The Chosen

Chapter 1

Elizabeth Summers clutched the seat belt secured over herself as the rubber tires of her colleague's car screeched to a stop.

"You've got to be kidding." Claudia, her mother's secretary, glared out at the red Volvo ahead of them. "Watch where you're going!" she shouted, though there was no way the driver could hear her. "You all right, princess?"

Elizabeth nodded with great effort, then forced herself to unfurl her fingers from around the seat belt. Don't freak out, she said to herself.

The driver got out of his red Volvo and waved his fist at Claudia.

"Oh, no you don't." Claudia got out of the car before Elizabeth could stop her.

Elizabeth rubbed her hands down her black pencil skirt and released the seat belt. "This is nothing like the car accident in my nightmares."

The nightmares that had been plaguing her since she turned eighteen.

That was over eight months ago, and she'd had the same nightmare every single night.

But Elizabeth wasn't the one driving.

The car hadn't flipped.

She hadn't been thrown out of her car.

She wasn't drowning in a lake she dropped into.

Even if the car flipped off the road now, there was no lake for her to plunge into.

"That's nothing but a nightmare." A nightmare that wouldn't stop. "Still, just a nightmare." Elizabeth checked the wing mirror as she reached for the door handle.

That was when she caught a glimpse of a dashing man.

But it wasn't his looks that got her attention. It was the distinctive pair of light gray eyes. The same eyes she always saw in her nightmares. Those eyes belonged to the man who was always reaching out his hand toward her when she got flung out of her car.

He could never reach her in time, and Elizabeth would always end up getting sucked into the waters.

A paralyzing chill zinged through her frame.

All Elizabeth could do was blink.

And he was gone.

She didn't even get a good look at his face, just as she never did in her nightmares. The nightmare always overwhelmed her with fear, and all she could do was scream as the same car accident unfolded night after night in her head.

Sometimes, she woke up screaming.

Every time, her shirt would be soaked with perspiration.

Elizabeth snapped her attention back toward the driver side door when it opened.

"Princess, you okay?"

Elizabeth tucked her coffee-brown hair behind her ear. She knew Claudia wasn't trying to insult her. No one would do that to their bosses' daughter. Claudia probably thought it to be a compliment.

But Elizabeth never liked the term.

She supposed she deserved it.

She was born into a loving family that lack nothing. Her parents had given her every advantage in life.

But in spite of all the advantages, that was all she was—the princess of the Summers family.

Which should be enough.

She had everything she needed. She had a life others could only dream of having. Yet—or perhaps because of that—Elizabeth always felt as if she'd failed terribly in life.

If anyone else had her life, had the opportunities given to her, that person would have accomplished so much more than being the princess of the Summers' family.

Like her brother. He was only three years older than her but had already achieved so much more at twenty-one.

But Elizabeth? She hadn't accomplished anything. She had turned out ... ordinary.

"That idiot." Claudia slipped into the car. "If you weren't here ..." She let the sentence trail off when she took a good look at Elizabeth. Reaching over, she gave Elizabeth's shoulder a squeeze. "We're okay. The nightmares have really gotten to you, huh?"

Elizabeth cracked a smile.

"I'm sorry, Liz. I swear I was driving safely, but that idiot just cut into my lane."

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

Elizabeth nodded. "I'm sorry you have to drive me home." Since getting her nightmares, she hadn't been able to get herself to drive.

At the sight of her own car, her hands would get clammy and she would freeze.

"Glad to be of service."

Somewhere behind them, a car honked.

Claudia shot an annoyed glare back over her shoulders. "Do you want to talk about your nightmares?" The car moved forward, and Elizabeth's hands shifted to wrap themselves around the seat belt again. "My mother always says that everything can be solved by talking things out. Maybe that's why she never stops talking. I kind of inherited the trait, but I'm sure you already know that."

Elizabeth chuckled. "I'm okay," she said. She didn't want to talk about her nightmares anymore. Perhaps if she just ignored them long enough, she would stop having her nightmares.

Then everything would go back to normal.

Then, she could go back to being ordinary.

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Book's completed! Just making some minor edits. Will be reposting at least five parts each week!

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