Page 122 of Forever Never
She wanted to live.
She let out a broken cry when she finally made it around the car, crawling her way up the steep grade to Camille’s door.
“For the love of Ella Fitzgerald,” she whispered and wrapped her frozen fingers around the handle.
Tears froze to her cheeks as the door creaked open. Then she realized it wasn’t the door, it was the tree. There was a horrible splintering noise and then a groan.
It was going to give. And without that anchor, the car could fall.
Now or never.She reached inside, pushing the airbag down and fumbling for Camille’s seatbelt. Her friend was still horrifically motionless.
Don’t move an accident victim,she heard her mother’s voice clear as day in her head.
But it was either move Camille now or watch the car plummet to the bottom of a goddamn ravine.
The car slid another few inches forward, dragging Remi’s feet with it.
It took a long moment before she realized that the broken sobs she heard were coming from her.
“Come on, Camille. We’re not letting him win. This is not the end!”
Her fingers finally found the buckle and released it. Trying to figure out the best way to pull her friend from the car, planning swiftly changed to action when the first tree gave up its fight and cut through the beam of the headlight in slow motion.
“Shit!” Remi grabbed Camille by the shoulders and heaved.
She fell over backward, awkwardly dragging her friend’s unconscious body with her. She barely had time to get them both clear before the wreckage shifted and slid. Only this time, it didn’t stop. The weight was too much for the broken tree to bear.
With a terrifying snap, the tree and car disappeared into the black.
They were sliding, too. Slipping into nothingness as the wreckage crashed and crumpled its way down the steep incline. With one arm looped around Camille’s chest, Remi scrambled for a grip with her other.
Her arm struck something. Hard. She only imagined the sound of the snap, Remi told herself as pain lit up numb nerves.
Through the pain, she managed to curl her arm awkwardly around the thing, arresting their decent. She dug her heels in. And tried to breathe. Tried to think of what next.
The guardrail and road were above them. Somewhere. She didn’t know if it was danger or safety that waited.
“Fuck,” she whimpered through chattering teeth.
She closed her eyes and pictured her parents’ kitchen. The place she was happiest. She’d missed Christmas with them. Why hadn’t she gone home? Because she’d found out about Warren, she reminded herself. She found out her friend was married to a monster and didn’t want her to be alone with him.
What if that had been her last chance at Christmas morning with her family and the monster still won?
“NO!” she sobbed out the denial.
He wasn’t stealing anything else from her or Camille.
“Camille, we are going to climb up there, get some help, and we are going to put that motherfucker behind bars,” Remi whispered. Her friend remained motionless in her grasp.
“I know I give you shit for being so thin. But it really worked out in your favor tonight,” she said as she carefully set her heels in the snow and scooted a few inches up the incline. When she felt her footing was secure, she released her grip on the rock. Her arm sang when she tucked it under Camille’s. But it was either feel pain and move or feel pain and freeze to fucking death on the side of a ravine.
Or pass out from an asthma attack and let them both tumble into the dark.
Gritting her teeth, she leaned back, pulling Camille with her. Again and again. Inch by inch. There was no time. Only distance. Darkness. Cold. The hitching sound of her own labored breathing.
And then there was a flicker. Blue. Then red. Again and again. It landed on the brush surrounding them, lighting up the fog, painting the snow and her breath. Blue. Red.
There were voices now. And more lights.
