Finding Lucy

**Finding Lucy**

**Prologue**

The air smelled like rain and roses.

I remember that clearly.

The windows of the car were rolled halfway down, letting the cool evening breeze rush through my hair. The scent of wet earth drifted in from the woods lining the road, mixing with the faint sweetness of the roses my mother had tucked into the dashboard earlier that morning.

Lucy said they made the car smell like a garden.

Mom laughed and said maybe they would keep them there forever.

Lucy was singing along to the radio again.

She was terrible at singing.

Not that it stopped her.

She sat beside me in the back seat, kicking her legs to the rhythm of the music while Dad tapped the steering wheel.

Mom leaned her head against the window, smiling as she listened.

For a moment, everything felt perfect.

Just us.

Just our little family.

Then the headlights appeared.

Blinding.

Sudden.

Dad swore under his breath.

The wheel jerked hard.

Mom screamed.

Tires shrieked against wet pavement.

The world spun violently.

Metal slammed against metal.

Glass shattered around us.

And everything went dark.

But before the darkness swallowed me completely, I remember one thing.

Lucy's hand grabbing mine.

And her voice saying:

"Avery, hold on."

Then nothing.

---

When I woke up, the world had changed.

I didn't know it yet.

But everything I believed about that night was a lie.