Chapter 1: The Accident

Samantha Stewart was only sixteen years old when the accident happened. It was a day she would never forget. It was a day that altered her life forever.

Up until the day of the accident, Samantha had been a normal teenager. She lived in Manhattan, New York, in an apartment with her mom, who worked as an investigative reporter for the Daily Tribune newspaper. Her father was a police lieutenant in Manhattan, and he was one of the city's best and most highly regarded officers of the law. Samantha's parents had divorced when she was ten years old, due to irreconcilable differences.

Samantha attended John F. Kennedy high school. Her grades were pretty good; she was no genius, but she was no idiot either. She had a small circle of friends, but she was particularly close to Erin Chase, her best friend. Samantha and Erin both played on their school's girl's basketball team. Outside of school, Samantha enjoyed listening to music, shopping at the local malls, and simply hanging out with Erin.

Yes, her life had been normal. Up until the day of the accident.

It was Memorial Day weekend, which meant that Samantha and Erin both had a three day weekend away from school. As it so happened, Samantha's mother, Abby, was taking a much needed and well earned vacation from work that week. It was Abby who suggested to Samantha that the two of them go camping upstate, to get away from the pressures of daily life for three days.

"Would it be okay if Erin came along?" Samantha had hopefully asked. Although her and her mom were quite close, she really wanted her best friend on the camping trip as well. It would make her weekend that much more enjoyable if Erin was there.

Abby smiled. She liked Erin very much. Full of life and always ready with a joke and a smile, Erin had become almost like a second daughter to Abby.

"I don't see a problem with it," Abby said. "If it's okay with Erin's father."

Erin's father, a prominent businessman and entrepeneur in Manhattan, was also single. His wife had died in a tragic car accident when Erin was very, very young. Abby had met him on a few occasions, and often wondered how and why he had stayed single so many years after his wife's death. He was well-off financially, attractive, and a very nice man.

Erin's father, Robert, quickly agreed to let his daughter attend the camping trip. He liked Abby and Samantha quite a bit, and he knew that his daughter would be well cared for. Besides, although he loved his daughter dearly, he had certain... extracurricular activities that he could perform easier if his daughter was not home at night.

And so it came to pass that Abby and the two teenagers went on their camping trip. Abby's father, who had passed away a few years before, had owned a cabin in upstate New York that he had left to Abby. Abby and Samantha went camping up there fairly often. It was built just off the shore of a remote lake, and there was hardly ever anyone else around in that area. The occasional camper or hunter would sometimes pass through the woods that surrounded the cabin and the lake, but really there was never anyone else there besides Abby and Samantha.

The first night there, Friday night, Erin and Samantha had stayed up until the early hours of the morning, talking, laughing, and listening to the CD's that the two girls had brought along. Eventually, Samantha drifted off to sleep, soon followed by Erin.

Samantha blinked a few times as she slowly came awake. The morning sunlight washed in through the bedroom windows, lighting the room. Samantha stirred and stretched, trying to shake the cobwebs of sleep. Not far away, Erin slept in the room's other bed. Samantha slowly slipped out of her own bed and quietly padded down the hallway. Her mom's bedroom door was closed. Abby was still sound asleep. Rubbing her eyes to get the sleep out of them, she went out into the living room and opened the sliding door. She stepped out onto the deck that overlooked the lake.

It was a beautiful morning. The water of the lake was still and calm, reflecting the overhead sky like a mirror. Sunlight glistened off of the water in brilliant sparkles. Samantha could hear the birds chirping their morning songs. She stood their for a moment, taking in the scenery. She still wore the blue and white striped cotton pajamas that she had slept in, a Christmas gift from her mom last year. Her blue eyes twinkled as the sunlight reflected off of the lake. Her long blonde hair, which reached down to the middle of her back in cascading waves, glowed like wheat in a field under the morning sun. She was small, petite girl. She was only a few inches over five feet tall. Her body was well toned and in shape, thanks to her being on the girl's basketball team. Her breasts had developed very well these past few years, and she was starting to take after her mom's own hourglass figure.

As she stood there, basking in the warm sun and taking in the view, a glisten of light caught her eye. It came from in the woods, not far from the lake. It looked like the sunlight was gleaming off of something metallic in the woods. She squinted her eyes, trying to make out what it could be, but it was too far away. Her brow furrowed in wonder. She had her mom's insatiable curiosity, and she couldn't help but wonder what it was that was laying out in the woods. She knew she could not rest until she found out what it was.

She grabbed her sneakers from inside the cabin, then started walking out to where the metallic object lay. As she got closer, she was able to make it out more clearly. It lay in the ground, alone and undisturbed, as if someone had forgotten it here, or had dropped it without realizing it. It was indeed metal, a silvery sphere that glistened brightly in the sun. It was perfectly smooth and was roughly the size of a soccer ball. There were no markings or any other signs of any sort on it. No scratches either. It was as pristine as could be.

Samantha stopped a few feet from it and hunkered down, trying to get a better look at it. She wondered if it could be from space, but she knew as soon as she thought it that it could not be. If it had fallen from space, it would have left a crater and a path of impact. But the floor around the sphere was undisturbed. Her next thought was that someone could have dropped it, but there was no sign of any other footprints other than hers in the dirt and weeds.

What is this thing? she silently wondered.

She stood up and started walking closer, perhaps to get a better look at it. But no sooner did she take two steps than the sphere exploded, silently and without force. A brilliant burst of light erupted from the orb, bathing Samantha in its luminous power. She fell back, even though there was no force, and landed hard on her back. The wind was knocked out of her, and for a moment, the world around her spun, doing a twisting dance. Her body was tingling and it felt like millions of pins were pricking her skin through the fabric of her pajamas. For one brief instant, she felt like she was going to throw up. Her insides were churning and her head felt like it was going to explode. As quickly as the light had come, it was gone, leaving Samantha feeling ill, but at the same time, feeling strangely blissful. Samantha's eyes fluttered once, twice. And then she knew no more as the world around her slipped into a welcome darkness.

"Samantha?"

Samantha heard the voice, but it sounded like it came from a great distance, and it was distorted, so it sounded like someone was saying, "Zam and the?"

"Samantha?"

That time the voice, was much clearer and closer. Samantha's eyes slowly opened. She was back in the cabin, laying on the couch in the living room. Abby was kneeling on one knee next to her, her face a mask of concern for her daughter. She had a cold, damp washcloth held to Samantha's forehead. It felt good. Erin stood at the back of the couch, leaning on the back and watching her best friend with great worry.

"Samantha, are you okay?" Abby worriedly asked as she saw her daughter's eyes slowly come open.

"Mmph," Samantha grunted as she sat up. "What happened?"

"That's what we want to know, blondie!" Erin said, smiling in relief that her friend was apparently none the worse for wear.

"When Erin woke up and saw that you weren't in bed, she went out to the deck to see if you were there," Abby told Samantha, still dabbing at her daughter's forehead with the damp cloth.

"I saw you lying out in the woods in your PJ's," Erin finished, nodding at her friend's pajamas.

"Are you okay?" Abby asked once again, looking into her daughter's eyes. "What happened?"

Samantha frowned, trying to piece together what had happened. It had all occurred so fast. "I went out to look at that metal thing," she began.

"What metal thing?" Erin asked.

"This metal... ball that was out in the woods. You must've seen it, I was right next to it!"

Erin shook her head. "Sorry, blondie. The only thing I found out there was you in your PJ's having a nap on the ground."

"But... but there's no way!" Samantha protested. "There was this silver ball..."

"Were you two girls doing drugs last night?" Abby suddenly interrupted, looking to Erin, then Samantha.

"NO!" both girls said almost at once. Which was the truth. They both had tried a joint once a couple of months ago, but neither one had cared for it. And since then, neither one had so much as even thought of trying any other illicit drugs.

Abby frowned at them both, but nodded her head. She dabbed at Samantha's forehead a couple more times, then took the cloth away, folding it up absently in her hands.

"I swear I'm telling the truth," Samantha said after a moment of silence had passed uncomfortably. "There was this thing out in the woods. And when I went to get a closer look, it went crazy!"