like I was lying there for ten minutes. I was ready to die, what a painful death I had endured. When suddenly, a blinding light shone into my eyes and I heard a voice pulling me back to reality bit by bit. I was struggling, and didn't want to go back to reality. I had just chosen death and had been so close.

No, please, no.

I hear voices. But they all sound so distant. I could never reach them, could I?

I felt the sensation of being lifted off the ground. My ribs hurt. Voices. And light. Never ending light. When would this end?

Then, complete blackness. Not a sound to comfort me. I was in my own little world.

…

The first thing that came to mind when I opened my eyes was complete and utter confusion. What was going on? My eyes were blurry and everything was white.

Once my eyes focused, I looked at my left arm which was heavily bandaged with dozens of wires and tubes inserted beneath the maze of cloth that comforted my arm. Or what was left of it, that is.

I looked around. And then down.

I laid on a light blue hospital bed, propped up a little. The door ahead of me was wide open, with no nurse or doctors coming in.

I lifted my head a little to get a clear view of the room. I tried to sit up more but felt a little dizzy and the monitors started beeping hysterically. A young nurse with dirty blond hair came in calmly and pressed a button on the monitor which stopped the beeping. She turned to me.

"Welcome back." She said.

At that moment, my eyes went blurry again and my body started to ripple with pain. I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists, and then lost consciousness. The last thing I heard was the hysterical beeping of the heart monitor.

A/N: please review and tell me how I did!