Chasing Destiny

1. Lightning only strikes once

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original plot or characters, everything else is mine. And if I had a say in it, the boys wouldn't have died in the movies (# Team Lost Boys).

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1986 – Santa Carla/California

'Welcome to Santa Carla' – The bus finally passed the sign announcing that she would soon reach her destination after an agonizing fifteen hour drive across the country. She couldn't wait to get off the bus, it was too hot, too noisy and the guy next to her was way too sweaty.

She hated to travel by public transportation. One would call her socially awkward, she preferred to state that she simply couldn't stand most people anymore. She hadn't always been like that, at least not up until a year ago.

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1985 – Phoenix/Arizona

Lightning only strikes once or so they say. One thing Amy Williams had come to experience wasn't necessarily true. She had always considered herself lucky. Lots of friends, straight A-student, a loving family and a great boyfriend. That was until shit hit the fan, there was no other word to describe the following events.

First her elder brother drowned in the lake behind his campus, because of some drunk fooling around with his new motorboat. He didn't pay attention where he was going and hit a rock throwing him over board in the process. Her brother being a trained lifeguard didn't hesitate and went straight into the lake. He managed to get the drunk out but got caught up in the anchors' chain. By the time they cut him loose it was too late. ''James Williams 24.3.1962 – 18.3.1985'. She could still hear her mother weeping as they put him six feet underground.

Not two month later her mother got diagnosed with breast cancer. Doctors immediately started treatment and it worked, she got better. Even if she didn't die of cancer it was still a shock to all of them after just having lost James.

And then there was that night that change everything. Amy could still hear the screeching tires and feel the cold. It was early August and Amy and here parents were on their way back home from visiting her grandparents in Tucson. It had been close after nightfall, she didn't recall what had happened exactly. She only remembered suddenly waking up from the sound of screeching tires and lights coming straight at them. Their car flipped over multiple times to finally come to rest on the roof. She had been hanging in her seat belts feeling numb for who knows how long until she was able to move.

She had been calling out to her parents, only to realize at some point that her mother was already dead and her father nowhere to be seen. She had multiple cuts from the shattered glass and felt colder by the minute. When finally help arrived and they pulled her from the car wreck she was barely conscious. What she never forgot was her father lying next to the car, only a feet away from the passengers' site, his arm still reaching for her mother with his last breath.

She had been in the hospital for over a month, barely talking. The people visiting were getting fewer and fewer. After being released from the hospital and moving in with her aunt things didn't get better. She went to school, yes. But her grades went down dramatically. She pushed aside almost all of her friends. She broke up with her boyfriend, of whom she had been sure she would marry one day, after getting into constant fighting over her condition.

She simply faded away. There were days she felt rather than a ghost than a human being. Everything had been taken from her. Finally her aunt put her into rehab after finding her in the tub with her wrists cut open. It wasn't that she wanted to die necessarily, she just wanted to feel anything again. Truth is, she never felt more alive back then, than in that moment when life slowly drained out of her.

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1986 – Santa Carla/California

Amy took up her backpack when the bus finally came to a stop. She waited a bit longer to get off, not overly eager to be pushed by the other passengers. She waited patiently for the driver to unload her luggage, most of her stuff had already been moved to Shellys' anyways.

She left the station and stood in front of the building, letting her eyes wander around.

"Amy?" She turned around upon hearing the female voice behind her and spotted her cousin. She still looked the same as five years ago, only a bit more grown in certain places. Still light blond hair with a pixie cut, a delicate frame with well-proportioned assets and tanned skin.

She nodded and was pulled into a hug that stood in contrast to the doll like girl in front of her.

"Wow, I almost didn't recognize you, girl. I love your hair and this whole dark vibe style." She looked Amy over once more, her cousin really had changed.

"It's called gothic, Shell. You on the other hand still look like sprung from a fairy tale." Amy smiled lightly, something that she still felt awkward about, but she was getting better,

"So how was your trip?" Shelly asked, picking up her luggage and shoving it into the back of her small car.

"Well, you know... Sweaty people, no air conditioning inside the bus and the drive took us forever." She rolled her eyes and let out a small sigh of relief when she cracked her neck.

"Come on, hop on in. I got dinner ready, just need to heat it up. You will love the apartment. Did Julie show you the pictures I sent her? I hope she did..." Amy zoned out while her cousin kept talking. She was tired and just wanted to get to the apartment so that she could eat and finally sleep for a few hours.

o-0-o

"This is it, make yourself at home." Shelly opened the door to her second floor apartment and stepped aside to let Amy in. It wasn't much, but it was a home where the two girls would easily fit. She helped getting her luggage into her new room and let it rest there on the floor in front of the dresser.

"Let's eat. There is so much time left to unpack tomorrow." She let herself be pulled to the kitchen and soon they were sitting at the table munching on some homemade pizza.

"Hey Shelly. Thank you for letting me stay with you. I really appreciate it." Her cousin set down her fork to grab her hand.

"Don't mention it. We are family after all. I am glad that I get to see more of you now. I am sure it is good for you to have a change of scenery. You will love it here in Santa Carla. Don't stress yourself, it will all fall into place. Maybe not tomorrow but give it a couple of month and you will see that some of your spirit will come back." Amy looked at Shelly and squeezed her hand back. She was right, after all that was why she was here. To take back control over her life, something she wasn't able to do in Phoenix where she was haunted by memories.