Blind. Cold. These are senses that Ava long since accepted into her life. The accident was 3 months ago and it was something Ava thought she could never come to terms with. She adjusted surprisingly well. Although, I don’t know if you could label what Ava has been through as adjusting.

Three months ago Ava had been driving to work on a normal Tuesday morning. Ava was 19 and had been hired as a journalist for the Gregory County Times. She loved her job and had already published 5 pieces, all dealing with intense social and governmental issues. She was almost to work when it happened. Her car’s engine exploded.

In less than a second the car was engulfed in flames. Ava immediately lost consciousness. Fortunately, the accident happened just one block down from the fire department. Within minutes they were there. The fire was quickly extinguished and the paramedics dragged Ava’s limp, charred body from the wreckage. Her entire body was a mess. Her skin resembled melting candle wax and it was a wonder her face was even recognizable.

Her body was immediately airlifted to the nearest hospital. When she got there, the doctors jumped right into action. But it was to no avail. Ava was in a coma.

She has remained in the coma since that day. She has shown no responses to the therapy and continues to be on life support. The only thing out of the ordinary is that she woke up. Two months ago.

Ava managed to wake up within the coma. The doctors noticed no change in her. Her mother continued to believe she was brain-dead. Her friends gave up all together. But Ava was awake.
She couldn’t see, but she could feel. She could talk, but no one could hear her. And she breathed, or so she thought.

So Ava sat. In an eternal darkness. In an eternal winter. And listened. She listened to her mother’s stifled sobs. She listened as the doctors told her mother, “No change in status.”, day after day. She listened as the therapist tried to illicit some sort of response out of her.

Ava desperately wanted to respond. She wanted to show them all she was alive. She wanted to escape these barriers that held her down, smothered her. Deep in her heart she knew that this was an impossible wish.

Being in this comatose state gave Ava time to think. Almost too much time. She would sit and replay the accident again and again in her head. She knew something wasn’t right. Every time she replayed it the image got a little sharper. Something she had seen mere minutes before her car exploded. Something that filled Ava’s veins with ice and her heart with dread. Something that had caused her to stop the car as she entered the early stages of panic. Something.

Not only was Ava struggling to remember the events of her accident she was also filled with questions on the matter. Was it her fault the car exploded? Why did the car spontaneously ignite without warning? How had she lived? Why her?

Then one day when Ava was running over the accident in her head for the millionth time she remembered. She remembered the something that had been nagging at her from the back of her mind. And that something shook her to her core.

Ava flashed back to the morning of the accident. She was late to work, as usual, and was in a rush to get out the door. When she got outside she saw quite the unusual sight. A man was standing by her car. Messing with her car. She called out to him. He turned and for a moment a look of recognition spread across her face. But that look was quickly replaced with one of anger and indignation.

“What are you doing to my car?” Ava demanded.

The suspicious man just stared.

“Well?” Ava said.

“It’s a shame she’s so pretty.” The man said to himself, quietly enough that Ava could not hear.

“Sir, I--” But he was gone before Ava could finish her sentence.

Shaken by the events of the morning, so far, Ava took out her cell phone to check the time. She was running horribly late. She was supposed to work on a big story today at work and her tardiness had not been going undetected by her supervisor. Ava got in her car and sped to work, already forgetting the strange encounter with a man she found vaguely familiar. As she was driving she saw a note taped to her rear view mirror: “Nice knowing you.”

Ava awoke from her moment of retrospect. She had finally uncovered the memory that had plagued her for so long. But Ava had never expected this. She had never expected this memory to hold the key to a life changing revelation.

Her car had been tampered with. Someone wanted it to explode.

Someone wanted Ava dead.