PARADISE FOUND - Prologue
(Shuis|PG-13|Alternate Universe)
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
They'd spent the last two hours together in uncomfortable
silence.
Luis had drifted off to sleep as Sheridan put down her
magazine and closed her eyes. There were only a few hours
left before they reached their joint destination, the one
Sheridan thought she was heading toward alone.
It was over a week since Luis had been unable to prove his
faithfulness to her, unable to prove that some impostor had
conspired with her family to split them up by faking his
liaison with another woman. Sheridan couldn't take it
anymore, the pain was too much to bear and she had to get
away, somehow.
Guess the travel agent wasn't as discreet as I thought,
Sheridan grumbled inwardly, edging a bit further away from
her former fiance. How he found out about her plans, how he
even got on the Crane personal jet she'd probably never know
and he was smart enough to wait until they were up in the air
before settling in beside her on the small private plane,
nearly shocking her out of her seat with surprise.
Part of her debated storming the cabin and demanding the
pilot turn back, or maybe even feigning illness and forcing
them to land. But they were already over the ocean and by
that time, it was far too late.
Instead, she merely treated Luis to her own, special brand of
Crane iciness, the silent treatment. He'd tried to talk, but
after the second hour he gave and seemed content just to be
beside her, even falling into a light doze, one that made him
look so innocent and beautiful, Sheridan had to force her
attention toward her magazine or be lost all together.
It was six more hours until they reached Tahiti, and the
moment the plane landed she'd be free of him, come hell or
high water.
The pilot's voice came over the PA system. "We are at a
cruising altitude of fifteen-thousand thousand feet and ..."
A shudder went through the plane, cutting off the pilot's
words and Luis awoke with a start. Sheridan's eyes widened
and she took a deep breath, reminding herself that turbulence
was the motion of a plane being forced up, not down.
A heartwrenching plunge in altitude, and Sheridan gave a
little shriek. Oh dear God, that was no turbulence.
"What the hell's going on?" Luis muttered, grabbing her hand.
She didn't pull it away, instead she clutched him tightly as
metal groaned all around them. "I ... don't know," she
stammered, and screamed when a terrifying BANG exploded
through the cabin. She buried her face against his shoulder
and felt his arms go around her, comforting and protecting.
A hazy curtain of smoke filled the air and Sheridan felt
Luis pulling a fallen oxygen mask over her face, as outside
one of the engines glowed brightly with flames. Her stomach
leapt into her throat and she realized numbly they were in a
nose dive.
Again Luis' arms were around her and his voice was in her ear
telling her how much he adored her, that she was the love of
his life, that nothing mattered as long as they were
together. Soft prayers in Spanish then, asking God to spare
her, and Sheridan fought against the panic racing up her
spine.
They ducked together, leaning forward, bracing themselves for
the inevitable and the last thing they heard was the sound of
the plane hitting water, just before everything went black.
~*~*~*~*~*~
continued in PARADISE FOUND
Chapter One
All reviews are welcome. :-D