Once again, it's time to thank everyone for their reviews, they make me feel so good; I always like the parts when Bludworth is in them, Tony Todd is pretty cool/creepy, in a good way. In reference to why there is no order, it's because they all died at once in the vision....Anyway on with the show. More Death's coming soon, the end is coming soon, and so is another chapter to F.D. the musical and the sequel to "Why Can't I?". I mean it this time, I have the first chapter written and I'm pretty sure I have a title picked out. Anyway, on with this story!

Chapter Eighteen

Safety

The trio of survivors were silent as they left the funeral home the way they had come in, crossing the grassy, unkempt field and heading back to Thomas' SUV, which was waiting dutifully. Kimberly sighed and moved the branch away from her side of the car and climbed inside, turning so that she could see both Thomas and Altessa.

"Okay, that was weird." Altessa remarked, the first of them to speak since Bludworth had left. The teenager looked unnerved, anxious and a little bit frightened and it was obvious that she was trying her hardest to hide all of these things.

Kimberly nodded once, feeling like the girl deserved the understatement of the year award. Weird wasn't exactly the word she would have picked to describe her second encounter with the mortician. "Weird, eerie, disturbing, down-right fucking scary, whatever." She mumbled under her breathe, rolling her eyes at her list of synonyms.

"So, what do we do now?" Altessa questioned, ignoring Kimberly's comments. "I don't really understood how that helped us; all we know now is that you guys didn't beat the Design because of me."

The brunette shook her head, giving Altessa her full attention. "Maybe we weren't meant to beat the Design then, maybe we'll figure it out with your help."

Altessa frowned and shook her head, shrugging her shoulders helplessly. "I don't think I'll be of much help, I have no idea what to do." She pointed out, feeling once again like she was disappointing her friends. She did know one thing, however, and that was that she wasn't going to let anyone else die because of her.

Thomas turned around to face the teenager as well. "Neither do we, Altessa but I think that the only thing we can do is watch for the Signs and stick together." He paused and turned to face the brunette, whose gaze flicked to his face when she noticed he was looking at her. "I think we should get all of the survivors together, sort of like we did last year, it will be easier to look out for each other that way."

Kimberly frowned, brow knitting, raising an eyebrow at his words. "After what happened last time? Are you sure that's a good idea?" She asked, not wanting a repeat of the carnage that had followed their "meeting" the previous year.

Altessa leaned forward, looking slightly interested in spite of herself. "What happened last time?" She asked, figuring that they could use the information from past Death's to keep the same thing from happening once again.

"Let's just say it involved a woman and an elevator door, not pretty." Kimberly answered, wrinkling her nose comically, speaking only from what she'd been told, not from first hand knowledge.

The teenager frowned as well, sighing and dropping back until she was leaning against the back of the seat once again. "Oh, sorry I asked." Her words were almost inaudible and if Thomas or Kimberly heard what she had said at all, they gave no sign.

Thomas stuck the key into the ignition and started the car up once again, guiding it along the gravel path that led out of the funeral home back lot. "I don't think we have to worry about that, our apartment is too cheap to afford elevators."

With those words, the car was silent once again, its passengers lost to their own thoughts. Everyone was thinking the exact same thing: how could they beat the Design once and for all? Kimberly thoughts, however, were off on their own separate tangent, thinking solely about why she had suffered the vision of the pileup in the first place. She understood the stem of Altessa's second sight, the fact that she had died before being revived had dipped her into the world that was almost never seen by a living person. But she had never gone through anything like that, at least not before she had drowned and that was after her vision. Kimberly remembered that Clear said that Alex used to ask himself why he had had his vision; he had never understood the reason he had seen the plane explosion before it actually happened. She wished that she could talk to Alex, wished that he wasn't dead and could help her; maybe then they could actually figure everything out.

"What if," Thomas spoke suddenly, startling the two women in the car, "we tried the New Life thing again? You know, dying then being revived, like the mortician suggested."

Kimberly thought about his words for a moment before shaking his head. "No, I don't think that would work; we'd have no idea of knowing if we really broke the Design and it's too risky to try." She pointed out, wishing that the answer to their problems was that simple.

Altessa sighed, gazing out the window at her own faded reflection, watching the trees and buildings wiz past. "What if...what if I died intentionally, wouldn't that break the Design in some way? Removing a patch, or whatever and forcing everything to start over." She questioned, speaking more to herself then to anyone else in the car.

Kimberly and turned around to face the teenager. "Don't talk like that, okay? We can beat this thing, together, you're not going to die." She said, a little more harshly then she had intended. Something inside of her said that Altessa doing might just solve all of their problems, but she wasn't sure if it was worth it; there had to be some other way, a way that didn't involve the death of her teenage friend.

Altessa didn't say anything, continuing to stare out the window; she knew that if worse came to worse that she might have to give up her life to save everyone else's. But, she was oddly okay with that, feeling a strange sense of peace -almost- at the thought. And it was that feeling that frightened her the most.

* * *

By the time they reached familiar territory and landscapes, Kimberly had finally relented to Thomas' plan to have another meeting at their apartment. "I can get in touch with all the survivors by using the information they gave in their reports down at the station. Altessa-" He dropped off, turning around to face the teenager, who nodded once.

"Right, I'll talk to my mom and Shane about coming." She mumbled in agreement. "Though I don't think my mother will be too pleased about the whole thing." She was certain that Amanda wasn't going to join them at the meeting but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

Kimberly sighed, though there was a slight smile upon her face. "Maybe she'll be more open to coming if she realizes that it's a matter of life and death." She suggested, looking at Altessa through the rearview mirror.

So, it was decided that Altessa would gather her mother and boyfriend and meet at the apartment in half an hour. When Thomas' SUV pulled up beside the teenager's two story house, they saw Shane sitting outside on the concrete stoop, head in his hands, unaware of them at all. Altessa exchanged a brief glance with Kimberly and Thomas before slipping out of the car and heading across the yard, approaching her boyfriend. She barely registered the fact that the SUV pulled away from the curb, feeling a tiny bit of weight slip off her shoulders seeing that her boyfriend was still alive.

Shane lifted his head and a reassured smile crossed his face as he dropped to his feet; he pulled Altessa into an embrace and kissing her on the cheek. "God, Altessa, I was so worried about you; I heard about Morgan and then I couldn't find you..." He started but Altessa pulled away, causing him to look slightly surprised.

"Look, we don't have time for this; we have to talk to my mother and get to Kimberly's apartment." She told him, heading toward the front door. Shane grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop, spinning her face to face him.

"Altessa, what is going on? Talk to me now; who is Kimberly?" He asked, frowning as he spoke. Altessa sighed, knowing that at any moment someone else could die, for they had no idea who was going to die next.

The teenager said, "It's hard to believe but you've got to trust me: we're all going to die because we cheated Death when we didn't die in the house explosion. Kimberly also predicts Death, like I did on Saturday and she's going to help us look for the Signs and beat Death's Design. Now we're going to meet with all the other survivors and we need to talk to my mother. Come on."

Shane frowned, attempting to let everything register; he wasn't quite sure where Altessa was coming from but he knew that if he at least went along with what she was saying then maybe he could help her through whatever was really bothering her. But, there was a part of him the knew he should believe her; after all, Morgan had died and so had Miss McAnderson and they had both been there Saturday afternoon. Pushing all his doubts aside, he followed Altessa into her house and shut the door behind him.

* * *

Kimberly paced around her living room anxiously, eyes and senses peeled for anything out of the ordinary, anything that could be Sign. She was actually impressed that all of the survivors had agreed to the apartment, even if Thomas had told them that it was only a routine follow up after the accident. Skye Davis sat on the couch between her boyfriend, Scott Sanders, and a lady-seeking bachelor named Richard Louis. No one said much of anything, though Skye and Scott were whispering quietly amongst themselves, no doubt about how crazy the whole thing seemed.

They were all waiting on Altessa's arrival, dragging the other two survivors in her wake; the teenager was ten minutes and ten minutes was more then enough time for Kimberly to begin worrying.

When the door bell finally rung, she rushed over to the door, flinging it open almost over-dramatically, relieved to see Altessa standing on the faded welcome mat with her boyfriend behind her. "Sorry we're late." The teenager apologized when she saw Kimberly's worried face. "My mother wouldn't come, so we had to walk."

"She wouldn't come?" Kimberly repeated, worried expression staying put. "She could be next." She didn't want to point out such a fact but it would do no good to ignore the situation they were in.

Altessa shook her head, turning to face her brunette friend. "I know but she wouldn't come. And she thinks I'm crazy." She added, a hint of sadness laced in her words, though she tried not to show it. She turned to face the other survivors, who were regarding her cautiously, and let her eyes drift past them, around the apartment. Altessa was certain that Kimberly and Thomas would have already done their best to safe-proof the apartment but she couldn't help but look around. Kimberly's computer was wrapped in bubble wrap and any glass picture grams had been slipped into a drawer and all papers had been slipped into a single folder.

She frowned when she noticed Thomas' blue kayak bound to the ceiling with a good two dozen tight ropes, the ends of the ropes tied to screws jutting from the wall. "Are you sure that's safe?" Altessa questioned, turning to face Kimberly, who frowned as well.

"No, it almost killed Clear last time but it was the only place for it to go, there's no more space in the closet with all of Thomas' other junk." Kimberly shot her boyfriend an almost comical look, and he smiled slightly in return.

Altessa sighed and turned around to face the others, who were getting slightly antsy. As soon as he saw that he had someone's attention, Richard stood up, looking impatient. "Look, I'm not going to stay here any longer if someone doesn't start talking about what the hell is going on here. I don't think this is a police investigation." He snapped, standing up and pushing past the teenager, heading toward the kitchen table, where everyone had piled their coats and purses.

"Yeah, what's going on? Why did you want us all to meet here? I don't even you know guys." Skye added, looking from Kimberly to Thomas and finally at Altessa, who didn't have an expression to offer her.

"I know this is kinda hard to understand but Death is after us." Altessa explained bluntly, hoping that it would prove to be the best tactic. Skye looked surprised and slightly

horrified, whereas Scott simply looked at her like she was completely crazy.

Richard laughed, grabbed his coat and holding it as he looked at the teenager. "Have you listened to yourself? Have you realized that everything you just said is enough to get you admitted into a mental ward?" He questioned without a trace of humor in his words, sounding anxious and even a bit frightened.

Altessa sighed, not in the mood to fight with anyone, especially not after the quarrel with her mother. She turned to face Kimberly and Thomas and her gaze fell to the police belt that Thomas had around his waist, which he had undoubtedly put on to make an impression on the other survivors, noticing it for the first time. "Is that gun loaded?" She questioned, unable to stop herself, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck prickle as she looked at the iron muzzle.

Thomas frowned and looked down at the gun, feeling stupid for even having it out after what Altessa had told them earlier in the day. "Sorry," he mumbled, slipping it slowly out of his belt and clicking a small switch. "The safety's on now."

He set the gun down on the desk and as soon as he did, there was a loud crack; Altessa cried out sharply in surprise and ducked instinctively, reflexes bred from pain and fear. There was a low gyrating sound as two of the ropes that held the kayak snapped, sending the boat sailing through the air.

Altessa looked up in time to see the blue kayak slice through the air, hitting Richard's exposed neck dead on; the apartment was filled with a thick cracking sound as the neck bones were torn free from the spinal column, shedding blood, gristle and marrow across the carpet as the militated head dropped to the ground. The body followed seconds later, knocking into the kayak as it swung backward, creating a pendulum.

Skye screamed and buried her face in her boyfriend's chest, looking close to passing out; Kimberly's eyes grew wide as she jerked her gaze away from the body, looking at the ground below her. Altessa stood up slowly, shaking and heading over to where Kimberly, Thomas and Shane stood. "If I hadn't ducked..." She mumbled, unable to finish the rest of the sentence.

"I don't understand." Shane mumbled, feeling oddly displaced. "How did that happen?"

Thomas crossed to where the kayak had once hung and examined the plaster above his head. "It looks like a bullet struck the wall, which would have severed the ropes." He muttered, seeing the perfectly formed circle in the cracked wall. But he didn't understand, though he was seeing it, didn't understand because he had clicked the safety on seconds before seating the gun down. And it shouldn't have gone off like that, regardless.

Kimberly picked up Thomas' gun, feeling that the muzzle was slightly warm. Her face paled as she studied the weapon closer. "My God..." She mumbled breathlessly. "I don't understand...the safety's still on."

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Okay, I got the Death from the second movie but I like it when people get their heads cut off. On a completely different note, my puppy is going into a very dangerous surgery tomorrow and if you guys wouldn't mind keeping her in your thoughts and prayers, I would really appreciate it. Also, the sequel to "Why Can't I?" for those of you who have read it has a title so it will begin to be posted very soon. Review!