Disclaimer/Explanation~ This story is based off the One Last Wish series
with a slight crossover into the Night World series by L.J. Smith (mainly
because I've borrowed the major plotline from NW1, but the story should be
understandable, even if you haven't read NW). Still, it fits here better, I
think. So anyway, I do not own either the aforementioned series, but I do
own some characters and such. Oh, and I know that Survivor, Charmed and ER
all aren't on the same night anymore, but they were when I began to write
this story last year. So technically it is kind of valid. Okay, enough of
my rambling. On with the story. . .
Chapter 1
Everything had been so perfect the day before that Emma should have expected something, should have figured that some bad karma was coming her way. But who ever expects something when life is so good? Besides, Emma Kinney had had enough tragedy in her past; it seemed to her that it was about time that things had started looking up.
Yesterday had been Thursday, and it had been wonderful. Emma had gone to her boyfriend Max's house for TV night. First they had watched Survivor, which both of them loved and were thoroughly addicted to. Then Emma had changed the station and made Max watch Charmed. Emma loved that show. Personally, she didn't believe in witchcraft or anything like that, but she did believe that it made for a wickedly fun program. And Max put up with it, so why not? Then they had watched ER, Max's choice. He had this thing for medical shows, and he did watch Charmed, so Emma put up with it.
Max. Emma still could not believe that they were together. They had gone to school together since junior high, but they'd never really noticed each other until a couple of weeks ago. Emma wondered what had taken them so long. When she was with Max, she felt. . .well it was hard to describe. Other boys had made her feel pretty, or sexy, or smart, but Max. . .Max made her feel special like no boy ever had before. She felt pretty and strong, like she could do anything she set her mind to. He made her feel. . .complete. He was her equal and they balanced each other out perfectly. She had never felt this connected to any other guy her entire life. Her stepfather, Mark, said that she was young and didn't know any better, but what did he know? There was just something about Maxwell Jude Pine that sent Emmanuelle Sage Kinney's heart into overdrive.
And then, to top off getting both Max and her Survivor fix in one night, the next day was Friday, it was only a couple of more weeks until school was out for the summer, and Kristen was already asleep when Emma got home.
Kristen Marie Taylor was not someone that Emma Kinney wanted to deal with on a daily basis. Unfortunately she had to, because Kristen was her stepsister and they also had to share a room. Emma didn't mind her stepbrother Sean, who was 20. Most of the time, Sean was away at college, but since college let out a month before high school, he was already home. And Emma actually liked her stepbrother Michael, who was 10. He was a cute kid. But Emma absolutely couldn't stand Kristen, who was 17 and a junior, just like Emma. Kristen always acted like she was older and wiser than Emma; while in fact she was only about 2 months older, having been born in October. Emma had been born on Christmas. Well, it made sense with a name like Emmanuelle Sage Kinney.
Emma had had a wonderful life until she was eight. That was the year her father, Brian, had died of lung cancer, though he'd never smoked his entire life. Emma's world had been shattered. She was her parents' only child, and to lose her father was to lose half of her family. Emma's mother, Stephanie, had been devastated as well. Brian and Stephanie had been perfect for each other. Emma was under the impression that if soulmates actually existed, then Brian John Kinney and Stephanie Anne Merlo were a prime example. For years it was just Steph and Emma, but then three years ago, Stephanie had met Mark Joseph Taylor. Mark was a little strict, but a nice guy. The reason she didn't particularly like him was because he wasn't her father, and her mom and dad had been soulmates, so what was he doing here, thank you very much? But even just putting up with Mark wouldn't have been bad in itself. Emma was used to him. The problem was with Mark's first wife, Karen. Karen had had control of the three Taylor children, and she had been remarried to a man named Seth Wallace who had three kids of his own living with him. Bob, Jaime and Cara, Emma believed their names were. And that had been working out okay, except at the time Stephanie and Mark were getting married, Karen and Seth had a baby, Stephen. The Taylor kids could put up with their Wallace stepsiblings, apparently, but when it came to their mom's new baby, no way. They had decided that living with only one stepsister had to be better than 3 stepsibs and a baby half-brother, and therefore they got the court orders changed so they could live with Mark. Oh, they went to go visit Karen, of course, but not often enough in Emma's opinion.
So after all of that, Emma figured she deserved the good things she'd been getting recently.
Only once during their evening, during ER, had Emma's stomach acted up. Emma held her stomach in tight and tried not to double over as the pain gnawed in her abdomen for a couple of minutes. Even so, Max noticed, and asked her what was wrong.
"Oh nothing, stomach cramp," she replied cheerfully, mentally begging him to drop it.
The look he gave her was inscrutable, but he didn't mention it any more.
The first time Emma's abdomen had flared up in pain had been a couple of months ago. She and Kristen had been alone in their room, and Emma had taken a quick gasp of breath as her stomach throbbed with pain for a couple of seconds. Emma had been fully meaning to tell her mom, but Kristen had stopped her.
"You're not going to worry Stephanie with that, are you?" Kristen had said, "Do you really want to make her worry over something that's probably just gas?"
No, Emma hadn't. She hated to admit that Kristen was right, after all, Kristen hadn't FELT how painful it was, but she also hated to make Stephanie worry, and her mom had been somewhat more neurotic since Brian had died. So she kept it silent. Over the past couple of months the twinges in her stomach had been getting more frequent and longer in duration, but Emma hadn't mentioned them again. She was sure they would go away soon. It just took some positive thinking.
So that morning, that fateful Friday morning began like any other. Emma got up and took a shower. As she was standing in front of the mirror, brushing her hair, however, she got another stomach cramp. This one was so bad that Emma saw spots in front of her eyes.
"Excuse me, I need the bathroom!" Kristen called, pounding on the door.
Emma clutched to the countertop, willing the pain to go away. Finally, she was able to stand up and call, "In a minute," and finish her daily routine. Emma gave herself a looking over in the mirror. Long brown hair, big brown eyes. She was pretty, but not necessarily beautiful. She had the same coloring as Mark, Sean, Kristen and Michael, but one could tell that they weren't blood related. They didn't look alike at all. That was just as good. Emma didn't want to look like them. Finally, she gave up the bathroom to Kristen and went to her room to put on some clothes.
Coming downstairs into the kitchen, she saw Michael sitting and eating cereal at the kitchen table, and Stephanie standing waiting for her toast to finish cooking.
"Hey, sport," Emma said, smiling at her stepbrother.
"Hi, Emma. Stephanie's going to take me to school today and help me with my float. She's also going to stay for the parade, right Stephanie?"
"That's right, Michael," said Stephanie, ruffling his hair.
The fifth graders were doing a state project in which they had to make a float out of a cardboard box that represented a state. Michael had done New Hampshire, and his float had purple papier-mâché mountains on it. It was really cute.
Emma pulled out a box of cereal. "Mmm, breakfast, I'm starving," she said. Holding the box in one hand, she reached for a ceramic bowl with the other.
Just then, Kristen walked in. "I really don't know how you can eat in the morning."
"Now Kristen, we've been through this before," Stephanie admonished, "You need to be eating breakfast."
Emma had started to tune them out, because a wave of dizziness and pain had washed over her. She reached out to put the cereal and the bowl on the table, but her hands couldn't make it and the items dropped to the ground. The cereal spilled all over the linoleum and the bowl shattered into many pieces.
Three pairs of eyes whirled on Emma.
"Emma Sage!" her mom chided, "What was that? You clean it up right now!"
But Emma could barely hear her, much less comply. Dots were swimming in front of her eyes. Dizzy, so dizzy; and the pain! Emma's face was contorted. It had never been this bad before. And then Emma felt herself fall and the world mercifully went black.
Chapter 1
Everything had been so perfect the day before that Emma should have expected something, should have figured that some bad karma was coming her way. But who ever expects something when life is so good? Besides, Emma Kinney had had enough tragedy in her past; it seemed to her that it was about time that things had started looking up.
Yesterday had been Thursday, and it had been wonderful. Emma had gone to her boyfriend Max's house for TV night. First they had watched Survivor, which both of them loved and were thoroughly addicted to. Then Emma had changed the station and made Max watch Charmed. Emma loved that show. Personally, she didn't believe in witchcraft or anything like that, but she did believe that it made for a wickedly fun program. And Max put up with it, so why not? Then they had watched ER, Max's choice. He had this thing for medical shows, and he did watch Charmed, so Emma put up with it.
Max. Emma still could not believe that they were together. They had gone to school together since junior high, but they'd never really noticed each other until a couple of weeks ago. Emma wondered what had taken them so long. When she was with Max, she felt. . .well it was hard to describe. Other boys had made her feel pretty, or sexy, or smart, but Max. . .Max made her feel special like no boy ever had before. She felt pretty and strong, like she could do anything she set her mind to. He made her feel. . .complete. He was her equal and they balanced each other out perfectly. She had never felt this connected to any other guy her entire life. Her stepfather, Mark, said that she was young and didn't know any better, but what did he know? There was just something about Maxwell Jude Pine that sent Emmanuelle Sage Kinney's heart into overdrive.
And then, to top off getting both Max and her Survivor fix in one night, the next day was Friday, it was only a couple of more weeks until school was out for the summer, and Kristen was already asleep when Emma got home.
Kristen Marie Taylor was not someone that Emma Kinney wanted to deal with on a daily basis. Unfortunately she had to, because Kristen was her stepsister and they also had to share a room. Emma didn't mind her stepbrother Sean, who was 20. Most of the time, Sean was away at college, but since college let out a month before high school, he was already home. And Emma actually liked her stepbrother Michael, who was 10. He was a cute kid. But Emma absolutely couldn't stand Kristen, who was 17 and a junior, just like Emma. Kristen always acted like she was older and wiser than Emma; while in fact she was only about 2 months older, having been born in October. Emma had been born on Christmas. Well, it made sense with a name like Emmanuelle Sage Kinney.
Emma had had a wonderful life until she was eight. That was the year her father, Brian, had died of lung cancer, though he'd never smoked his entire life. Emma's world had been shattered. She was her parents' only child, and to lose her father was to lose half of her family. Emma's mother, Stephanie, had been devastated as well. Brian and Stephanie had been perfect for each other. Emma was under the impression that if soulmates actually existed, then Brian John Kinney and Stephanie Anne Merlo were a prime example. For years it was just Steph and Emma, but then three years ago, Stephanie had met Mark Joseph Taylor. Mark was a little strict, but a nice guy. The reason she didn't particularly like him was because he wasn't her father, and her mom and dad had been soulmates, so what was he doing here, thank you very much? But even just putting up with Mark wouldn't have been bad in itself. Emma was used to him. The problem was with Mark's first wife, Karen. Karen had had control of the three Taylor children, and she had been remarried to a man named Seth Wallace who had three kids of his own living with him. Bob, Jaime and Cara, Emma believed their names were. And that had been working out okay, except at the time Stephanie and Mark were getting married, Karen and Seth had a baby, Stephen. The Taylor kids could put up with their Wallace stepsiblings, apparently, but when it came to their mom's new baby, no way. They had decided that living with only one stepsister had to be better than 3 stepsibs and a baby half-brother, and therefore they got the court orders changed so they could live with Mark. Oh, they went to go visit Karen, of course, but not often enough in Emma's opinion.
So after all of that, Emma figured she deserved the good things she'd been getting recently.
Only once during their evening, during ER, had Emma's stomach acted up. Emma held her stomach in tight and tried not to double over as the pain gnawed in her abdomen for a couple of minutes. Even so, Max noticed, and asked her what was wrong.
"Oh nothing, stomach cramp," she replied cheerfully, mentally begging him to drop it.
The look he gave her was inscrutable, but he didn't mention it any more.
The first time Emma's abdomen had flared up in pain had been a couple of months ago. She and Kristen had been alone in their room, and Emma had taken a quick gasp of breath as her stomach throbbed with pain for a couple of seconds. Emma had been fully meaning to tell her mom, but Kristen had stopped her.
"You're not going to worry Stephanie with that, are you?" Kristen had said, "Do you really want to make her worry over something that's probably just gas?"
No, Emma hadn't. She hated to admit that Kristen was right, after all, Kristen hadn't FELT how painful it was, but she also hated to make Stephanie worry, and her mom had been somewhat more neurotic since Brian had died. So she kept it silent. Over the past couple of months the twinges in her stomach had been getting more frequent and longer in duration, but Emma hadn't mentioned them again. She was sure they would go away soon. It just took some positive thinking.
So that morning, that fateful Friday morning began like any other. Emma got up and took a shower. As she was standing in front of the mirror, brushing her hair, however, she got another stomach cramp. This one was so bad that Emma saw spots in front of her eyes.
"Excuse me, I need the bathroom!" Kristen called, pounding on the door.
Emma clutched to the countertop, willing the pain to go away. Finally, she was able to stand up and call, "In a minute," and finish her daily routine. Emma gave herself a looking over in the mirror. Long brown hair, big brown eyes. She was pretty, but not necessarily beautiful. She had the same coloring as Mark, Sean, Kristen and Michael, but one could tell that they weren't blood related. They didn't look alike at all. That was just as good. Emma didn't want to look like them. Finally, she gave up the bathroom to Kristen and went to her room to put on some clothes.
Coming downstairs into the kitchen, she saw Michael sitting and eating cereal at the kitchen table, and Stephanie standing waiting for her toast to finish cooking.
"Hey, sport," Emma said, smiling at her stepbrother.
"Hi, Emma. Stephanie's going to take me to school today and help me with my float. She's also going to stay for the parade, right Stephanie?"
"That's right, Michael," said Stephanie, ruffling his hair.
The fifth graders were doing a state project in which they had to make a float out of a cardboard box that represented a state. Michael had done New Hampshire, and his float had purple papier-mâché mountains on it. It was really cute.
Emma pulled out a box of cereal. "Mmm, breakfast, I'm starving," she said. Holding the box in one hand, she reached for a ceramic bowl with the other.
Just then, Kristen walked in. "I really don't know how you can eat in the morning."
"Now Kristen, we've been through this before," Stephanie admonished, "You need to be eating breakfast."
Emma had started to tune them out, because a wave of dizziness and pain had washed over her. She reached out to put the cereal and the bowl on the table, but her hands couldn't make it and the items dropped to the ground. The cereal spilled all over the linoleum and the bowl shattered into many pieces.
Three pairs of eyes whirled on Emma.
"Emma Sage!" her mom chided, "What was that? You clean it up right now!"
But Emma could barely hear her, much less comply. Dots were swimming in front of her eyes. Dizzy, so dizzy; and the pain! Emma's face was contorted. It had never been this bad before. And then Emma felt herself fall and the world mercifully went black.