CHAPTER 1
Sarah reached over and turned off her alarm clock. She shook the remnants of her dream from her mind.
"That dream was really weird," she muttered to herself. In her dream Natalie was her friend instead of her twin sister. And in the dream they were eighteen, and they were only fourteen, a long way from eighteen. Sarah laughed shakily, it would take her awhile to forget that dream.
She climbed out of bed and saw that Natalie was still sleeping. She walked into the kitchen and saw a note left by their mother.
Girls~
Went to work. Be home at five. Have fun at the mall.
Love,
Mom
Sarah had almost forgotten that her boyfriend, Chuck, who was seventeen, was driving them and some friends to the mall.
Sarah walked back into the bedroom that she shared with her twin. It was eleven and Chuck was coming at twelve. Sarah dragged Natalie out of bed. ON the way to the kitchen Natalie had an odd look on her face. Almost as if she was seeing what wasn't there. Something that only she could see. . . . like a rerun of an old movie in her mind, just for her.
"Nat? What's wrong?" asked Sarah worredly.
"Nothing," said Natalie, coming out of her trance. Her face lost some of it's gray pallor but remained an unearthly white and her face still had a tight, pinched look about it.
"C'mon!" coaxed Sarah. "I know something's up. Have you been having nightmares again?" asked Sarah lowering her voice several octaves, even though no one was around to hear their private conversation.
Natalie shook her head no, then slowly shook it yes. Ever since Natalie was a little girl she had had disturbing dreams that started off perfectly fine but ended in terrible tragedy. The doctor had assured their parents that most little kids had them and were commonly reffered to as "night terrors" and that she should out grow them by age four. But she never did. The dreams kept coming. Sometimes just frightening, sometimes horrific, but all ending with the same terrible tragedy.
Death.
For most kids death can be a scary subject, but as you grow older you realize that it is just a part of life and sometimes nowe matter how cruel it may seem, is just God carrying out what has to be done.
But for Natalie it was worse. She had been to dozens of doctors and psychologists, who had prescribed medications but they never helped. As she got older she pretended to be just a normal teenager but she found it hard to make friendas so the already deep bond between the sisters deepened. When Natalie was twelve, the dreams stopped, and she was happy, for the first time in her life.
But two years later, when they entered highschool and her sister began to date a senior, the dreams suddenly began, as swiftly as they had dissappeard they started again.
These weren't the same, childish night terrors, though. These were adult nightmares, and thy weren't just aimless dreams that ended in death. It was the same dream. Night after night.
Natalie had a talent for acting and during the day played the role of a happy, normal teenager, but at night she came apart, sobbing in terror of what the dream would bring.
"Wanna talk about it?" asked Sarah. She knew how to handle the situation after dealing with it for a lifetime.
"It was different. . . . .tonight, instead of just dying. . . .I found him. The one, my prince charming. And then I died. It wasn't very scary just. . . . . .sad. Like Romeo and Juliet. And I woke up with the strangest feeling of. . . . .of aprehension, because I feel that it is going to happen today. I am going to meet him today," said Natalie gazing into outerspace.
"You've always had nightmares Nat, nothing is going to happen today. Don't let your dreams control you," said Sarah as she buttered a piece of toast.
"But he had the face of an angel," protested Natalie. Sarah stiffened when she said that, remembering her own dream.
"Omigosh! Look at the time!" said Sarah suddenly,"Chuck will be here in less than twenty minutes!" With that they ran upstairs to get ready.
*****
Sarah and Natalie were ready by the time that Chuck arrived. They walked to the car.
"Hey," said Chuck, giving Sarah a quick kiss. "My cousin is staying with me for a few weeks, I brought him along, I hope you don't mind," he said.
"Of course not," Sarah began but her words ended in a choked gasp. It was him. The one from her dream. She glanced at Natalie, who had a funny look on her face. Almost as if she were being reaquanted with an old friend that she had fallen out of touch with.
"Hi," said Natalie. "I'm Natalie but you can call me Nat if you like," she said shyly. His simmering, green cat's eyes seemed to linger on her much too long, Srah thought.
"Well hello Nat, I'm James but you can call me Lance if you'd like," he said.
"I'm Sarah, Natalie sister," she said, athority evident in her voice.
"Hi," he said to Sarah, barely glancing at her. She tried to convince herself that the emotions welling inside of her, threatening to boil over in the very next instant, were anger and hatred toward him.
"How old is he?" she asked Chuck after getting into the car. She was still glaring at the back of Lance's head.
"Seventeen, he's in a music group. They just got signed to some big label and they're going to Germany in September."
"Oh," she said flatly,as if his extraordinary accomplishment was nothing new to her.
Meanwhile Natalie could not get over how adorable Lance was. He looked absolutely nothing like his cousin. Lance had golden, blonde hair and the eyes of an angel. Chuck, on the other hand was ugly. At least she thought so. She didn't know what Sarah saw in him. She was probably only going out with him because he was a senior and drove an ugly, beat up car.
He was really tall-6'4", to be exact-and skinny. Not really skinny like you could see his bones or anything, but just skinny enough to be gross. On a guy that tall you wanna see some muscle, thought Natalie. Not skinniness. He had pale blue eyes that were often bloodshot from partying too much and light brown hair. It was cut short and looked like a fuzzy box on his head.
Natalie's mind kept wandering back to Lance. True, he did look a little bit like a girl with that fruity haircut but he had nice features. And that voice! It was deep and incredibly sexy.
ON the way to the mall they picked up their friends, Nicole and Mitzie. They were squished into the car like sardines but they were laughing and having a good time and it didn't matter to them.
Natalie and Lance were all over each other. Natalie never got close to guys. Especially not older guys. But here she was practically sitting on top of Lance and they had their arms wrapped around each other. Natalie had never even kissed a guy before today but every once in a while she and Lance would rub noses and kiss. It wasn't really passionate, but it was enough to make Sarah sick to her stomach.
"Me and Natalie have to be home by two," announced Sarah.
"No we don't," said Natalie, snuggling closer to Lance.
"Yes, mom left us a note," she continued stubbornly. Lance and Natalie groaned.
"Then we better get to the mall real quick," said Chuck, accelerating until they were twenty five miles over the speed limit. It was very rainy out and since it was fall there were leaves all over the roads. That madethings wet and slippery and to make matters worse their was a dense fog over the entire county. Chuck turned on the radio and the first words were words that Sarah would never be able to forget.
You've already won me over,
in spite of me.
So don't be alarmed if I fall,
head over feet.
And don't be surprised, if I love you,
for all that you are,
I couldn't help it,
It's all your fault.
(Head over feet~Alanis Morisette)
"Oh! Turn this up! I love this song!" said Sarah. Lance began to sing softly to Natalie. Everyone turned to look at them.
That's why none of them saw the big Randy-Rent-All truck pull out in front of them. Chuck turned around and slammed on the brakes but the car was going too fast and it skidded on the wet leaves. The Randy-Rent-All truck hit them head on.
Sarah covered her face as her body was jerked forward, then backward by the seatbelt. She heard glass shattering, felt it raining on her and cutting her arms. She heard a horrible scream that she never would be able to forget for the rest of her life, and then silence.
Sarah opened her eyes. She knew that Nicole, Mitzie, and Chuck were dead, but Lance and Natalie weren't in the car. She climbed out of the mangled wreckage.
Lying on the pavement was Natalie, cradled in Lance's arms. Tears were running down his face as he rocked her back and forth. Sarah rushed forward and knelt by her twin.
"Nat! Nat! Wake up!" she screamed, even though she knew that it wouldn't do any good. A part of her had left this world with Natalie.
"It's too late," Lance whispered. "She's gone."
"It's all your fault!" screamed Sarah. "I hate you!" she flew at Lance but strong arms held her back. It was the truck driver.
"I didn't see you coming! I tried to turn!" the truck driver said.
"It's all his fault! My sister is dead! My best friends are dead! My boyfriend is dead! All because of him!" she sobbed. She could hear the wail of sirens getting closer and closer.
That was the last thing that she remembered before everything went black.
