Prologue
Cold. Melinda was so, so cold. The outside temperature reading in her car said that it was seventeen degrees outside, but in her ridiculously thin cardigan, it may as well have been minus seventeen. She had never felt so cold in her entire life.
Her leg was trapped under the steering column, and she was almost positive that her collar bone was broken. Maybe her nose, too; she wasn't sure. The pain was excruciating. That wasn't the first thing on her mind, though; she was worried about the baby. She felt no pain in her belly, but she wasn't entirely sure that particularly indicated that nothing was wrong. Her legs felt numb, but she could move her toes, so she knew she wasn't paralyzed. Still, the thought of dying here, and her baby dying inside her, too, in the frigid cold, made her want to throw up. She let out a loud cry of frustration, followed by a strangled cry for help, just in case somebody could hear her. She knew nobody could, though, deep inside.
Then, she heard it. Dripping. Sizzling. And the smell of gasoline was strong all of a sudden. Two seconds after it registered in Melinda's head what was happening, the front of the car went up in flames.