Okay, so my last serial on here didn't go over to well. In spite of my ambition to write a big crossover, I ended up getting far fewer reads than I expected-especially considering I was coming off the heels of Lanie's Journey and The Witch Hunt, both of which were well-received. And since almost nobody commented on my chapters, I don't even know what you thought of my story.

Since the crossover failed to pick up traction, I'm going to shift gears a bit. This time, I'm gonna write a prequel to Lanie's Journey centering around Rachel, and how she came to terms with her new life. Hopefully this one fares better.

***

"Mmmppphh...." Rachel murmured.

"Rachel? Are you okay?"

Rachel rose off her bed and rubbed her eyes. When she could see properly, she looked up and saw her roommate Lanie standing beside her bed. "Yeah, I'm fine," Rachel lied. "Why?"

"I just heard you talking in your sleep," said Lanie. "Were you having a bad dream?"

"Yeah," said Rachel. "What did you hear?"

"I'm not sure," Lanie admitted, "But it sounded like 'Jesse, don't leave me!'"

Rachel nodded slowly. "Yeah, that sounds about right," she said.

"Well? What were you dreaming about?"

"Just...my old life. Before Mr. Ryan's place, and before Pretty And Pink."

Lanie nodded understanding. "When you were a boy. Before Angelina found you."

"Yep. Back when I was Randy."

"Who is this Jesse?" Lanie asked. "Someone you knew?"

"Yeah," said Rachel. "I don't think I've told you about him yet, but..."

"Please do," said Lanie.

"Alright," said Rachel. "It all started three years ago..."

***

--The Year 2019--

Randy was strolling down the street with his older brother Freddie. The two of them had gone for a late-night walk in the park, but it was getting close to their curfew, and they had to get home soon. So that was where they were going.

"Do you really think Captain America's gonna die in Endgame?" Randy asked. The newest trailer for Avengers: Endgame had come out a few days earlier, and Randy and Freddie had spent the first part of their walk discussing it before inadvertently changing the subject. But now that they'd gone for a few minutes without talking, the hype for the upcoming movie was swimming to the front of Randy's mind.

"Of course," said Freddie. "Chris Evans has been talking about leaving the MCU for years now. If they kill him off, then that can be his excuse."

"I thought Robert Downey Jr. was the one who wanted out?"

"Him too. But I think it's more likely Captain America will die."

"I just hope Black Widow doesn't die," said Randy. He didn't like admitting it, but he kind of had a celebrity crush on Scarlett Johansson. She was one of the things that had drawn him into the MCU, and if her character was killed off...well, he didn't think he could bear it.

"Well, we'll find out soon..." Freddie trailed off. He and Randy had just rounded the corner of the street their house was located on. To both their shock, the house had been set ablaze. Flames roared all across the bottom floor, and they were quickly travelling up to the top floor.

"Oh no!" Randy gasped. "The house is on fire!"

"We've gotta call 911!" said Freddie. But when he got out his phone, he cursed. "Dammit! My phone's battery died!"

"The hose!" said Randy. "We can use the hose in our front yard!"

Freddie thought it was a stupid idea, but there was no time to argue. He took a deep breath and held it in as he ran across his front lawn to where the hose was coiled up beside the house. Freddie turned the hose's valve, then started spraying the house. At first, the walls just steamed when Freddie sprayed them, but then the flames started to die down.

"It's working!" Randy exclaimed.

"Don't celebrate yet," Freddie said as he continued spraying. Even with him spraying, the flames were still eating away at the house's walls. But after another minute, the hose's valve broke, and it stopped spraying water.

"No!" Freddie exclaimed. "No, no, no!"

"Get to the neighbors!" said Randy. "Get them to call 911!"

Just then, the boys heard a voice from above. They looked up at the second story of their house, where their mother was looking out the window and yelling "Boys! You have to get out of here!" Behind her, Randy and Freddie could see their dad, along with their sister Hailey.

"Oh no," said Freddie. He dropped the hose and ran for the front door.

"Freddie, what are you doing?" Randy asked.

"Mom and Dad-and Hailey-are in there," said Freddie. "Someone has to help." And with that, he threw the front door open and ran inside the burning building.

Randy just stood there, dumbstruck. Was his brother insane? He didn't have any breathing masks or fireproof clothing. He wouldn't last two seconds in there! But deep down, Randy knew Freddie was right. By the time the firemen got there, it would've been too late. His parents and sister would've died. For a second, Randy thought about rushing in to help Freddie. But then there was a loud cracking noise as the fire finally burned through the house's main support beams. The whole two-story house collapsed in on itself, setting off a small explosion in the process. The force of the explosion knocked Randy off his feet. When the smoke cleared, Randy looked up and saw that there was very little left of his house.

Randy knew his family could not have survived that explosion. He was now an orphaned, homeless 12-year-old boy.

To be continued...