Page 16 of Untamed

Matteo’s voice is harsh against my ear, strained with panic. “Jordyn, stop, stop! It's not safe!”

Not safe?They’re trapped.They need me.

The world blurs at the edges. Sound bends and distorts like I'm underwater. The only thing that matters is them. With a surge of frantic strength, I break free, my feet barely touching the ground as I bolt forward.

“Jordyn!” Matteo’s shout is distant, fading behind the roar in my ears as I skid to a stop at the side of the car. Glass is scattered across the road, blood painting the twisted metal a sickening red.

“Mum,” I whisper, my voice cracking into pieces.

I see her first. She’s crumpled against the back seat, head slumped at an unnatural angle, her once beautiful dress now soaked in blood.

And then...my Dad. He’s slumped in the passenger seat, his body eerily still, his head resting against the shattered window, blood trailing from a cut at his temple. His hand hangs limply against his thigh, lifeless. The driver is wedged between the door and the guardrail.

“No,” I gasp, the word burning my throat. I reach through the broken glass, desperate, my fingers brushing my mother’s blood-slicked cheek.

“Oh God... Mum, please. Please open your eyes. Please don’t die. I'm right here. Can you hear me? You're going to be okay. Both of you, you're going to be okay...”

I sob so hard I can’t breathe, my chest caving in on itself. “Please don’t leave me!”

And then Matteo is by my side again. Stronger this time, wrapping his arms around me, dragging me back as I scream and fight him, clawing at the air, desperate to stay.

But the wreckage slips further and further away, swallowed by smoke, the wail of sirens in the distance, and the deafening sound of my own heart shattering into a million pieces. “No, please!” I wail, my voice shattering against the smoke-thickened air. “We need to help them. Matteo, my parents are in there! Please...we need to get them out of there!”

I claw at him, desperate, helpless, but Matteo only tightens his arms around me, grounding me when my legs buckle and give out. I collapse against him, sobbing into his chest. My bloodstained fingers curling into his shirt like I can anchor myself there...like if I hold on long enough, I can undo what’s happening. “Someone help them, please!” I scream. “Why is no one doing anything?! We need to get them out!”

“They're coming, Jordyn,” Matteo says urgently, his voice rough in my ear. “Help is coming, I promise.”

But I can't hear him. All I can hear is the roar of my own heart splitting apart inside me.

“Oh God, I can’t lose them...” I whisper, the words dissolving into a broken sob against his chest. “Matteo, I can’t lose them...I can’t...I can’t.”

Matteo holds me tighter, tucking my head under his chin as sirens wail somewhere in the distance, still too far away...way too late.

Red and blue lights strobe against the smoke, against the wreckage, against everything that still doesn’t feel real. Sirens tear through the air, growing louder, sharper, until they’re right on top of us.

Matteo tries to turn me away, shielding me with his body, but I fight him, struggling against his grip,desperateto see.

“No,” I sob. “I need to be with them. I need to?—”

“Jordyn, stop,” Matteo says, voice rough with something that sounds too much like pain. “You don’t want to see this, Tesoro.” I barely hear him over the chaos as paramedics flood the scene, shouting, running, pulling open the twisted doors of the car.

I catch a glimpse. Just one.

My father’s wedding ring, glinting under the flashing lights.

A scream builds in my chest, but it doesn’t make it out.

Matteo pulls me back again, one hand cradling my head against his chest as if he can shield me from the truth if he just holds me hard enough.

I squeeze my eyes shut, but it’s too late. The images are burned behind my eyelids.

Permanent and unforgiving.

The smell of smoke and blood fills my nose, thick and suffocating making my stomach churn. And somewhere, far away, someone is shouting orders, radios crackling, metal groaning as the jaws of life tear the car apart to get my parents out.

I feel so helpless. All I can do is cling to Matteo’s shirt, sobbing so hard I can barely breathe, as the world as I know it falls to pieces around me.

Matteo’s arms are locked around me, trying to pull me back, but I fight him with everything I have left, thrashing, clawing, sobbing.

---