Final Destination: Dead Reckoning

Final Destination: Dead Reckoning
Author	Natasha Rhodes
Publication date	March 15, 2005
Published by	Black Flame
ISBN	1844161706
Publication Order
Preceded by	Followed by Final Destination: Destination Zero

Final Destination: Dead Reckoning is a novel by Natasha Rhodes released in 2005, the first of Black Flame's book series spun-off from the films.

Official Summary

An awesome new series of chillers inspired by the smash hit movie series.

When the nightclub that she's just been performing in collapses, killing everyone inside, Jess Golden is more than a little freaked out-she'd seen the whole thing happen in a vision only moments before. Already under suspicion from the police, Jess is implicated even further when the other survivors start dying mysteriously. As the death toll mounts a twisted plan is hatched so that Jess and her friends might live, a plan that may ultimately place them in further danger...

Enter the exhilarating world of the Los Angeles underground rock scene-Death's name isn't down but he's definitely coming in.

Plot

Chapter One

One Friday night, Jessica Golden was running away from her date after she stole his wallet. Jess climbed over a barbed fence and ran off. After checking if her date was still after her, she decided to go for a drink after spotting a nightclub. She entered the club and noticed the tall homeless guy in the corner, dancing to the PA music, but doesn't pay much attention to him. After showing her doctored ID to the bouncer, Jess entered the main dance floor, bustling with patrons dancing to the band, the Drills, playing on stage. She goes backstage to meet with her bandmates, Tony, Cassie, & Jamie. Together, they made up the band known as the Vipers.

After getting all set up, the Vipers were ready to play, with Jess leading as lead singer and guitarist. During their performance, Jess thought she was on top of the world when she noticed Charlie Delgado, the richest and most popular guy in her college, in the crowd. However, as the Vipers continued playing, Jess noticed cracks spreading through the ceiling. She tried to let her bandmates know, only for them to brush her aside. Suddenly, a girder suddenly fell from the ceiling and impaled Tony, killing him on the spot. Everyone in the club went silent before absolute panic filled the room when everyone made their way to leave. In the carnage, the club began to collapse with debris falling right on top of several staff members & patrons, including Cassie and Jamie. Being the only one left alive, the rest of the ceiling collapsed directly on top of her. She closed her eyes and screamed as a girder flew straight towards her...

Chapter Two

...and continued to scream until she realized wasn't dead. Jess opened her eyes to the crowd, who were looking at her in confusion. Jess looked around, seeing that her bandmates were still alive and looking at her with concern. Meanwhile, at the back door of Club Kitty, Officer Marina Hewlett was attempting to break in. She had gotten a tip about the club being used as a drug den. After considering her options, Marina shot her gun downwards into the lock.

Despite her premonition, Jess chose to lie about it, claiming that she saw a wasp. The Vipers resumed their performance, but Jess still couldn't shake off the feeling of dread. She tried to look at the ceiling for cracks but couldn't see properly due to the stage lights. In a split decision, Jess walked off to the side of the stage and her fears were confirmed: there were indeed cracks in the ceiling. Back over to Officer Hewlett, the bullet from her gun had not only broken the lock, but it had smashed through the wooden floorboards full of wires. It stopped after hitting a concrete pillar, the impact shaking dust off the wall of the dance floor below Marina. She checked her surroundings before opening the door and resuming her break-in. Unbeknownst to Marina, the wires that the bullet had gone through started to spark.

Finally deciding to take action, Jess ran back to her microphone, cutting her band's performance short. She told the crowd that that was their show and that the club was now closed. Tony pulled Jess away from the mic and asked what was wrong with her angrily. She told him about her vision, but Tony ignored her. Jess ran back to the stage and tried to encourage the clubgoers to leave. But the club manager took the mic away from Jess before she could continue. He told the crowd to wait patiently as they were dealing with "technical difficulties" whilst glaring at Jess in anger. The manager had the bouncer from earlier take Jess outside. As this was happening, the damaged wires had finally started a fire. It spread throughout the wooden structures of the floor, redistributing the weight of the concrete onto the metal beams that held up the ceiling. The ceiling began to sag inwards.

As Jess was being pulled outside by the bouncer, two jocks came up to her and began to mock her for her panic on-stage. However, a waitress chased the jocks, loudly screamed at them for all the times that the jocks had come in with fake ID, not paying for drinks from the bar, and trashing the place. Now outside, the bouncer lets go of Jess's arm. As the waitress continues to chase after the two jocks outside, Jess and the bouncer are soon joined by Jamie and Officer Hewlett, the latter of who was disappointed that her drug bust was a bust. Jamie comforted Jess, jokily telling her that to be thankful that she didn't break anything this time. The club then proceeded to collapse.

Chapter Three

Everyone dove away for cover. The dust settled as Club Kitty laid in ruins. TBA

Chapter Four

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Chapter Five

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Chapter Six

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Chapter Seven

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Chapter Eight

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Chapter Nine

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Chapter Ten

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Chapter Twelve

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Chapter Thirteen

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Main Characters

• Jessica "Jess" Golden: Attractive and tough as nails lead singer of the punk rock band The Vipers. The main protagonist, she foresaw the Club Kitty collapse while performing on stage. The eight survivor to die, she is electrocuted by a stun gun while crawling in a puddle, but is brought back to life alongside Jamie.
• Jamie: A gas station attendant, drummer of The Vipers and best friend of Jess, who he has a secret crush on her. The seventh survivor to die, he is shot in the chest while saving Eric from dying, but is brought back to life alongside Jess.
• Eric Prescott: A bullying college jock, delinquent and drug dealer. The ninth and final survivor to die, he dies after being struck by a metal-tipped surfboard.
• Ben: Eric's best (and possibly only) friend and sidekick; an extremely dim, borderline alcoholic. The sixth survivor to die, he dies after falling down an open manhole.
• Macy: A kindhearted waitress employed at Club Kitty. The fifth survivor to die, she was sliced in half by a fallen metal pane.
• Officer Marina Hewlett: A rookie cop with aspirations of moving up through the ranks and the one responsible for the Club Kitty disaster. The fourth survivor to die, she was bitten by a black widow and succumbed to it's venom.
• Charlie Delgado: A wealthy and popular, but shallow, college jock. The third survivor to die, he was crushed when the elevator came plummeting down on top of him.
• Amber: A ditzy sorority girl and one of Charlie's many female admirers. The second survivor to die, she was run over by Charlie's out of control car.
• Sebastian Lebecque: A gruff ex-convict and former gang member who works as the bouncer of Club Kitty. He enjoyed his job well, as, essentially, it meant that he can beat people up and take any contraband on them. The first survivor to die, he was killed when his motorcycle exploded from a thrown-away cigar that landed in the opened gas tank while he was riding it.
• The Homeless Man: A wandering vagrant obsessed with the moon who has knowledge of Death and it's design. Implicated as having foreseen the collapse of Club Kitty along with Jess, his nonsensical rants occasionally contain useful information. His origins, and even his name, are never revealed.
• Death: A primordial force of nature, it begins killing off the survivors of the Club Kitty collapse one by one, in the order they were supposed to die in the disaster. Though normally working invisibly and "behind the scenes" it's true form, an impossibly large and horrific monstrosity composed of shifting bones and corpses, is briefly seen by Macy and Jess in their dreams.