2 years ago…..

It was sometime on a Friday night in the middle of January as the navy blue pickup cruised slowly down the dirt road. There were no other cars, but the driver was glad of that. With the roads as bad as they were with ice and snow, being the only car made it easier.

The driver was about six feet with short dirty blonde hair and light blue eyes. He was in his mid-thirties and happened to be an ex-Navy Seal. He'd been honorably discharged the previous year after it was determined that he had a medical condition in which intense heat or cold would send him into a seizure or drive him into unconsciousness. Apparently, he'd always had it, but it'd only recently made itself known. His family had moved to Montana as a sort of 'middle ground' for his condition.

In the passenger seat sat his daughter, currently searching the radio for a good song. She had mid-length brown hair with natural blonde highlights and sky blue eyes. She was dressed in her favorite pair of dark skinny jeans tucked into her favorite pair of dark brown Bearpaw boots. Her Fall Out Boy t-shirt was covered by her dad's leather jacket. Obviously, it was big on her, but she was constantly stealing it from him. He gladly went along with it. After all, it was just a jacket and she was far more important to him.

They'd just left town after a little grocery shopping. Originally, he was going to go alone, but his daughter had persisted until he'd had no choice but to bring her along. Her brothers hadn't cared as they were too busy playing their video games.

His daughter stopped as she found the perfect song, which, of course, was by Fall Out Boy. When she'd found out they were going on hiatus, she'd promptly locked herself in her room for a few hours to 'recover'. Obviously, she was now over that.

'I'm gonna make it bend and break

(It sent you to me without wings)

Say a prayer, but let the good times roll

In case God doesn't show

(Let the good times roll, let the good times roll)

And I want these words to make things right

But it's the wrongs that make the words come to life

"Who does he think he is?"

If that's the worst you got better put your fingers back to the keys'

"One more night and one more time, thanks for the memories, even though they weren't so great." The driver smiled as his daughter joined into the chorus. She had an amazing voice and he loved to hear it. His cell began to buzz in the cup holder. He reached for it, but his daughter had other ideas. She snatched it up before he could and slid her finger across the screen to unlock it, bringing the cell to her ear.

"S'up mom?" He reached over and tousled her hair before she playfully slapped his hand away, gesturing for him to pay attention to the road. He tapped her nose before returning to the road, her happy smile still on his mind.

"Yeah, we're on our way. Wanna talk to Papa?" She asked into the phone. "Okay, love ya too."

She passed the phone over to her father who put it up to his own ear.

"Hey Liza."

"Hey Nick. Did you get everything on the list?" His wife asked.

"Yes ma'am, we did. Felicity made sure of that." His daughter rolled her eyes and he answered it by sticking out his tongue at her in a decidedly immature way. Felicity giggled and pointed his head back to the road. On the other end of the phone, his wife Eliza laughed.

"Good to know. Did you get enough food for the animals?"

"Enough to last a famine." He exaggerated, causing her to laugh again.

"Okay, Smartass. Be careful on those roads."

"I will Sweetheart. I love you."

"Love you too baby." There was a split second pause. Then, "Hold on, the boys wanna say something."

Felicity looked questioningly at him.

Your brothers, he mouthed.

"Put it on speaker." She requested. He nodded and did so.

"Hey Pops. Me and Rix picked out a movie for tonight." His second youngest son said. Every Friday their family had a movie night. It was the boys' night to choose.

"Ugh, better not be another Pokémon movie." Felicity said. She liked the movies, but her brothers had chosen one for the past months' worth of their nights.

"No, we decided to go with one of yours; Home Alone." Erix, her eldest brother butted it.

"The first one?"

"Yep." Her brothers said in unison, her youngest brother Ashton joining in this time.

"Did you make-"

"Popcorn, chips'n'cheese with salsa, nice and spicy." Damian, her second youngest brother, cut her off.

"DJ, have I ever told you how much I love you?" Her dad laughed at this.

"Nope, don't believe you have." DJ answered.

"Well, don't hold your breath." All of them started laughing once more.

"Alright, keep the food warm for us and we'll be home soon." Nick said.

"Sure thing Pops. See ya then." Erix said.

"Love you guys. Tell your mama not to worry or she'll stress that baby out.

"Sure thing. Love you too." Damian said laughing.

"Love you too, Papa!" Ashton butted in, giggling. Nick hung up, sticking the cell back into the cup holder. He turned the wipers on as the light snowfall began to thicken. Felicity settled back, not bothering to change the station as it went into commercials. Nick concentrated on the road, eager to get home to the rest of his family.

For the next five minutes, he drove easily with nothing eventful. Then, out of nowhere, a deer hopped up onto the road. He swerved sharply to avoid it, startling Felicity out of her light sleep. He smiled reassuringly at her to let her know everything was okay.

That was when the truck hit a patch of black ice.

The vehicle swerved of its own volition. Nick struggled to straighten it out, knowing it was a futile attempt. More black ice appeared under the truck, causing it to swerve violently. A massive buck raced onto the road, straight in front of the out of control vehicle. It looked absolutely terrified, and not because of the oncoming car. The two collided with the sound of shattering glass as it came flying through the windshield on the the passenger side. Nick shoved his daughter back as far as her seat would allow, the buck's antler slamming into his body. With no one controlling the vehicle, it slid off the road and rolled into the ditch, landing on its roof. Felicity was thrown around until finally, her head slammed hard against the door and she blacked out, the last thing she saw was a dark figure turning and walking away.

In case you're wondering, this is a revised version of the original prologue. I didn't really like the original, so I changed it.