This is my second fanfiction. I hope you all like it. I have a general outline for the actual plot, but it is going to be mostly character driven therefore I spent a lot of time building their back stories. Please give me feedback so that I know how I can change my writing.
Chapter 1: The End
The end is never expected. It creeps up before you expect it to come and snatches you into the depths of regret. You are left mourning your mistakes, wishing to go back in time, cursing the end.
"I cannot believe you dragged me here," Rosalie Cullen mutters, walking up the plane's steps intently staring at her Blackberry.
"This is going to be fun," Bella Swan replies following closely behind Rosalie, carrying her suitcase in one hand. After entering the cabin, Bella snatches the Blackberry. "I am confiscating this phone, you need a break."
"Bella, if you don't give me that phone right now, don't think I won't wrestle you."
"All right, girl fight," Emmett Clack remarks, stepping into the cabin two suitcases in hand. Rosalie narrows her eyes at Emmett before resuming her attention to her phone that she skillfully took from Bella as Bella gaped at Emmett.
"Hi, I'm Bell Swan, Rosalie and Edward's friend, thanks for allowing me to come by the way, I hope I'm not intruding."
"No, not at all, the more the merrier, I owe Edward a great deal anyway; he's really helped my sister out."
Jasper Hale enters next into the cabin, with his ear phones distracting him from the other occupants. "Hey man," Emmett exclaims, patting Jasper on the back.
"Hey," Jasper removes his ear phones and returns the pat. "I've got all the papers ready by the way…"
"Don't worry about that," Emmett interjects "I make you work way too hard already, have some fun for once in your life." Jasper nods in a sign of gratitude and finds a seat near the back of the tiny private aircraft.
Before Bella has a chance to sit in the seat opposite Rosalie, Emmett takes the seat. Bella compromises to sit in the seat next to Rosalie on the other side of the plane. Staring out of the window, Bella retires into the calmness. Being a graduate student at Columbia while tackling the numerous obligations of being a governor's daughter, grants Bella little time to herself. When her closest friend, Rosalie, mentioned that her brother would be going on a trip to Brazil, Bella grabbed the opportunity with both hands. Not only can she spend time with her always busy friend, but the trip is also a diversion from her life. Before she could dose off, Edward Cullen, Rosalie's younger brother, barges into the aircraft.
"Sorry, sorry, I know I'm late, we got held up at the hospital," Edward, followed by Alice Clark, enter last into the plane looking flustered and exhausted. Edward, still wearing his dirty scrubs, falls into the seat opposite Bella.
"Don't worry about it, it's not like we are on a schedule ourselves," Emmett sarcastically comments.
"Cool it Emmett, we are here now," Alice retorts before taking the final seat opposite Jasper. Alice notes that Jasper is completely engrossed in the laptop in front of him, not even looking up to acknowledge her arrival. "Hi, I'm Alice Clark, Emmett's sister," Alice extends a hand.
Jasper finally turns his attention from his laptop to see the most beautiful woman offering a hand of introduction. His breath caches as he is mesmerized by her enchanting green eyes. Managing to muster his voice together, he returns the handshake, not failing to recognize the jolt of electricity that accompanied the contact. "Jasper, I work for Emmett."
"I know, I've seen you in your office, I mean, I've seen you because I was there visiting by brother, not because I'm a creepy stalker or anything, I'm a doctor, which is completely irrelevant but…" Alice stops rambling when she sees Jasper smile at her agitation. "So, what brings you to Brazil?" The plane begins to runway.
"We are working on a government building project that is not quite complete without some crucial pieces which we hope to find in Rio, we have some associates there who will help us, how about you?"
"Oh, well my brother just invited me on the ride, I need a break and Rio seems like the perfect place to unwind." Alice stretches her arms above her head and drops back into the seat trying to remove the tension from her worn muscles.
"You should switch that off you know, the signals mess with the plane's navigation," Emmett playfully warns Rosalie.
Giving a sly look over her phone, Rosalie sends her email and places it in her purse. "That's a load of crap, but since it's your plane," Rosalie subconsciously begins tapping her fingers on the seat rest while staring out the window.
"You just cannot stay still can you," Emmett comments with a smirk.
The plane takes off and ascends slowly leaving Miami International Airport behind. As the plane settles into a comfortable cruise, the pilot details the flights path hoping to reach Rio before dawn. Alice drifts off into a deep sleep while Jasper attempts to concentrate on his laptop. Emmett goes into the cockpit to talk to his pilot about weather conditions and other mundane matters. Bella reads her much worn copy of Pride and Prejudice as her head bobs with exhaustion. Edward and Rosalie halfheartedly catch up on current familial issues out of courtesy rather than genuine compassion for their dishonest, socialite mother and pretentious, heartless father. The flight continues calmly. As the night draws on the occupants settle into a lazy slumber.
As midnight approaches, the pilot begins to feel an alarming numbness in his calves. When he opens his mouth to voice his panic, nothing comes out. The numbness spreads along his legs quickly reaching his torso. The pilot looks around frantically pressing any alarm signal he could find only to realize that they have all been tampered with. His hands begin to shake as he reaches for the last alarm button. Before he falls to the floor of the cockpit, he hears a distant siren from the cabin.
Emmett is the first to jump up startled by the screeching whine of the siren. The others return to full consciousness frazzled by the sound. Emmett runs to the cockpit and sees his pilot on the floor completely unconscious. Edward following closely behind checks the pilots pulse, feeling it slow down until it stops all together. The look of terror in Edwards's eyes reveals to Emmett that there was no hope in trying to save the pilot.
Taking control Emmett began scanning the controls in the cockpit trying to recall some of the conversations he had with his pilot over the years. Edward and Jasper carried the body to the cabin before they followed Emmett's orders to find all the emergency protocols stashed in the cockpit. Before long the screeching of the alarm in the cabin hushed down to a monotonous beeping.
"What can we do?" Rosalie rushed into the cockpit restless to do something to help.
"Nothing for now, just stay calm back there," as Emmett spoke another alarm began sounding "shit, the fuel is low."
"No, that can't be right the fuel gage says its full," Edward commented.
"Ok, so either the fuel gage is wrong or the alarm is wrong," Emmett deduced.
"Hello, control tower, is there anyone there?" Jasper yelled into the intercom hopelessly.
"There's no point, the plane has been tampered with, someone wants us dead," Edward realized. Everyone looked at each other wide eyes and full of dread. No one spoke while the alarms continued to ring.
Finally Emmett broke the tension by taking the pilot seat with the yoke in hand.
"Jasper, use the GPS to find our exact location, Edward discharge everything in the luggage compartment, do everything you can to make the aircraft as light as possible, we are going to land this plane."
"What!" Rosalie yelled on the edge of hysteria.
"I have our location we are 50 miles north of Panama, above the Caribbean Sea, I think it's clear to land, can this plane land on water?"
"We are going to find out now," Emmett switched off autopilot and began lowering the yoke gently. "Rosalie, get life jackets on everyone."
The plane began descending slowly, while the fuel gage continued to alarm louder and louder.
"The luggage is gone," Edward reported as he entered the cockpit again. The plane lurched throwing everyone back. "Emmett, I think you should hurry up."
Emmett lowered the yoke even further so that the plane was descending almost vertically. The plane picked up speed as gravity became more powerful then whatever fuel remained.
"We are at an altitude of about 10 km Emmett, I think we can start slowing down and gliding," Jasper noted. Emmett pulled on the yoke so the plane was flat and pushed the throttle in. The plane was resistant to slowing but when it touched the water underneath, the right wing of the aircraft tore off exposing the cabin to the chilly air. Bella felt a strike on her thigh as a part of the debris fell on her. She slid across the floor of the plane and became unconscious. Rosalie shrieked and did her best to fight against the wind toward her friend.
Emmett felt the plane slow down every time it hit the water. Finally, the plane stopped with a small thug. Everyone remained still as they processed their current situation. After all, they were alive despite all odds. They had felt the end come close, yet they hadn't quite gotten there.