Chapter One

For a fifteen year old girl, you would find my life to be simple. Sure, that's not taking into account that I just woke up from a four month long coma, moved in with my aunt who I've only met once or twice in the past. Oh, and lets not forget, my parents and little brother all died in the same car crash I somehow managed to survive.

Some might think me lucky. I don't know where exactly it is they get that idea from.

"Nicole!" A voice calls from downstairs, the cool, clammy voice hanging like mist against my skin. "Are you done unpacking yet, dear?" The endearment is forced in her voice. She's not exactly used to having a teenager in the house.

"No." I call back simply, somehow managing the words. I haven't used my voice much lately. When I first woke up, my voice had been so hoarse I couldn't talk for the better part of a week without wincing. Even now that it was better, I still didn't use my voice much.

I put my headphones back into my ears, pushing them in deep to block outside noise. I'm not sure if my aunt keeps talking to me. But, I don't want to feel the sadness in her voice anymore. Sometimes I forget she lost family too, that night.

The sounds of Bullet for my valentine pulse through my body. I love the effect the dark music has on me, instantly blacking out any moods I might pick up. Yesterday, I felt the neighbors fighting. Their emotions were so intense I almost blacked out. Or, Mr. Mortley, the elderly man that lives in the house behind us mowing the lawn. His boredom had hit me like a warm blanket, making me so sleepy I had slept completely through dinner. Or, the college couple a couple houses down doing... well, I think you get the idea.

I was lost in my own little world of music. Time passed away like sand through an hourglass, slipping away unnoticed. Half an hour, or maybe it was a couple hours later, the smell of take-out food wafted from below. I ignored the rumblings in my stomach, and turned to the last box, shoved far away in the corner. A dark shroud seemed to hover in front of it, nearly blocking out the name scrawled in sloppy black marker on the lid of the block.

I could feel my eyes widen, and the dropping feeling in my stomach coming back. Running to my bed, I threw my face deep into the down pillow, muttering the lyrics to the song that thrashed wildly in my ears. The feeling grew quickly. It was getting closer.

Sorrow gripped my like cold fingers at my throat, loneliness wrenching at every beat of my heart, pulling tears to my eyes. Emotions that weren't my own. Memories, ghosts of a past that didn't belong to me whirled behind my eyes, unbidden, unwanted, but there all the same.

"Go away." I muttered into the fabric. And just like that, I could feel the things presence dissipate, and slowly fade away from the room.

Slowly, I peeked out from behind the pillow. The shimmer of darkness, like heat rising from the asphalt, was gone. But, I still had the sinking feeling you get just before you drop on a rollercoaster. I couldn't shake it. Music blasted in my ears, but I couldnt' even figure out what I was listening to. The images, thoughts feelings, they all swirled like a whirpool in the pit of my stomach. slowly, I backed away, getting off the bed, and looking around. Nothing was there. I was alone once again.

My whole body felt tight, like my muscles had tried to curl in on themselves. The air shimmered again, only this time, it had no shape. The colors seemed to come from every direction. Reds,whites, blues, the full rainbow swirling around me. It might have been cool if I hadn't been so afraid. And then, a thud against my bedroom window made me jump, and ht elights disappeared, like someone had switched the lights off.

Then I saw it. A bird of some kind, had hit the window and fallen, likely dead. Creeping forward, I pulled out the curtains and threw open the window. Scared now, I peeked my head out the windowsill, and looked around. The bird was nowhere in sight. Not on the ground, nor in the sky. It was as if it had just disappeared into thin air.

A hand on my arm made me jump and spin.

I broke the contact, but not fast enough.

Another swirl of images and thoughts attacked my brain. Worry and fear dripped across my arm now where my Aunt's fingers had touched me.

"Nicole, I heard you scream, what's wrong?" She asked, moving closer to try and touch me again. I shied from the contact, pulling the sleeves of my tattered hoody farther down my arms to cover my hands. I didn't need superpowers to tell that she was hurt.

"It was nothing, Aunt Nelle. Just a bird hit the window." I said. The only evidence of which was a small chip that had been taken from the window. My aunt, however, looked at my skeptically, and walked to the window, and looked at the ground below. I can tell by the look in her eyes that she didn't entirely believe me as I turned on me, a strained smile on her lips.

"Nicole, I know you said you don't want to, but maybe we should listen to the doctor's and-" I cut her off right there.

"No. I'm fine. I promise." I said, turning from her and wrapping my arms tightly across my stomach. I was anything but fine. But, if a small lie was all I had to tell to keep from seeing the shrink, well, I wouldn't complain.

"Okay," She said, touching my shoulder as she walked by, eliciting a small flinch of my body that I hadn't intended. "Well, dinner's here. Eddie said he would be by in the morning to take you to school."

I couldn't help a slight groan escape from my lips. I'd specifically hoped she hadn't ordered from Thomas' Grill and Bar... again. We both knew that she was crazy about the owner of the place. And, one of my best friends worked there as a delivery boy, Eddie. We were both in the same grade, a couple classes together, even. But, their food was so greasy, it made me sick to my stomach just thinking about it. Or, maybe that was from the bird. I still wasn't sure.

Nelle paused int eh doorway, turning back to look in the corner, where the sole box sat, waiting for its turn patiently.

"You know, if you need help unpacking that.. Just let me know." She said, he voice crackign slightly. I looked at the box. Somehow, it reminded me of a tombstone, my parents names scrawled on the top of the box. All I could do was nod and lay down without dinner, trying to ignore the unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach.

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