Covet

| Aftermath

There are certain events that serve no purpose other than to separate us from the balance of normality. Gone was the melodic hum of distant traffic or any familiar sound.

The next few minutes were confusing. One moment, I was sitting with my parents around our oak dining table, dressed in a royal blue graduation cap and gown. In the next moment, their smiles slipped as something descended in a stream down my face. I touched my temple, my palm now slicked with blood. My parents morphed into corpses ripped straight from my nightmares.

My eyelids fluttered. I moaned as an ache tore through my limb; every muscle around it was interconnected with the site of my pain.

I cranked one eye open; the windows appeared buried by trees butted up against the doors with pine needles pressed against the glass. Leather slid under my fingertips as I found the door handle. I clasped it firmly and pushed outward, but it refused to budge more than a fraction. I fiddled with the belt with the other hand, but the lock wasn't releasing. I panted as my heart rate spiked. What if I was left here to die? After all, no one knows where in hell I am. There was no longer enough oxygen to inhale, and my breathing became frantic.

More silence followed. My imagination and sense of time continued to play games. The sudden images set everything out of chronological order, and I struggled to remember what came first.

In the distance, a wolf howled. A flurry of flashes blipped around the interior of the car. I blinked, adjusting to the darkness. I was facing south, suspended by the seat belt, while a continuous drip spattered on the plastic.

"Somebody help!" I croaked. I rattled the belt lock again. The flashes of light ceased. My face felt as if it had exploded. An acrid smell burned my nostrils. My fingers and toes were growing numb, and I didn't know if I had nausea, vertigo, or both. Never in my life had I been panicked to the point that I could barely move.

"Dana?"

I gasped; Paul's strained voice was a relief. I uttered a soft curse word and thanked God. How had he found me? More importantly, right now, I didn't give a damn. "Paul, the seatbelt won't open!" I rattled the belt again in demonstration.

"Stay put. The car is in a nosedive, and I don't wanna flip it. Only the bushes of the embankment are keeping it secure. Are you hurt?"

My trembling hands roamed down my legs. My thigh flinched. I touched my forehead and grimaced, finding a second source of pain. In the dark, my blood-slicked palm looked black. "I'm bleeding. Have you called someone?"

Paul's answer never came. Glass crunched underfoot as he walked the perimeter and peeped through the open windshield on his hands and knees. His shoulders sank, but he smiled. He used the tip of his boot to dislodge the remains of jagged shards.

"How did you know where I was? I thought you let me run?"

"You think I wouldn't try to follow you?" He scooted further under the windshield.

Even though I watched the darkness intently, when the outline of his face came into focus, it still made me jump. The swell of emotion that stirred inside my chest following Paul's omission was like a tidal wave.

"I want you to climb out through the windshield. You'll need to crawl."

I hoped he was joking. There was no way I could. There was also no way I was prepared to flip the car with one wrong move. I pressed the belt release again and again. A tear rolled down the bridge of my nose before the full wave of them hit, and I broke down. His cell light hit me head-on, forcing me to squint.

"Don't cry, Dana." His voice dropped by an octave, and I lost all strength as my tears morphed into heaving cries. "I'm not leaving you."

"The seatbelts aren't unlocking. Have you called someone? My head is pounding. My nose recoiled. "What's that god-awful stench?"