concealing ➸ tomlinson

Liv

"how long've we been driving?" he asked with a yawn.

michael shrugged. "half hour?"

luke glanced out the window and blinked a few times in slight confusion. "and we're in the mountains... huh. is the big secret a log cabin?"

"bad jokes are my thing, excuse me."

luke scoffed, then asked, "how do we legitimately know they're actually, you know, up to something? i'd sort of prefer it if we were chasing them and they weren't just going for a nice drive."

michael rolled his eyes and turned back around. to the upcoming right was a large lake, visible through gaps between the trees. it was sort of admirably pretty.

"hey."

courtney's voice brought michael to focus again on the car in front of them. both kris and jacob were turned around now. courtney glanced back and forth between michael and the other car.

"should i do something?" she asked.

michael shook his head. "i want to see if they're going to do anything."

"they're telekinetics, we're not going t-"

-

eventually, jacob finally turned to look back.

kris followed his gaze, beginning again to wonder what they were going to have to do in order to lose them. she supposed it was too much to hope for a diplomatic solution.

mere seconds passed. jacob put his hand up, waited for what could barely be defined as a hesitation. then he flicked his wrist to the left, hardly slowly. in time with the movement, kris watched as, all at once, the headlights blew out, the hood of the car crumpled, and the vehicle veered over to the left until it broke the fence and tumbled off-road.

jacob turned back around and exhaled. "there's a crossroad up ahead; we can make the turn back around there."

kris was still sitting there in numb, shocked silence. it felt like her heart had dropped into her stomach. memories of a similar incident started to resurface. she swallowed against a lump in her throat. was there even a chance any of them could've escaped?

-

"they're telekinetics, we're not going t-"

the sudden and intense sound of metal against metal jarred michael to attention. the car swung to the left, and he got just enough of a glimpse to see courtney's head snap violently to the left. there wasn't even a moment to be horrified; the car continued to swerve off-road, slamming into dozens of foliage before beginning to tumble and roll. there was screaming, although michael couldn't tell from who or if it were he himself. he knew his knuckles were white as he gripped to the seat-belt like it was his last lifeline. it felt like they were going to roll and fall forever.

just as suddenly as everything else, the car slammed to a violent stop, a muted roar hitting michael's senses. his body flew foreword and his head banged against the dashboard. the searing pain was one of many all across his body, which had to be more black and blue than anything else. michael kept his eyes shut in pain, wheezing as he tried to regain his breath.

"guys?"

slowly, michael turned to look at the other three. luke's nose was bleeding- badly and alarmingly, actually- and a small gash under his eye, among many forming bruises. ashton looked, physically, the best, with nicks and a raw area on his neck. calum's mouth was bleeding from the inside, and he coughed, drops of blood flecking the front seat. a welt had begun to form on his forehead. for maybe three seconds, they thought the worst was over.

then the car lurched again. less violently, but michael still grabbed the arm rest in a panic. he looked around frantically, and his rapid heartbeat further increased. the only reason they'd been stopped was from flying into the lake, of which they were now rapidly beginning to sink in.

'what... what happened?" ashton asked, a shake in his voice.

michael looked back at him just as the car lurched again, the water level climbing over the crumpled mess of the hood, and would soon leak through the cracks in the broken windshield. he swallowed- the metallic taste in his mouth tipped him off that he too was bleeding- and frantically tried to undo his seat-belt. soon he and the others were trying to force the doors open as well. luke winced as he brushed broken glass shards away and onto the floor.

calum was the first able to push open a door. at once, a flood of water came racing in. everyone went into a bit of a panic until ashton clamored over and forced it shut again. but by that point it was too late. the water logged the car down to the extent of when the roof finally ducked down under water level. what was left of the windows shattered in completely. michael took in a large breath just as the car was completely engulfed.

he didn't want to open his eyes. the fear was monumental, but the amount of air in his lungs was decreasing rapidly. the less he could breathe, the more he panicked. and, out of nowhere, someone's hand shook his shoulder. michael opened his eyes and screamed- which amounted to a couple dozen bubbles- and swatted it away by instinct. he inhaled.

the consequences were almost instantaneous. he tried to cough out the water he'd inhaled, which resulted in him only taking in more. it felt like his chest was going to burst out; the burning pain it caused him was overwhelming. time felt like it was stretching out with every individual second. after years of being able to only struggle with his chest on fire, the feeling suddenly started to fade. his panic, if he meant to or if it was a subconscious thing, he didn't know, melted into a bizarrely tranquil state.

michael's eyes fluttered shut, although there was still a muted awareness about him. he was just tired, lazy and tired. there wasn't enough left in him to see if his friends were okay; and deep down he knew they weren't, none of them could swim.

there was nothing to be done.

--

this chapter is sort of a two parter bc it was just too long for me to put in one update so expect part dos in a few days

also yes feel free to yell at me for killing five characters i feed off ur tears

stats;

date- november 25th, 2014
words- 2383
reads- 3,854
comments- 14
votes- 69