Chapter One: The Beginning

-Fade In-

Hanna Vulton stood atop the small apartment balcony, a cigarette between her parted, cold lips. Just one more breath, she thought, stepping forward. She inhaled sharply, dropped the cigarette, and stepped off the edge. Exhaling, then falling. Hitting the ground, then darkness. Peace.

-Fade Out-

“Somebody call an ambulance!” I heard someone shout. I wanted to tell them no! I wanted to be left to die, but my throat was unable to utter a sound. Hell, I don't even think I was breathing. I didn't even know if I could (or wanted to) open my eyes, for fear that I'd see something worth living for. Someone was approaching me.

“Oh my lord, that damned ambulance had better hurry,” the mystery voice said. The nerves in my left hand detected that someone was holding it. I lay there, perfectly still, waiting for the afterlife like a good little girl.

Still, I desperately wanted to open my eyes. Curiosity killed the cat, I told myself. But, then again, I was trying to kill myself anyways. So, I opened my eyes, blinked a few times, and looked.

I saw the beautiful face of a boy, no, a man. He had worried, hazel eyes and chin-length ebony hair that hung untidily in his round (but not fat) face. His short, not quite crooked teeth seemed to gleam in the New Jersey streetlights.

I tried to sit up, but I was met and beaten by a dizzy wave of panic where I suppose I lost consciousness again. As I felt the welcoming darkness wave over me, I heard my mystery person whisper to me.

“Shhhhhhhhhh, hang on. You'll be okay. Just hang on,” he said.

Yea right, I thought. Hang on to what?

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

I officially `awoke' from my unconscious state to the steady beating of a monitor. A breathing monitor.

Shit… Am I still alive?