Chapter 1

She had always liked the idea of free falling…now it was too late to turn back.

Erika drug her suitcase away from the airport terminal and sighed in relief as it finally hit her that she was on solid ground. She stood on tiptoe looking for any familiar faces; it had been a year since she had seen her family and now she was regretting ever coming when her eyes settled upon a heavily decorated sign.

"Erika!" her brother semi-shouted, lifting her high off her feet and twirling her.

"Hey, Aaron," she said warmly.

He set her back onto her feet and guided her towards the rest of their family. They greeted her ecstatically, but not as zealous as Aaron had.

Erika slowly loaded her suitcase into the family van and then climbed into the front seat. The car started as soon as her seatbelt was fastened and it crawled out of the parking lot.

"So, how have you guys been?" Erika asked her mom completely bored. She watched the dull scenery fly past her.

"Oh, you know us… always boring," She answered sighing, "By the way we have a big surprise in the back seat for you!"

"Oh! The joy!" Erika pretended to clutch her heart in agony, "Seriously, though, what is it?"

"Does this mean I can come out now?" a familiar voice asked from beneath a blanket.

"God damn it! Pull over!" Erika screamed shocked that her mom had brought the man she loved along for the ride.

The van pulled to a stop and Erika threw open her door, ran to the trunk, opened it quickly and jumped into James' arms. He was laughing and pulled her close to him but she held back.

" It's great to see you," James exclaimed letting go of her and hopping out of the car effortlessly.

A flashback caught Erika suddenly and she started to fall. She stopped and caught herself before James even had a chance to attempt the save.

"What's up with you?" he asked touching her arm.

"Nothing," she growled jerking her arm away from his touch. "Let's go."

The car started and Erika climbed back in and buckled her seatbelt. She began to fall back into dream world.

The car slammed into Erika with such force she could not breathe nor think of breathing. Her headphones flew off and so did her slip-on shoes. Blood spattered the car and the road; her mouth was dripping with the beautiful crimson. She grabbed the bumper and attempted to hoist herself up into a standing position only to fail and collapse quickly into the fetal position. She looked up to find herself confronted with a horrible sight - James running towards a chain link fence and quickly scaling it with ease. He rushed to her side and began to cry, she wanted to reach up and touch his face to tell him she was okay, but she couldn't. Her tears were not water, they were blood, and they would not stop.

"Erika? We're home," her mom told her quietly, brushing Erika's hair.

"Hmm? Oh," she mumbled, numbly climbing out of the car into the cool night air, "How long have we been home?"

"About an hour… I didn't want to wake you up, though," her mom said, bringing the door shut quietly, "James went home right when we got back."

Erika turned her head to look and see where a speeding car had hit her when she was 16. Then, shaking her head of the memory, she walked towards her old house. When she stepped inside she immediately remembered when her mom ran out screaming her name and asking if her baby was all right; yeah, that was totally a bunch of bullshit. She flipped her hair and set her bag down on the 7-year-old couch and flopped down beside it.

"Honey, is something wrong?" her mom asked, sitting beside her on the faded suede material.

"Mom, I feel pressured into going back to James," Erika said, letting out all of her stress making the aura around them turn a medium grey. She had always been able to see auras and yet she was shocked to see the aura change so suddenly.

"Honey, no one is pressuring you to go back to him," her mom assured her.

"I feel like you are because you brought him along to the airport with you guys," she snapped back, " I'm sorry, Mom."

"He was the one that initiated the idea and I had no idea it would bring so much stress," her mom informed her with a tone that was as-a-matter-of-fact voice.

"Well, a FYI for next time I choose to make a family-visit, don't let my 'ex' come," Erika sighed, pinching her temples as if to ease a memory coming to the front of her thoughts.

"Why don't you go to bed, you must be tired," her mom suggested.

"Yeah, I'm tired, I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Erika asked, "Where am I going to sleep?"

"In your old room of course, we moved Kaden to my room and put a bigger mattress in," her mom answered moving to the kitchen.

"Thanks…" she murmured to herself and then slowly made her way to her old room, once on her mattress – she crashed.