Page 97 of Love is Angry

The road ahead is relatively clear. Robert’s is on the far south side of Ithaca. Our dorms are all the way over to the north. I’m not taking the downtown route, though. The so-called belt road may be less traveled and a lot darker, but it’ll take me straight home in less than thirty minutes. I turn on the radio. Indie rockfloods my car, though it doesn’t do much to soothe my ragged soul.

Darkness surrounds me on both sides now as the road takes me through a strip of forest. Oak trees and chestnut trees rise like giants in the night, their crowns stretching overhead.

My headlights shine brightly enough to give me a clear view ahead. To the left, occasional flickers of Ithaca’s lights can be seen through the thinning woods. To the right, there are no more trees. A lake reaches all the way to the side of the road, separated only by a metal barrier and tufts of brambles and bushes. Moonlight dances across the surface of the water—white flakes of diamond dust rippling in the night.

But it’s the light in my rearview mirror that flashes and draws my attention.

“What the…”

It’s a pair of bright white eyes, accompanied by the startling roar of an engine.

They’re getting bigger. Instinctively, my grip on the wheel tightens.

My foot pushes the pedal to the floor, but my body knows what’s going to happen before it happens. Behind me, the big SUV rumbles and accelerates, as if excited by my reaction. My blood runs cold as I realize it’s coming up on my left.

I can’t see the driver, but the vehicle is a mastodon. A big black thing with a loud engine designed to intimidate. It moves closer, pushing me to the right. But there’s nothing but water to the right.

He’s trying to drive me off the road.

“Son of a…”

I try to go faster, but he keeps up, always to my left, always inching closer.

Adrenaline rushes through my body. I can’t take my eyes off the road. I can’t even reach my phone to call Rhue or the policeor anyone who could possibly help. Fuck, I’m on my own out here, and it doesn’t take long for me to put two and two together.

“Jake.” His name comes out through gritted teeth.

Fright is quickly replaced by fury. No one is driving me off the road tonight.

He’s trying to scare me. These tactics won’t work, though. Not when I can see right through them. Determined not to let the devil win tonight, I glimpse a poorly lit sideroad ahead, stretching left and back into Ithaca—into the warehouse blocks that line the eastern side of town. I can take the downtown route, still, if I manage to shake this bastard off.

I keep my car at its maximum speed, noticing that the SUV maintains a couple of inches at a steady and equal velocity. When he least expects it, I slam on the brakes and hold the wheel tight as the Prius begins to wobble a bit, first left, then right. I’m losing traction, but I’m also losing the SUV. He’s still going fast. By the time he realizes what happened, I’ve turned a tight left onto the side road.

My knees are jelly, but I made it.

The rest of the journey back to the dorms doesn’t make me feel any better. I feel like I’m still being followed. Whether it’s that SUV or some other car, it doesn’t matter. I can’t tell, anyway. There’s a steady flow of traffic going through town and towards campus—as it should be on a Saturday night.

I’m shaking like a leaf but I manage to drive myself all the way up into the campus parking lot. What the hell was that about? What was he trying to prove? Or was it really just a blatant attempt to push me into a fucking lake? If Julian thinks he’s going to scare me into submission, he’s got another think coming.

Oddly enough, despite being scared out of my mind, I’m also furious. The audacity on these people to come after me like this. How dare they? No, I have had enough. No more!

The bright white headlights come up in my rearview mirror again.

A black SUV.

“Motherfucker!” I shout and swerve right, then bolt towards the campus security offices. Whether it’s Jake or some other goon hired by Julian, they’re not going to torment me here. Not on campus. This is my turf! Cornell is sacred.

I practically jump out of my car just as the black SUV pulls up behind my car. I’m running, now. Someone else is running after me. Their footsteps are frantic taps on the hard asphalt. I am breathless, but campus security is within my reach. I can see their posters on the front door.

“Get away from me!” I cry out, tears stinging my eyes.

“Maddie, wait!” Rhue’s voice comes from behind, and the nightmare just—fizzles away.

I stop and take a few deep breaths. He reaches me in the blink of an eye, placing his hands on my shoulders. One look at his face and I crumble. I fall apart, piece by piece. Shaking and crying, I throw my arms around his waist and throw myself in an embrace. Without saying anything for a while, Rhue holds me tightly, his heart beating against mine.

“Maddie.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know that was you,” I say. “Some guy with a black SUV tried to run me off the road earlier. I thought you were him.”

---