Screw it.
She backed out of the parking spot and headed onto the main road. She drove slowly, her windshield wipers working overtime as she leaned forward and looked out. There was a haziness in front of the car, the fog thick, the inside of the windshield starting to cloud. She cranked the heater, contemplating whether to pull off to the side and wait this out.
She reached out and moved her hand across the windshield, wiping away the condensation. She couldn’t drive like this, not when the weather was so turbulent and she could hardly see.
Hannah had to find a good place to pull off to the side and wait this out, hoping she wouldn’t be sitting on the side of the road for the rest of the night.
But she knew these mountain storms could rage all night—at least, that’s what the gas station attendant said.
She drove slow, taking the winding road, the forest on either side of her making the drive seem even more ominous.
Her tires caught a puddle of water and hydroplaned for a split second. A shocked cry left her, and she tightened her hand on the steering wheel to try to steady the vehicle. Once it straightened, she started pumping the brakes to slow down a little bit, her heart beating a mile a minute, nervous sweat starting to dot her temples.
But the rain came down harder and faster, visibility becoming all but zero.
She was frantically looking for a good place to pull off, but because the road was so narrow, the shoulders descending down into small ravines, she couldn’t pull off safely. And then she hit another puddle of water, the car hydroplaned harder this time.
Hannah squeezed her hands on the steering wheel and held her breath, trying to stay calm.
The weather, the anger... the unfair circumstance and situation of how life could be, had something breaking inside her. Her emotions spilled forth, and as they bubbled up, she finally let them free. There was nothing to hold them back.
Opening her mouth, Hannah let out the scream that had been festering inside her since her family and life had changed so drastically.
She screamed at the uncertainty of it all, at how unfair life could be. She screamed, because she felt helpless and hateful, because she felt this darkness trying to consume her.
She. Just. Screamed.
And when she hit yet another puddle of water, she made the mistake of pressing the brakes, which only made it worse. The car spun, her heart stopped, and the air left her lungs as she braced herself for the inevitable impact.
There was no stopping it, not as the car spun and the trees rushed right toward her.5The sky opened up just as Scars left the butcher shop. He was used to these mountain storms, especially for this time of year, and was versed enough in driving these winding roads that it wasn’t an issue for him to navigate with barely any visibility.
But it clearly was an issue for someone as he saw a set of taillights lit up off the side of the road.
The rain had eased up slightly, but it was still a heavy pour.
He pulled the truck to a stop on the shoulder and cursed as he saw the car had gone headfirst into a tree.
“Fuck,” Scars cursed under his breath as he put the truck in park and climbed out. He was soaked within a matter of seconds, but he was more worried about the passenger in the car.
Or at least he hoped there wasn’t a passenger in the car. He hoped they’d gotten out and were already on their way to town for help.
He made his way down to the vehicle, his footing slipping because the ground was turning to mud. Scars braced a hand on the side of the car and tried to look in the driver side window, but everything was blurry because of the water rushing down over the glass.
Gripping the handle, he wrenched open the door and cursed again when he saw a body slumped over the steering wheel. Definitely female. Small. Slender. Her head was turned, and her long dark hair was in a ponytail and tucked under a baseball cap.
“Hey," he said loud enough that if she was conscious she could hear. He touched the center of her back and spoke again, and after a moment, she groaned in pain. “Are you okay?”
She moaned and sat up a little bit, her head rolling on her neck slightly before she touched her fingers to her temples. Her hat was slightly skewed from the impact, and he reached out to gently pull it off and toss it on the passenger side seat.
She pulled her hand away, and Scars could see blood coating her fingers.
“Shit,” he muttered, not knowing how badly she was hurt, but understanding she needed to go to the hospital.