The drive home is silent.
I can feel the awkward tension fill the air until it almost becomes unbearable. Every now and then, I glance at Alex from the corner of my eye. Each time, his hands are tightly gripped around the steering wheel, jaw locked with tension. Beside me, Caleb exhales dramatically, glancing around the car to possibly find a topic of conversation.
“Great camping trip, right?” He says excitedly, glancing between me and Nikki. I give him a small smile in response and Nikki doesn’t acknowledge him at all. He rolls his eyes, muttering under his breath.
“Wow, tough crowd.”
“We just want to sit here in silence Caleb.” Nikki says quietly, glancing out the window. Her tone of voice is blunt and I warily turn my head towards her, studying her posture. She seems extra tense and I wonder if it has anything to do with the argument she had with Caleb just before we left the lake. I over-heard the word ‘period’ and considering how Caleb’s face paled afterwards, something wasn’t right.
“Wow, really tough crowd.” Caleb snaps back in response, his face scrunching up. He leans forward and turns the radio on. The music fills the silence in the car and I’m grateful for the change in atmosphere.
“Can you turn that up?” I ask to no-one in particular. Beside me, Caleb nods, bobbing his knee along to the music. He leans forward again, cranking the volume up until I can feel it pulsing through the seats. All of a sudden, the music stops abruptly and I glare at Alex who switched it off. His face is completely rid of expression and he’s staring straight ahead at the road.
“I prefer silence.” Alex says bluntly.
“Silence is suffocating.” I shoot back, catching eye contact with him in his rear view mirror. The hazel in his eyes are burn-ing intensely until I can’t keep looking any longer. I break the eye contact and face the window instead, staring aimlessly at the scenery flashing by.
“This is one of those moments where I want to curl up and die.” Caleb says loudly. He lets out a loud groan and leans back in his seat.
“Me too.” Nikki chimes in.
“Me three.” I mumble. In front of us, Alex slams on his brakes causing the car to come to a sudden halt. We all fly for-ward and Nikki lets out a small scream.
“Alex? What the hell?” I yell, trying to recover from the shock of almost flying straight out of the car from the sudden force. He spins around, glaring at all three of us. His face is a picture of anger and frustration all rolled into one. His eyes briefly scan over me, barely taking a second to linger.
“Shut up or you can all walk back.”
“Who pissed in your Weetabix?” Caleb jokes, his lips tugging up into a smirk. Alex shoots him a stern stare which causes Caleb to hold his hands up in the air as surrender.
“Sorry, I apologise.” Caleb mutters, shrinking back into his seat. I can’t help but let out a small giggle, amused at Caleb’s confidence. My reaction causes Caleb to grin smugly.
“Shut up Caleb.”
“Your panties are in a twist Alex. Do you want me to remove them for you?”
Nikki gasps at Caleb and I snort with laughter, slapping a hand over my mind.
“Ew, Caleb! You can’t cheat on me with Alex!” Nikki yells, slapping his shoulder lightly. I sneak a glance at Alex to find him breathing heavily, clutching the area between his eyebrows in distress.
“At least there’s no chance of me getting Alex pregnant.” Caleb mutters under his breath but we all hear it. A sudden si-lence falls upon us and my eyes widen in surprise.
“You’re pregnant?” Alex asks in shock. Nikki’s face twists up in pain and her eyes flit between Alex and Caleb. Her mouth is hung open in shock and she looks the definition of speechless.
“I – I – I can’t believe you told them Caleb!” She screams unhappily, her eyes filling with tears. I slowly inch myself away from them as much as I can. Beside me, Caleb slaps a hand to his forehead.
“Oops? It slipped out.”
“How can it just slip out? I don’t understand you Caleb! This is — ”
Her words are cut off because my ear splitting scream fills the air. From the corner of my eye, I notice a black sports car speeding down the road, heading straight towards us.
“Alex! Drive!” I scream, my heart lurching inside my chest. There’s no time to react, there’s nothing I can do as the car slams straight into the side of the car, spinning us straight off the road. The clanging of metal echoes through my mind as I squeeze my eyes shut tightly. I hear the screech of brakes, the burning smell of tyre in the air. I feel myself tumble over and over again as the car loses control, the sound of numerous screams mingling together.
In the spiral of craziness, I feel Caleb’s hand slip into mine, squeezing tightly. I clutch onto it, my body paralysing in fear. The car continues to tumble until it finally slams hard onto the floor, jerking our body into the side, hard. I groan out in pain and desperately try to open my eyes to make sense of the situation.
Everything is happening so fast.
“Alex?” I call out, my voice trembling in fear. I strain to make out the sound of his voice, hear that he’s okay.
“I’m here hermosa, I’m here.” He says quietly but I hear the edge of pain to his voice. The panic inside of me begins to increase but every time I open my eyes, blurred vision greets me.
“Nikki? Baby?” Caleb calls out, his voice desperate. We all quieten as we wait for her response, letting us know she’s okay.
Silence.
“Nikki?” Caleb yells, shuffling beside me. When I finally manage to pry my eyes open, I notice the car has tumbled on its side. My breathing hitches in my throat and begins to quicken up.
“Oh god,” I cry, my eyes wide with panic. The force of my headache is causing my stomach to twist viciously, making me want to hurl. I strain my neck, ignoring the shooting stabs of pain pulsing through it as I try to focus on Alex in the front.
He’s slumped over, bright red blood trickling down from his hairline. His eyes are partially open and his chest rises and falls heavily as he struggles to keep breathing. The rest of his body is limp, frozen in place.
“Alex!” I scream, reaching out. Beside me, Caleb groans loudly, twisting his body so he can turn to tend to Nikki.
“Nikki?!” Caleb shouts, the terror causing his words to tremble and shake. I blur out the sound of his urgent cries for help because all I can see in front of me is Alex’s eyes fluttering closed as he drifts in and out of consciousness.
“Alex, wake up! Alex!” I scream, suddenly tasting blood fill the back of my mouth. My chest heaves as I gather it in my mouth, spitting it out beside me. I can feel my mind begin to grow disorientated but the panic of seeing Alex in pain keeps me awake. He slowly stirs, his eyes fluttering open to look at me.
“G-get my gun.” He whispers, the blood from his head trickling down onto his lip. I frown in confusion, wanting to re-member where my phone is instead.
Why do I need his gun?
I should be calling an ambulance.
“N-no, we need an ambulance. You need an ambulance! It’s going to be okay.” I panic, desperately trying to search my pockets. The hissing of the vehicle intensifies and Alex yells out with as much strength as he can muster.
“Get my gun Ariana!”
I pause and look at the desperation in his eyes before nodding. I don’t know why he wants his gun but in that moment, I know I need to find it. I begin searching as best as I can, trying to avoid the way my neck screams out in pain when I move. Beside me, Caleb is desperately trying to wake Nikki up who’s lying completely still, her eyes firmly closed.
“I can’t find it!” I yell out in frustration, searching the front seats as best as I can. I suck in as much air as I can, trying to dissolve the height of panic in my lungs. The scent of blood and gas in the air is suffocating and I regret inhaling deeply. I can feel the poison fill my lungs and I cough, clearing my chest. When I look at Alex, his eyes are trained on me but I can see the sparkle in them slowly fading.
“You’re going to be okay,” I whisper, fumbling around in my pockets instead for my phone. I want to reach out and touch him but Caleb is in my way. Alex lets out a small whimper, his eyes drifting to something behind me instead.
“No!” He screams, his voice breaking. In that moment, my car door begins to pry open and I let out a scream of relief.
“Thank you! Please help us, we need an ambulance!” I yell out into the clear air. My throat begins to tighten but I need to speak louder until whoever it is can hear us.
“Ariana, no!” Alex screams, confusing me further. He lets out a pained cry as he tries to lunge forward but can’t due to his seatbelt restricting him from moving.
When I spin around, it dawns on me why he’s desperately trying to reach me.
“Caleb! Stop them! Don’t take her, please!” Alex pleads but it’s already too late.
Two hands reach inside the car, gripping hold of my shoulders tightly. The large hands press down forcefully, digging their nails in to ensure a tight grip. I flail around as much as I can, my arms and legs kicking out in refusal.
“No! Let go of me!”
The hands aren’t friendly.
The hands want to hurt me.
Me particularly.
I feel myself being dragged with so much force, it slams my body into the metal body of the car. I scream out in agony, squeezing my eyes shut as it consumes my entire body. The last thing I hear is Alex screaming my name. A thick hand is slammed against my mouth, muffling any sound I make.
Once a fist collides with the side of my head, I completely spin into darkness. The scent of blood sticks with me, filling my lungs until I’m drowning in it.