“Guys,” Emily shakily pushes out.
I dial nine-nine-nine and wait for the call operator to answer.
“We’ve got this,” I promise Emily, trying to hide how scared I truly am.
“Nine-nine-nine, what is your emergency?”
“Police please,” I shakily get out, then wait to be put through. A woman answers and asks what my emergency is. I rush out, “We’re being chased by a pea green car.”
“I need you to slow down. Can I take your name?”
My eyes widen. “It’s Charlotte Carter, but why do you need to know it? Are we going to die?”
“We aren’t going to die,” Gabby snaps.
“Are you alone?”
“I’m in a vehicle with four other friends,” I explain, before giving her our location and car registration.
“Can you slow down?”
“The person is trying to kill us,” I cry out, wondering why she isn’t listening to me.
The phone is suddenly snatched out of my hand.
“Look, we’re being run off the road by this car,” Olivia snaps. She takes a breath and quickly fires off the registration number. “We can’t slow down. We can’t pull over. We can’t stop. Soon we will be off this God forsaken death trap off a road and then there’s no telling what they’ll do. I have things I want to do in life. I want to visit Paris. Not very original, but still on my bucket list. So get someone here right now,” she yells.
“Oh God,” Emily yells and my eyes widen at the sight of a van coming up ahead.
“Oh my God, we are going to die,” Gabby cries.
“You said we weren’t,” I yell back.
“Stop yelling,” Emily screeches, holding her hand down on the horn.
The van pays no attention and I feel the car slow down a little. The rain is coming down in torrents, lashing against the windshield.
I close my eyes, humming to myself.
“Are you really humming Fame: I’m gonna live forever?”
I turn around to see the pea green car, the full beam lights glaring through our back window, blinding me. I meet Harriet’s gaze, whimpering. “It seemed fitting.”
“Oh God,” Emily whispers.
My stomach is uneasy, rolling as the car jolts from the impact of the car behind. I turn back around, gripping the edges of the seat as I take in the van ahead of us. Trees wall us on either side, giving Emily no room to veer right or left, not unless she wants to end up in a ditch.
This crash is inevitable.
I close my eyes when the car jerks once again. This time, Emily puts her foot on the break and the car swerves, causing the tyres to skid on the tarmac.
We’re going too fast.
My eyes clench tighter. Images of Katnip, my family and friends filter through my mind. The last image I see before everything becomes a blur, is Drew, his honey-coloured eyes heated as he stares down at me.
The blow to the car is deafening. The sound of metal scraping and crunching bouncing around my eardrums. I heave at the smell of burnt rubber, the scent burning my nose.
Oh God!
My weight is thrown forward, and my face smashes against the dashboard. Glass explodes, cascading around me.
The last thing I see is the van coming at us from the side, and the trees standing tall and proud behind the bank in front of us.
Oh fuck!
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHARLOTTE
My body falls to the side as the door beside me opens. I let out a giggle as I fall into strong arms before releasing a moan. I guess I keep forgetting I was in an accident and that there’s still a lot of pain.
“Charlotte,” Dad’s panicked voice calls out as he clutches me before I can hit the driveway.
“Dad,” I call back, wrapping my arms around his neck. “You have such a strong nose.”
“A strong nose?”
My nose scrunches up. “I think I meant arms?”
“What am I going to do with you?” he mutters.
I smile, resting my head against his shoulder. “You could take me to Disneyland.” Sitting up, I get in his face until our noses meet. “We should go to Disneyland.”
“We aren’t going to Disneyland.”
“But Dad,” I whine. “I want to see Minnie Mouse.”
Mum sighs. “How much did they give her?”
“She’s so high she probably won’t be able to tell you.”
“I can tell you,” I inform them, jerking my head into a nod. “If you take me to Disneyland.”
“You’ve just been in a major accident, Charlotte. The only place you’re going is the sofa or bed.”
I sniffle as memories of what happened come flooding back. “I thought I was going to die and Katnip was going to be an orphan.” I wipe my nose on his T-shirt. “I love you guys so much. You’re the best mum and dad. I mean, you’re the only mum and dad I have.” I eye my mum. “I did come out of your vagina, didn’t I?”
She rolls her eyes. “Of course you did.”
I lean back against Dad. “I can’t imagine coming out of another.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t give her the next dosage,” Mum comments.
I pout. “But they make me feel so good.” I giggle to myself before singing. “And I’m feeling good.”
“You are lucky you’ve only got minor injuries,” Dad scolds.
But the pain meds are good, so good in fact that I feel like I’m floating with the clouds. Such pretty clouds. They help me forget about my injuries.
I have a pulled muscle in my shoulder, a sprained wrist, abrasions, and cuts to my face, arms and chest. I also walked away with bruised ribs and knee, and whiplash. I was seriously lucky.
Emily, however, wasn’t as lucky. She has a broken arm in two places and a couple of cracked ribs from where the steering wheel had crushed into her chest. The rest got off with minor injuries, although Olivia seems to be suffering the most with whiplash.
And poor Emily’s car. She loved that car. She named it Betty.
“Did they catch the green-pea car?” I ask, struggling to remember as he carries me into the house. “Because I think it should be held accountable for killing Betty.”
I hadn’t gained consciousness until we reached the hospital. Everything was pretty much a blur. If it wasn’t for our phone call to the police, Emily might have been looking at dangerous driving charges.
Mum and Dad turned up as the police were questioning me, but I had been so high on pain meds, I don’t remember much of it. I do remember arguing with my dad about staying in, but I didn’t want to be there. I couldn’t. Hospitals hold too many bad memories for me and I just wanted to get out of there. He tried to compromise and demand I stay with him and Mum, but after arguing for what felt like hours, I agreed to let my mum stay the night with me. I just couldn’t leave Katnip on her own. The vicious fur ball might not like me much, but I love her like a child, whether she likes it or not.
“She would have been all alone,” I sob out as I hear keys clanging together. “Just like Emily will be now Betty is gone.”
We walk inside, and he steers to the right, heading into the living room. He places me gently down on the grey, plush sofa.