Chapter 7: No Place Like Home

Suzi purchased her ice cream cone and sat down with Miguel. He looked dazed, barely paying attention to his surroundings. He kept hearing Ace's voice, when he spoke to Suzi last night. "Take it easy, this is the end. You won't have to worry soon." His brother's voice seemed to echo in his mind. Sighing, he took a sip of his strawberry smoothie before turning his attention back to Suzi.

"How are you feeling today?", she asked him. Mentally, Miguel found it to be a stupid question, but he knew that his friend only meant well. The only response he could give her was a shrug. He didn't know what to say. He then thought back to his conversation with Erica earlier. He knew he shouldn't bring it up to Suzi because he didn't want her to freak out. However, he did want to tell her about the weird feeling he was having before.

"Suzi, something weird happened today." Once she gave him eye contact, he continued. "I felt like something bad was going to happen. Who knows, maybe it already did."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, this is going to sound stupid, but it was the same feeling from last night. You see, it was almost like I knew something bad was going to happen. Things just didn't feel right. And then today, the same feeling came back."

"Are you sure you're just not still in shock? I mean, you went through a lot yesterday…we all did.", said Suzi. Miguel shook his head. He knew that it was something other than shock or post-traumatic stress. No, it was something far worse.

"I know how it sounds. But I know what I feel and it's not shock." He stopped there, not wanting to accidentally tell her what Erica said before. Suzi looked down at the table. She was wondering something since last night, she just didn't want to come out and say it. Since they were already on the topic, she figured that she'd ask now.

"Miguel…you said you saw everything before it happened…what was it like?"

"I'd rather not get into the specifics of it. All I can say is that it was horrible. Everyone died all around us before…never mind." Miguel continued to sip his beverage, trying to shake the images from his mind. Suzi took a deep breath. Noticing her anxiety, Miguel tried to cheer her up. "Don't worry. You were actually the only one who lived. You got out in time."

"…Really?", she asked. Miguel nodded.

"I guess it just wasn't your time." He watched as his friend silently let out a long exhale. She looked relieved and he was glad that she wasn't supposed to die.

"Come on.", she said, "Let's get you back home." As the two of them got up, they heard a sound.

"Shit!", yelled an employee as he dropped a glass pitcher full of juice. It shattered all over the floor in front of the counter, spilling everywhere. Miguel looked at the sight. He couldn't help but notice that the juice looked like blood. Turning around to follow Suzi, they left the shop.

--

Kim groaned in annoyance. She had put money into a vending machine to get a drink, but it ate her money and left her thirsty. She kicked it once, hoping that her drink would somehow fall out. She was met with no luck whatsoever. Annoyed, she turned around and sat back on the bench in the hotel lobby. She was waiting for Erica and Lavi because they were leaving today. Before heading back to the bus station, they were taking a cab back to Jeanne's house. They wanted to make sure she was okay.

"What's taking them so long?", Kim asked herself. Sighing, she leaned back against the wall and thought about everything that had happened the past two years. First, her friends die in horrible ways after the club accident last year, and now this bus accident had almost claimed her life. 'Thank God for Miguel'., she thought. Although she knew what Erica knew, she was secretly hoping that Death wouldn't come back this time. Like Erica, Kim would've died in the club last year.

A week before that club trip, her grandmother got sick and Kim went to stay with her in Florida. A few weeks later, her grandmother died. While she was sad, she was extremely shocked when she came back home to find out that most of her friends and classmates were dead. Then months later, her good friend and co-worker Peter was killed in a gas explosion inside his own house. She had actually witnessed that incident. She was driving with Ethan and Erica when she saw the explosion from a distance. Since then, she had changed.

Once eternally optimistic, she now was a bit jaded. She still did her best to build others up, but it was her mindset that had become less positive. As she looked out the window of the lobby, she couldn't wait to get back home. Looking to the sky, she wished she could be free of all this stress. How easy it would be if she could just fly away happily. To just get away from life itself. Her thoughts trailed off to her parents. She didn't really know much about them since they sent her from Vietnam when she was still young. All she remembered was that they were kind and loving. Her adoptive parents were loving as well, but it never stopped Kim from wondering about her original birth parents.

Her thoughts were cut off by the sight of their cab pulling up to the entrance. Almost as if on cue, Erica and Lavi stepped out of the elevator together. They were holding hands but let go once they saw Kim. Inside, Kim was laughing. She didn't know why they thought that they should be quiet about their new official relationship. It was obvious.

"Hey.", said Kim to her friends. Lavi stepped away from Erica for a second and approached the broken vending machine. "Don't bother.", said Kim. "It's busted."

"Come on you guys. Let's go.", said Erica as she opened the front door and walked out. Kim and Lavi followed close behind.

"So, why are we going to Jeanne's house?" Lavi didn't really know.

"I just want to see how they're all doing.", replied Erica. Kim exchanged a brief glance with her before getting into the yellow taxi. She knew that they were probably going to try and warm them about the possible oncoming danger. The three became silent as the car started to drive off. Deep down inside, they prayed for a safe trip.

--

"I'm sorry Mrs. Willards. I don't know why Anthony didn't show. His phone is off. I'll keep trying but don't worry, I'm sure he'll stop by later." Kyle did his best to reason his friend's absence today. Anthony knew that Travis' parents needed help but he never showed. Luckily, Kyle helped them as best he could but still, it bothered him that Anthony was suddenly nowhere to be found. He pondered these thoughts as he got into his car. He reversed out of the driveway and headed back towards his house. Getting curious again, he took out his cell phone and dialed Anthony's number one more time. Just as he expected, it went straight to voicemail again. Sighing, he decided to leave another message.

"Hey dude, it's Kyle again. I don't know what's going on and where you are, but call me back as soon as you get this. Call Travis' folks when you get a chance too, they were wondering where you were. Okay, well I hope everything's okay and I'll talk to you later. Peace." Something felt weird. It wasn't like Anthony to do something like this. He was always reliable. At this point, there was nothing Kyle could do. Stopping at a red light, he checked the spikes in his brown hair. He knew what would make him feel better. After taking out his phone again and dialing a number, he smiled once he heard his girlfriend's voice.

"Hey Carolyn. So listen, you off your period yet? Cuz I could really use some pussy tonight."

--

Amber smiled as she clicked around on her computer screen. In two days, there was going to be a fair at the local amusement park. She bought two tickets; one for her, the other for her friend. While it was true that she was afraid of amusement parks, she had to conquer her fear. However, one thing she knew for sure, was that she'd never get on another rollercoaster. Two years ago, her friends almost died on a rollercoaster named Devil's Flight. Her two friends got off before it crashed, but they died anyway over time. It was sad and creepy at the same time, especially since she almost got on the rollercoaster with them. She traded spots with another friend of hers who chickened out and got off the ride before her group was supposed to get on. Her friends Julie and Perry told her to go ahead and get on before them. If it wasn't for that, she would've been on the ride with them and probably would've died.

Before she started to get emotional again, she stopped thinking about the incident and picked up her cell phone. She dialed her new friend's number and waited. Once they answered, she giggled in excitement.

"Hey! I just bought the tickets!" She engaged in casual conversation. Even though the accident had occurred last night, she needed a distraction from all the depression. In just two days, she could forget all about her worries.

--

Elsewhere, Kyle arrived at his house. He always felt so comfortable in his own home. This was because since his parents both worked late hours and since his older brother was off in the army, he usually had freedom to do whatever he wanted. He could blast porn in the living room without being caught, he could have girls over at all times of the day, he could host parties and never have anyone find out. He called it 'the good life'. In a few hours, his girlfriend was coming over to sleep with him. Even though he was cheating on her, she didn't know. Or if she did, she didn't show it. He went from feeling down and depressed to on top of the world in just one phone call.

Tossing his keys on the table, he walked into the living room and turned on the television. The news was on and he figured he'd leave it to see if they would mention the bus accident from last night. He walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, looking for something to drink. Pulling out a pitcher of cherry koolaid, he placed it on the counter by the sink and took a clean glass out of the dishwasher. He took the glass with him and rested it on top of the fridge, next to his mother's new vase. After taking out a slice of cold pizza, he took the glass off the fridge and turned back to the counter. Suddenly, he heard something on the news that caught his attention.

"A gruesome accident took place earlier today at Joe's Car Wash on Deer Park Avenue. A young man was killed when he got trapped inside the car wash. Police are investigating the possibility of murder."

Kyle shook his head and began to pour the juice into the glass, looking up to see what else had happened. That avenue was just blocks away from his house.

"Although unsure of how this happened, police say that the young man was decapitated. There were signs of a struggle inside the car, it's possible he was trying to escape. Police are refusing to release the victim's name until the family has been notified."

That's when Kyle saw it. As the reporter interviewed the car wash owner, a red car could be seen in the background. The yellow crime scene tape blew in the wind as forensics investigated the area.

"Oh shit…", he said. He realized that it was Anthony's car…Now it all made sense. Why his phone was turned off, why he never called back, why he never showed up…he was dead. This whole time, he was dead. Shocked, he dropped the pitcher of juice to the floor. The sound of the glass shattering scared him. Eyes wide, he backed up into the fridge. He then heard another sound. Looking up, his mother's new vase had tipped over and fell off the fridge, hitting him in the face and breaking. He screamed in pain as blood leaked from his face, pieces of glass jammed into his forehead, nose, cheeks, and chin. He slipped in the giant puddle of juice and fell to the floor, landing on his back.

As soon as he hit the floor, he gasped in shock. His blood ran cold throughout his body. Looking down to his stomach, he saw that the broken base of the glass pitcher was protruding out from the right side of it. He had landed on it and accidentally impaled himself. The sharp glass was stained with his blood as the pain set in from his back and stomach. His head sank back down to the ground underneath him, his eyes beginning to close. As he took each breath, the glass ripped through his stomach further. The last thing he heard was the news report about Anthony's death. He knew a similar report would be made about him soon.