They almost hit me, I realize, fighting to catch my breath.
They almost killed me.
My vision goes red, and fury overtakes the fear I’m feeling. There’s a loose brick from the doorway at my feet, and I don’t think twice about bending down to grab it. I raise it above my head, screaming, before slamming it down on the hood of the car, over and over again.
As if that broke some kind of spell, the car jerks into reverse, tires screeching before it peels away.
Oh, fuck that. I jog forward and throw the brick I’m holding after it, missing by a mile, and then bend down to grab a rock and throw that too.
“You better fucking run!” I scream after it, wishing I had more to throw. “Coward!”
My voice sounds foreign, raw. I’m shaking, I notice. Trembling so hard my teeth are chattering.
“Miss?” Someone steps forward from the crowd of people watching. “Are you okay? Do you need me to call someone for you?”
Call someone. Yeah, I need to call someone, I need someone who can help me, who can keep me safe. My fingers fumble for my phone, and I hit the first contact my thumb finds.
“Babygirl?” Ashton’s voice is bright when he picks up. “Holy shit, I’m so glad you called!”
I don’t answer right away, still shaking and trying to catch my breath.
“Syd? Is everything okay?” he asks.
“Sorry,” I blurt out. “Sorry I…misdialed.”
I hang up before he can say anything else, staring at my reflection in the black screen. I called him. Not the police, not Jade. Him.
After pushing them all away, at the first sign of trouble, I’m calling them to save me.
Good progress, Syd. Really working hard on that independence thing, huh.
My phone pings once. Twice. I shove it back into my pocket, too overwhelmed with everything to deal with it right now. The crowd around me has grown, and suddenly I’m surrounded by concerned faces, bystanders wanting to help. Someone is already on the phone with the cops, reporting what happened. Someone else is asking if I need a ride to the hospital to get checked for injuries.
Shaken, I tell them all I’m fine. I’m okay.
But what the hell just happened? Was this a drunk driver? Someone texting while driving?
Why would someone target me?
Ping.
Ping.
Ping.
Suddenly, my appetite is gone. I abandon my quest to get food and slip away from the crowd, deciding I’d rather just go home to shower and change into my pajamas, pho be damned. And even though my nerves are frayed, and I’m still sick with fear, I manage to fall asleep almost instantly when I finally crawl into bed.
Ping.
15
ASHTON
“Answer the phone, you goddamn bastard,”I growl into Doc’s voicemail.
I’m going to lose my mind. After the countless messages I’ve sent her, Sydney finally called me. I don’t think I’ve ever been so relieved in my whole life. And then she was gone.
Just a few words, but I heard it in her voice. She was scared. She hung up before I could get a grasp on the situation, and now I’m sitting here with seven unanswered text messages, leg shaking, and waiting for Sebastian toanswer his goddamn phone.
