Nowhere but Here

It's not how you live, it's what you live for. A noble cause brings noble rewards, but an evil one brings evil consequences.

That quote is not always true. My family was a noble family. We didn't live like evil men. Sometimes horrible things happen to amazing people. Those horrible things that we can't stop tears us apart. If I could rewind the clock just a few minutes back, I would tell them all how sorry I was... And how much I love them. Noble people die at the hands of evil men. I, however, have a story to tell. A story that is unbelievable. Regardless of what you think, it happened.

Chapter 1

We were a close-nit family. All of us, my 11 year old brother Louis, my 12 year old sister Lexi, my mom, dad, and me. I was the oldest at 14 years old. It was a Saturday morning. We all sat by the mid-December fire in the living room, the T.V blasting Spongebob for my little brother. I played Battleship with Lexi, while mom and dad were sitting on the leather couch. My dad was Dr. Ryan Bailey he worked as a radiologist at JFK Memorial hospital downtown in Ohio. He sat on the big black couch reading a book called "Radiology At Its Finest". He loved his job, but spent good time with the rest of the family. He had greying brown hair nicely cut to his ears. He always spiked it up with hair gel in the front. He had some what of a "beard" he just had some what we called "scruffy" around around his face. My mom was beautiful. She was Professor Dana Bailey. She worked at Ohio University. She, too, loved her job, but was definitely 'mommy'. She had bright blonde hair, and amazing, loving green eyes. Our family had alot of money, maybe that's why they did it, or maybe they were just crazy, psychopaths that wanted an adrenalin rush. We sat there, having an amazing day with each other. Cherishing what we had no idea was our last day. It came like a tsunami, so unexpected, so unreal.

Hours later:

It was 8:45 at night. The snow fall had stopped for the night and we had all gathered for a movie. I can't remember what the movie was, but I know it was a comedy. We sat together, laughing, and having fun, when there was an ominous knock at the door. Dad got up to see who was there. In our neighborhood, there weren't ever any robberies or anything like that, so he felt completely safe answering the door. Right as he reached the handle, the power flashed out. Everything shut off. He looked up startled, "What happened?" He asked. We shrugged and he said "Must've been the snow collecting on the power lines." The person at the door knocked again. He opened the door and met the faces of two men armed with knives, they had ski masks on. "What the he-" the front man stabbed him in the stomach. He fell to the ground slowly. "Oh my god!" My mom yelled and pushed us behind the couch. The men closed the door and locked it behind them. They pulled my mom up by her hair and held the knife to her throat. "What do you want?! Anything, I'll give it to!" The man laughed and slit her throat. She fell to the ground bleeding out. "C'mon kiddos." He said. He had an Australian accent. I took Lexi and Louis by the arm and ran out of the room. The man grabbed Louis and pulled. I pushed Lexi back and prepared to fight to save my brother's life. I finally got hold on Lou and threw him behind me, but that action propelled my forward. Straight into the mans blade. It stuck in my stomach, but I didn't feel a pain, only like someone just punched me there. It suddenly got hard to breath and I fell to the floor. My vision was blurred, but I lay watching Lexi scream, and Louis crawling to me "Jenna!" They yelled. The second man handed the first a hand gun. "Make it quick Dusty." He nodded and raised the gun. Everything was going fading to black. As I slowly drifted off, the last thing I heard were two gunshots.

Chapter 2

I woke up some time later in my room. I heard no noise, but thought it was all just a nightmare. "Louie? Lexi? Mom? Dad?" I called out. No answer. I got up and walked to the living room where I was met with a horrible sight. It was Mom with her throat slit, an dad with a knife wound in his stomach. I made my way to the kitchen where I see something horrific. I see Lexi and Louis with gun shots in their heads. I start to cry. I see something else. I see me. There's a bloody knife wound in my stomach. "I'm dead." I whisper. I hear sirens. Great, once they pronounce me dead, I can go to heaven or any where else. The paramedics start checking for pulses, but there are none until they get to me. The EMT was cute. He had dark brown hair and soft blue eyes. "We've got one! It's light, but it's there." One of the paramedics looked unsure. "It's no use, she won't last by the time we get to the hospital. She's bleeding out Byron! Plus she'll be in a coma even IF we stabilize her." The cute EMT shook his head and said "It's a fucking massacre, Dave. I can't let her just due here, we're wasting valuable time the could save her life." The second guy exhaled and brought a gurney in. That's when the rushing started. They worked quickly to save my life. "We're going to have to get a helicopter down here." The cute EMT yelled. I watched them bag up my family. I wanted to cry. "We'll take her to Memorial Hospital." He said. They loaded me in an ambulance and drove to a safe place for the helicopter land. My condition was worsening. I looked down at my body. It didn't look like me. The got me to Memorial and tried to stabilize me so they could preform surgery. Eventually they did, and the prepped me. The doctor that was going to do the surgery was my godfather. He worked steadily but accurately, desperately trying not to lose the whole family. He murmured under his breath. "Please, sweetheart. Don't leave. I've loved you since you were a precious baby." The surgery was a success. I was moved to recovery in ICU. I stepped out into the hall, and saw my grandma, grandpa, and my aunt and uncle from both sides of my family. Mom's mom and dad died a couple years back. The doctor stepped out to speak to them. "Thomas!" My grandpa jumped up. Thomas, my godfather/ the surgeon, was Dad's best man. Grandpa knew him incredibly well. "How are you, doing Jeff? I'm so very sorry about everything. Jenna's surgery went fine, she's in the ICU. You can see her if you want. Comatose patients sometimes respond to loved ones talking to them." My grandpa looked up at him. "It sounds horrible, but I can't see her now. I don't think I could do anything to help her at this point. I will see her tomorrow." I understood where he was coming from, and I didn't blame him. My grandma nodded and cried. Thomas nodded and returned to duties. I looked a my motionless body. It had tubes for everything, they were almost like tentacles winding out of my deep asleep physical form. I stepped back out side when I heard running footsteps. I got curious, but knew who it was moments later. "Where is Jenna Bailey!?" My bestfriend yelled at the front desk. "Jenna is in recovery. You can only see her with consent from the family." She responded. "So she's going to be ok!?!?" She asked frantically. Thomas walked forward. "Brooklyn, Hannah, Jenna is still in a very deep coma, and there is still a possibility that... Anyhow, ask Jeff." He pointed to my grandpa. "Thank you so much Tom." They ran to grandpa and he jumped up as soon as he saw them. "Oh they two amazing twins! Please go see her. She'd need you two more than us." Tom took them to my pathetic body. He nodded and left. They were both my best friends, the were twice as tall as me, with blond hair. They were also twins. Brooklyn sat and put her head in her hands. Hannah sat next to her. I was better friends with Brooklyn than Hannah. I didn't expect her to care as much as Brook. Hannah looked around the room and said. "Jenna, I know we've had our problems, but the truth is that we'd both be a mess without you. She wiped what looked like a tear from her eye. "Please don't die." Brooklyn burst into tears. Hannah continued "I know, and understand why you would want to, believe me. I swear to God, I will be there for you every single step of the way. Just please, please, don't go." I touched her shoulder, but my hand sunk. She sat straight up. "D'you feel that?" She asked Brook. She shook her head. "I swear I felt a chill." Brook looked at her. "Hannah-" she started, but let her head fall back into her hands. They sat in silence, save the tube breathing for me, and the heart monitor with its steady beeps. I wanted to let them know that I was actually there. That I didnt want them to feel sorry for me. "God dammit! Why the fuck did this happen!?" Hannah yelled. "Hannah, stop. Yelling won't do anything." Brook said quietly. "She wasn't a bad person. They weren't bad people.. But they were slaughtered like animals, why?" Brook shook her head. "I don't know.. Bad things happen to good people. She might still make it though so can we focus on that?" The nurse knocked on the door, then entered. "I'm sorry girls, visiting hours are over. You can come on Monday." They nodded and Brooklyn walked over to me "Hang in there, I know you can hear me. Just hang on, you're the strongest person I know." They left and I just hoped they were ok.

The next day came and went fast. The hospital room was bombarded with get well cards and big stuffed animals, and crap like that. I didn't need any of it though. My grandparents came and sat at my bedside, knowing that chances were slim that I would even wake up at all. My aunt would quietly sing, while gently holding my hand, my grandpa sat there. His face, an indifferent mask. He hid all his emotions, not wanting anybody to watch him break down. My grandma had tear streaks down her face, and she sat at the foot of the bed praying. My cousin, who was my age, sat in a chair next to my aunt. She looked at my body and mouthed the words 'I'm sorry.. Please don't go.'

Chapter 3

There really wasn't anything I could do to grant those wishes. I felt completely powerless over my physical body. I decided to try to control my body. "I'm ready, take me." I whispered. I saw my heart beat pick up, faster and faster it raced. "I'm ready, God." My grandparents called the nurses. The heart monitor was racing. Then it stopped. Flatline. A tingling sensation crawled up my spine and into my arms. I looked forward and saw a bright light morphing. The outside sounds faded. I squeezed my eyes shut. I suddenly felt like I was forgetting something. "Stop!" I yelled, "I have to say goodbye to Brook and Hannah." It must've worked because the light disappeared and the noise returned. The doctors rushed to stabilize me again. "Ok, she's back." He said. Visiting hours were over, everyone had to leave except the parents... Which I had none.

The next day I awaited the arrival of my best friends. The threw the door open as soon as the nurse let them. "Jenna," Brooklyn started, "I know you can hear me, and I've decided to prove it." I couldn't help but smirk at my friend. I touched her shoulder and she yelped. "Hannah! Did you feel that!?" She shook her head. "A chill?" "Yeah!" She nodded "I felt one when we came last time." Brook suddenly looked right at me, almost like she knew I was there. "Jen, is that you?" I got angry, and my body's heart beat picked up. "Whoa! Hannah look!" They both jumped up and ran to me. Brooklyn touched my hand and pulled away fast. "Gosh, she's freezing." That's when I think she realized I right there beside her.