Chapter 2

Dude… Where are my freakin' peanuts!?

Ten hours, 26 minutes, and 34 seconds after the previous chapter…..

Nicky Ballard sat next to her window with a blanket wrapped around her and a pillow snuggly fit between her head and her seat as she finished her email.

Di, you'd better come visit me ASAP! We can get a Starbucks in the U.K. and then go on an uber shopping spree in London and tour the Tower! Maybe we'll even have a match of lazer tag; I swear I never get sick of pwning you and other n00bs at that! Haha, jk! :D

It'll be soooooooooo much fun!

Your totally coolest BFF E-V-E-R, "Her Dudeship, the awesome one, etc "- Nicki B.

Nicky pressed the send button on her laptop to relay the message to her best friend and counterpart, Diane Swane. Diane had moved to Virginia a few years ago. She then shut down and packed up her laptop before shoving it below her seat. The plane had already made a stop in Canada to refuel and switch pilots about two hours ago. It was about 6:53 P.M. East coast time and they were flying over the Atlantic Ocean as the sun was setting. Nicky was frustrated and a bit hungry; she'd ordered peanuts from a flight attendant over twenty minutes ago, but hadn't seen the woman since. Normally Nicky would have gotten up and hunted the woman down for those damned peanuts, but she was much too tired. She took advantage of the moment to observe her surroundings. There wasn't much to see really, the plane was much smaller than the ones she'd been on before. There weren't many colorful people on board either. There a couple of business sharks here and there, and two elderly women wearing obnoxious Pepto-Bismol pink dress with big fake flowers and waaaaaaaay too much makeup. But other than that, Nicole thought the tiny plane was seriously under-booked. Nicky placed her headphones on as she yawned and turned to stare out the window. Stars could now be seen within the dusty golden yellows and rosy pinks of dusk, which contrasted with the navy blue clouds and the black sea below the aircraft. Nicole sighed, she wasn't much of an artist, but she loved twilight. Well, not the book series of course. She thought those were complete crap. Nicole buried her head deeper into her pillow as the loud and somewhat irritating voice of the captain boomed from the plane's intercom.

"This is your captain speaking, we hope you are enjoying your flight and just want to inform you that we seem to be heading into a minor storm…. We should arrive at our destination in about two and a half hours… thank you."

With the music playing softly in her ears, and such peaceful and silent surroundings it's no wonder that Nicole felt her eyelids become heavy, and soon found herself happily snoozing as the pitter-patter of light rainfall could be heard hitting her window.

Twenty-two minutes and 33 seconds later.

Boom…Boom…BOOM! Nicole jolted awake to loud yelling and chaos as the plane shook violently. She ripped off her headphones and flung them to the side before wildly looking around, dazed and confused. The few passengers, who had seemed so dull and uninteresting, were now practically bestially climbing over one another in panic!

Nicole could nearly hear her eardrums pop because of their high-pitched screeches. But something wasn't quite right… not all the screeches came from the cabin. Nicole's eyes widened in realization as she turned to face her window once more. The wing was half gone, and the engine was on fire,. And if that wasn't bad enough, the plane was so close to the ocean you could see each black wave begging to snatch up the aircraft and drag it to a watery grave. The way luggage was flying around the cabin (whacking people in the heads I might add), and the speed it was going down, it was clear as day that the plane was spiraling out of control. Nicole's face paled and she gave an involuntary gulp as she couldn't do anything else, but wonder why this was happening to her. From what little she could gather from the yelling of some businessman behind her, it seemed the pilot had experienced some health problem at the same time as lighting struck the left wing. Nicole closed her eyes and leaned back, wanting to scream, but finding herself unable. The dark water was getting closer by the second. She could feel and even hear her own heartbeat pumping so hard that it seemed it was trying to burst out of her chest. Everything seemed to slow down and go silent except for that eerie beating sound… It was like watching a slow motion video of a football play on T.V. Some elderly lady getting smacked by her own pink handbag as another skinny businessman seemed to be stuffing his face with doughnuts (gotten from god knows where). Nicole found herself being stuffed in a lifejacket by….someone… she couldn't really tell, she was too busy thinking about how ephemeral and unfair life was to her right now. She was JUST about to turn eighteen for crying out loud! She had worked hard just to be able to see the world and maybe even have a few adventures in her life before she died! This wasn't supposed to happen, not to her! Nicole decided to try and allay herself, it was probably a bad idea to panic like the others.

Oh God, pleeeeeeeeeeease don't let me just die here, God! Nicole mentally begged as the plane seemed only mere feet from the icy waters below.

Please, please, please! I don't want to die here, that can't have been the plan! This isn't right!

"I don't wanna die like this…" Nicole hoarsely whispered to the air as the plane hit the water, slamming into it like a tin can on concrete.