A warning: this chapter contains content of a very depressing nature!

Five years after the events in A Charmed Life

PAX - A Prequel

Zach sat in the back of his dad's Land Cruiser doing his best to ignore his baby sister's constant yapping. He had headphones on and the music to the game he was playing blasted on his eardrums, but he could still hear her whining. Gritting his teeth he fixated capturing the next golden egg in the game. Just as he was about to finally reach the last egg on the level, his sister hit his arm. His character veered off the edge, and the screen went blank. Anger surged through him, and he rounded on his baby sister, throwing his gaming console on to the car seat.

"Damn it, Pax!"

"Language," admonished their mother from the front passenger seat.

Zach bit his tongue, learning long ago that grumbling only led to punishment. He wished they were back at the Manor. Sure, his sister constantly wanted to be doing whatever he was doing, but at least at home he had space to get away from her. Or he could jump on his bike and ride over to his cousin Matt's house. Unfortunately his mom and dad chose this weekend, the last weekend before the end of Winter Break, to travel down to Orange County. They were going to go visit his mom's brother and his family. Folding his arms across his chest, Zach stared out the window at the cliff next to the edge of the road. He pointedly ignored his sister's continuous attempts to get his attention: arms crossed, and face pouted.

His mom's family for the most part lived out east, so they barely saw any of them. He could only remember meeting his maternal grandparents once in his life. They could not travel because of his grandfather's old age and failing health. His uncle, Andrew, had moved to Orange County a few years ago, and their families met up about once a year. Needless to say, Zach knew very little about the people they were going to visit. Family or not, he would have much preferred to spend the last days of freedom hanging out with friends. He was getting far too old to be hanging out with family all the time.

"MOMMY! Zach won't listen," screamed Pax, cutting into his thoughts.

Zach cringed, knowing exactly what was going to happen. He watched his mother turn around in her seat as if in slow motion and fix her eyes on him. Her lips thinned, a telltale sign. Preempting any yelling, Zach faced Pax.

"What?" he asked gruffly.

Pax pointed out her side's window. "That mountain looks funny."

Fully aware he was being observed, he grudgingly looked at the mountain and bobbed his head in agreement. "Yeah, it does look funny."

Pax clapped her hands together. "Want to play 'I Spy?'"

"Sure." Zach let his shoulder slump in defeat once his mother turned back around. "Do you want to go first?"

Pax shook her head. "No, you're way gooder than me."

"Better," corrected their dad from the driver's seat.

"Better than me," repeated Pax.

Zach looked back out the window and saw the storm clouds up a head. "Alright, I spy with my little eye something beginning with the letter 'S.'"

Pax held up her pink princess sippy cup. "Is it my sippy cup?"

"No. It's bigger than a sippy cup."

"Hmm," hummed Pax as she looked around the car for objects with her big brown eyes. "Is it daddy's cellphone?"

"Cellphone beginnings with a letter 'C,' sweetie," piped up their mom.

"But is makes a 'ssss' sound," whined Pax. "What about mommy's sweets?"

Zach shook his head. "It's bigger than a sippy cup, remember."

"Oh, yeah!" exclaimed Pax, and she strained against heir seatbelt to find the object.

It started to rain.

Already bored with the game, Zach started imagining the raindrops on the window were racing each other. He loved the rain, especially while he was falling asleep, wrapped up in his comfy blanket. Even thunder and lightning were just part of a wonderful symphony nature put on to lull him to sleep. The sounds the Manor made reminded him he was safe, home and loved. The clean smell after a rainstorm, there was no better smell except perhaps his dad's cologne.

"Give up?" he asked to show he was still paying attention.

Pax nodded eagerly. "You're too good."

"It's the storm." He pointed outside.

Pax shook her head and shuddered. "Me no like lightning."

Zach silently laughed. "It's your turn."

"Daddy, are we there, yet?"

"No, sweetie, it's still going to be awhile. We'll stop in a bit to get some lunch," said Wyatt, and Zach could see him watching them in the rearview mirror.

Zach heard his mom shriek and another car's horn blast just before he slammed into the car door. His head bounced off the window as his dad swerved to try and keep the car from crashing into the other car. The world slowed as Zach felt his seatbelt tighten across his chest. He instinctively knew they would not stop in time. Metal crunched and screamed. Glass shattered and tires screeched on slick road. The world tilted crazily as the Land Cruiser flipped and slammed over its side. His window gave way, showering him in shards of glass. He saw Pax fall helplessly against the side window. How had her seatbelt come loose? Suddenly he felt the pressure across his chest vanished, and he fell down besides her, banging his head. He felt dizzy.

The car's skid came to a stop. Zach breathed out, clutching he pounding head. He felt relief wash over him; he and his sister were still alive. The small hope vanished as a new horn blasted, and his whole world spun anew.

"Zachy!" shrieked Pax, so near to his ear that it hurt.

He reached out and grabbed hold of her, but the centrifugal force was too much for him and she slipped away. More metal crushed, and the car jerked, bouncing off something solid. Where were their parents? The car rolled onto its roof, and he fell against the roof. His chin connected first and slammed his teeth through his tongue. Zach felt a stabbing pain in his side; his sister had fallen on top of him. Another car crashed into them and their car tilted wildly.

Pax shouted "Zachy!"

He could see her slipping away and reached out to catch her. The door behind her shuddered violently, swung open, and ripped away. He could see the wet tar rushing passed. He renewed his effort to hold onto his sister, but the car hit something and bounced her off him and out of his reach. Helplessly he watched as his sister screamed his name. She slipped further away. One moment she was there, then her legs bent funny, and she was gone. Zach yelled for her, but she had fallen out of the still tumbling car.

Horror filled his very being, horror and an overwhelming sense of defeat. He was sure he had just watched the last moments of his sister's life. A sharp juddering snapped his neck and face against the destroyed side of the car. Pain shot down the one side of his body, and sick filled his mouth. He cried out as his stomach did a summersault. Abruptly all motion ceased, and he crashed violently into the back of his dad's seat. The world became totally black, and silent.

Zach slowly drifted back to consciousness, lying with his cheek pressed against the mangled remains of one of the car's doors. He wanted only to sleep, to let what had just happened be a very bad nightmare. He shifted his position and felt the pain in his cheekbone where it lay against the metal door. Reawakened to pain, his body began to register the rest of his injuries. His tongue felt four sizes too big and pounded in rhythm with his aching head. He struggled to breathe as an electrical shock radiated out from the spot his sister had landed on his ribs with every breath. His whole body was in agony, and all the pain made him want to go back to sleep.

He pushed himself up on one elbow, opened his eyes, and retched, vomiting all over his brand new shirt. He tasted sour bile and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. The smell made him gag, but there was nothing left to come up. He dry heaved. His head throbbed; he felt dizzy and seasick, as if the world were moving, as if he were rocking back and forth on a boat.

Zach groaned, and rolled onto his back, turning away from the puddle of red-tinged vomitus. The pain in his chest made him breathe in short, shallow gasps. The feeling of being on a swaying boat only intensified the feeling of nausea gnawing at his sour stomach. He shut his eyes, praying for everything to stop, but it made the feeling worse. He opened them again and looked around, trying to get his bearings.

He was inside the Land Cruiser still. The car must have flipped back over on its side, because he was lying on his back against the battered passenger door. He pulled himself slowly along the door to get a view out the front window. The steering wheel came into view, and he could tell that both of the front seats were unoccupied. The front window was shattered and covered in blood. Beyond the window, branches of a tree swayed in the howling wind. The rain had nearly stopped, but water drops from the wet overhanging leaves fell through the empty space where a car door should be and splattered coldly on his bruised face.

He stared curiously at the fragments of glass. He could not recall how the windshield had broken. He hoped it had happened before his parents disappeared and was not a sign of how they had disappeared. Then he remembered the terrified look on his sister's round face before she too vanished. A strangled weep tore across his already hoarse vocal chords.

He felt sick again, and closed his eyes until the nausea passed. The swaying was growing worse, and he was aware of a rhythmic creaking sound, like the rigging of a sailboat. Dizzy and sick to his stomach, he really felt as if the whole car were moving beneath him. He rolled onto his stomach and crawled over to window of the door. He looked out and felt his stomach drop. The whole car was swaying back and forth. Worse the whole car was stuck on a massive tree. The crash must have pushed them off the road and over the cliff.

The whole car was moving!

Tentatively, Zach rose to his feet. The damaged passenger groaned beneath him, and he shuddered at the thought of it opening up. He made his way up to the front of the car and climbed over his mom's seat. Shards of glass dug into his hands, but he persevered. Tentatively he lowered himself onto his mom's door and inched forward until he reached the battered remains on the dashboard. He peered over it and through the bloodied windshield. Dense foliage and poor light made it difficult to make out how far up he still was. The howling wind intensified and the car began to rock more readily. A gap through the leaves and branches gave him a glimpse of the ground. He was very high up still. He was at least as high as the window of the Manor's attic.

He stared uncomprehendingly. The Land Cruiser was lying on its side in the branches of a large tree, twenty feet above the ground, swaying back and forth in the wind. Slowly it dawned on him what was going to happen next.

"Oh shit!"

He had to get out of the car. He had no choice. How was he going to get out? He stood on his tiptoes and peered out trying to see better. A gust of wind shook the tree and car. He steadied himself by grabbing the steering wheel. The wet and slippery wheel spun free in his hand, and with a loud crack the Land Cruiser shifted position. Another crack and the whole car dropped, knocking him to his knees. He looked down through the splintered glass of his mom's door window at the ground below.

"Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit," he kept muttering.

He could hear the branches starting to give way, and the car bumpily dropped a few more feet. Any time now the car could come loose and plunge him to a painful death. He had to get out of the car. He edged off the door and onto the lip of floor before bending down and trying the door handle. It jammed half way and closer inspection revealed the door was dented outward. There was no way he would get the door open. The window was cracked, but still intact. He looked around, but there was nothing hard within reach. The swaying was getting worse; the storm was intensifying.

Crawling back into the back Zach carefully reached down and pulled on the handle to the rear door. It was stuck as well. The window was shattered, but he could not see any nearby branch.

In the distance he could hear the telltale wail of sirens. He wondered if he could just stay put. Maybe the first responders would be able to reach him. The car and tree groaned dangerously. Zach shuddered; he could not just sit still. He had to get out of the car; there was no hope for him inside. Getting desperate he tried the door handle again, but it would not budge. Furious he kicked the floor of the car and something clattered against the car door. He bent down and picked it up; it was his gaming console. Resolved to try anything he clambered back over his mom's seat and landed solidly on the stuck front door. He threw his gaming console as hard as he could against the window. Losing his balance he fell back and his feet slipped. His heel caught on the door handle and it snapped all the way open. There was a dull click and the door fell open right from underneath him.

Zach fell out of the car and banged hard on a lower branch. He warped his arms around it and barely caught himself. The car creaked from above him, but held its position. Exhausted and sore he pulled himself completely onto the tree branch, thankful for all the times Matt made him climb tree in his backyard. An ominous groaning cut through the wind, and he looked up. In the branches supporting the destroyed car he saw cracks in the bark. Even as he stared up the branches slowly bowed underneath the unnatural weight.

CRACK!

The branches gave way, and the car tumbled down. Not thinking Zach slipped off his branch. Unfortunately the next branch was further down than he realized, and he fell. He flailed in the air. Pine needles and twigs scratched his face. He bounced off another branch; the wind knocked out of him. His head connected with another sending white sparks across his vision. His feet hit something solid and slowed his descent. Fighting through the pain he grabbed hold of the next branch and ended his free fall. Hanging suspended between two branches he could still hear the car slowly breaking through the branches above him.

His back seared with pain, and blood running from a fresh gash across his forehead clouded his vision. Cautiously he pulled himself fully onto one branch and took stock of his situation. The ground was much closer; he may survive a jump. The world swirled as a new wave of pain crashed over him. He slunk back against the tree trunk for support.

Suddenly his world was lit up. Zach blinked rapidly and looked up. The single working headlight of the car was directly above him. A single large branch separated the whole mangled mess of a car from him, and the car was swaying dangerously in his direction. Cringing in anticipation of renewed pain, he crouched on the branch and pushed off. He pulled himself in a ball as he was buffered by a few smaller branched. Instinct drilled in from years of martial arts set his body in a roll as his shoulder crashed into the ground. He continued the roll unto he hit something solid.

BANG! CRUNCH!

Zach felt heat and he opened his eyes. The car landed next to him and somehow had caught alight. Scrambling to his feet he threw himself behind the nearest trunk. Silence settled in around him, and he breathed out. He started to breathe in when the car exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere. The shockwave knocked him off his feet. He yelled. Skin blistered. The muddy ground cushioned his fall.

He lay on the ground dead still, exhausted. Still he knew he had to move. He had to find his family. The feeling of rain on his burnt back got him moving again. Slowly, Zach got to his feet. He leant against the trunk of the tree which was protected him from the worst of the explosion. He needed to get his bearings. How far down the cliff had the car fallen before being wedged up a tree? Would the explosion be enough to catch someone's attention?

He tested his legs. Shakily he stumbled back to the tree out from which he had fallen. The rain cut the already poor visibility to almost nothing. His dad always had a flashlight in the car, but the explosion most likely destroyed it. Perhaps he could use a burning branch to light his way. He searched the area and found a large enough branch. Tried to lift it above his head to cast the flickering light further, but pain shot down his arm. His numb fingers lost their grip on the branch. It fell to the ground at his feet.

Unable to hold it together any longer he dropped to the ground beside the burning log. Sobs racked through his small bruise and battered body. How could this happen? Why did it happen? Wet, cold, and tired Zach curled up and cried. The rain eventually quenched the fires the explosion started. Darkness and despair pulled him into a fitful sleep.

Zach woke to shouts. He stiffly stretched out his aching limbs. The rain had stopped, but it was still pitch black. Only a light cut through the darkness off in the distance. With the rain and wind ceased he could discern the wails of multiple sirens. He tried to stand, but he was too weak.

"Help," he cried but his voice sounded pitiful to his ears.

He cleared his sore throat. "HELP! OVER HERE! HELP!"

The light spun back in his direction.

"HELP! PLEASE! I'M OVER HERE!"

The light stopped its searching arc and focused in his vicinity.

"ANYONE THERE."

Zach coughed. His ribs complained. "YES!"

Indistinct human voices floated to him and the light grew bigger. Zach wanted to yell for them to hurry up. He was cold and tired. He wanted to find his family. Light bathed the little clearing. Two men in yellow fluorescent hazard jackets stepped into view.

"Jesus Christ!" muttered one of them

"Son, are you ok?" asked the other.

Zach nodded unable to find his voice.

The older of the two threw off the backpack he was carrying and pulled out a small plastic parcel. He ripped it open and draped the shinny foil blanket over Zach. The other man was holding the flashlight, and he began searching the area.

"Was there anyone else with you?"

Zach's throat constricted. "Mmmm…"

The older shook his head. "It's ok, son. Everything is going to be ok."

"My sister—she—crash…" Zach blabbered on.

The young man returned. "We found the other car. It's a mess, Jimmy. Miracle he's alive."

Jimmy nodded but kept his eyes on Zach. He started inspecting Zack for injuries.

"My dad—my mom."

"Fuck, Jimmy, what the hell."

Jimmy paused his inspection. "Calm down, Paul. He's just a kid."

Paul ran a hand through his short hair. "But the mess up there. And then this."

Zach looked from one man to the other, his heart pounding.

Jimmy smiled at him. "Let's get you back up to one of the ambulances."

"He's alright to move like that? No brace?"

Jimmy nodded. "He's banged up to all heck, but I don't think it's anything too nasty. I'm more concerned with him slipping into shock. Let's get a move on."

Jimmy stood up and picked up the backpack. Paul bent down and lifted Zach into his arms. Zach wrapped his arms around the man's neck. The trek back to the road was slow, but no one spoke. Zach's mind raced with the horrors he was about to see. His mom, his dad could be laying dead on the side of the road. His sister—God, his sister. Her pleading brown eyes right before she fell out the car kept flashing before his eyes.

They reached the road. Zach tried to look around, but he was hampered but the blanket. Paul stopped walking and lowered him onto a gurney beside one of the half a dozen ambulances on the scene. Zach sat up, refusing the coxing hands of both one of the EMS worker and Paul. He could see five cars in various states of destruction. Three bodies were covered in white blankets. Police surrounded a fourth. He turned to his left and saw a familiar face. Wyatt lay unconscious on the gurney next to him, his entire face purple and torn up.

"DAD!"

Paul turned around. "That's your dad?"

Zach nodded.

"ZACH!"

His mother's head popped out of the next ambulance over. She was also covered in cuts and bruises. Her eyes were red and puffy, but she was smiling.

"MOM!"

Sarah pushed aside the EMS worker trying to load her into the ambulance. She rushed over to Zach and wrapped her arms around him tightly. Tears flowed freely as mother and son reunited.

"Oh my God, Zach. Zach, you're safe. You're alive. Thank the Powers."

"Ma'am," interrupted Paul.

Sarah ignored him. "You're alive."

Zach chocked. "Mommy."

Zach blinked through the tears. He saw the next gurney roll by passed him. This gurney was not like the one he was sitting on. It lacked the comforts of a gurney for a live person. The body on this gurney was covered in another of the white blankets, but this one was smaller. Too small to cover an adult; underneath lay the remains of a child. A gust of wind rippled the blanket and exposed the face, a very recognizable chubby face.

"NO!" Zach screamed. His whole body broke out in sweat. "No, no, no!"

Sarah held on to her son tightly. "Zach, sweetie, Zach."

Zach shook free of his mother and jumped off the gurney. He tried to reach the gurney carrying his baby sister, but Paul caught him around the middle. The strong man lifted him off his feet, but Zach fought back. He kicked and punched, and bit anything he could.

"NO!"

Paul placed him firmly on the gurney and held him on place as two EMS workers strapped him down. Zach hissed and wriggled. That was his sister, his annoying baby sister.

"Pax!"

He felt a pin prink and the world grew grey. His limbs gained weight. Slowly his eyelids slid shut against his will, and Zach knew nothing but darkness.