• A tiny drop of rain landed on the road, splattering water onto the rocky street. Another drop of rain followed, and soon, a thunderstorm marched in, stabbing the ground angrily with lightning.

    Will stared out from the window, watching the thunder invade the neighborhood. His eyes blinked dully as light from the thunder illuminated the window, enveloping him with a yellow blanket. Lissa…He thought as turned away from the storm. If only you were here.

    But his little sister had been gone for a long time. She’d been missing for five years and by then, everybody thought she was dead. Will thought she was dead too-nobody could be missing for that long without being a corpse. But even though he knew Lissa could never come back, there was part of him-the brotherly part-that wanted to believe she was still alive.

    And that part was getting harder and harder to ignore.

    Will searched for her for months. He had even hired a private investigator to help him. However, like the police, the private investigator was led to dead ends and in the end, Lissa was still not found.

    Just like before.

    The pitter-patter of the rain grew consistently loud, slamming itself against the house. A rumble from Will’s stomach indicated hunger and he walked into the kitchen. Grabbing open the refrigerator’s door, he saw a rotten tomato, a smelly old onion, and a piece of hard cheese. The smell from the onion and the tomato drifted towards Will’s nose and he gagged, immediately shutting the door. His stomach rumbled again and he sighed. He needed to buy food.

    Will didn’t want to though-the thunderstorm outside was crazy. Gusts of wind shook trees with a whisper and rain was falling down hard. Lightning stroke in random places and he could never guess when or where he would become its victim.

    Still, it was irrational and he stepped outside the front door.

    The marketplace was only two blocks away, and he didn’t want to waste gas. Before his sister disappeared, she had urged him to be green in order to save the planet. Will always completely ignored her advice, always driving around places even if it was only a few blocks away.

    Now it just seemed cruelly ironic.

    Pulling his hood over his head, he ran forward, trying to fight the strong wind. Rain bombed down on him, seeping through his cotton jacket. Thunder boomed, echoing its angry voice around him. Fear grasped his heart like a bomb and he ran faster.

    A wave of panic forced Will to stop at his feet as he stared at the horror that lay before him. A burnt-black tree was piled on top of chunks of dirt that was surrounded by mounds of broken rocks. The shadow behind the tree rose up, as if it was trying to greet him. Lightning burst out of the sky: A butterfly with its cocoon, and flashed its power at the trees. Fire burned the leaves and it consumed the trees’ flesh.

    I have to get out of here! Will thought as he ran the other way. Two beams of light covered him and he blinked feverishly, trying to see who or what it was. A sound of screeching tire wheels entered through Will’s ears and he realized at once what it was.

    It was a car.

    Or rather, a large pick-up truck. It drove in all sorts of directions, slamming into this, into that, before finally heading towards Will.

    Blades of grass were flung back and forth as it drove towards him. Grey steam erupted from the engine and mud flew in the air like birds. Barks of wood were crushed under the wheels as if they were trash.

    His heart thumped quickly as Will tried to run from the truck. The water on the ground made him slip and he fell face forward, onto the mud.

    The truck roared and roared as it smashed everything in its way. The headlights froze on him like a spotlight and Will could practically hear it screeching at him.

    HATE HATE FILLED WITH HATE I WANNA KILL YOU LIKE YOU DID WITH-

    Crack.

    A scream pierced the midnight sky as blood ran down Will’s leg. A thick white bone thrust out of the wound and he stared at it in shock.

    The truck had crushed his leg.

    Crawling, he tried to grab onto the floor, but the rain had made it too wet to hold on. It slipped from his grasp as Will realized in horror what was going to happen.

    He was going to die.

    Pain bursted through his body the truck crushed his other leg and hip. Fragments of broken bone and flesh were mixed with blood as they fell onto the ground, turning the water around his body a rich ruby red. Cold numbness from the rain quickly turned into a sizzling burn as the truck kept going on and on. Something-a voice-screamed inside his head as he drifted towards unconscious.

    EVERYTHING IS SO DARK PAIN PAIN THERE’S SO MUCH BLOOD THEIR MINE I CAN’T DIE YET I CAN’T DIE I HAVE TO FIND HER LISSA CHOKING ON PAIN BURNING AND BROKEN I CAN’T DIE I DON’T WANNA DIE I DON’T WANNA DIE IDON’TWANNADIE IDON’T WANNA DIE IDON’TWA