Surviving Circumstance

Chapter One

     Raven stirred and clenched her jaw to suppress the shiver that ran through her. She was cold, wet, hurt everywhere. Knowing she'd just been in an accident made staying calm and focused difficult. Years of training had taught her to assess the situation at hand and take in the facts instead of rushing to accusations. Her head was throbbing, but with a slow, deep breath she performed a quick assessment on the rest of her body. Her wrist hurt and upon moving it slightly she winced, but sighed in relief; it wasn't broken. It would need to be splinted, though, as her fingers were cold and hurt to move. There was a small warm, weight on her stomach. That was most likely her cat since Zevran hated the cold more than anything else on the planet except water and plastic bags. She was lying on her back, arms spread out, and the sweatshirt she was wearing barely helped the cold from seeping in and assaulting her skin. Why was it cold anyway? Raven thought to herself. California wasn't cold and the state itself had been going through a drought for the last five months. Was she dead? She vaguely recalled some jerk in a white car speeding up to pass her and cutting her off which caused her to slam on her brakes, skid on gravel, and break through the guard rail along the edge of the mountain. There was no way she could have survived. That cliff had been over three hundred feet high.

     With a final sigh, she opened her eyes only to quickly shut them again. The sky was bright and green. Raven groaned as she brought up her injured wrist to cradle her cat and used the other one to help herself sit up. Opening her eyes a second time, she squinted at the stark white surrounding her, letting them adjust before she ground out a small string of curses when she realized that what she had been laying in and what was all around her. Snow. Fucking snow in California in the middle of August. She looked down at her cat and saw that he was looking up at her with a curious expression.

     "I blame all of this on you." She said in a low voice, though she really didn't mean it. "Should we try to find someplace warmer?" Of course he didn't reply, but made no move to get away as she awkwardly found a way to stand with Zevran still in her arm and against her chest. Her entire back was cold and completely soaked and her hands continued to hurt, almost tingle, as she did her best to brush the remaining snow from her pants. Looking around she saw trees, a lot of trees and a lot of rocks. Was she still in the mountains? Her car was nowhere to be seen, but she easily spotted her two large, multi-colored bags in the snow; one lay next to a tree about ten feet away and the other-which held technology that was probably now broken beyond repair-about five feet from the first. As her anxiety started to rise and break through the calm she was struggling to maintain, she fought to keep her breathing and body in check. Keep calm, she thought to herself, there had to be a reason why her car was nowhere to be seen. Losing your shit and freaking out won't help. Still, she slowly made her way over to her bags thanking a higher power that she'd decided to wear her boots instead of the flip-flops she wanted to.

     "Hold it right there." A deep voice commanded, startling Raven as she was bent down to reach her first bag. She put Zevran down on the large multicolored cotton surface and straightened to see two men standing about ten feet from her with daggers drawn, really small daggers compared to what she was used to using. They were both wearing the same thing, a green hood with what Raven could only guess was tan leather armor, which she'd only seen during the LARPing events she went to every few months. Still, the costume looked familiar. Was there an event going on nearby? They looked scared and angry, as if she wasn't supposed to be there.

     "I'm sorry if I interrupted your event. Do you guys have a phone?" Neither of them responded, "I was just in an accident. I'll grab my things and head to the nearest town if you tell me which way to go." They watched her as she started to bend down to pick up her bag again before stopping, "Would either of you happen to have seen a car near here, a black Impala with red leather interior?" One man looked at the other with an expression that had Raven almost questioning her own sanity. Why, of all people to find her, did it have to be people stuck in method acting?