Chapter One: The Accident

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by __thedynamos__

by __thedynamos__

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—Elizabeth's POV—

"I have never wanted to drop out of school more," I complain as Mason pushes through the doors of the study room. He gives me a look making me turn around to see my history textbook sitting on the table, "That might just be my last straw," I whine as I walk over dragging my feet along. He laughs at my pain and tells me to hurry up.

"Come on Eliza, we have a week left until we are nose-diving into hot cocoa and Christmas movies," he says keeping the door open for me to walk out. If only it was that easy.

"You mean a week until I'm stuck at home with my family who hasn't acknowledged my existence since I got here," I point out making him roll his eyes.

"Always such a pessimist," he says shaking his head with a laugh. I nudge his shoulder and he wraps an arm around me holding me close as we walk into the cold air, "Are we still on for tomorrow?" He asks as I shake my head.

"Yeah, Katie is meeting us at the bar before we head to the party," I tell him as we quicken our pace to the apartment buildings near campus. He waves a quick goodbye as I turn the path into my building. I pull my phone out as I wait for the elevator and shiver as a breeze brushes against my face.

"What floor? a voice asks as I step into the elevator. I lift my head and take notice of the shorter man. The number seven glows on the wall as he looks at me waiting for an answer.

"Look's like we are on the same floor," I tell him with a small smile before turning my face back to my phone. The creaky elevator shakes the life as the doors finally shut. I glance at the man and take in the uniform he's in. His nametag displays the name Charlie as the hat on his head looks torn and ragged. It takes longer than normal for the elevator to get to the floor.

His hand holds onto my shoulder as I go to walk out of the doors. I try to brush off his arm but his grip tightens on my jacket. I pull out of his grip sending my backpack to the ground as my jacket slips off from his unrelenting grip. I quickly grab the books and run out of the elevator as he laughs at my fear. When I turn back I freeze as the lights above him start flickering and his laughter becomes more insidious. His hand reaches out as fire fills the small enclosed box. I drop my bag on the floor and try to run towards him as fire shoots out of the doors slamming shut, the hinges screech as it free falls down the shaft. My arms push against the wall s I wince from the burns spreading up my arms from the hot metal. As I look down seeing the car crushes at the bottom of the tunnel. I scream his name but there's no response.

As I start running downstairs I stumble around trying to pull my phone out of my pocket. By the time it starts ringing for 911, I'm on the ground floor. My legs ache as they rush to the lobby. When I make my way to the doors my eyebrows knit together from the scene in front of me. I stop in front of the doors and hit the button to open the doors. I hesitantly move forward as the doors open revealing a perfect elevator. The 911 operator on the other side of the phone is talking but I can't make out a coherent word as I step into the fully functioning cart. I hang up the phone and look around seeing nothing that would display danger or anything out of the ordinary.

A woman and her kid walk into the open elevator and look at me concerned as I look around with tears in my eyes, "Are you okay?" The woman asks as she looks at my clothing, "Do you need an ambulance?" She asks with worry laced in her voice as she takes in the injuries on my arms. I grimace as I take in the wounds sizzling through my skin as I slide to the floor. She tells her son to call 911 as my brain becomes overwhelmed and my vision becomes blurry.

She tries to keep me awake as I lean into her weight. The son's voice is going in and out as he keeps the elevator on the first floor, "Help is on the way," She whispers as they walk me into the lobby. My legs barely being able to keep me up as they drag me to a couch. They keep talking about adrenaline and how the shock is taking over my body. I hear loud footsteps walking into the lobby as my brain fully shuts down.