Run

Abscond • 1

       THE ALCOHOL BURNED in Kiera Cohen's throat. She was intermittently blinded by colorful, flashing spots and the crushing pain she felt on her temples created a dangerous temptation to lift her hands from the wheel and press against them.

       One drink, she had told herself. A single, mild drink and then she would leave the trap party her older brother, Cory, had hosted. But one drink turned into two, and two turned into three, and three turned into a myriad number of shots and random combinations of liquor her body was definitely not accustomed to. She usually hated partying and the byproducts of attending one, but Cory had insisted that she get out of the house and enjoy the prime of her youth before taking care of their mother and working at the hospital day and night could rob it from her completely.

       She only ever left the house if she went to work or the diner her mother worked at. Other than that, she was used to living in silence. Simultaneously, though, she wanted to see her brother again. He had gotten into community college with a full scholarship and she hadn't seen him for three years. So when she received his text asking her to come to his party, she was beyond ecstatic.

       But he ditched her as soon as he opened the door just like he ditched her and Mom when he moved out.

       Kiera joined the college kids and found that just like them, she was far from home and trying to make it in this unforgivable world. She herself was surprised by the dares and flirtatious comments that left her mouth after a few drinks. When she threw up, she realized her mistake and immediately left.

       Not only was her BAC probably higher than the minimum standard, she still had two years until she could legally drink. Luckily, there were no highways between Cory's campus and she knew the streets in her deceptively quiet town like the back of her hand. The only problem that seemed to present itself was the dark and her worry that because her head was not aligned, neither would the wheels of the car be.

      She let out a sigh of relief by the time she came to the only road that led into the entrance of her town and read the sign that said: Welcome to East Vienna.

       The densely packed trees had become an army of trunks with feathered arms. They swayed against the black curtain draping the sky. The headlights to her aged vehicle barely bleached the pavement in front of her and the heaviness in her lids was not helping. Her shoulders gave out an uncontrollable shiver at the thought of being in a situation parallel to a scene in a horror movie. She looked up to her rearview mirror to check if anyone was sitting in the back. She could barely make out the lines of an empty seat but it was enough to untangle the knots in her stomach and quieten the audible thudding in her chest. She shifted her eyes back on the road only to suddenly yank her steering wheel to the right and slam onto the brakes.

       A woman stood on the middle of the road.

       Kiera saw her fast approaching figure after the friction between the tires and concrete rendered a halt. The woman was coming up to the side window and Kiera sunk into her seat and hugged her arms. This was worse than having the paranormal sitting in the backseat. There was an urgent knocking on the window and the teenager squinted to better see the woman through the partially opaque window.

       She saw her press her face into the window and cup the sides of her face so she could see the inside of the car. All Keira could catch sight of were her penciled eyebrows and wiry arms before the knocking made her headache worse than ever.

       She let out a shaky breath and reached over the passenger seat to roll the window down.

       "Hey, sweetie, can I hitch a ride?" The woman leaned against the window with one arm only while her other arm seemed to be behind her back. She was wearing a pink formal dress with a sweetheart neckline that hugged her bodice; she must have been on a date before this.

       "But where was her date?" Kiera thought.

        "Are you okay, sweetie?" The woman said that same endearment again but it felt bitterly used. Her mom called her the same thing but hearing it come from this person's mouth made Keira do anything but be inclined to reply. She had no idea what to do in this situation. The woman clearly appeared distressed from her unruly black hair to the slight edge in her tone implying that her being in the car was absolutely necessary.

       "Yeah, I am," Kiera finally replied. She had slipped out of her dilemma and picked the choice that was in range to her nature. "Are you okay, though? Where do you need to be?"

       "Why, you are such a darling! I just went on a walk and lost track of time, that's all." Her voice was too high pitched and her excuse didn't add up.

       "Who goes on a walk dressed up like that?" Kiera thought. Last she had checked the time, it was fifteen minutes until two in the morning. Kiera searched the woman's grey eyes for any hint that she may be lying, but could only detect an exuberated confidence being channeled from her.

       "Well, are you going to open the door?" The woman asked with impatience coated in a sweet tone. The hammers from within Kiera's head had no empathy nor patience. The whole situation felt analogous to having one's glasses fogged up after having an unexpected confrontation with steam.

       "Oh, yeah, I'm sorry," Kiera blubbered. Her hand hovered over the door handle for a second, but she opened it anyways and let the woman come in.

       The woman shifted in her seat and scrambled for the seat belt with one hand before clicking it. Kiera didn't want to look the woman in the eye again, opting for focusing on shifting the gears until she was back on the road again over small talk.

       Her mind burned now. She couldn't decide whether she agreed to let the woman come in because she had been raised to help others or because she didn't want the guilt of going home alone to consume her conscious.

       The sound of the car slowly moving across the road wasn't enough to fill the silence they were knee deep in. The tension built into the atmosphere and the heat in the car put Kiera on the brink of suffocation. She gripped the steering wheel out of fear's subconscious demand. She counted her breaths and felt the tension climb into her body as she gradually pressed the accelerator. Releasing a slow, controlled breath, she finally decided to make conversation.

       She opened her mouth and turned her head by an inch only to see the silver glint of a knife come straight at her.

       The next few minutes were extended into a hell Kiera Cohen never thought she would experience.

       The wheel was jerked and there was a violent bang of metal against metal. Kiera felt the powerful force of the airbag meet her chest. Her muscles could do nothing for reaction time less than a second. Momentum became a merciless enemy.

       The woman flailed her arms and legs to search for something to hold onto only to smash against the window. There was a scream so loud the universe should've been able to hear it. A shattering of glass and audible crack of bones followed. The tires of the car yanked across the road, mimicking the sound of someone dragging their nails across acrylic glass. Kiera's ears absorbed everything in a dreadful sequence before she slipped into a state of unconsciousness.