Prologue

Danica felt her cheek hit the pavement as the bar door slammed behind her. The dirt and grime of the ground felt rough against her hands, scraping at her skin. Groaning, she slowly picked herself up and stumbled down the alley, which opened to a busy street. Leaning against a signpole, she resisted the urge to vomit as the first rays of dawn broke over the tall city buildings. 

“M-ma’am, are you alright?” A young man’s voice drifted to her ears.

Turning her head felt dizzying, but she found herself staring at a wide eyed kid who couldn’t possibly be out of college yet. His orange curls framed his thick black glasses, and his green eyes shone with naive youthfulness. 

“Yeah… just… rough night.” Danica croaked softly.

”I s-see.” He stuttered, flicking his gaze downward.

Gingerly, Danica wiped the muck off her hands onto her pants. Her sore palms left a smear of blood across her jeans, which she could already guess was going to leave a stain. Her cheek still stung, so she pressed the back of her wrist against it. Her hands always had bad circulation, so they were a good improvised icepack.

The familiar rumble of a bus snapped her attention to the street, and as it screeched and sighed to a halt in front of them, the kid darted onto the bus the moment it opened its squeaky doors. Groaning, Danica staggered after him. Dropping a five dollar bill in the farebox as she passed it, she plopped herself unceremoniously in a seat two rows from the back. Resting her cheek against the cool bus window, she could hear the kid fiddling with his backpack from somewhere behind her. 

“Knock that off.” She groaned quietly under her breath, reaching a hand up to rub her aching temple.

It didn’t feel like long before the bus screeched to a halt again, and three more people boarded. One, sporting expensive sunglasses and a classy outfit, was yapping angrily into a phone that barely fit into her manicured hand. Another, a muscular man who sat across from Danica, shook one of those protein shaker bottles while listening to some sort of podcast on full volume. The last new passenger,  a teenage girl, was sitting in the very back corner opposite the college kid staring out the window with her earbuds in.

All of the new noise on the bus irritated Danica’s headache. Digging through her purse, she fished out her bottle of aspirin and popped a couple in her mouth. 

”Sir, could you please turn your volume down, I’m trying to-“ The manicured woman hissed, her hand clasped around the bottom of her phone.

”Shut up, I’m trying to listen to my morning podcast. Besides, you’re not so quiet yourself.” He growled, pulling his phone closer to his ear.

“Excuse me?!” The woman screeched, enraged. “I’ll have you know that I-“

”Don’t care.” The man interrupted, raising his hand with the shaker bottle still in it. 

“Please remain seated while the bus is in motion.” The bus driver called.

”I’ll go back to my seat when this idiot lowers his phone volume.” The woman hissed back

”Maybe I’d lower my phone volume if you’d shut up.” 

“Both of you should-“ The teen from the back growled.

”Stay out of this child.” The woman hissed.

Anger flashed in the teenager’s eyes, before she stood up and yanked the backpack from the college kid’s arms.

”I’M NOT A CHILD!” She screamed, before flinging the bag at the woman.

Danica ducked as the bag soared over her and hit the woman square in the face. In response, the woman stumbled back in surprise and caught the bus driver by the shirt collar.

”Hey- what are you doing, let go!” The bus driver shouted nervously as he was partly pulled from his seat under her weight.

The bus suddenly accelerated into the busy intersection. Danica was blinded momentarily by headlights before the shock of the impact knocked her out.