CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE #3
I see Sebastian sneering through the windscreen of his car when he charges at us. I scream when the car jolts, and I nearly lose control of the steering wheel as the car swerves to the side.
“What just happened?” Landon yells. “Paisley?”
“He hit us,” I shout. “He slammed into the back of us. My car. My fucking car.”
“Record it,” Reid orders. “Fucking record it on the live. Summer, you will be okay, baby. You will be okay.”
He’s going to hit us again. I know it. “Please, someone...” I scream loudly as the car pitches to the side once again. Cars on the other side of the road move out of the way, but I barely miss the parked ones on the left. “He’s going to kill us.”
“No, he won’t,” Reid promises. “We’re coming, baby. We’re coming.”
“Whilst that comforts me, we are fifteen to twenty minutes away from our town’s police station. This little village barely has homes, let alone a police station. We will need to go down a country road in a minute and I don’t like them when I’m not being chased by a maniac,” I state calmly.
“Police are tracking you. I sent them the link to track the car,” Liam announces, sounding further away.
“We will talk about the tracker later,” I grit out as I turn into the road that will lead us out of the village and toward our home town. Paisley reaches over me, keeping her head out of my line of sight. “What are you doing?”
“Putting on your seatbelt,” she whispers, tugging it over my arm.
“Fucking hell, drive, Liam,” Landon roars. “Paisley, put your fucking belt on too.”
“I am,” she promises. “I’m sorry. This is my fault.”
“No, it’s not.”
“I shouldn’t have gone. To... to check out the building. I shouldn’t have antagonised him. Summer told me to call you. I didn’t. I...”
Landon clears his throat. “You were thinking of the future,” he rasps.
“You’re my future,” she hiccups.
Sebastian tries to come in from the side, but I quickly move to the centre, which pisses him off more.
He rams into the back corner, jerking the car.
The front wheels slide right whilst the back twist left.
I tense, glancing in the mirror once more as I straighten the car.
If we want to get out of this, I have to do something instead of playing chicken with my car.
I have been lucky so far that no car has approached us. It’s only a matter of time.
Six minutes later, Paisley cries out, “Lights.” She points at the road ahead, and not far in front are flashing police lights. “The police. It’s the police.”
I breathe a sigh of relief, when Liam mutters, “There’s a cut off road coming up in just over a mile.”
“Okay... What the fuck does that mean?”
“It means he’s going to get away before the police get to him and you,” Reid groans. “If you can see them, so can he.”
“There’s police behind us,” Paisley informs the group on the other end of the phone. We share a look, before I look away, clenching my eyes closed for a second. “He will be caged in if we—”
“No,” Landon screams.
Paisley gives me the nod and places her hand on my leg.
“Hold on,” I warn and shove my foot down on the brake, closing my eyes as he smashes into the back corner of my car. The car spins out once before it feels like we are airborne. I pray to God that we survive this.
My head smacks against the window next to me as a scream tumbles from my throat. Paisley cries among the sound of tyres spinning on the asphalt. The car rolls down the bank, smashing glass that cuts into me as we descend.
“No, no, no,” I hear screamed and I don’t know who it is over Paisley’s and my own cries of pain.
Crunching metal deafens me as my body aches each time my side hits the ground. Finally, we come to a stop after what feels like minutes of rolling. The car wobbles on its roof as burnt rubber fills my nostrils, making my eyes water.
Oh God, I inwardly groan.
Blood rushes to my head as a throbbing in my skull kicks up. It’s worse than I ever thought it possibly could be after this morning.
When I hit the brakes, I didn’t expect this. I didn’t expect to go tumbling off the road.
“Paisley,” I hear roared when everything becomes clear. Dust, dirt and smoke fill the car as I try to find where the sound is coming from.
“Summer,” Reid screams. “Talk to us.”
I feel like my head is conjuring up his voice, knowing I need him right now.
Something compressing on my chest makes every breath painful when I try to unclip the belt.
Paisley. I have to get to Paisley. She dangles in much the same position as me, except her hands are pressed against the roof as she tries to hold herself up.
“Paisley,” I choke out, feeling lightheaded. “Are you okay? Paisley?”
Tears sting my eyes because I shouldn’t have stopped like that. I should have let the police do their job.
“I’m okay,” she assures me, her voice shaky.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know,” I choke out, trying to reach for her.
“I’m... I’m okay. But you’re bleeding,” she warns me, and I feel her hand reach up to touch my head.
I glance her way to see her move her hand, which comes away covered in blood. Our hair brushes along the roof of the car when I move to get a better look outside. The window screen is covered in what has to be weeds. I try the belt again, needing to get it unclipped so we can get out.
“How far did we roll?” I question.
“It was five times,” Paisley replies, reaching for her own seat belt. “I think we are near the tiny stream. I can hear water. It’s probably why we rolled the way we did.”
“I’m sorry. I braked,” I rasp, not blaming her if she never forgives me. “It was so stupid.”
“Don’t be. He was going to hit us anyway,” she points out softly. “I think it probably helped that you braked otherwise we might have been thrown further. We had to stop him so the police could get him.”
Sirens and voices fill the air. “Summer?” Reid roars. “Summer? Paisley?”
“Are you hurt?” Landon barks. “Goddammit, Paisley, answer me.”
“Stop yelling,” she whimpers. “My head hurts.”
“Let us fucking through,” Reid barks. “That’s my girlfriend and sister down there.”
“You’re really here?” I ask, feeling so much relief, tears slip down my cheeks. “Reid, you need to help Paisley.” Smoke seemed thicker her side.
I flinch when something hits the car, making a loud sound. I hear footsteps in the grass next, but I still scream when a hand reaches for me through the window.
“Hey, Sunshine, it’s me. It’s just me,” Reid assures me. “I’m going to get you out.”
I stare into his eyes, seeing how freaked out he is. “I’m okay. I’m really okay, but I can’t get the belt off.”
“Normally we wouldn’t risk moving you, but the engine is smoking,” he warns me.
We?
I turn back to check on Paisley and see Landon lying on his stomach, sticking his head through the broken window. “I got you, baby. I got you,” Landon soothes Paisley.
I glance back at Reid, grabbing his wrist when he goes to touch me. Black dots fill my vision. “I need you not to freak out,” I whisper, so I don’t freak Paisley out more than she already is.
His eyes soften as he scans my face. “Too late, Sunshine. I’m already freaked out.”
“No, not...” I try to lick my dry lips but my mouth is dry too. “I’m going to pass... to...”
The last thing I hear is him cursing into the car, but it’s the pressure on my chest that I feel before I everything goes black.