~Three months earlier~
The sun cut through the trees, shining on a young woman's face as she wiped the sweat from her brow. It was another average summer day and, contrary to her normal behaviors, Alexa had chosen to go outside and garden. There wasn't much to do, as her mother always made sure to have the most exotic plants in her garden, but if she pulled enough weeds it would go towards her allowance.
She stood up, grasping firmly the stalk of a rather large weed and pulling with all her might. "Come on baby, mommy needs a new sketchbook," she grunted before without warning the roots gave way, the girl tumbling backwards with a thud.
"Ow," she whimpered, slowly sitting up as she rubbed her behind. "This is sooo not worth what she's going to pay me..." Opening one of her empty black eyes, Alexa noticed something as it caught the light of the sun underneath some shrubbery. "Hello," she said in a rather musical tone, "what have we here?" Pawing through the dirt she found a rather unusual crystal. "Where on earth did you come from?" she asked, sitting back on her ankles and blowing off some of the dirt.
Slipping her find into a back pocket, Alexandria cleaned up what was left of the weeds and headed inside to clean the dirt off them both. "I don't know what you were doing in the garden, must have broken off a wind chime or somethin'," she laughed. A grey cat weaved between her legs as the teen made her way up the wooden stairs to her room. Pushing open the door Alexa entered her own world, a world of paint and paper; a place where she could think clearly.
"I know I have wire in here somewhere," she rummaged through a drawer and pulled out a silver spool. After wrapping it around the crystal in a manner she found aesthetically pleasing before stringing it on a black string and dangling it above her cat. "See how gorgeous you are? Look at me, talking to a rock." The cat meowed in response as she walked over to her bed and fell into it, holding her prize up to the light. "If only I could be so confident around people as I am with cats and crystals."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Present time~
Alexa nodded as her only friend parted ways with her. Honestly the girl didn't feel that she was such a good friend in return, hardly contributing to conversations and never really starting conversation in general but... Kari seemed like she needed someone to listen to her, so perhaps the teens presence wasn't all wasted. Suddenly a loud screech flooded her ears and Alexa stood frozen as a car swerved closer.
Eyes wide, her life played itself out, and with a sudden flash of light she fell to her knees. Am I dead, she wondered, looking up to see a glowing figure floating above her...
She turned to see her friend not far off, getting up carefully. "K-Kari?" she stuttered, stepping away from the astral being. What was going on?