Okay FYI The beginning is going to be a little slow and I will be using the wrestlers REAL names instead of their wrestling names simply because I want to do something different!

Enjoy!

~Maxine

Chapter 1 - Run Away

April 1, 2004

3 months...

She only had 3 lousy months left.

She'd just had her 17th birthday at the Santa Monica pier a few months prior. She pulled herself out of bed as she stumbled into the bathroom and showered quickly before dressing in jeans, red sneakers and a red form fitting t-shirt. She flipped her head over and blow dried her mahogany hair before she flipped it back over and brushed the tangles out. Her bright amber eyes took in her appearance as she grabbed her red Motorola flip cell phone, back pack and her Toyota Rav4 keys as she slipped out of the house and left for school.

Alison Merker drove along the winding road through the country as she headed into town for school. She couldn't believe she only had 3 months left before she was going to graduate high school and then go on to college. It seemed so far away. She had gotten into UCLA and couldn't wait to start in the fall.

She made it with five minutes before the first bell and she was able to get her books switched out and head to her first class Calculus. She slid into her seat as the second bell rang and she looked over to see her best friend Wendy smirking at her. It was a good thing they sat in the back of the class because if they sat any closer to the front the teacher would DEFINITELY know they were passing notes back and forth as they snickered about their weekend.

Can you believe how great Mike's party was Friday and Saturday night? That shit rocked his house, the neighborhood and half the city. Wendy slid the paper to Alison; she always started the notes.

No kidding I never drank and danced so much in my life. Alison smirked as she passed the piece of paper back to Wendy.

When are your parents coming back from the European vaca? OMG You should totally have a killer party before they get back! Wendy tried to suggest excitedly on paper.

No I totally shouldn't. I like my ass attached to my body and not falling off because my folks beat it black and blue. Alison answered back truthfully.

Her parents were on their yearly European vacation; same thing they did every year just before summer. They were gone for 2 months and the end of their vacation was drawing to a close within the next two weeks. This morning they flew from Italy to Spain and from there they would go onto Brazil and then head back to Santa Monica, California.

Alison put the note away as their teacher walked in and started the lesson plan for the hour.

The bell rang an hour later as Wendy and Alison continued onto their next class; being seniors gave them more leniency on their schedules. They only had four actual classes and were teachers aides the last two hours in a school day.

"Dude do you even know what an epic party it would be? It would be the Senior party to END all Senior parties. Are you SURE you don't wanna have a party for the rents come home?" Wendy asked as she bumped her hip into Alison's.

Alison shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Dudette if I did that and my mom and dad found out I could forget about starting college in the fall because I would be DEAD." Alison accentuated the last word she spoke. "There's no way anyone in this God forsaken school could pay me enough money to throw a damn party in my parents' house. If it was MY house that would be a little different."

"Oh c'mon all that money you could hire someone to do the flight of the bumble bee cleaning job the day after the party." Wendy stated still trying to put the party idea into Alison's head.

Alison shook her head. "No thanks. I'm not getting my trust fund taken away for some party where half the valuables in the house get broken and can't be replaced...ever."

Alison's parents had made a comfortable living for their family in Santa Monica, California. Her parents both had jobs at IBM, which stood for International Business Machines Corporation is an multinational technology and consulting corporation. IBM manufactures and markets computer hardware, middleware and software, and offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas ranging from mainframe computers to state of the art security systems.

Alison stepped into the rest room but not before she handed her books to Wendy they had their next class together as always. Alison did her business before she washed and dried her hands. She pushed the bathroom door open and couldn't stop the eye roll before a familiar smirk pinned her against the wall next to the girls bathroom door. "What do you want Drew?" She asked with a hint of disdain in her voice.

Drew's 6 foot frame blocked her against the wall. "Just curious if you had a good time at the party on Friday. My boy Mike told me you had a good time drinking and shaking your ass."

Alison's eyes rolled again. "Yes, Drew I went to the party and I drank, danced and scary enough had a damn good time as you say shaking my ass. What's it to you?" She counter questioned.

"Why is it you can shake your ass with Wendy but you couldn't do it when you were with me? Are you two the school lesbians? Huh? Do you and Wendy enjoy being scissor sisters?" Drew asked snidely.

Alison smirked as she pushed her chest against Drew's. "Well, since you couldn't keep your dick from jumping out of your pants and into that blonde bimbo too short cheerleading skirt wearing Tina Carnes; we would still be together and you wouldn't have to worry about my ass shaking at a party without you. And since we are NEVER getting back together whoever I'm scissor sisters with is...none of your business." Alison stated with a kiss in the air to punctuate and end the conversation as she ducked under his arm and went to class as her giggles echoed down the high school hallway.

Once lunch for the day was done and over with. Alison was a teachers aid for the 5th graders school which was 3 blocks from the high school. She thoroughly enjoyed working with the 5th graders. She often thought of being a teacher to the younger ones.

And then they got on her nerves and she thought NO!

She definitely didn't have enough patience for kids that weren't hers. Thank God she didn't have any kids yet. There were quite a few girls she went to school with who either had babies or were pregnant between the ages of 14 and 17.

Alison knew she had more in her life to do than have a baby before she was out of high school; or even after high school. She was excited about going to college and becoming a journalist. Maybe meet a great guy, get married, have 1 or 2 or...5 kids She could see herself having a huge family to compensate for the small family she was growing up in. No sisters or brothers, she had a few cousins but was never really close with them. She had a handful of friends that she kept close, but to her anyone else was a stranger; anyone she considered a stranger was kept at arm's length to protect herself.

Alison finished up the copies she'd made for the teachers; they always gave her stacks and stacks to do while she was being an aide for them. Her cell phone in her back jeans pocket vibrated letting her know there was an incoming call.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and flipped it open as she read the name on the screen. "Hi Uncle Tim, what's up?" She asked. Uncle Time was her mom's brother and the family lawyer.

"Alison sweetie, where are you?" Tim asked.

"I'm over at the grade school doing my teachers aide thing, why what's up?" She asked as she paper clipped all the stacks while balancing her phone between her ear and shoulder.

"I know you usually get out at three but I already called the high school and told them you were leaving for the rest of the day. Can you come to my office immediately?" Tim asked as he looked through the paperwork on his desk.

"Yes of course. Is anything wrong?" Alison asked curiously.

"We can discuss it when you get to my office sweetheart. Just make sure you finish up your work at the grade school and then make your way here. I'll be waiting for you; drive carefully." Tim stated as he continued to look through the paperwork and requests he had submitted as their phone conversation came to an end.

Alison pushed her phone back into her back pocket and couldn't imagine what was going on with her Uncle Tim. He never asked her to come visit him at his law firm. He always said family time was supposed to happen away from work, so she couldn't imagine what he was pulling her out of class for.

She finished up her work for the teachers before she said her goodbyes to them and left in her vehicle.

Driving through town she still couldn't figure out what her uncle needed to see her for. She wouldn't question it until she got there. She parked and got out; she stood on the concrete sidewalk in front of her Uncle Tim's law firm. It was a gigantic wall of glass windows from bottom to the stop of the 5th floor. She would have to ride the elevator all the way up because naturally he owned the entire building and his office would have to be on the top floor. She hated heights, but as long as she didn't have to look down out the windows she would be okay.

Alison took a deep breath as she finally made her feet move into the building as she went through the metal detectors and to the elevators. She stepped on and tried not to hold her breath for all 5 floors; turning blue and passing out would be a bad thing and would worry her uncle to death. The elevator finally dinged - signaling she was at her destination. She stepped out and went towards the double glass doors and stepped through.

Uncle Tim's secretary/assistant was sitting behind her desk screen his calls. "Alison honey go right in your uncle is expecting you."

"Thanks Margo." Alison stated with an unsteady smile. The knot that formed in her stomach on the way over tightened the closer she got to seeing her uncle. She walked over and pushed open his door open and saw her Uncle standing by his windows in his three piece grey suit. "Hi Uncle Tim."

Tim turned around and was met by the apprehensive face of his beautiful niece. He walked over and embraced her tightly. "Hi sweetheart." He brought the hug to an end as he stepped back and guided her over to the black leather couch in his office. "Let's sit down and talk."

They sat down but Alison couldn't relax. Her body and the knot in her stomach wouldn't allow it. "Uncle Tim what's going on?" She asked curiously.

"When's...when's the last time you spoke with your folks?" Tim inquired.

"Last night some time. They were getting ready to board the plane for Spain - why, what's going on?" She asked once more.

A frown claimed Tim's face as he took his glasses off and placed them on the table in front of the couch. "I was contacted this morning by the Italian International Government. The plane was flying towards Spain when a flock of birds flew into the planes path and were sucked into the engines. The engines exploded and the plane...Well the plane crash landed on the small island of Palma which is about 2 hours from Spain."

Alison finally felt the knot in her stomach explode. "But they are okay right Uncle Tim?" She asked as she stood from the couch as she began to suddenly pace his office. "I mean they have to be a little banged up from a crash landing, but they are okay. I mean they have to come home in a few days and...and my graduation is in three months. And They are supposed to help get me moved into my dorm at college in the fall." She was rambling. She couldn't help it. She figured as long as she rambled then nothing bad had really happened. As long as Uncle Tim didn't stop her and tell her anymore bad news then they were still alive and would be home in a few days.

Nothing could've prepared her for what he said next; hell nothing could've prepared her for this day period.

Tim stood up as he stepped in her line of pacing as he reached out and grabbed her upper arms. "I'm sorry honey, there were no survivors." He wasn't going to tell her when the plane crashed it burst into flames and everyone who lived through the crash were burned alive...That was a piece of the information she absolutely didn't need to hear. His 17 year old niece had just lost her father and her mother who also happened to be his baby sister. It was a blow the family was not expecting.

Alison shook her head. "No...No they are okay. They are going to be home in a few days with a few more bumps and bruises but they will be home." Hot tears slid down her cheeks as she tried to fight her way away from her uncle.

"I wish they were sweetheart, but they aren't." Tim stated softly. He could bare to tell her that chances are they wouldn't have complete bodies to bury because of the fire. Once Spain had done DNA testing on the remains that were found, it was a big possibility that only scattered piece would come back to them to bury.

Alison finally broke away from her uncle as she backed away from him. It wasn't true. There's no way it was true. It wasn't happening. There was so much her parents were going to miss of her life if they were really dead.

"Why don't you sit down sweetheart...Let's just sit down and try to figure out where we go from here." Tim suggested in a soft tone.

Alison shook her head negatively as she continued to back away from him before she knew it she turned and bolted from his office, past the elevators and into the stairwell. She needed to get out of the building before everything crumbled out from underneath her. She ran down the steps of the 5 floor building as fast as she could as she threw open the doors and she finally felt the sun on her face. She didn't stop as she got to her vehicle and tore away from the law firm and headed towards her house.

Looks like I've lost my will to carry on my friend, she said
And you can hear it in my whispered cries for love
I need your blissful talks to carry me away again
So can we roll tonight run through your desert
Can we just start over?
And just run away, run away tonight
It ain't no victory, but I don't care
I don't care if it's wrong or right
We could just run away, run away tonight
It ain't no victory, but I don't care
I don't care if it's wrong or right

Her phone kept ringing and ringing and she knew it was her uncle; a few of the security guards tried to stop her but she slipped passed them. She didn't stop until she got to the safety of her home where she finally got inside the front door and collapsed into a ball and cried.

She was taught to never run away from anything, but at this point she wasn't running away from anything. She was just trying to survive the once good day that turned into a bad day.