" Liv, it's getting kinda dark..."
Lightning flashed.
"God Brian, live a little"
Sudden wind screamed through the barren trees.
" Livvy, it's not safe out here..."
Thunder shook the ground.
" Life is never safe, Brian."
Rain came from nowhere, stealthily sliding daggers under their skin.
"Olivia, we need to go!"
Lightning flashed once again.
" Shhhhhhhhhh... close your eyes"
Thunder rippled through the air, sending shivers up his spine.
" Olivia, trust me, we have to get out of here, I don't feel like dying tonight"
She closed her eyes.
" Shhhhhhhhhhh... close your eyes"
He tried to grab her hand but she pulled away.
" What are you, insane? These trees are gonna fall any second!"
" Brian, chilax. It's ok, trust me. The trees won't fall, I don't believe in falling trees, only falling stars."
She twirled in a slow circle.
" We're leaving, and we're leaving now" he insisted
Lightning crackled audibly, followed by the echo of thunder.
" Are you kidding? It's just getting good. I'm not leaving, it's gorgeous out here!"
He grabbed her shoulders.
" Open your eyes Liv, it's freaking nasty out, and if we don't get outta here something bad's going to happen, I can feel it."
She laughed.
He clenched his fists in aggravation as the sky grew bright with sudden illumination and a deafening CRACK filled the air.
Her eyes flew open in time to see the most terrifying sight she'd ever seen in her life. 'The tree was on fire.... the tree was slowly falling, falling, falling....
CRASH
His terrified screams filled the air.
She sobbed and closed her eyes again.
" NO!!!!!! NO! NO! NO! I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT, GO AWAY!"
But the tree continued to burn, sending sparks out to lick at her jeans. She opened her eyes.
" BRIAN!!!!!!!!!!!" she ran towards the tree fire, trying desperately to locate him... suddenly her heart stopped. A few feet from the burning fire lie his body. She was at his side in a moment, running her fingers through his wet hair, wiping the blood from his face with her shirt and her tears, lowering her head to his chest to listen for his heartbeat. Only a flutter in the dark. Crazed, she summoned all of her strength and lifted him from the ground. Running through the trees, it was all she could do to make it even one more step. Branches ripped her jeans to ribbons and tore jagged scrapes across her face, but she kept running until she reached her house. She collapsed on the porch the moment her foot touched the first step. Sobs shook her body as she realized it was her fault that he was almost dead. Minutes later, her mother heard her daughter's sobs and rushed out to the porch. She gasped at the sight that she beheld... there was her Olivia, sobbing over the mangled body of a man.... sobbing over Brian. Her motherly instincts kicked in and she whisked them both inside, sentencing her daughter to a warm bath, and pulling herself together enough to call Brian's family.

" Elizabeth Shaffer speaking..."
" This is Rachel Parliam, Olivia's mother, you need to come over right now, Brian's hurt" she tried to keep the dread from seeping into her voice.
" What happened? Is Brian ok? What did you do to my baby?" Brian's mother wailed.
" Please… just come."
Rachel hung up before she could hear more wailing. A sob rose in her throat as she examined the body of her daughter's boyfriend. She rushed to the kitchen, grabbed a cold cloth, and began wiping the dried blood from his face. Deep gashes marred his forehead and arms... he was barely alive. Rachel felt tears gather in the corners of her eyes, Brian couldn't die. Not now. Especially not now. Olivia had no one other than him, and had just found out that she had cancer. Olivia had been planning to tell Brian later that night at dinner. Rachel worked with renewed strength, pushing the cloth hard against his deepest head wound, until Olivia ran into the room, sobbing and shaking as she watched her mother take care of Brian.
" Mom.. it's all my fault." she managed, collapsing at Rachel's feet.
" Shhh... no it's not Livvy... honey just take a bath and don't worry about Brian"
She sobbed louder, ignoring her mother’s requests. " I wouldn't come inside and he wouldn't go without me, he warned me, he knew something was going to happen and I didn't believe him, and now he's dead."
Rachel turned her gaze to her daughter, Olivia looked so pitiful sprawled at her mother's feet that Rachel laid the cloth down for a moment and stooped down to her daughter’s level. " Listen to me, he's not dead. It's going to be okay... oh honey... shhhhhh, don't cry. C'mon, help me clean him up Liv." she whispered, helping Olivia to her feet and gently pushing the cloth into her hands.
Without warning the door flew open and Elizabeth Shaffer barreled into the living room with a pitiful wail." BBBBBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNN!" she screamed, throwing herself on the body of her nearly dead son. Olivia stared at the horrible sight as Rachel gently extricated Elizabeth from Brian and swore under breath.

" God, why didn't I call 911?" Rachel yelled, running for the phone and dialing rapidly.
" Hello, what do you need?"
" My daughter's boyfriend is dying, I need someone NOW! Please, please, please!"
" Okay, calm down, what's your name."
" It doesn't freaking matter!!! We live on 437 Elm Circle Avenue and we need you now!"
" Ma'am, calm down"
" WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM? HE'S DYING!!!"
" I understand, now can you tell me what happened? Someone is on their way right now"
" No, I'm hanging up now. Thanks for your help." Livid, Rachel slammed the phone down onto the cradle and rushed back to the living room, where Elizabeth had pinned Olivia against the wall and was pushing a finger in her face, screaming " YOU STUPID IDIOT!!! YOU KILLED MY SON, MY ONLY CHILD!!!!!!! I WILL KILL YOU!!!"
Rachel felt a headache coming as she pulled Elizabeth off of Olivia, who was shocked into a silent stupor as tears fell freely down her face and dropped silently to the polished floor.
After that, sobs filled the house until a flurry of lights shined through the window and an army of people stormed into the house with a gurney. Numbly, Rachel helped them lift Brian onto the gurney and answered as many of their questions as she could. When she tried to explain that her daughter was in some sort of shock and couldn't explain what had happened, they ushered Rachel, Olivia, and Elizabeth into the ambulance with Brian and sped towards the hospital.

***
An hour later, he stopped breathing. Just like that. The hospital workers tried their hardest, but it was not enough. His last words were to Olivia: “I love you. Live for me.” He whispered, squeezing her hand softly and smiling almost unperceivablely as he took his last breath and fell forever-silent. Olivia had no tears left to cry as she kissed his peaceful brow and smoothed the hair from his face. Sullenly, she walked back to the waiting room where her mother and Elizabeth were sleeping. “Dead.” she muttered, finding that she had more tears than she thought as they slid down her face. Rachel and Elizabeth woke instantly at the mention of the word. Elizabeth screamed bloody murder and scurried back to her dead son as Rachel silently held her daughter, rocking back and forth, while they both cried, unsure what to do next.

They didn’t wake up until the next morning, but by then Elizabeth had already taken the body of her son and left, no one knew where, she simply disappeared. Olivia was devastated. In the past twenty-four hours, she had not only learned that she had cancer but also lost the person she loved more than she loved her own mother.
When Rachel and Olivia returned home later that day, Olivia locked herself in her room and cried for hours until every breath was an effort and she didn’t think she would ever smile again. In the quiet of her heart, she vowed never to listen to rain on the roof again, she vowed never to admire the lightning’s beauty or smile as thunder rumbled the ground…those things were as painful to her as death. Olivia knew that it was because of her love for thunderstorms that he was dead. Her only friend in the whole world was gone… dead… stolen… never coming back, but in her mind she couldn’t process it. In her mind, he was still alive. She could almost feel his soft fingers laced through hers, almost taste his kiss- chlorine and peppermint. He had been a swimmer… and peppermint was his favorite candy in the world.
Olivia sank to the floor and began searching under her bed for the box he had given her the day he died “For you birthday… have it now, I’ve been feeling paranoid. Just don’t open it till your birthday.” His words echoed in her head- it was her birthday today. Numbly, she tore the bright blue wrapping paper from the present until a colorful shoebox sat in front of her. The letters used to spell the words “Letters Unread” had obviously been cut out of a magazine and stuck on the front of the box. Trembling, Olivia carefully removed the top and took out the first sheet of paper. It was a letter.
Liv,
Hey, well tomorrow is your b-day, girl! Sixteen… wow, somehow you seem even more beautiful every time I see you. You’re on my mind a lot these days, and sometimes it takes me by surprise. Not because I don’t want to think about you, but because these thoughts come out of the blue. Lying in bed, I imagine you soaring with eagles,; sitting in first period geometry I swear I hear your voice telling me that you love me… it means something, Livvy. We will always be together, no matter what happens… and nothing can ever change that.
Have you ever heard of the red thread? It’s a Chinese thing I heard about… the red thread is how we are connected to each other, kind of like fate, But me and you have more than a red thread connecting us, Liv, we have love. I love you, I have loved you all along, and I will never stop loving you. Even in death, I’m yours.
Happy birthday, my angel.
Brian.
She stared at the letter in front of her, even in death I’m yours. Why? Why did he have to die? And why did his horrible mother refuse Olivia even the simple honor of attending his funeral? How could she do this to her son’s girlfriend? What did Olivia ever do to her? Nothing. But life isn’t fair, is it. And so, once again, Olivia cried herself to sleep.
Meanwhile, Rachel was up all night on the phone with the realtor. They were moving.

ME
Elizabeth stared into the blank eyes of her son. “ I am you’re mother!” she chirped, smiling demonically. Her son did not respond. " BRIAN! I am your mother , and I command you to speak to me!" He did not move. " I refuse to believe that you are dead, so stop playing. Wake up!!!!!!!" she shook him by the shoulders, but he was simply a limp body with nothing to offer his grieving mother. " You will pay for this pretending Brian, I will not let you do this to me... you are all I have, they said you were invincible!!!!! Someone will die for this and it wil not be you, it will be her." Elizabeth let her son fall to the bed and hen stormed out of the room to find the phone. She would have her revenge. Hastily she punched in the numbers she knew by heart " 633-651-3351" ringing filled her ears for a moment, then a familiar voice spoke loudly from the receiver.
" Thank you for calling, how can we help you?" the voice sounded tired and beaten.
" Idiot, this is Shaffer- WHY IS HE DEAD???" she screamed
Everything was silent for a moment, then Elizabeth heard a sigh.
" Him too?" the voice asked, nonchalantly
" WHAT THE HECK DO YOU MEAN 'HIM TOO?'?" she questioned, voice rising louder and louder.
" God Liz, cool it. You're not the only one with problems here! They're all dropping like flies, you think it's not hell for us to try explain?
Elizabeth was now shaking with rage " YOU PROMISED HE WOULD NOT DIE UNTIL I DIED, YOU SWORE TO MY FACE!"
" Listen to me, no one know's what's happening, we got an army of scientists working on this one, but until they figure it out there's nothing we can freaking do for you!"
She glanced over her shoulders and lowered her voice to a whisper " Five thousand"
The voice went silent for a moment " Ten."
" Eight"
"Done. 303 E Quarry Drive, can't miss it. Be here by tommorow morning with the dough or you can forget it"
The voice hung up and Elizabeth reluctantly hit the end call button on her phone. Reassured that it would be fine once again, she hurried back to her son.


mmkay ppl, what do you think should happen next?? I'm stuck, so any ideas are welcome :)
love.love.love
Shaeya