In a daze, Kacey awakened after passing out on her steering wheel, a trickle of blood drips from her nose onto her shirt and ears buzzed from the impact. She sat in full view of trees, the forest had been a blockade for the car and if accelerated any further down she would have reached the cliff's edge. In search of her phone, Kacey reaches to the backseat for her backpack and, unaware of the cloud of smoke that rose up from the hood of the car.
A hand grabbed Kacey and pulled her out of her car. As it flared up in a blast, her eyes widened in disbelief and a girl's voice behind her nonchalantly stated,
"Not much of an explosion, but the impact would've been a shock"
"No kidding", she replied in a shaky voice.
The voice belonged to a beautiful girl, rich umber tone and striking light brown eyes. Her brunet hair styled in a sleek low ponytail and wore a beige jumpsuit with a feathered earring that dangled from one ear. She looked not much older than Kacey, though had a presence of serenity that you would usually encounter from an elderly woman.
"I'm Mandisa,"
she said while getting up and extending a hand out.
"And, I'm Kacey Troy, but you can just call me Kacey or Kace."
A reply, she added with a child- like grin and grabbed her hand to stand up. You can just call me that, she explained, but Kacey sensed her uncomfortably and went on to ask if she has any place to be and not wanting to be an inconvenience.
"Oh no worries, I was on my way home actually," answered Mandisa.
After making a call to the mechanics for her car, Mandisa offered Kacey a ride home. They drove away on the same path, leaving behind a swan that peered at them across the road.
An hour or two after their drive, Kacey seemed slightly exhausted as he propped her forehead against the car window. Mandisa queried if she had any injuries on either her body internally or externally, and she responded that she felt no pain in any way. "I'm probably just tired, you know," noted Kacey with her signature grin. They had not spoken much and Mandisa pondered whether the accident had an emotional toil rather, and prompted questions for conversation, although omitted any information about herself.
"Yeah, so that's that, and I might be moving into a fancy place sometime," said Kacey, as they pulled up to her home. Mandisa suggested if she needed any help with anything, but Kacey turned down the offer in an attempt to not be a burden further.
After Mandisa drive off, she shuffled towards her front door, but paused midway. She dragged in a deep breath and let out a wolf-like howl. It's something she did as a child, unaware of what prompted her to do so, but was a great way to relieve stress. She giggled at herself though, sure that no one would have bothered her about, not any more.
Her neighbourhood was a quiet area, most families were never home and very few opted for pets or guard dogs. Kacey searched around herself for any person, that may be out and to find no one.
She never felt alone, a fear of despair crept in, she shook her head vigorously and headed inside.
In much need of a conversation, she called Alison on her phone.
"Hey, Ali, you there," she questioned, but only met with a shaky breath.
Kacey laid on her bed with her phone in regular position against her ear. The sound hadn't been alarming for her, if anything she seemed to oddly recognize it.
"Ali, I hope you're not doing anything while on the phone with me again," she said, peeved.
"Kacey,"
a whisper of a voice, laced in a sympathetic tone, called for her.
Hearing her name, sent cold shivers throughout her body and propped her like a lifeless puppet positioned straight up by string.
She stayed seated in her, heart racing and adrenaline rush made her wide-eyed. In a short breath, she managed to say,
"Hello?"