I was home. Part of me was overjoyed, but another part of me was sad. I'd never wanted to leave, yet as I'd said earlier, it was unpreventable. It was a shocker when I staggered and discovered I was human, and in the clothes I had worn the night of the accident. I was in jeans, and underneath my winter jacket, I wore some random plaid button-down over shirt. There was gloves on my hands; I took one of them off and I didn't need to inspect my skin closely to know I had my natural tan back, confirming I was human. Seth, who stood next to me, was also in a winter jacket, also probably in different clothes; he was wearing jeans instead of shorts.
"Where are we?" he whispered.
I grinned like an idiot. "We're in the bookstore I was in before…you know, before the accident."
"Oh," was all he said.
I did the same thing I had done at what seemed so long ago- -yet I was here, same place, same time, like nothing had ever happened- -I picked up all four of the Twilight books from the shelf in front of me. The only proof I had that I hadn't been daydreaming was Seth standing next to me as living proof.
"Are you still a…shape-shifter?" I whispered very quietly.
He nodded. "As far as I know. Why are you human, though?"
I shrugged. "I dunno. C'mon."
I led him over to the checkout counter where the clerk quickly checked the books out, and put them in a paper bag. "Merry Christmas," she said, as if she was bored.
"You, too," I said, grabbing the bag, and walked out the store, Seth following me.
There was a blizzard going on outside, and I pulled the hood of my jacket over my head and ducked down, heading to my truck which was right in front of the store. It was a weird section of Minneapolis, I'll just say that. I unlocked the truck, and piled in. Seth got in the passenger's side.
"So," I said as I started the vehicle, turning the heat onto high. "I'm not going to prevent it, so we mind as well will go with it."
He gave me a sad look. "Erin, I- -"
"I'm sorry, Seth," I whispered, buckling my seatbelt, and pulled away from the curb. We were silent the whole way, and Seth dozed off, even with the paper bag with the books in his lap. About five miles outside of town, along the side of the freeway, I noticed a pale figure standing there and watching the car. It was my past self. I acknowledged her with a nod, which she returned, and drove on. And then it hit my like a load of bricks. My life was about to end, and I was going to leave Seth alone…As tears ran down my cheeks, I notice Seth stirring, and he jolted awake. Déjà vu.
"Oh, good, neither of us are dead yet," he said grimly.
"It'll be soon, though." I left out the part where I'd seen myself. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a burry white streak following us. Good, just keep following. Up ahead, I saw a pair of headlights. The next thing I knew, there was a horrible crunching noise, and I hit my head on the steering wheel, and I could not longer control parts of my body; somehow, I had partially paralyzed. I was really out of it, but not out of it enough to not noticed the car flipping over a few times. For a while, everything went black. And then I heard a voice that made me want to keep going, to keep fighting…
"Erin?" I heard Seth's voice, as if from the other end of a tunnel. "Erin, are you still alive?"
I coughed weakly. I could feel something warm and sticky on my face. "S-Seth…?" I was aware that I was slurring. "I-I'm so…I so sorry…"
Everything around me was fading…I needed to tell Seth something one last time…
"No!" I heard his weak shout, completely in denial.
"I-I love…I love…" I couldn't speak anymore. No! I would not leave Seth with an unfinished sentence! It was my last hope, but I thought to him, I love you forever.
The last thing I heard was a weak, shocked gasp. My last thought was that he'd heard me. The last thing my brain registered was my heart no longer beating. And my last feeling was the feeling of floating upwards…