A novel for teens and college students.

                                                   Prologue

                                       “Without the Shedding of Blood”


       I was driving crazy, weaving back and forth from one side of the middle line to the curb side,
careful to stay in my lane only so as not to draw too much attention.  I was animatedly talking to
Maggie, one of only two best friends, who was sitting in the passenger seat.  I must keep her
attention on me instead of the road ahead of us.  There were still three minutes before I had to be
on Cromer Avenue where Maggie’s parents would be crossing the same street they had crossed on
their evening walk for the last fortnight. 

       This had been a very time-consuming watch and this evening would show the fruits of this 
labor.  Saying goodnight to everyone each night and leaving, I would stake out the walk her parents
took every evening, checking the time they crossed each street.  Many times they made small
changes of direction but always ending up crossing the same road to get home.  Cromer Avenue,
the road they lived on, was the only road they crossing at the same time every evening.  An
accident was about to happen in front of their home this evening.

      Never again would Maggie sit on her dad’s lap while he coddled her while her mom stood by
and watched.  I was about to save Maggie.  

       The hardest part was keeping my thoughts in the present, because whenever I though of 
Maggie’s situation it translated back in time to my own horrible past.
        . . . now he is getting in the bed beside me and pulling the covers over us . . .
NO!  I’m screaming inside my head, willing the back flash out of my head so I could concentrate
on the job I had to do now.  Only a minute and a half left.  I hear Maggie calling my name.
        “Huh?  Oh sorry Maggie, these stupid day dreams sometimes just overwhelm me.  I’m fine
now.”
       “Wow Sarah, it was like you were not even here, maybe you should let me drive.”
       “Yeah, maybe you’re right.  Look, we’re just down from you’re street now, I should be alright
to get us back to your place.”  Indeed we were only two blocks from Cromer Avenue but another
vehicle was in front of us, driving pretty slow, stopping at each intersection.  The people in the vehicle 
looked like they were lost and I was running out of time.  They stopped dead at Cromer Avenue and 
looked to the left for several seconds and then slowly looked to the right for even longer.  I had
less then thirty second and almost a whole block to drive yet.  They put on their blinker to go left
and panic rose up within me.  Then, suddenly, the right blinker came on as the left went off and
they slowly turned right.

        I started turning left and noticed Maggie’s eyes were still following the other vehicle going right.
I took the opportunity to speed up.  Think of something to say, quick.  In my panic the speed of my 
words matched the speed of the car.
       “Can you believe those people, Maggie?  They must be lost or something.  Maybe I should
make a U-Turn and see if we can help them find their way.”
       Maggie looked away from their vehicle to look at me, as if to answer me.  We looked each other
in the eye.  Maggie noticed movement up ahead in her peripheral vision and turned her head forward 
and screamed - LOOK OUT!  I followed her gaze almost in slow motion.  Maggie’s mom and dad
 were in the middle of the road, her mom had dropped something and was turning to pick it up.
Her father looked up and saw us and turned back toward his wife.  I slammed on the brakes and
swerved the car which swung around and the back drives side hit them both. . .