1 Chapter 1: Turbulence

The day was sunny, with fluffy white clouds dotting the sky, at JFK international airport. Bella sat stiffly in the seats scattered around Gate 15. The indistinct chatter of the other passengers waiting filled the background.

Bella was a pretty and petite girl, with dark blonde hair and fiercely blue eyes. Her slender figure meant that more often than not she was mistaken for younger than her 19 years of age. Finally, after the plane had taxied in, a female voice was heard on the intercom, "Flight 263 to Porto Velho will now begin boarding".

Hearing the announcement, Bella reached down and grabbed her bag, slinging it over her shoulder and making her way to the end of the line. She pulled out her phone one last time looking down at the screen.

"Please have your boarding passes ready", the kind voice of an airport personnel chimed over the crowd.

With her attention back down on her phone, Bella began typing a message to her Uncle Marco. She admitted to him her nervousness over the flight, but he reassured her via text that everything would be fine. She took the phone, and placed in her bag, attention turning to the attendant waiting for her pass. She looked at her for a long moment before handing the woman the printed pass. Smiling the attendant wished Bella a nice flight as she was ushered through the bridge to the plane.

Upon entering the plane she was almost overwhelmed by the crowd of faces already seated and waiting take off. Bella mad her way nearly to the back of the plane and took her seat, assigned on the aisle. While awaiting for the remaining passengers to board, she tried to hold in her anxiety as several people bumped her. A man with overwhelming cologne leaned into her as he attempted to stuff his too-large bag into the overhead bin. Bella leaned away as much as she could politely and waited for him to finish.

After what seemed like an eternity, everyone was seated, buckled safely into their seats, and listening to the flight attendants safety announcement. Moments later the Captains voice filled the cabin with a calm declaration of safety and a smooth flight. Before long the plan was flying into the bright blue yonder.

Though Bella had relatively bad flight anxiety, even she had to admit that 20 hours into the flight, while long, had been exceptionally calm. A dinging sound chimed though the cabin, causing Bella to look up at the illuminated "buckle seatbelt" sign. Looking across the aisle she saw an older woman raise the shade in her window, revealing the inky black clouds and blinding flashes of lightning. Bella felt her stomach jump into her throat as fear began to creep into her subconscious. Moments later the cabin lights flickered on and off several times, as extra bright light flashed from the outside. Bella's hair began to stand on end for a second before darkness engulfed all the interior lights. The cabin was only illuminated by the flashes of wild lightning.

Bella felt weightless, held down only by the fastened belt circling her waist. Her mind whirled trying to make sense of what was happening, stopping when the reality hit her like a ton of bricks. The plane was crashing. A long and persistent cry escaped her lips. She didn't want to die...couldn't die, not before she could truly live. As Bella screamed a warm, tingling light began to fill the dark cabin until it was bright as the sun, and Bella plummeted strapped to her plane chair, no aircraft in sight.

"This is it, this is how you die", Bella thought about her strong desire to live.

Then everything went dark....