The One Beneath The Ashes

Chapter 1

September 11th, 2001

Kathryn woke up in her bed, she had had a dream in which she knew it was important but, she could not remember it. She thought for a minute. Nothing. She looked out the window, she stretched and yawned. She was in a light blue tank top and pale underwear. She sighed at the upcoming day in which she would be working, she looked off into the distance from her high apartment and saw her place of work the Twin Towers, more specifically the North Tower since she worked at Windows On The World. She showered, gotten dressed in a plain black shoes and pants with a white blouse and hadn't bothered to check to check the news, but she did make a mental note of how her birthday was a week away so she would have to make arrangements for her 27th birthday. She looked at the clock in the kitchen as she quickly ate her granola bar. It was 7:46 a.m.

Elizabeth awoken and looked over next to herself. Her latest one night encounter was sleeping soundly, his face looked younger with his eyes closed. Elizabeth studied his face for a minute looking at his strong jawline and overall strong features yet soft, delicate face. She shook him awake. The time was 8:15 a.m.

In the past couple weeks Kathryn had been walking to work instead of taking the short taxi ride to work. The walk was a nice time for Kathryn to look around her and see the world starting to wake up and start their day. Other adults going to work, pre-teens and teens going off to school the elementary school students preparing themselves at home. She could smell the air changing from summer to fall, the air had a certain crisp to it that told her of the change. She looked down at her watch. 8:35 a.m. she almost there. Her cup of coffee was still warm in her hand despite it going on 30 minutes old. She came into the lobby greeting the middle aged greying doorman and hopping onto the elevator. It was 8:41 a.m. when Kathryn started to go to the 106th floor. Kathryn took a deep breath relaxing herself for the moment, she had a busy morning coming up with serving those from Risk Waters Group. The elevator was now passing the 50th floor. Kathryn looked next to her and saw a co-worker of hers. Landon, a fellow server who was tall and only had a slightly muscular built at Windows On The World. She turned to face him and greeted him with a smile.

"Hello, Landon"

"Hey, Kathryn how are you? Got any plans for your birthday?" The elevator door opened the two let themselves out.

"Well I'm about planning on doing something with my big sister and my mom or a little girl's night out with some friends of mine"

"Oh, nice. Mind if I join the girl's night out?" Landon smirked.

"Haha, no can do girls only, silly"

8:43 a.m.

"Well I tried"

"You sure did,"

The two began putting their bags and personal belongs in their respective place and put on waiter's apron for serving at . 8:45 a.m.

"How fast do you think today will go?" Landon asked. They were now in the dining area.

"Oh, I think it will go pretty damn-" The ground beneath them shock violently. 8:46 a.m.

"What the hell was that?" Kathryn yelled, her heart was starting to hammer in her chest.

Landon looked at her with his eyes wide with the same terror that Kathryn was experiencing.

People from the kitchen left the kitchen, people from the tables all started to panic and ask questions. A chef who Kathryn barely knew except for that his name was Michael and he had a wife and 2 kids. He came around a corner and appeared to where most of the people where, the dining area of the place.

"Guys, we've been hit by a plane,"

"Which floors?" Someone asked.

"I'm not sure but, it's it around the 95th floor or something, we're trapped"