Rivulets of blood drip from my knees. I sway for a few moments, fighting the exhaustion. I ran two miles through the woods, my body not used to such physical exertion. The pause is long enough for my brain to become aware of a car’s low rumble in the distance. I make a break for the bridge, needing to hurry.
My shaky muscles protest as I climb the railing, holding the trusses for balance. If I jump headfirst, my chances of breaking my neck would be good since it’s usually shallow. I look down.
Shit.
The flooded river is flowing rapidly from all the rain. Lightning strikes a tree somewhere off in the distance, the sound reverberating through my ears, causing me to hesitate as a memory flashes into my mind of a stormy night eight years ago…
Thunder shakes the house. I close my eyes, imagining Mama and I in a world far away from here. A place where the sun shines as a promise to a new day that we don’t have to live in fear rather than bringing light to remnants of the nightmares that come alive in the dark.
A loud crashing sound in the distance breaks me from my daydream. Daddy comes running into my room. “Get up! Get your sorry fucking ass up now!” He grabs me tightly by the arm and yanks me out of my bed,causing me to smack my head on the dresser.
He doesn’t give me a chance to put my shoes on as he drags me out the front door. It doesn’t take long for my eyes to focus in on the cause of the crashing noise from a few minutes ago. A single headlight illuminates a path to a car crushed against a tree.
Not just any car—Mama’s car. Fear and panic flood like raging rapids through my veins and my heart constricts in my throat. NO! Please, God, not her! Let her be ok!
Daddy drags me closer… The emergency lights can’t blind me from the horror unfolding in front of my eyes.
Her blood spatters the windshield, there’s no life beyond her closed eyes—she’s gone. My screams pierce the night at the sight of her mangled body crushed between the seat and steering wheel.
Daddy lets go of my arm and rushes to her door. I collapse on my hands and knees on the muddy ground, my world shattering to pieces. Every hope, every dream, my only solace in this chaotic world…just gone in an instant.
She had fallen asleep at the wheel because she was so tired after working her eighth sixteen-hour shift at the hospital. Mama sacrificed herself day in and day out. The more money she made and handed him, the happier he was, resulting in less violent outbursts. She worked herself to death because of him.
For me.
The guilt eats a little more of my soul each day. I forgave her for being too afraid to leave, even if I couldn’t understand. She always said she was afraid of what he would do to me to punish her if he caught us on the run.
Some fates are worse than death. I’m not afraid to die. I stare into the rapids—looking more like a sweet promise than a raging threat. I can’t swim, nor will I try to. I only hope my body is swept away and not recovered until I’m far away from here.
I hesitate slightly, long enough to hear the approaching car rounding the curve. It slams on its brakes, mud spraying through the air as it skids to a stop just before the bridge.
Shit. I’ve been spotted.
A man exits the vehicle, his large frame illuminated by the headlights. It’s not the police. He inches closer, staring dead in my eyes. The rain soaks through his white T-shirt, leaving nothing about his bulky muscles to the imagination.
I’ve never seen him before and judging by his fancy car, he’s definitely lost. Nobody within fifty miles of Whiskey Rivers has that kind of money.
Panic floods through me, I can’t give him a chance to talk me down. Without another thought, I jump headfirst into the rapids, hoping my neck cracks at the bottom.
The icy water is a harsh comparison to the scorching heat we’ve been dealing with all summer. It’s like nails are being driven into my lungs as I inhale under water, desperation clawing at me to hurry up and end this.
I pray for the rapids to swiftly carry me away, but instead I’m slammed headfirst into a rock, knocking me unconscious—into the oblivion, drifting into sweet nothingness.
It’s peaceful here.
Chapter 2
Nick Ryker
“Reckless” by Seth Anthony blares over the radio as I slide around the deep curves of this backcountry road headed back to the coast. I went to see a man about a horse at some backwoods county fair earlier. I might’ve had a little too much to drink at that giant house party and didn’t want to risk running through a roadblock on a main highway.
If you’ve never been to Mississippi in July, you aren’t missing a damn thing. It’s hotter and muggier than Satan’s ass crack. If the heat doesn’t kill you, the humidity will. However, if you want to feel like you’re trying to breathe with your head in a heated fishbowl, it might be the place for you.
The air conditioner in my car picked a great time to call it quits.
The visibility on the red dirt roads is bad on a normal night. I can’t see for shit and can’t roll the windows down because it’s pouring rain.
Fuck me.
