1 Lost

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CHAPTER 1

~2003 February~

The heavy wind rushed by, carrying with it a strange noise that was accompanied by the 'Vroom!' Sound coming from the Ford Mustang SVT cobra as it wound down the empty street.

Seated in the car was a blonde-haired man in the driver's seat with his wife, and their young daughter in the passenger's seat.

He had a somewhat worried yet determined expression on his visage as he kept his eyes glued on the road, his fingers curling tightly against the steering wheel.

A soft sigh escaped his wife's lips as her warm gaze washed over his features. Her smile was warm, but he knew she was doing her best amidst it all. That alone made him feel downhearted.

He did not want any of this. He wished she would relax for once and let him take the family's weight and problems as it is his responsibility to deal with.

Occupied by his thoughts, he did not notice when her fingers got close to his hand and moved slowly to cover his fingers on the steering as she pressed reassuringly, easing the tension that rose in him as his tight grip on the steering wheel loosened.

"I am sorry, Regan." He heard her say, "I know there isn't much…" She took a pause, finding it difficult to continue speaking when her voice hooked at her throat, showing her unwillingness to continue without her emotions spilling.

But to her surprise, she felt his hand slip from underneath hers to cover her hand instead.

His attention remained focused on the road ahead, but his warm countenance gave her enough satisfaction and will to remain strong.

"Giselle, you can say it and be uncertain I… I want to believe that this is true and we can find someone who knows what is wrong and help her gain control of her powers and tell us the source."

Giselle's gaze dropped to their joined hands and smiled faintly. "Sure."

Regan pulled his wife's hand close to his lips and pecked it, easing her worried heart to some extent. "Now relax. I will ensure she gets all the help she needs."

Giselle's eyes lit up, hope did not seem so far away again. She trusted him and believed him. Whenever he set his mind and heart to something, he got it done.

Retracting her hand from her husband, she half turned, her eyes beholding the gracious treasure they were blessed with – her daughter, Ariel.

"Ariel," she called out softly to the little one. Listening to the familiar calm voice of her mother, Ariel lifted her head, her burgundy wavy waist-long hair fell forward, acting as a curtain to shield her small delicate face.

"Come on. Do not hide, my tempest. Show mummy a cute smile," Giselle prompted. Still, Ariel refused to utter a word.

Shaking her head, she slid her left hand to her daughter's palm holding her white teddy bear and shuddered from the touch.

"You're cold."

She whipped her head to the side and immediately reached for the door. "We need to wind up the glass of the car and keep you, warm dear," Giselle explained to her daughter who only blinked, acting no different from a porcelain doll.

"No."

Right now, she was not bothered about any response but her mind simply wished her tempest was safe. Once she attained that, her usual smile returned.

She pushed Ariel's soft hair behind her ears to reveal her adorable face. "There you go. Always pretty. Do not worry, soon you will be okay."

Ariel gave a nod and started poking her white teddy bear's cheeks, ignoring her mother.

"I feel bad she doesn't have any friends," Giselle commented, pinching Ariel's cheek lightly, and she finally settled down on her seat.

"Darling, all would be well."

Saying that, they focused on the road, enjoying the journey in silence. A couple of minutes later, the already quiet place became quieter, save for the sound of their vehicle driving by. Suddenly little Ariel shuddered and lowered her head.

The sound of jingling bells resounded deep in her ears, making her head throb as flashes of images assaulted her brain.

"Make it stop," she muttered in a desperate whisper, but no one heard.

JIGILLINGG! JIGGLING!!

She winced, gritting her teeth as her hands flew from her teddy bear to her ears.

JIGILLING!

"Make it ahh…" Her little cry pulled her mother's attention towards her. Suddenly the car radio came on, shocking the husband and wife.

Peeling her gaze to her husband, Giselle questioned just to be sure. "Did you…" She did not finish her question when he shook his head and denied it.

She snapped her head in her daughter's direction. Ariel held her head with both hands and shook it while uttering the same phrase over and over, "Make it stop."

"Ariel, Ariel," Giselle called out in hopes of calming her down. Her words were drowned out by the screeching noise coming from the radio. "Aishh!" Pain seared through her brain, causing a strong wave of headache as the screeching sound grew louder.

Fighting the pain, Giselle winced and opened one of her eyes. "Baby." Ariel was too occupied to listen to her. Her own pain began to overtake her.

SHAR!

The windows at the back seat immediately shattered, bringing in a gust of wind. Bewildered by what was going on, Giselle gripped Ariel's shoulder and shook her daughter.

"Make what stop? Snap out of it, Ariel," she persuaded but had no response. She turned over to her husband, wanting to plead for his help when her gaze caught sight of the blood rolling down his ear.

"Regan? Regan!"

His eyes remained fixed on the road like a dazed person. Her heart drummed in her chest, beating the fastest it had ever been. She winced again, as the sound became louder.

Suddenly, her nostrils were assaulted with the scent of blood filling the air when she felt warm liquid roll down the side of her face.

She reached for her face, touched the liquid with shaking hands as she brought her hand in front of her face to see what was wrong.

"No…" Her voice broke. This was bad. Having no time to waste, she turned to face Ariel again. "Ariel, please stop it.

Baby, I love you, stop it, you are hurting us. Regan."

She unbelted Ariel and tried to lift her up when the car swerved to the left, pushing everyone and forcing her to lose her balance.

Her gaze snapped back to her husband, now he was holding his head and no longer concentrating on the road.

Instinctively she looked ahead and noticed they were moving close to the edge of the cliff.

"No."

She grabbed the steering immediately and turned it, making the car go in the opposite direction quickly. The car sped up more than it was going. Her eyes widened some more as the car controls went out of control.

Everyone swerved from left to right while Giselle struggled to gain control of the car. Due to the rush in the situation, she failed to avoid the huge tree branch on the road as the car climbed it, losing one of its tires and somersaulting in the air.

Immediately it fell back down, both front passengers had been rendered unconscious and the moving car ran into an incoming trailer driving with speed from a bend.

BOOM!

Large flames engulfed both vehicles, burning its inhabitants to a crisp as the force from the explosion pushed back everything in the vicinity.

Not too far from the accident, Ariel blinked her eyes slowly as the scene registered in her head. Sharp pain coursed through her, having been flung back and hit her body hard against the tree.

At that moment, all she could see was her family in flames, and her brain blacked out.