HA! HAHAHA I heard Janae's hysterical laugh. "He might have an anureyreusm; I told you, Pa, he's retarded in some way," she said, snickering. The mayor glared at her, gesturing her to behave. She looked away a little embarrassed.
I ignored her, focusing instead on the disorienting swirl of colors and shapes around me. Everything was blurring together—the world was slipping through my fingers like sand. But even in this haze, I could feel it. The tingling in my spine, the presence of something sinister lurking just out of sight. The grotesque smile stretching from ear to ear, the hollow eye sockets—they were there, waiting for me to falter, waiting to tear me apart piece by piece.
"You enjoyed it, didn't you? you son of a b-tch" I muttered under my breath.
"Wisg..." I heard Mom's mumbling from behind. I looked back and thought back on our moments of hostility. Did she deserve this?
"I might be the last person you look at." I sighed, grunting jokingly, while she lay there fighting for her life.
"Carry her out!" the mayor barked, his voice commanding and urgent.
"We need to get her to the town hospital as soon as possible!!" Janae screamed, her usual bravado replaced by genuine panic.
"I know, I know," I muttered, more to myself than anyone else, as I struggled to lift Mom's limp body, draping her arms over my shoulders and dragging her out of the cursed house.
"Call 911!!" Janae yelled at her father, who was fumbling nervously with his phone.
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"What?? NO!" I yelled at them, my voice trembling with disbelief. Their plan was insane and reckless. Mom had started to bleed from her ears—a sign that things were going from bad to worse. And still, there was no sign of Dad or Kiara. Time was slipping away from us like sand through an hourglass.
"It's the only way, my boy," the mayor said softly, sympathy in his eyes as he looked back at Mom, who was convulsing in the backseat of our car. Her eyes were wide with terror, her mouth moving soundlessly as she tried to tell us something, anything, but the words wouldn't come.
I clutched her hand as hard as I could. I heard it was effective in letting people know that they have support.
"You don't understand, I still don't have my driver's license." I gulped; thinking about me driving just makes me sh-t my pants. I've been yelled at by my instructors multiple times for taking the wrong turn or not putting my seat belt on. My parents straight said they would never personally get me a vehicular gift since I was not very gifted in the area.
And now, here I was, the one who had to drive my mom to safety. How the tables had turned.
"Ah, driver's license, schmiver's license," Janae scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Any dumb dog can drive a car. Just press the accelerator and the brakes when you need to and drive! What's so hard about that?"
"Umm, everything you just said?! Do any of you know how to drive a car?" I shot back, frustration and fear making my voice sharp. They looked like the kind of villagers who had never left this godforsaken place, convinced they knew everything because the forest was the farthest they'd ever been.
The father-daughter duo looked at each other and shrugged. God, idiots.
"I need to find dad." I said, but Janae stepped on my foot. Owww! you don't need to be so harsh, I thought.
"There's no time! Your mother looks like she is passing on to the light. We need to get her some medical assistance, and the nearest hospital is miles away!!" the mayor (?) emphasized.
"We NEED to go now, and you NEED to drive!" she said.
I sighed. It looks like we're doing this.
I put on my seatbelt and went through everything I learned step by step. I need to do this right, or the forest might claim its next victim due to its gravelly roads. I looked back at the house one more time, feeling shame that I didn't even bother to find my father and my sister and being selfish to risk their lives for my mom's. Mom wouldn't be happy about this.
"Sorry guys, but it's you or nothing." I whispered, clutching at the gear.