The curve around the hill brightened.
Then there was noise.
“DAD!” Theo lunged for the wheel as Henry jerked the Thunderbird to the right again, but it was too late. The sound of the semi’s horn surrounded them, and all Theo saw was white, blinding light.
White.
Then nothing.
A blur.
Sensation.
Flipping—
Turning—
Churning—
Falling—
Crushing.
PRESSURE.
HORRIFIC, NIGHTMARISH PRESSURE.
Shattering.
Groaning.
And then silence.
It wasn’t the sound of him screaming that caught up to him first—no, it was the horrible feeling of the car crumpling around him, the thick, sharp steel of the Thunderbird ripping and tearing at the force of the semi hit. The world turned upside down, then over again, over and over and over, twisting and compressing around him. The jagged, torn steel of the car cut through Theo’s body like butter, slicing through flesh as easily as a searing-hot knife, ripping him open and shredding his face. His nerve endings exploded into numbness, and the side of the car crushed his hip as it turned over and over again, tumbling down the hill and into the trees like a rock kicked down a mountain from on high.
He blacked out.
But just as quickly, he was back.
They’d stopped.
His heart thundered in his ears.
For a second, it was the only thing he could sense.
It was the only thing he could hear.
He opened one eye—he could only open one. As soon as he tried to blink, white-hot searing pain shot down his face, and he cried out, his limbs jolting at the feeling of it.
The crash had happened so fast, the pain hit before the sound did.
Then sound came rushing back, all of it at once, but as a ringing in Theo’s ears, a hissing noise, far off in the distance.
He could feel his life leaching away, warm and red, sticky, painting his vision vermilion.
And next to him, his father.
Henry’s chest rose and fell in slow, jerky breaths, trembling and held aloft by the seatbelt. His left hand still clutched at his heart, his face and snow-white hair were covered in blood, and the rest of his visible limbs were limp and wrenched at odd, uncanny angles.
