Ok, just over 5000 in this exerpt.

[marilyth]

Alex felt like she was the protagonist in a really bad horror movie; the girl who could see the future, but not stop anything. Death surrounded her on every turn, and at the end, she had to face the final monster, or become one of the dead herself. These dreams were the worst! Sometimes they were so vague that she ignored them, while other times so vivid, that she had a hard time ignoring them, especially when there was nothing she could do to help anyone in the dream.

They started when Alex was a teenager. The studies say that most paranormal activity surrounds someone in their teen years, normally when they begin puberty. The dreams were in align with what the "professionals" called premonitions, which were paranormal to many. To Alex, they were annoyances. Her first dream wasn't anything out of the ordinary; a regular dream, where she did regular things, nothing spectacular.

However, in the weeks following the dream, she kept having a feeling of deja vu, which was ridiculous, because she didn't believe in that crap. When she had the dream of her friend in the car accident, a year before the accident, she knew there was something up. How did she know it was the same dream? She saw what happened exactly, through the eyes of someone there. That someone turned out to be her dad, who saw the whole thing, and was the first on the scene when Shelly made the left turn from the right lane on the bypass, in her rush to get to work. She lived, but Alex's dreams didn't get any better.

She predicted too many things; her high school friend's pregnancy, the car accidents that killed her friends while she was in college with no way to warn anyone. The big problem was that the premonitions were coming so close to the events, that she had almost no time to tell anyone that she had a bad feeling about something, until it was too late. Her closest friends knew she had these dreams, and they supported her. Her best friend, Anna, also had the dreams, but they weren't as vivid, or real as Alex's. Anna did call Alex one night, very late, to warn her of a bad dream.

***

The phone didn't wake Alex out of sleep, but it did startle her enough that she had to start that portion of her drawing again. No one called after midnight, unless it was an emergency, so she knew she needed to answer the phone.

"Hello," Alex spoke into the plastic receiver of the mauve phone her parents got her when she left for college.

"Hey, it's me." Anna started. "Whatcha doin'?"

Alex looked down at the schematic of the building she was creating a new facade for her design class. "Architorture. Not fun." She replied. "What's up?" Anna never started a conversation on a serious note unless something was wrong.

"Are you still planning on coming down for Thanksgiving this year?" Anna asked.

"That was the plan," Alex responded. "I've got a ride this year, so I figured I'd save some money and drive. It takes as much time to fly, since I have to change planes at least once, then drive another 45 minutes to get home. Why?"

Anna responded, "When were you planning to leave?"

"I was think the group is heading out early Wednesday morning. We've got to stop along the way and drop people off so I could be home in time to hang out with friends before the big Thursday events. Why?"

"Do you think you could manage to hold off driving out too early Wednesday morning, and wait until at least 9 or 10?"

Alex thought this was odd. The drive was a 7 to 8 hour trip down the lone Texas highways, and she would prefer to leave when it was dark, and arrive early, as opposed to driving during the daylight, and the traffic. She trusted Anna though.

"I'm not in control of the scheduling, since I'm going with three other people. I'd like to save my own gas money, and was really lucky to get this ride. What's the problem?"

"Just promise me that you won't take that ride. For that matter, see if your friends will wait to leave." Anna pleaded over the wires.

"Honey, I'll do the best I can, but I cannot guarantee anything. I've got a couple of more paychecks coming, so I'll see what I can do about making other arrangements, is that sufficient?"

"That would be great," Anna let out a sigh of relief. "I'll tell you more about it when I see you next."

"OK," Alex replied, "You sure everything is ok?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Just make sure you don't leave until after 9am on Wednesday."

"Promise!" Alex responded. She knew it would make her friend feel better if she made that commitment.

***

Alex kept that promise to Anna that year, and it saved her life. There was a certain path she took when she drove south for the holiday, because the highway was the fastest way to get between two points in Texas, without having to brave the side roads, that could go for days and land you in Mexico if you weren't careful.

That particular day, at approximately 5am, a big rig blew out a tire on Post highway. Highway 87 was the way down to the interstate, and it was two lane for part of the way. If Alex left when she intended, at about 4am, she would have been in the approximate location of this big rig. When the tire blew on the truck, it went out of control. Because there are so few people on the road in the morning, this wouldn't have been a big deal, however, there were several people in the area, and college students driving home, that there were about ten cars in a line driving south on the highway. When the rig jack-knifed, there was no warning.

Two cars passed the truck while it was trying to maintain control. The next car was taken out by the rear tires as they crossed the yellow line. The other vehicles didn't have enough time to react. The darkness was misleading, and they simply couldn't stop in time. Six people dead. The truck driver lived, but he was scarred. He had been driving for 15 hours straight, and just wanted to hit his stop, which was only 30 minutes ahead, but in his rush, he killed six people, and injured five more.

Of the six people dead, two were friends of Alex's. She told them the change in plans, so they got another fourth, and drove down early Wednesday morning. Alex couldn't convince them to leave any later because Jon had to be in Boerne by 8am, and they'd be lucky to get there by then if they left later than the 4am plan time. Alex wasn't happy about their decision, but couldn't do anything about it. Instead she attended two funerals, and visited Jess and Morgan in the hospital for three weeks until they were released. It was then she realized why Anna insisted she not leave with her friends. She could have been one dead or severely injured.

Since that day, Alex trusted her instincts where Anna was concerned, and would call, or get a call, on any random occasion, because of a simple thought. Those calls always came at the right time, and always made both of them feel better. The legend says that each person has a soul mate they were separated from at the beginning of time, only to search their lives to find that person. Alex and Anna knew they were that person for each other. Even though they knew it wasn't a romantic thing, they were family in every sense of the word, and always would be.

This is why Alex couldn't go to sleep that night. She kept having a bad feeling that something was going to happen. She called and talked with Anna several times that week, but still couldn't shake the feeling of dread. She was mimicking the kids in the old Freddy Krueger movies, and downing coffee and No-Doze like crazy, just to stay awake. If she didn't sleep, she didn't dream. If she didn't dream, she wouldn't see what was going to happen. The trick worked for a short time, but eventually her body was going to make her sleep, whether she wanted to or not.

**********

The Alpha Psi party was in full swing. The women were let in without incident, but if you brought your boyfriend you were simply turned away. The guys definitely wanted more of a selection of fresh meat, than people there to get free booze. Elise walked in with a group of girls from the dorm. She knew the frat party scene was really active the first few weeks of the semester, and she was excited to get college started with a bang.

Elise came from a small town, and was known as the good girl. That image caused her more than a little discomfort during her time in high school, so when she left for college she knew that she was going to change that image if it killed her.

The four freshmen walked into the door to find minimal decorations for a themed party. Elise held the elbow of her roommate, Kara, as they made their way through the maze of people. They really didn’t know what to expect. Everyone was so nice and happy in this atmosphere.

The two roommates stuck together for safety and comfort. They followed the sound of the music and saw a small area set up to be a dance floor. There were several people already dancing, holding their plastic cups while gyrating to the music. There were more women than men on the dance floor, but there were plenty of men watching from a distance.

Kara and Elise walked to the dance floor and began to move around to the beat. Maybe if they danced some, they would loosen up and start to have a good time. It was beginning to work. They inched their way to the inner portion of the floor and were enjoying the music, occasionally taking each others hands and mocking swing dancing if the song provided. After three or four songs, the friends needed something to drink to refresh themselves.

There were plenty of bar-like areas set up where you could grab a beer, or some drink out of a jug. Elise was thinking more along the lines of water, and Kara was going to follow her lead. The each grabbed a bottle of water from a large trashcan filled with ice, and went to find a place to sit and take a breather.

There was no point trying to have a conversation over the music and the yelling of the people. They walked around the area of the enclosed back yard of the house to see if they could find a place a little more quiet, with no luck. They decided to take their chances in the house. Maybe there was a spot they could find just to chat a little. They made their way through the maze of hallways in the post-modern home and found a den-like area.

There was a pool table, and a couple of smaller tables that looked like you could play poker or bones on them. There were a couple of guys playing a round of 8-ball. Elise looked slyly at Kara, because they had been playing pool since they got to town to pass the time. Kara was getting better, but Elise was an old pro, playing pool with her cousins at her grandparents house since she was three. They thought it would be fun to get in on the action, just to see how well they would do as a team.

The two guys playing were both really cute. One had short blonde hair, and at 6’2 was a commanding presence in the room. The other guy was a little shorter, but looked like he played baseball in his spare time. His close cropped brown hair showed a clean cut look about him. There were a few more people in the room watching the game and drinking. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

Kara and Elise walked into the room and stood against one wall watching the game. The blonde was obviously stripes, while the brunette guy was solids. It looked like the blonde was winning, since he only had the 9 ball and the 15 ball left on the table, compared to the five solid colors of the other player. The girls watched the progress of the game and decided they would ask for the next round. Of course they’d invite the guys to play doubles, to make things fair.

The game wound up, with the blonde hitting the 8-ball in a corner pocket, after a nice bank off the walls of the table. Elise stepped forward and asked the pair if they would mind a doubles game with a couple of newbies to the school. The guys obviously didn’t mind, as they gave a look of hopefulness toward one another. It was as if they were trying to hide their want for meat.

The guys agreed, and each person grabbed a stick they were comfortable with. Elise and the blonde did the face off to see who would break. Elise’s ball went just further than her opponents, thus the guys would have the break.

“Nice bank,” Elise said to the blonde.

“Not bad yourself,” he responded. “I’m Luke, by the way.” He reached out his hand to shake.

“Elise.” She responded. “That’s Kara, my roommate,” Kara made a smile toward Luke.

“That’s Travis.” He pointed his stick at the other player. Travis gave Kara a wide smile and nodded his head.

“Hey,” He said mildly with a slight spark in his eye.

“Well,” Elise replied, “I guess it’s your break.”

Luke made his way to the end of the table, while Elise gathered the balls into the rack. She wanted to be sure they were tight enough that he wouldn’t get a shot in the pocket on the break. When they were ready, Luke chalked his stick, placed the que ball and swiftly ran his stick through his fingers toward the ball. The instant crack of the ball hitting the group of racked balls was impressive. Luke was able to separate the group quite nicely, but as Elise hoped, did not sink a ball on the break.

The game continued for another 30 minutes. Each person taking a shot, and if making it would take another. Elise was right about the match-up, it was pretty fair. Luke played like he’d been playing for years. Travis wasn’t as precise, but his match-up with Kara was even.

They were down to the final balls on the table. One stripe for the guys, and the 8-ball for the girls. Travis had the shot for the guys, and sank the 12 ball easily. He called the side pocket for the 8-ball. The ball glided toward the pocket, but bounced off the edge.

Elise smiled to herself as she approached the ball. It was an easy shot into the pocket, but she wanted to make an impression. Luke had been flirting with her throughout the game, and pressing her to do more impressive shots. Elise held back, but wanted to really give these guys something to think about. She selected a corner pocket, that seemed an impossible shot, but as the que made contact with the 8-ball, it made the ball take a turn around the table in the opposite direction that was intended. The 8-ball glided slowly toward the corner pocket. It slowed enough that it looked like it wouldn’t make it. As it approached the pocket it stopped just short of falling in. The room was silent with no one breathing. Then half a second later, the ball dropped into the pocket. Elise took a breath, and gave Luke a smile and a wink.

“I’m glad we didn’t bet on this game,” Luke smiled. “Are you thirsty?”

“I could use something to drink.” Elise responded.

“We’re gonna grab a drink,” Luke said to Travis, who was in mid-conversation with Kara.

“Cool,” Travis responded, “Bring me a beer will ya? You want anything,” he said to Kara.

“Just water for me, thanks.” Kara smiled toward Elise and Luke.

Luke led Elise toward the kitchen area where no one was gathering. It was quieter there, and a little more intimate. As they entered the kitchen, Luke opened up the large refrigerator.

“What’s your poison?” He asked Elise with a smile, as he grabbed a bottle of water and a beer out of the fridge for Kara and Travis.

“What do you got?” She said as she inched her way toward the fridge just behind Luke.

He saw her just over his shoulder and smiled. Leaning over toward the contents of the refrigerator he listed the contents, “Well we have beer, of course, water, juice, some old soda, and,” he reached to the back of the fridge and grabbed a bottle, “wine.”

Elise wasn’t much for beer, but she would enjoy a nice white wine on occasion. Luke handed her the unopened bottle. “Johannesburg Reisling. I haven’t had one of these in a long time.”

Luke shut the fridge behind him and put his hand on the bottle just touching Elise’s. She felt a spark of electricity as his pinky finger brushed her hand. She let the bottle loose, as Luke took it to the counter. He shuffled through a drawer looking for a corkscrew.

“If you look up in the cabinet, there are some glasses. Just pick one you’d like.” Luke said over his shoulder as he manovered the corkscrew into place. Elise opened the top cabinet, and saw several stemmed pieces of glassware. She grabbed an appropriate glass for white wine, and washed it off in the sink. Luke looked like he was still getting the cork out of the wine as she approached him from behind.

“Did you want some also?” She asked.

“No, I’m not much of a wine guy,” he responded, “I’m just going to have a beer.”

Elise watched Luke put the corkscrew back into the drawer, and wiped the lip of the bottle with a towel. It looked like he spilled some while he was removing the cork. True testament that he was definitely a wine guy. Elise placed her glass on the counter, and Luke poured the wine. She took a sniff, and a small sip. The sweetness of the wine was just what she liked. It was light, and cold; perfect for a warm evening.

Luke placed a false cork in the bottle, and grabbed his and Travis’ beer. He balanced all three in both hands with ease. Elise held her glass and Kara’s water in the other hand. They walked back to the den where Travis and Kara were the last two left in the room.

“Hey there.” Travis greeted them. Luke handed Travis his beer, as Elise handed Kara her water. “We were thinking about taking a walk over to the park, do you guys want to join us?”
Luke gave Elise a look, “Did you want to go along?”

Elise hated being a third wheel, so she declined politely, and asked if it would be alright if they stayed and enjoyed the air conditioning.

“I think we’re going to stick around here, if that’s ok.” Luke replied.

“No problem,” Travis said. He stood and offered a hand to Kara. She placed his hand in his, as he led her out the door toward one of the many exits to the house.

Elise sat down on one of the two seater sofas, and Luke took the spot next to her. She sipped the wine, as they talked about random things in their lives; classes, majors, back home.

***

Kara and Travis walked hand in hand toward the park across the street from the fraternity house. It was a modest park with a swing and a tiny merry-go-round. There was one picnic table, and trash can, but not much more. The trees surrounding the park were swaying in the summer breeze of September, and the leaves were rustling through the corridor.

They headed toward the swings to sit and chat. The talked of the same things other college students talked about. It could have been the same conversation Luke and Elise were having inside.

“I’m going to ask you the stupid pick up line,” Travis announced. “Are you ready?”

Kara laughed, “Sure, go ahead.”

“So, are you from around here?” Travis quipped.

Kara giggled, “That is a silly pick up line!” she responded with a smile. “Actually I grew up about thirty miles east of here.”

“Ah, so you know the local culture already,” Travis replied.

“You could say that.” Kara smiled at the reply. “We didn’t have much to do in town, so we’d come here and hang out at some of the local spots that locals knew about and kept from the college crowd. Made things a little more civilized.”

Travis raised his eyebrows, “Oh really? So there’s some sort of secret society here that we don’t know about?”

Kara smiled, “You could say that. It’s not really secret, perse, we just keep to our own mostly.”

“Interesting; sounds like you have some stories you could tell.” Travis pressed.

“I know a few,” Kara replied. “Some might even make your arm hair stand on end.”

“I love a good ghost story, as much as anyone.” Travis indicated.

“OK, I have a good one for you then, but not here. There’s a better spot that way,” she pointed through the trees. “There’s a clearing about a quarter mile in, if you don’t mind the walk.”

“Walk, no problem. I’ve been through these woods a couple of times, but never came across a clearing before.”
“You sorta have to know the right path to take,” she took his hand. “Come this way.”

They walked through the brush slowly. The moon shadowed the trees with enough light for them to see where they were going. As they headed further into the trees, the moon was shadowed by the leaves, and the clouds. Travis could barely see where they were going, but Kara seemed to walk with grace and confidence.

“It’s just around here.” She said.

They rounded a couple more large trees, and saw some heavy brush in front of them that looked impenetrable. Kara handed Travis her water, and parted the branches easily. She kept them open for him to duck through, and followed. The clearing was indeed small, but it was well lit by the full moon. It nearly shimmered in the light. There were several stones and logs in small groups through the clearing, making a nice space for someone to sit. It seemed like they were placed there intentionally.

Kara walked over to one of the stones and sat down. She patted the space next to her. Travis took his place.

“This is a great spot,” Travis noted. “How did you know this was here?”

“I told you, I grew up hanging out in this area. I know a lot of things you don’t.” Kara responded slyly. She gave Travis a mysterious look that intrigued him even more. He couldn’t help look deeper into her amber eyes. They also sparkled in the moonlight.

He leaned in and touched her cheek with his hand. She closed her eyes and leaned toward his hand, allowing him to cup her cheek. She opened her eyes, and smiled slightly. She leaned forward toward him, and could smell the musk of his aftershave as their lips touched briefly.

Travis felt himself gasp as he felt her lips on his. There was something different about this girl. He’d never experienced a feeling like this. It was almost euphoric. When they parted he opened his eyes and saw Kara’s eyes still closed. She had a slight smirk on her face.

“That was nice.” Travis responded.

“Mmm, yes it was.” Kara replied. She opened her eyes and looked deep into Travis’ blue eyes. He was mesmorized by the gold flecks in her eyes. They were magical. He leaned in and kissed her again. This time more deeply. He felt her hand on his chest, causing him to drop the beer he held in his left hand. He reached up and cupped her other cheek, bringing her closer. She was so warm and soft, he didn’t want to stop kissing her.

When they separated he kept his eyes closed for a moment longer, and when he opened them, Kara was already looking longingly at him. For a brief second it seemed that her pupil had taken over her eye, but the amber was there once again. Travis tilted his head and let out a slight sound from his throat.

“Something wrong?” Kara asked.

“No,” Travis replied, “Just that… I thought…”

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he responded. “The light is playing tricks on me, that’s all.”

“In what way?” she continued to quiz him.

“Well,” he started, “When I opened my eyes, your eyes seemed black. But it was only for a second. Then they went back to normal.” He rambled. “It’s just the light.”

“I understand.” She smiled at him, “The moonlight out here does funny things to you; especially when you’re enraptured in the essence of another person.”

Travis felt Kara hit it on the head. That was the feeling he couldn’t describe. He didn’t feel lustful, it was rapture.

“Now, I want to show you something.” Kara leaned back from Travis. Her hand steady on his chest. She unbuttoned the top three buttons of her shirt, exposing her collarbone, and the natural curve of her cleavage. Hanging between her soft breasts was a locket. She eased the locket from it’s warm hiding spot and removed it from her neck.

“Look at this.” She handed the locket to Travis who examined it delicately. It was etched with flowers that he didn’t recognize intertwined by vines and leaves. It was beautiful. The silver glowed in the light. Kara reached over to his hands where he held the locket.

“Open it, like this.” She moved his fingers to the clasp, where he could easily open the locket. Inside there were two photographs. One of Kara smiling sweetly, the other he recognized as himself. He wrinkled his forehead, and looked at Kara.

“How did you get a photo of me? We just met.” He asked insistently.

“Oh, I’ve known you for quite sometime, Travis Hayes.” She responded with a more sinister tone. Travis looked into her eyes again, and this time was certain the amber was gone. Kara’s eyes were jet black, and not because her pupils were dilated, but completely black, and void.

Travis dropped the locket, and stood, backing away from Kara. “What tha hell!!!” He nearly shouted.

“Now there’s no reason to get upset, Travis.” Kara responded with a softness in her voice, “You had to know I was going to find you.”

“Find me? What the hell are you talking about?” Travis was shaking now, and looking for an escape from the clearing.

“Oh, come on, don’t act so innocent. Because we all know you aren’t.”

At that moment several people appeared from the mist behind Kara, each of them familiar to Travis. He recognized people from old photographs -- his grandfather, uncle, great grandmother, and a cousin that he never met.

“I don’t understand?” He started to explain. “Why is my family here?”

Kara smiled sweetly, “Because they belong to me. I brought them along for the ride.”

Travis was confused. He didn’t understand what was going on. He was familiar with each of these members of his family, only through photographs, that were old and decaying. He knew each of them died at a fairly young age; the first born in their families, each old enough to start their own family. His cousin was the only one who hadn’t married and had children. She died suddenly when Travis was thirteen. No one talked about her.

“What’s going on?” Travis asked again.
“You really don’t know, do you?” Kara began. “Oh you poor thing. Your parents really should have taken some responsibility and explained what it means to be a first born in your family.”

Travis was more concerned, as Kara’s tone diminished from sweet to serious in that single sentence.

“Here’s the deal,” she started, “You see grannie over there? Her father had a huge gambling debt, and was about to lose everything. And back in the day everything included your life, especially when you owed a debt to my boss. He wasn’t the smartest man, nor the bravest. So to get out of this deal he made, my boss was willing to forgive his debt in exchange for some minor things.”

“What things?” Travis asked.

“Glad you asked,” Kara smiled as she walked around him, “you see numbers are very important to my boss. He’s a fan of the first born. You guys have a special meaning to him. A special power. So, for each of your family line he collects, he is stronger. When he is able to fully collect his share of your blood line, plus a couple of others, then he gets to walk the earth once again.”

Travis’ confusion and fear was evident on his face. First born, power, blood line; these were all things from horror movies, when someone was taking revenge on a family. What had he done?

“So, Travis, m’dear, you are the first born of this generation. Cousin over there was last generation, technically, you’re number five. Do you know what that means?”

Travis shook his head, unable to speak.

Kara walked slowly toward Travis, the chain and locket dangling between her fingers. “That means that we need one more. Do you know how long we’ve been waiting for this? I mean 50 years seems like a short time to someone as old as I am, but here on earth, when you have to live it day by day, it gets tedious. And when the next generation comes along, and I can gather the soul, it just makes me a little giddier each day.” Kara’s sense of sarcasm didn’t bide well with Travis.

Travis began stepping away from Kara with each step she took toward him. He still couldn’t find a way out. Without looking he turned to run and found himself face to face with Kara.

“Now, now, you don’t think you can actually outrun me do you?” She mocked him. Travis took a step back, but Kara had her arms over his head, and the chain around his neck too quickly. Once in place, Travis couldn’t move. He heard words coming from Kara that he didn’t recognize as any language he’d ever heard. Suddenly he felt a pain in his chest. The locket seemed to be burning through his shirt and welding to his skin. He tried to free his arms to tear the locket from his body but it was no use, he was frozen.

A few more words were audible to Travis, until the pain became too much to bear. He let out a scream, but the sound didn’t release from his vocal chords. His eyes grew wide as he began to feel smaller until he was no more. With a flash of light the locket was on the ground where Travis once stood. His essence joined the rest of his family, the fifth in the line of succession.

Kara smiled to herself, and took the locket into her hands. She looked at the photos inside, and saw the picture of Travis fading and being replaced with the face of another first born in the family. Kara closed the locket and placed it around her neck.

“One down; one to go.” She quipped as she walked into the mist of the clearing. “I hope the others are as far along.” With that she vanished.