PROLOGUE

Melody watched as the rain pounded against the car window. She blinked slowly and turned her gaze to the contents of the car she was in. It was filled to the brim with everything her father thought was necessary for camping. Which included three separate tents, five lanterns, three coolers, a grill and propane tank, three sleeping bags, three air mattresses, a generator, and some portable electronics. Her eyes traveled from the contents of the car to her father, a beefy man with a receding hairline of almost white blond hair and watery green eyes, then to her brother, a robust boy with darker blond hair and round coppery green eyes. She wished that it was her sitting in the front while Anthony sat in back with barely any room to move. And Anthony wasn't making it any better by continuously moving his seat back and snickering.

"Move up Anthony, I don't have any room as it is." Melody said.

"Or what, you gonna cry?" He mocked.

She glared at the back of his seat. "Dad."

"Anthony move up." Their father scolded. "Don't make this trip even longer with your bickering."

"Fine." Anthony sighed, moving his seat up, much to Melody's relief. She gazed back out of the window and let her thoughts drift.

The three of them had been going on the same camping trip since she was eighteen, two years previous. Even though by that time she was enrolled in college and moved out of the house, beginning her medical training her father still had a way to get her to agree to going on the camping trip. Her mother was never able to go because she was always sick, something that was not much of a disappointment for Melody, but Mr. Faris didn't want Melody to feel left out and be all alone in her dorm, buried in her books. He didn't really think she was much of an active person so he put her through as many sports and such as he could. Nothing caught on, although he and Mrs. Faris were able to keep her in gymnastics for quite a while, but once she was eighteen she quit. So from that point on the camping trips were manditory for her to go on.

Melody lived an organized life. It was decided when she was young that she would be a doctor, like her father. In the time she spent studying and working Melody didn't have much time for a social life, and the college party scene was not that appealing to her. She wasn't much of a social butterfly and wasn't much of a sports freak, never finding any reason to go to the college football or basketball games. There was nothing very fun about watching others play while having your eardrums burst from all the shouting and screaming of the fans. She enjoyed a quiet college life until summer break came and she was dragged to the mountains of Colorado with by her father.

The only thing she looked forward to on their trips was when they stopped at the horse ranch to ride the trails. Melody when they had first stopped there had been able to get lessons on riding, even though it cost a bit, and after that she fell in love with horseback riding. The stayed in the motel near the ranch for a couple day, but then kept going until they reached their campsite. She was disappointed that they had to keep going and she could ride horses for a while. It wasn't that she didn't like camping, she found nothing wrong or disagreeable about it, just the company she kept. She was rather good at camping, but not with putting up with her immature brother.

Melody sighed and looked away from the window. Watching the rain and highway signs was hardly amusing. "Dad, how much longer?"

He glanced back at her through the rear view mirror. "Not much, about an hour. Try to go to sleep."

She sighed louder and leaned her head against the window. "I'll try."

Trying to sleep in a cramped space while not really tired was not that easy. She yawned out of boredom, but could not sleep.

She stared out the window blankly, wishing she could be in her dorm reading about medical procedures instead of a crammped car.

"Look at that lightning." Anthony said. "It looks so close."

"Probably just a trick of light." Mr. Faris grumbled.

"Don't think it works like that dad." Melody said.

"Well- Shit!" Mr. Faris cursed and turned the wheel sharply as a bolt of lighting hit just in front of the car.

The car spun out of control on the slick highway and was rear ended by the car behind them. Mr. Faris tried to regain control, but the car drove off the highway, breaking through the metal gaurd, and flipped into a steep ditch. Melody's screams were muffled as all of the camping supplies fell on her. Her hit the window hard and the force broke it, sending shards of glass everywhere. She covered her eyes as a lanturn fell and hit the side of her head as the car gave another jerk before it finished rolling. Melody's screams also settled, her surrounding becoming blurry and the screams of her father and brother silent. Her consciousness faded in and out until she finally passed out; a bright light was the last thing she remembered.