"My dad told me to come home early, you think we could leave?" She looked hopefully.
I knew she was doing it on purpose for me, not wanting me to feel bad about having to leave. I appreciated it and once again I was reminded why she was deemed as the nicest girl in our class.
I nodded.
"Do you want me to drive?" She offered. I shook my head, assuring that I would be fine. I think I should have let her but even though I drank a lot more, she seemed to be tipsier.
The car opened with a beep and I got into the driver's seat. It would take around 10 minutes to drop her off and then another 10 minutes for me to get home. I opened the windows slightly, thinking that the fresh air would unwind me a bit.
My chest started feeling tighter and if I was an old man, I'd think it was a heart attack.
It was a slow drive. I felt like I had to drive slower to compensate the haziness, I didn't want us to accidentally crash. It wasn't as if I felt sick or wanted to throw up.
It was a strange feeling. More like a really bad acid trip. There was a certain foreboding lingering in the air.
I don't usually believe in things like these, yet, sometimes I would notice that my parents' fights were always preceded by me feeling uneasy.
Even though there weren't any hints, no way I could have known something of the sort was about to happen, I would get a bad feeling.
It led me to think that maybe it was possible to get a glimpse of whenever something bad would happen, even if it was just a feeling.
It's strange and unrealistic. I am definitely over thinking it because I'm drunk.
"Can't believe there's so much traffic at 11:00 pm" She murmurs, looking around for a short route. Before we merge into the main road full of traffic, we decide to take a left instead to avoid it.
"There was probably an accident." I speculated from the side mirror as the distance from the traffic advanced.
Unfortunately, the route we had chosen was closed off due to some construction. Seeing how we had no other option, we took a u turn and returned the way we came.
I tap my fingers against the steering wheel in annoyance. It's only a matter of tim-
"Watch out!" Allison screamed. At first I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn't notice what she was talking about- a car had just entered the main road on the opposite lane and it had no intention of returning back to it's lane.
It wasn't as if I could move over to the other lane since I could spot a car coming from the distance. My only option was to run my car over the curb and hope the dumbass realizes and steers away at that point.
I urgently turned the steering wheel to the right, pressing on the breaks resulting in a screeching sound before the crash.
I thought he would turn away. Surely, he hadn't come here just to die and mess with another person's life. No one could be that dumb. If he wanted to die, he should've done it alone at home.
I caught a glimpse of his face and in that moment, I thought of 2 things. Either he wasn't in his right mind, or I wasn't.
He had silver eyes. No pupil. No cornea. Just plain silver eyes filling his entire eyeball- could I even call it an eyeball? Or was it a prosthetic? If it was, there is no way he would have a license right now. He shouldn't. I didn't have time to think or contemplate. It was too late.
He didn't stop. He rammed the car straight into the middle of my car. His car flipped over. Mine rattled like a piñata a few times but managed to stay upright. The windows were blasted, leaving cuts across our cheeks.
The recoil made my head bang against the seat but my neck bore most of the assault. My first instinct was to check on Allison. It was hard to open my eyes. I could hear a constant ringing sound in my ear, similar to tinnitus.
In my case, I was subjected to the tiny shards of glass that were embedded across my face, somehow sparing my eyes. Allison, on the other hand… got the worst of it. There was a huge shard of glass stuck in the side of her neck and there was blood constantly spilling out of her mouth. She looked terrified, which in turn, shook me to my core. The shock was so great, I managed to wipe away everything I was feeling in an instant.
Suddenly, I wasn't panicking anymore. I was calm and collected, no, the preferred term would be numb. I took out my phone and called for the ambulance, simultaneously getting myself out of the belt that was jammed. After informing them of the situation and the nature of the injury, they asked me if I could check out the other vehicle and let them know the condition of the people inside. I was angry.
I didn't want to help him at all. I'd rather take care of Allison. However, looking at the nature of her injury, I knew I would only make things worse. Even the paramedics on the phone told me to leave the injury alone and simply wait for them to arrive.
"Hello? Sir? Are you there? If you're capable of moving we'd like you to give us a quick assessment of the other victims."
I looked at Allison. It seemed like she wanted to say something but it was too difficult, blood splurged out of her mouth when she tried.
"It's okay, don't try to talk. I'm here. I'll be right back, okay? I won't leave you. Everything will be fine." Even if she didn't believe me, I hoped it would help calm her down a bit.
She didn't move, her eyes had a certain desperation. I apologized before getting out of the car and limping to the perpetrator.
A deep sense of regret and guilt washed over me, the only reason we were in this mess was because I wanted to leave early.
Yet the one who was most at fault, was him. I remained neutral as I limped over to the car. This person was crazy, he intentionally crashed into the car when he had more than enough time to change his lanes! How was any of that my fault?
I saw through the front window, his eyes were open. He wasn't breathing. I could tell by the lifeless pale face of his that he was dead. Earlier.. it must have been a reflection of the light because at this moment, his eyes were completely normal.
Normal? They were empty and lifeless but they didn't seem like silver prosthetics. They were a pale blue with a pupil and a white cornea, just as a normal eye should be.
This guy..
I looked the car over, it was an uber. I decide to check the back just in case there was someone else. I would expect my recognition skills to fail me.
I wish they had. I'm sure people would be disappointed after they heard the first thing that went through my head. It wasn't something like sadness or regret.
I thought of the word 'monstrosity'. That's what she had turned into. It wasn't normal. I'm not even sure if a car crash could cause this much deformity.
There she was, lying in the back seat. Mom.