The all too familiar ambulance sirens were heard as Wendy sat on the curb, shocked that she had actually caused the death of someone whom she wanted to save. She was silent as Clarice came over to her, and sat down next to her. There was no anger in her face, just sadness, deep, painful sadness. Wendy would've liked to see the woman angry with her, not have that expression.
"Who are you?" Whispered Clarice, not expecting an answer.
Wendy was silent for a few seconds, then spoke, "Wendy Christensen"
If Clarice was shocked that Wendy spoke, she didn't show it. "Why were you going so fast?" There was still no anger in her voice which made Wendy feel even more down.
"I was trying to save her, the girl who I ran over"
"Save her? Who are you?" Clarice repeated, wondering why the women wanted to save her, as far as Clarice knew, Alice didn't really talk to people, as she was quite shy.
"I – I know what you feel ..." Said Wendy. "I know what it feels like to have your life ripped away from you, your friends and family dying right before your eyes. I know how it feels to know who's next, and you can't do anything about it" Wendy's eyes shone, but no tears came.
"But... we don't know who's next, the person who knew is dead" Said Clarice, painfully remembering Jake.
Wendy looked shocked. It wasn't usual for the visionary to die before the others.
Clarice studied the woman more closely, the raven black hair, the sturdy complexion, but her posture suggested deep pain inside of her. Then it hit her. "Wendy Christensen! You're the only survivor of the visionaries, aren't you? But how, I heard all the survivors of that roller coaster incident died."
Wendy sighed, preparing to tell her story. "When the train crashed, with me, Kevin and Julie, I was flung onto the train tracks, with a broken leg, which still hurts now." She winced at memory of it. "Kevin and Julie were dead, but I was alive, fully aware of my surroundings and I crawled, following the tracks. When the second train came, I laid on the tracks and the train went right over me. When it hit the other train, I was far enough away to miss most of the explosion, but I still got a few cuts and bruises." She stretched her arm, showing some scars which were ugly and protruded like thick veins.
Clarice grimaced at the site of the scars, but Wendy pulled her arm away from clear view, to the relief of Clarice.
"Miss, would you please come with me please" Wendy looked up to see a policeman looking at her, and she understood straightaway, she'd have to explain why she was speeding which had ultimatly caused the death of someone. But luckily she had someone who could make her out as innocent.
"Yeah, sure" Wendy turned and said goodbye to Clarice, then followed the policeman to the cruiser, as her car was part of the crime scene.
"I guess I have to ask the question, why were you speeding?" Asked Robert Burke, who had personally asked to interview Wendy.
"When I was at your office, I saw a sign in my head, showing the hospital flag, I was rushing because I knew it was a sign to save someone at the hospital." Explained Wendy
"But wouldn't that mean ... wouldn't that mean that death has come back for you?" questioned Robert.
"Death is always after me, it was just a matter of time before it actually got to me." Said Wendy, realizing the reality.
"I'll stay with you, I'll help you beat this..." Reassured Robert.
"No!" Wendy said with accidental force. "I mean... I don't won't you to get involved, you'll almost certainly die. This is between me, and those other 4 survivors. Talking of which, I need to contact them, I don't suppose you could pull up some records? I don't know their names, but I'm sure the police do."
"Yeah ... yeah sure, I'll phone you with their details" Said Robert, looking sad.
Wendy, who felt sorry for him said "You know what, don't phone me with the details, come and have dinner at my house and we'll talk then, yeah?"
Robert's eyes brightened, agreeing with her.
"Yeah, I'd ... I'd like that." He said.
Wendy stood up, and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, then, with a swish of her hair, she was gone.
Ian clutched his arm, which was now heavily bandaged, as Clarice talked to the waiting group.
"We don't have the order of deaths; we don't know who's next" Started Clarice. "But what do we know? We know that one of us in this room, is next." Clarice looked at all of them in turn, Ian, Fred, and then Amy.
"But what do we do? What should we do?" Asked Amy, thinking they couldn't do anything.
"At the hospital, after the ... the incident. I met a woman named Wendy Christensen, she a survivor of a series of death, just like us. We need to contact her, and from there, we need to plan a course of action, which might involve... which might involve asking her to kill herself." Said Clarice, who had become like the leader of the group ever since Jake had died.
"We're not going to survive? Are we? There really is no hope" Said Ian, shaking his head.
"There is always hope, okay, there is always a chance" Said Amy, trying to persuade Ian not to give up on his life.
Fred remained silent through all of this, thinking, thinking about Wendy, and how much she really knew, and what it would take for them to persuade her to kill herself, if they could. But what would they do if they couldn't get her to kill herself, would they have to wait until they all died?
Wendy sat on her bed, preparing for the days to come, the days where she had the potential to die. She sighed, and pulled a faded box from under her bed. The box was full with pictures. Some of the picture was of her late boyfriend, Kevin, and some were the photos which had clues to the deaths of her friends that year. She hated the pictures, but something led her to keep them, so she will never forget about that year.
And now it's started all over again.