Chapter 1
CARLY
“For fuck’s sake, not again, Betsy!” I grumbled under my breath, frustration mounting as my old hatchback started to hiss and shake. Stalling at this time of night, in this remote area, was the last thing I needed. Squinting through the foggy glass at the almost non-existent road ahead, a sense of dread came over me. I was truly in the middle of nowhere. C’mon, Betsy, hold on girl.
Cold sweat beaded on my forehead as I pushed the wipers faster, flooding the windshield with washer fluid in an attempt to melt the oncoming freezing rain.
Getting stuck on this tiny rural road would be a disaster. I’d taken the last exit off the highway in an attempt to avoid traffic. Clearly, another shitty decision. But when it came to returning home to Maple Cove, they were all shitty decisions.
Brushing an errant strand of hair away from my face, I exhaled deeply and mentally crossed all my fingers and toes. The only way to stay calm was to remain focused. Get it together, Carly. I told myself as I tucked another wayward hair back up into my messy bun.
I lowered my hand only to feel the tug of a bangle that had gotten stuck in the strands. “Ow! Fuck!” I yelped, trying to loosen it. But trying to steer with one hand wasn’t a good idea. Betsy jumped and shook like a goddamn kangaroo for what felt like a solid ten minutes.
Why was everything so difficult lately? From trying to make rent, to my family and their incessant drama, to now, just simply making the drive home. It all just seemed to be too much.
Canadian winters were brutal, but I’d grown up in the North and learned to drive during the dead of winter. December through March in Maple Cove often felt like it could easily parallel the Arctic. Especially with the wind chill coming off the lake. A typical day often included a temperature of minus 30 Celsius and not an inch of asphalt to be found. So why was driving in the middle of fall so damn difficult all of sudden? Maybe it was the fact that my car was shit. Or maybe because I was nervous? I hadn’t been home in years. Was it four? No, maybe five…I didn’t even know or care. Shaking it off, I refocused my thoughts on the road ahead, quickly slamming closed the door to the past. Memories weren’t worth rifling through anyway.
There weren’t any bloody lights on this back road. Clearly, nothing had changed in this godforsaken place. The weather worsened as I drove. Slowing my speed to 40km an hour, I exhaled and squinted into the darkness. With only my own headlights to guide me, I noticed how the painted lines on the road were slowly becoming shinier. Freezing rain was in full force and driving in it was terrifying.
Clearly, living in New York had softened me. New Yorkers thought they knew winter, but nothing compared to the Great White North. And freezing rain was the worst.
Then, like always…I felt it before I saw it. Black ice.
White knuckles gripped the wheel as I tried like hell to steer Betsy to the shoulder. But it was no use; she was out of control. It felt like ice skating. Smooth, silent, graceful; but deadly. Black ice was notoriously hard to navigate through and I’d been taught that it was best not to fight it. Removing my foot from the brake, I did the only thing that I could. Keeping my tight grip on the wheel, I tried my hardest to steer my way through the impending disaster. Betsy glided like an eagle, silently skimming across the ice under the cover of darkness. Blinding, freezing rain continued to hit the windshield as I prayed this wouldn’t be my last moment on earth. If I was going to die, it sure wouldn’t be in Maple Cove. But when my little shitbox started to gain air time, I knew I had a serious fucking problem.
I saw it in my headlights a split second before I hit it. A ditch bigger than Betsy herself. Knocked over to the left, she tipped and creaked, groaning as she rolled her way down. I gripped that damn wheel so hard, the mandala that was inked across my hand went a few shades lighter. I strained against the seatbelt which had now locked in place and was digging into the skin around my neck. My brain fought to keep my eyes open, but my fear kept squeezing them shut again as I braced myself for the crash.
But thankfully, the crash never came. It was more of mid-roll shuffle. On the last rotation, Betsy seemed to rock back and forth as if she couldn’t decide whether to keep going or to stop. It wasn’t until she was completely still that I finally exhaled.
I was alive. In a ditch. In the middle of the night in a freezing rainstorm. Coming home was definitely a bad idea.
After waiting a minute or two to make sure Betsy was stable, I attempted to gather my bearings and look for my phone. My body felt sore but thankfully, not injured. The contents of my purse, on the other hand, had made their way to all corners of the car. Finding my phone was going to be a challenge. I have to admit that perhaps Bryanna was right. Bluetooth would have been such a good idea right now. My best friend was the yin to my yang. The order to my chaos. Which was why I had to admit that coming back here alone, without her, added another level to my crazy. We had never really been apart since we’d run away to the Big Apple all the way from this town so many years ago.
Cursing myself for always doing the opposite of what people told me, I undid my seatbelt and started to shuffle around in the darkness. Finding my phone in this mess was going to require a miracle. Typical. Most of the time, I lived by my own rules and fuck what people told me. Clearly, that wasn’t a perfect method. Finally, after much struggle, I slid myself out from beneath the dented steering wheel and towards the passenger side. It dawned on me that I should be thankful for my lack of resources. If I’d been making more money, I’d definitely be eating more frequently. Especially since I was coming off yet another break-up. Heartbreak always made me binge. Except this last time, I hadn’t even been able to afford myself that luxury. I’d always had a small frame, but my lack of steady sales from my artwork had been keeping me leaner than even I would have liked.
Finally, from the corner of my eye, I spotted my wallet. It was half stuck under the seat, only visible by the gold zipper shining in the light. I reached down and grabbed it. Wait a minute… Something else was down there, too! I stuffed myself back down again and tried to reach farther. My shoulder came alive with a sharp pain just as my fingers connected with the cold plastic. My phone! Yes! I’d deal with that pesky shoulder pain later.
Pulling myself back up again, I jimmied the passenger door handle, but it was stuck. Shit. There was no way the other three doors would do any good. The front and back driver’s side doors were up against the ditch and the back door on the passenger’s side was about an inch away from having a tree branch through it. The front passenger side window it would have to be.
Grabbing my phone, I stuffed it into my pocket along with my wallet. Pushing myself out the broken window would be the next challenge. Reaching out, I felt around for something to grab on to. But all I felt was icy cold wetness. Jagged shards of glass poked out from the only broken window. This was going to hurt.
I slowly poked my head through into the cold night air and breathed in. Feeling the tiny nose hairs grip the inside of my nostrils was perhaps one of the most authentic of cold weather feelings. Inching my way to my knees, I pushed my shoulders and torso through the broken window, but not before hearing a loud rip in my jacket.