Author's Note: It'd be cool if you all liked Valerie after that little blurb because I know I sure do. In any case, prepare yourselves for Matt and Denali's trip to save Ben and Lucy. Meaning, of course, prepare to suffer this entire chapter.

Final Destination: Breaking Down

Chapter Four: Fated

I sat outside the dining hall, hands in my cargo pockets and feet tapping uncontrollably. Alas, I was not focused on them. Half of my attention was being used to watch for Denali's car, and the other half was trying to identify where Lucy and Ben had gone. I'd only been in town for a bit over a year, and I ate mostly on campus, so I hoped that Denali would have a better idea.

As she pulled into the parking lot I stood, albeit quite preemptively. I waited for her to park before looking around carefully and crossing the lot.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

"Not quite. Lucy posted a picture of them in some restaurant, but I have no idea which one it is," I said, frowning.

"Here, let me look." She leaned over, angling my phone screen to see the image directly. "I think I know where that is. I mean, I know it. It's Harris & Louisa's. I'm just… not quite sure I remember where it is. Is it on Orange Tree?"

"Uh…" I switched out of Facebook and went online. Denali's hand hovered over her keys in the ignition. "Come on, wifi…" After a few agonizing seconds, text finally popped onto my screen. "Excellent. Yes, it's Orange Tree."

The car revved up. "Then I can get us there in ten minutes."

"What's the plan when we get there?" I asked.

"Try to make sure nothing dangerous happens, I guess." Denali seemed to shrug after saying that.

"And if something dangerous happens?"

She exhaled deeply through her nose, rapping the fingers of her right hand against the steering wheel. "We do what we can." I didn't like the sound of that, but I didn't know how to respond, so I simply curled my lips inward.

The whole car ride was pretty quiet, really. The silence swelled and pulsed in my ears. As we approached the restaurant, I found myself unable to handle it anymore. "Why are we here? Is it just crazy that I'm worried?"

"For whatever reason, I'm worried too. I guess it's what we get for watching our friends die." As morbid as she sounded, it was almost a call to action, at least with her inflection. Nodding as though surrendering to my apprehensions, I exited the car.

"It's just, I've never really dated before," Ben said, looking down at his lap. "I don't know; I always thought that I was aromantic, but now, looking at you…"

Lucy blushed, looking away as well. "I-it's okay. You could still be greyaromantic or something." She slowly brought her focus back up to Ben, and she found he was looking at her with a slight smile.

"Yeah," he replied. "That sounds about right." Realizing he had been staring, he blushed, and Lucy giggled sweetly. "Uh… so what did you order again?" he asked, then internally shaking his head. Lame!

Fortunately, Lucy kept smiling. "The beef and veggie kabobs," she answered. "You're welcome to try some if you want." Lucy imagined herself slowly feeding him a chunk of carrot, and she found her face heating up once more. "Oh, here's your steak!"

Thank God, Ben thought, pleased to have a chance to think before he spoke.

I scanned the area visible from the entryway but could not find a sign of the two of them. "Okay, where's this?" I asked Denali, pointing to a piece of wall art behind Ben and Lucy in the photo. It was a beautiful collage of fine, silver stars on a black background. I found myself enamored by it.

"It's a good thing they're lame enough to be posting pictures online actually during the date," Denali replied. "This way." She lead me into a side room. We finally saw them, and I relaxed instantly. Until Ben's soda spilled into his lap, that is. He shouted in surprise and jerked sideways.

"I gotta go wash this off…" he said to Lucy, obviously embarrassed. As he stood up, a server behind him bumped into him, upturning to platter of food. Ben's widened eyes locked onto Denali's.

I looked down, wondering why he'd frozen. There was a red spot spreading on his shirt and a kabob skewer lodged through his chest. A few more kabobs plopped and clattered onto the floor.

Everyone was silent for a second. Lucy stared, mouth and eyes agape. She shuffled to get out of her seat and stand before Ben, wanting to hold him in his last seconds. As she stepped onto the ground, she slipped on a piece of beef, falling face-first onto an upright skewer.

Then we heard the first screams.

Denali sank into her computer chair, trying to focus solely on the smooth caress of the suede on her arms. She shut her eyes for a moment but found herself only able to think of Ben's face. He looked so shocked and so scared for an endless second, and when his face drained of emotion and color, it sickened her. She stood quickly, bring her hands up to grasp at her scalp.

"How am I ever going to forget this?" she whispered, eyes full of tears. She rubbed her hand along the top of her chair, letting the fabric tickle her fingers.

Suddenly weary, she unconsciously made her way over to her bed. A few seconds after lying down, she was fast asleep. And the nightmares began again.

Yvonne leaps to the door, putting Ben's severed arm out of sight. Grabbing Pablo's shoulder beside me, I push for the door as well. I watch as several students run outside, joining the rush of people screaming in the hallway.

"Valerie, come on!" Pablo shouts. Seemingly in a daze, Valerie fails to respond. "Valerie!"

Pablo's second shout finally catches her attention. She shakes her head as though to awaken herself. Without a word, she runs for Pablo and me. As she holds out her hand, the floor beneath us crumbles. I do catch her hand and find myself supporting her.

She screams as she flies down and forward, then suddenly she's silent. I look down to see she's been impaled on the torn up metal underneath the floor. I let her go instantly.

"Valerie, come on!" Pablo shouts again. The scene repeats itself again, then two more times, until-

Denali jerked awake again, her brow encircled by a sprinkle of sweat. "Oh my god…" She could feel the fear she'd felt two weeks ago returning, bubbling up inside her stomach and evaporating to fill her chest. Thus, she whipped out her cell phone and called Valerie.

"Denali?" her friend asked.

She exhaled fully. "Hey, Valerie. Listen, I was wondering if you're free? Right now?"

"Uh, yeah. Why; what's up?"

"...Wanna have a sleepover at my place?" Denali slowly squeezed and unclenched her hand.

"Yes. Yeah, that sounds great. Uh, see you in fifteen?" Valerie asked.

Denali was relieved to hear that Valerie almost seemed enthused. She probably wasn't wanting to be alone either after Ben's death. "Great, see you then."

"Bye," Valerie said, hanging up.

Another twinge of despair hit Denali. Ben had only just died within a couple of hours, so it was likely that Valerie actually didn't know. She had no intention of being the one to tell her, so she planned to avoid the topic altogether.

When I returned to my room, I buried my face in my pillow, shuddering heavily. I'd never even been to an open casket funeral, much less watched someone die in front of me in real life. It was sickening, hearing that second skewer go through L-

I seized violently, clenching my fists as I recalled the incident. Unable to calm my mind, I dug my fingernails into my palms as hard as I could. That would be enough to let me find a distraction, so I pulled out my phone, intending to hop on YouTube to find a humor video.

Instead, I found that I had twelve texts and a missed call from Jason. "Oh shit…" I quickly unlocked my phone and checked the most recent message he'd sent me. It was rather enraged.

I'd completely forgotten he wanted to go to the movies. I knocked my phone against my forehead in resignation, then continued reading the earlier messages. At least as I went backward, they got calmer and kinder. If I had been feeling better, I may have fought back against the more personal things, but I decided I didn't have the fortitude.

I texted a simple "I'm sorry" and then, for some damn reason, gave him a call.

"What?" His answer was cold and quick.

"Jason, listen, I'm so sorry, but something came up-"

"Then you should have told me when you found out about it. Not hours later."

I exhaled sharply. "No, you don't understand. Denali-"

"I do understand. You'd rather hang out with Denali all the time. Remember your other friends? Remember your fraternity? I've seen you one time in two weeks, for a few minutes, before you abandoned me to talk to Denali. And now, this."

"Jason, no, I had to-" Will he please let me finish a sentence?

"You need to start thinking about how you treat people around you, 'cause I'm not havin' none of this again," Jason said, bluntly.

"God DAMN it will you listen to me?" I breathed out again to showcase my frustration. "Someone's dead."

Silence over the line echoed in my ears for several lengthy seconds. I may have even heard him gulp. "Not funny, dude." The line clicked, and I looked down to see he'd hung up.

I was glad my phone was in a strong defense case, since my next action was to chuck it across the room with a rageful grunt. It clattered loudly into my bookshelf, tumbling to the floor alongside one of my books. After a few seconds, I stood to see if they were damaged.

Fortunately, they were not. Ignoring the remaining unopened text messages, I slipped my phone into my pocket, then picking up the book. It was a simplistic field guide for gemstone identification, and it had opened to the page on diamonds. The word 'luster' caught my eye as I shut it. The moment I set it back on the shelf, I had another flashback.

The guy whose name I didn't know tumbled down the stairwell. Luckily, I only saw it once, and I was able to pull my fingernails away from my palm. But I suddenly knew.

He was in danger.