Chapter 1: Death Awaits
"Aw man, this vacation to Los Angeles is going to be epic!" My best friend Adam exclaimed as he slid into the driver's seat of a beat-up old SUV.
"You keep saying that, remember?" I rolled my eyes in exasperation as I got into the passenger seat.
"Is it any less true?" Adam looked over at me, raising an eyebrow.
"No, you are wise beyond your years." I muttered, looking out the window as my other two best friends, James and Derek got in the backseat. "Ready to go?"
"Yeah, let's go see some hot celebrities." James replied, showing as much enthusiasm as Adam.
As Adam pulled onto the highway that would take them to Los Angeles, he turned on the radio. "Aw, man this is my jam!" Adam grinned, pounding the steering wheel to the beat.
Los Angeles was two hours away so I had to hear Adam singing off-key to all the songs. He took the exit for Los Angeles.
As the music turned to a chipper, upbeat tune, my vision blurred and a bright shiny hotel appeared in my vision, one that looked just like the one they were staying. I saw our group heading out to the lobby, dressed for clubbing, and the windows showed it was nighttime.
Suddenly a rumbling noise could be heard, growing louder and the floor bucked beneath the group. "What's going on?" I heard myself cry out in surprise.
"It's an earthquake, everybody get under something!" the desk clerk shouted, diving under the desk.
The group dove to the ground as it continued to buck and heave. I glanced over at Adam just as a ceiling beam collapsed on him, crushing him. Blood spurted from where it landed. "Oh my God!" I cried, horrified.
"We have to get out of here, I think the hotel is going to go down!" James shouted.
They ran for the glass doors, stumbling over the heaving floor. As they reached it, the glass blew out, slicing James's jugular. His throat gurgled as blood spurted from his throat. He collapsed.
"I'm outta here!" Derek sprinted through the broken door and I followed. There were screams coming from everywhere as the earthquake continued.
"Look out!" I cried, as the boom of a crane from the nearby construction area swung toward them, and the pendulum ball slammed into Derek, crushing him against the side of the building.
"Oh, God, oh God!" I cried, stumbling my way through the street. I looked up in time to see the ground throw a car straight at me. I only had enough time to scream briefly before it crushed me.
I jerked awake, sweating profusely. "What happened?" I asked, searching wildly around the car. We had entered the city, heading toward the hotel.
"What do you mean? We're gong to the hotel." Adam looked at me like I was crazy.
The same song came on from the vision and I freaked out. "No, turn around! We have to get out of the city!" I insisted, reaching for the wheel.
"Have you lost your mind?" Adam demanded, waving my hand away. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"There's going to be a giant earthquake tonight and we are all going to die!" I reached for the steering wheel again.
"Fine, fine. But we're taking you to the psych ward as soon as we get to the next town." Adam shook his head and turned down another street, heading back toward the highway.
I relaxed as we got back on the highway. We stopped at a motel on the outskirts of Los Angeles as it got dark and I turned on the news, anxious to see whether it happened.
"Okay, dude, tell me what happened in the car back there?" Adam asked, scowling.
"I don't know. I must have had a vision or something that we would all die in an earthquake. The hotel was a death trap."
"You're nuts." Adam shook his head.
Suddenly, the ground rumbled and bucked, but I noticed that the tremors were not as strong. "See, that's the earthquake!" I shouted at Adam.
As the tremors subsided, we both turned to the TV where newscaster was just reporting. "Just a minute ago, we have reports of a massive 9.4 earthquake in Los Angeles. Several buildings are damaged or destroyed including a hotel." I gasped as the destroyed hotel came into view. "Everyone in the building was killed." The reporter finished grimly.
"That was our hotel." Adam breathed, horrified. "Did you see the future, dude?"
James had been too shocked to speak until then, spoke up now. "What does that mean for us?"
"I think we have been very lucky that our new amazing friend was able to see it coming and got us outta there." Adam clapped me on the shoulder. "Let's get some sleep."
I crawled into bed, but I couldn't sleep.