A deep sense of unease settled heavily in my chest as I watched the black Cullinan in the rearview mirror.
The road behind us stretched out in a blur of grey asphalt and scattered debris, but my eyes remained fixed on that single vehicle. Even through the dust and distance, I could see the way it moved—reckless, determined, refusing to fall back.
Harlan suddenly jerked the steering wheel, forcing his car sideways across the road. The heavy vehicle slid violently across the asphalt, its tires screeching against the ground as it turned at an impossible angle.
In one swift motion, the Cullinan blocked the last pursuer behind us.
For a brief second, it worked.
The road was completely sealed.
But the car chasing him didn’t slow down.
Instead, it crashed directly into the Cullinan’s driver side without hesitation.
Bang!
The sound exploded through the phone, loud enough to make my ears ring painfully.
"Don’t, Harlan!"
Riley’s voice cracked sharply, the sound raw and desperate.
Riley had always been fearless. Even when we talked about death before, she remained calm and almost indifferent to the idea. Ever since the mont our lives had started unraveling, she had already accepted that life could end at any ti.
She used to say it all the ti.
"Just live each day well."
She wasn’t afraid of dying.
But right now... she was terrified.
Not for herself.
For him.
"Harlan, are you okay?" she cried into the phone. "Say sothing!"
Her voice trembled uncontrollably, and she gripped the phone so tightly that her knuckles turned completely white.
"I won’t talk about divorce anymore, okay? Just don’t die. Please don’t die."
She turned toward , her eyes wide with panic and fear.
"There’s only one more intersection left. You just need to—"
Before she could finish speaking, sothing suddenly moved in my peripheral vision.
Another car.
It burst out from the opposite side of the green belt without warning, like a dark shadow lunging straight toward us.
For a split second, my brain refused to process what I was seeing.
There was no ti to react.
I spun the steering wheel hard, trying to avoid it, and slamd the gas pedal again.
The engine roared loudly beneath my foot.
But it was useless.
The car was already too close.
Too close to escape.
"ELena!"
Whitney scread my na.
Boom!
The impact ca like thunder crashing down from the sky.
tal twisted violently as the two vehicles collided. The horrible screech of grinding steel filled the air while glass shattered in every direction.
For a mont, all I could hear was the terrible grinding sound of the collision.
The world exploded into fragnts around as shards of glass flew toward my face.
The airbags deployed instantly, bursting open with a loud pop.
A blinding white light flooded my vision.
Then ca the crushing force of the impact.
My body slamd forward violently, and everything inside felt like it had been shaken loose. The world tilted and twisted sowhere far away, spinning like it had completely lost balance.
My consciousness began slipping away bit by bit.
No.
I forced my eyes open.
Whitney.
I turned my head with difficulty, my neck stiff and aching as I tried to look toward her.
She was trapped against the airbag, her body half-hidden beneath it.
Her hair had fallen across her face, and the white fabric of her dress was crumpled beneath the heavy airbag.
My arm moved instinctively, reaching out for her.
My fingers brushed weakly against her hand.
"Elena..."
Her voice was faint, almost completely lost beneath the ringing in my ears.
I wanted to answer her.
I tried to speak.
But no sound ca out.
Whitney... Riley... are you okay?
My throat felt dry and painfully tight. Every breath burned inside my chest as if my lungs were filled with fire.
Smack!
Riley’s phone suddenly flew forward from the back seat and landed near on the floor of the car.
The airbags pressed heavily against my body, making it almost impossible to move properly. My arms felt weak, and my legs refused to respond.
I couldn’t see Riley at all from where I was pinned.
The car had been pushed sideways during the crash.
When I finally managed to glance outside the shattered window, I saw the thick trunk of a roadside tree directly beside us.
We had slamd into it.
The entire vehicle had been forced against the tree like a crushed tal shell.
The front of the car was completely deford.
My eyelids felt unbearably heavy.
I was so tired.
More tired than I had ever felt in my life.
A strange voice in my head whispered softly, telling it would be okay to just close my eyes for a mont.
Just rest.
Just sleep.
But fear surged through imdiately.
If I fell asleep now... would I wake up again?
Or would I beco that drifting soul again?
The mory of that lonely, endless wandering filled with dread. I rembered calling for help again and again, but no one hearing .
No one answering.
I couldn’t go back to that.
Not again.
There were still too many things I hadn’t done.
I still hadn’t had a baby with Carter.
I still hadn’t seen him one last ti.
I hadn’t even watched Whitney walk down the aisle yet.
My sister’s wedding...
I promised I would be there.
Mom hadn’t given birth yet either. She was still waiting. I had promised her that I would stay by her side when the baby arrived.
And Riley...
We still hadn’t watched the sunrise together like we said we would.
So many promises.
So many unfinished monts.
A random thought suddenly drifted into my mind.
The little cat in Snowville.
It must have grown up by now.
It was probably still wandering around the house, waiting for to co ho.
Alive?
A faint sound reached my ears.
Riley’s breathing.
My chest loosened slightly.
Riley is okay.
That’s good.
That’s really good.
Riley... you have to survive.
You must.
My vision blurred slowly as darkness crept closer around the edges.
Carl...
I’m sorry.
The last thing I rembered was the faint sll of smoke and crushed tal filling the air as the world slowly faded into silence.
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