Before Dawn

“Kate!” Dinah cried, throwing her arms around her friend. “What’s wrong!”

Kate tried to speak through her tears but they were overwhelming her. All three girls knew how difficult her home life was – they’d listened to her and helped her through three years of anguish already – and felt nothing but concern for their friend.

“Mom said,” Kate began, sniffing hard, “she said that I can’t go to college. That I have to work to help pay for Madison’s tuition.”

Amy’s mouth dropped open. Dinah shot Kate a pained expression. Nicole squeezed her arm.

“She can’t do that!” Amy cried.

“That’s so unfair,” Nicole said, frowning hard. “You can always stay with my family if you need to get out from under her roof.”

“Or mine,” Dinah added. “My mom loves you. You know that.”

“Thanks,” Kate grumbled. “But I don’t know what I’ll do if I can’t get to college. That’s like my escape plan, you know?”

The girls nodded. They’d had many a conversation about college, even going as far as to discuss attending the same one so they wouldn’t have to be split up.

“I just don’t know what to do,” Kate added, succumbing once again to her tears.

“I suppose Madison didn’t stick up for you,” Amy said. She hated Madison for not supporting Kate and was always trying to tell Kate not to give her sister so much slack. As far as Amy was concerned, Madison should call their mom out for treating Kate so badly, rather than innocently lapping up her compliments and attention.

“No,” Kate replied, glumly.

“Hey,” Nicole said, wrapping an arm around her friend. “It’s going to be okay. You’ve got us, we’ll watch your back. Something will happen to turn it all around. I promise.”

Kate just didn’t know how she could be so sure. Nicole was always going on about things changing and working out eventually, but the only way things seemed to change for Kate was for the worst. Her dad’s drinking got worse, her mom’s hold over her life got stronger, Madison became more and more distant as her status as golden child became more and more elevated. Kate’s life seemed to be following a downward trajectory, and losing the possibility of going to college was about the last straw.

Nicole was still babbling on. “There’s the prom coming up,” she was saying. “Who knows what might happen there.”

“Oh, please,” Kate replied. “Boys are about the last thing on my mind at the moment.”

“Oh really?” Amy said with a raised eyebrow. “Because I thought I saw a certain Tony Martin giving a certain Kate Roswell a hug in the parking lot.”

Despite her sadness, the thought did lift Kate a little. She felt a smile tug at her lips. “Yeah. He, um, he said my eyes looked nice with the mascara.”

“Oh my God!” Dinah shouted. “He’s totally into you!”

Kate laughed and shook her head. “I don’t know about that. He’s nice to everyone.”

“Yeah, nice,” Amy said, “not flirty!”

Nicole was looking triumphant. “Didn’t I tell you things would be on the up again soon?”

Kate waved her hands, trying to temper her friends’ excitement.

“I really don’t think it’s like that,” she said.

“Maybe he’s going to ask you to the prom,” Dinah squealed.

The thought made Kate’s stomach flutter with excitement. Was there a chance he might ask her? Just then she remembered her mascara and how she’d been crying.

“Oh God, am I all streaky?” she asked, panicked.

“No, girl,” Dinah replied. “You’re looking good. But I’m going to glam you up at lunch time, as a birthday treat!”

Dinah loved makeup. Because of her big family she didn’t get to buy all the clothes and shoes she wanted to keep up with trends so she was forever modifying her clothes herself and creating makeup. She’d become incredibly creative. She always encouraged the others to experiment with their looks more. Nicole was the only other one who went all out with her appearance. Amy tried to stay neutral so as not to freak her family out, though she had a penchant for miniskirts and knee-high boots whenever she got the chance.

Kate was the only one who’d never really fully explored her identity through fashion. She felt like most choices she made were specifically to irritate her mom. Ever since she gave up wearing her mom’s silky, frilly, pastel-colored dresses and going to pageant shows, she’d become a tomboy. But she didn’t know if she was truly a tomboy or whether she just enjoyed knowing it pissed off her mom when she dressed like one.

Kate smiled. If there was any chance Tony might be thinking of asking her to the prom, she may as well give herself every chance in the world. She already felt a million times better than she did during her angry cycle ride this morning. She knew her friends would be there for her.

“And look, if Tony doesn’t ask me to the prom, it won’t be a big deal,” Kate added. “We can always go with each other.”

“I’m so glad you said that,” Amy replied. “I don’t think my parents will let me get in a car with a boy!”

They all laughed. It felt good to know they had each other’s backs, that they didn’t need to rely on guys to have a good time at the prom.

The bell rang and the girls stood and went in their separate directions. Amy and Kate both had math so they walked arm in arm along the corridors.

Kate suddenly felt Amy squeeze her hand. She looked up and realized Madison was hanging around the lockers with her cheerleader friends. She had her back to Kate and Amy, not knowing they were behind her, and was recounting some story that was making the girls roar with laughter.

“And then Mom was like, ‘Young lady, you’re going to become a cleaner like me so that Madison can go to college.’ Can you believe it? I was like, ‘Oh my God, she’s like, turning my sister into a slave!’ And this is all happening on her birthday! Like, I got a car for my seventeenth. She gets, like, nothing.”

She roared with laughter, as did the other girls with her. Kate’s stomach seemed to fall to her feet. How could Madison be laughing about her like that? She knew Madison didn’t exactly have her back at home, but she didn’t realize she’d gossip about her misfortune to her friends.

Amy clung to Kate’s arm, trying to support her, trying to keep her grounded. She helped steer Kate past Madison and the gang of mean girls. As Kate passed, she knew Madison would recognize her, that she’d realize she’d overheard her.

She looked back over her shoulder at her sister. They locked eyes and Madison was wearing a slightly shocked expression. But other than that, she gave no hint of acknowledgment that she’d trampled over Kate’s feelings. Then she broke the gaze, turning her full attention to her friends.

Kate trudged to class, feeling lower than ever before.

CHAPTER THREE

Kate made it through her first two classes, though her mood didn’t improve. She was relieved when the bell rang and it was lunchtime and she could be reunited with her friends.

Kate stood in line with her friends in the crowded cafeteria and tried not to look too closely at the selection of food. It was pretty dire. Nicole, as a vegetarian, had the hardest time finding stuff she could eat. Today she was having potato waffles and beans, while Dinah and Amy were faring slightly better with chicken tikka masala and rice. Kate thought the curry looked a bit too fatty but Dinah, slightly bigger than average, didn’t care because she was tall and well proportioned. Amy was stick thin and seemed to be able to eat anything she wanted without putting on weight. Nicole seemed to stay trim from her fussiness alone.

In the end, Kate opted for a salad. Though she knew her mom’s taunts about her weight were unfounded, she still couldn’t help but feel like maybe, if she did just lose those extra couple of pounds, her mom wouldn’t be as harsh with her.

“Girl,” Dinah said when she saw her plate, “don’t tell me that’s all you’re eating. Dang, it’s your birthday! Have a dessert at least!”

Kate lowered down in her seat.

“Actually, Tony said if he saw me at lunch he’d get me a cupcake,” she said.

The other three girls all grinned and gave each other looks. Kate felt a little silly to have mentioned it.

“Oh my God,” Nicole suddenly said.

Everyone stopped giggling and looked round to see what she was looking at.

A gorgeous boy had just wandered into the cafeteria.

“Oh,” Kate said, turning back. “That’s Elijah. He’s a new senior, started about a month back. I’ve heard Madison talking about him.”

“That heavenly man’s been walking around the school for a whole month and this is the first I’ve ever seen of him?” Nicole said without a slight bitter tone to her voice. She seemed transfixed by him, like she couldn’t tear her eyes away.

Dinah seemed to like the look of him, too.

“Oh hell yes. He’s got that whole Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic thing going on.”

“But brooding,” Nicole murmured. “Dark and brooding.”

Kate took another look. Elijah was strikingly attractive. But from what she’d heard Madison telling her mom, Elijah was a bit of a loner. He never seemed to have anyone to hang around with. Madison had tried to get him to join her gang when he started a month earlier but he’d been reluctant, something Madison took as a slight. She’d since decided he was a bit of a freak and not worthy of her attention.

He did seem pretty elusive. In fact, this was probably the first time Kate had ever seen him in the cafeteria. San Marcos was a big school but someone like Elijah wasn’t the type to get lost in a crowd. She wondered why she hadn’t seen him more often.

“You know what we were saying about prom?” Nicole said. “I take it back. I’d ditch you three in a heartbeat if it meant I got to go with him!”

Everyone began to laugh. Except for Kate, that is. She’d been looking at Elijah, studying the way he moved through the crowds of people. He was so light on his feet it almost looked like he was floating. He had a graceful way of moving, like each step was part of a dance routine. It was mesmerizing.

Just then, he turned his head as though sensing someone looking at him. Their eyes met across the busy cafeteria. In that moment, Kate felt a sensation wash through her like nothing she’d felt before. It was like a bolt of electricity striking her, like every nerve ending in her body had been set on fire.

A group of younger kids walked past Kate’s table, blocking her view.

By the time they’d passed, Elijah was gone.

She craned her head, trying to see him exiting through the door he’d been headed toward, but she couldn’t see him at all. He’d disappeared.

“Guys,” Kate said to her laughing friends, “did you just see that?”

They all looked at her, confused.

“See what?”

“Elijah. He was there one minute, and then he completely disappeared.”

She kept looking at the spot where he’d been a moment before. There was no way he could have left the cafeteria that quickly.

“Elijah,” Nicole laughed, clutching her heart theatrically. Then she looked at Kate with mock aggression. “I will fight you for him, you know. Fists, hair pulling, nail scratching, the whole shebang.”

The girls started laughing again, but Kate didn’t join in. Her gaze was transfixed on the spot where Elijah had once stood. Her mind was reeling.

What had she just witnessed?

CHAPTER FOUR

Kate walked with the other girls back down the crowded halls, lost in her own world. Her mind was still reeling. The other girls didn’t seem to understand why she was so shaken, and every time she insisted that Elijah had literally disappeared in front of her face they found some way to explain it away. She’d gotten tired of trying to make them understand and had ended up leaving lunch in a huff.

By the time the school day was over, Kate’s stomach was groaning. All she’d eaten was a plain yogurt and a salad, and a couple of chocolates from the box Dinah had given her. Along with her emotional morning, the angry, fast cycle ride here, and the weirdness of Elijah disappearing into thin air, it was converging to make her feel weak and lightheaded.

She unlocked her bike and began her cycle ride home, making sure she took it easy; she didn’t want to fall. Her bag, filled with textbooks and gifts from her friends, was heavy, making the ride even more exhausting.

The sun wasn’t quite as painfully hot at three p.m. and there was a cool breeze coming up off the ocean. In the distance, Kate could see the mountains of Rattlesnake Canyon Park. It was one of her favorite places to go. She loved nature, the quiet, the beauty of it. She liked to go up there on weekends and think about life. It always reminded her that the world was vast and that her home life was just one tiny slither of experiences the earth had to offer.

Would she ever get to see the world though? Without college, how would she ever get to live the life she wanted? She couldn’t bear the thought of being stuck in California for another year, cleaning rich people’s houses like her mom did, stuck to her side like a shadow. It wasn’t fair! Why should she have to earn money for Madison’s tuition? Madison was nowhere near as studious as Kate; in fact, she probably only wanted to go to college to meet guys.

Kate decided then that she’d have to find a way to keep back some of her earnings so she could save up for a plane ticket to the East Coast and then just disappear one day. It seemed like a dramatic solution but what other choice did she have?

Kate was so lost in her thoughts she hadn’t noticed the group of people ahead of her before she was almost upon them. They were senior guys from her school and they were milling all over the sidewalk and road, shouting and shoving in a jumble. Kate was about to steer around them when she realized that there was someone between them. A boy was being battered around like a beach ball, jostled back and forth, from one guy to another. She noticed the guy’s dark hair and delicate features. It was Elijah.

“Hey!” Kate shouted, slamming on her brakes beside the group. “Leave him alone!”

One of the guys turned to her, scowling. “Run along, little girl,” he said, cruelly. “I don’t think your boyfriend wants rescuing from a girl.”

Just then, Kate got a proper look at Elijah. He was downcast. There was a tear in the shoulder of his T-shirt. But as the boys ignored Kate and went back to pushing him back and forth, he didn’t even stick up for himself.

“Elijah!” she shouted. “Fight back!”

He looked at her then, as though seeing her for the first time, but continued to walk. She couldn’t understand.

But Kate wasn’t about to leave Elijah to get his ass kicked because of some stupid masculine belief that girls couldn’t stick up for guys. She had a bike, which meant she was faster, and she could use it as a battering ram.

She hitched her backpack off, heavy and lumpy with textbooks. She swung it and charged at the gang of guys, smacking one of them across the back with it.

“Hey!” he shouted, stumbling forward. “Get off, you lunatic.”

He didn’t seem too ruffled by Kate, though she hoped he was just trying to save face in front of his friends.

Maybe it was dumb taking on a group of senior boys with nothing but her bag and bike as weapons, but Kate had been overtaken by some kind of force, like a protective goose looking after her nest. She was standing up against Elijah’s bullies in the way she wished Madison would stand up for her against their bully of a mom.

She doubled back on herself, cycling at them as fast as she could go, making them scatter all over the place.

“Who is that freak?” one of the guys was saying to another as he dodged out of the way.

“Isn’t she Madison’s sister or something?” another replied, laughing at the sight of Kate wielding her backpack.

“Ew, gross,” the first said. “But Madison’s so hot. She must be adopted, right?”

Fueled by their rude comments, Kate charged again. She smacked another guy with her backpack, so hard this time he staggered into another. They both fell to the ground in a heap.

Trying to save face, the guys began dispersing, like a bunch of kids leaving their ice cream to an irritating, persistent wasp. They’d clearly realized that Kate would make their attack on Elijah more hassle than it was worth.

Kate was panting hard from the exertion and anxiety, though there was a little bit of triumphant adrenaline coursing through her as well. She glared at the boys as they left, sauntering down the road, then turned back to where Elijah had been.

But Elijah had gone.

“Hey!” Kate shouted aloud. The least the jerk could have done was stick around to say thank you.

She craned her head around, trying to see where he’d gone. But the more she looked, the more it became apparent to her that there was no way Elijah had had the time to disappear from her sight. There were no houses or shops along this part of the road for him to go into, just a rocky mountainous patch on one side and a steep drop down to the roofs of the houses on the street below on the other. Where had he gone?

She looked around, squinting against the bright sunlight, but he was nowhere to be seen. Then she caught sight of a figure right down at the bottom of the hill, walking along in that graceful, precise way she recognized to be Elijah’s. She had no idea how he’d gotten so far in such a short space of time. She wanted to put it down to the adrenaline messing with her perception, but an uneasy feeling was starting to overcome her. It was just like in the cafeteria. Elijah, she was certain, could move across distances faster than possible.

Kate wasn’t sure what compelled her to chase after him. Maybe it was that whole being seventeen and not wanting to put up with so much crap from people, but she felt at the very least she deserved some gratitude from him for putting her neck on the line. She’d squashed the box of chocolates from Dinah while bashing the boys. They were seeping gooey pink sugar filling all over the inside of her bag. And her copy of Romeo and Juliet had a huge crease across the cover now.

She began pedaling in the direction of Elijah. It was a long road and at points it became quite steep. All Kate had to do was lean forward and let gravity propel her down the hill. She was usually a slow, careful cyclist, not much of a thrill seeker, and it felt good to feel the wind racing through her hair as she careened down the hill.

“Hey!” she shouted when she thought Elijah might be in earshot.

He turned and gave her a puzzled expression. Once again, the moment their eyes locked, a strange sensation swept through Kate. There was an intensity in Elijah’s eyes, a haunted sort of expression behind them. If the eyes were indeed the window to the soul, Elijah’s soul seemed to be old before its time.

Dazed by the sensations coursing through her body, Kate squeezed the brakes on her handlebars. But she was going way faster than she normally would, her bike was old, the brakes were a little worn, and they didn’t engage as quickly as she would have liked. She was practically flying, approaching the end of the road at a crazy speed. At the bottom, she realized with dread, was the highway.

Kate’s heart began hammering as she realized there was no way she would be able to stop in time. She was heading right for the road.

Time seemed to slow to a painful pace as she raced to the inevitable, unstoppable conclusion that she was about to die. Her bike passed the stop sign, her useless brakes screeching and making the smell of burned rubber permeate all around her. Then she flew right over the white markings in the road – and right into oncoming traffic.

Kate caught sight of an RV heading right for her. She saw the eyes of the startled driver – and then she felt the impact.

Kate’s body slammed against the RV. She didn’t feel any pain at all but she knew from the deafening crunch noise that she’d broken something. Possibly everything.

The car’s horn began to blare as she bounced off the windshield, rolling up then back down again, all the way. Her bike was flying up into the air, then falling. She rolled off the front of the RV and hit the ground with a crash, head first.

Black stars danced across her vision. Her bike landed beside her, breaking into pieces on impact with the hard asphalt. Kate became aware of the sensation of numbness, of the metallic smell of blood.

But the pain didn’t come. She knew it was bad. Bad that she wasn’t moving. Bad that she wasn’t feeling anything.

Kate’s head fell to the side and her gaze found the glittering ocean in the distance. As though at the end of a long tunnel, Kate could hear the sound of cars braking, of car doors slamming and people crying out. She could smell gasoline and rubber and metal, and something burning.

Then, through all the chaos, she saw Elijah’s face appear before her and felt herself being scooped up into his arms. He was saying something, but she couldn’t make sense of the words. His expression was intense, panicked.

And just before her vision went black, she thought she saw fangs protrude from his mouth. She couldn’t move at all, couldn’t even scream. But there came the sensation of something sharp, hot, and wet on her neck, she was sure of it.

Then the world disappeared.

CHAPTER FIVE

The first thing Kate became aware of was an electronic beeping sound. She hadn’t spent much time thinking about dying, but she was pretty sure it sounded like this. It was soon joined by another noise; a squeaking. And then she became acutely aware of the sensation of moving forward.

Wheels, she thought. I’m on a gurney.

Then came a strange, overly clean smell, like bleach and detergent.

I’m in a hospital, she thought.

So not dead then, she realized. At least not yet.

Kate felt something in her throat and something else digging into her arm. Not painful but irritating. She tried to raise a hand but nothing happened. She could hear strange noises coming from above her, like people talking through water. As the seconds passed the distortions became less pronounced, and she began to pick out voices and words.

“It’s a miracle,” someone said. It was a voice she didn’t recognize.

“I’ve never seen anyone come back with these kinds of injuries,” another voice said.

“We’ll see if we can get consent from the parents to test her,” the first said again. “Because she was flat-lining when they picked her up, then all of a sudden she was breathing again. They hadn’t even had time to defibrillate her.”

Kate wondered how long it had been since the RV had hit her. Had she just gotten to the hospital or had she spent years in a coma? The latter thought made her start to panic. What if she’d been knocked unconscious on her seventeenth birthday and only woken up again on her thirtieth birthday? Or fortieth? Or eightieth!

She began getting increasingly agitated at the thought of coming face to face with Amy, Dinah, and Nicole, all married with children. She knew she was lucky to be alive, but the thought that everyone had moved on without her was terrifying.

Somehow, as though fueled by her intense emotions, she managed to get her eyelids to open.

“She’s waking up,” someone said.

“That’s not possible. She’s in an induced coma.”

“I’m telling you!” the first said again, more insistently. “She just opened her goddamn eyes.”

Kate could tell by the tones of their voices that something wasn’t right. The speed with which she’d been hit, the angle with which she hit the ground, the way her head had collided with the asphalt – she absolutely one hundred percent should have been dead.

Hearing their voices, knowing that she had somehow defied all logic to be still be alive, made her start to panic even more. She started blinking and began to be able to focus on her surroundings. White ceiling tiles were flashing above her and on either side were doctors and paramedics, all looking confused.

She tried to ask what was happening to her but she couldn’t move her tongue properly. There was something in her mouth.

She reached out with a hand, trying to grab one of the doctors. As she moved, she noticed the line coming from her wrist. It was some kind of needle, a drip or IV. The sight made her feel queasy – she’d never liked needles. There was dried blood on her arm.

Kate realized then that it was very soon after the accident. There’d be no blood on her otherwise, and no paramedics. They wouldn’t be rushing her down a corridor like this. If she’d been in a coma for years and years she’d be lying in some ward somewhere, completely forgotten by everyone, probably covered in dust and cobwebs.