“Hey,” Emmett says, his voice muffled through the car window, bringing me back to the present. He opens the door. I wish I’d locked it. He kneels down so we’re at eye level. “Don’t leave. Come inside for a minute.”
“Lucy?” Ben’s voice is small, coming from the phone I have lowered onto my thigh. Emmett glances down at it.
“Who is that?” Emmett asks.
“Ben,” I say faintly. I’m frozen. All I can see is Emmett’s angry face as he lunges for me.
“Hi, Ben!” Emmett says loudly, cheerfully. He smiles at me.
I don’t know whether my face shows how baffled I am. I’m too numb to feel anything.
“Are you going to hang up with him or…?” Emmett laughs a little. And then he swallows, and I see it. He’s nervous.
My mouth is dry. I grip the phone too tightly, until my hand hurts. Emmett reaches over and takes it from me. He presses it to his ear.
“Hey, Ben. I think Lucy needs a minute. She’ll call you back, okay?”
I don’t know whether Ben protests. Emmett ends the call and slides the phone—my phone—into his pocket. He puts a gentle hand on my arm.
“Why don’t you come inside? You want a glass of water or something?” I shake my head.
“Well, I can’t let you drive like this. You’re white as a sheet.” He reaches over and takes my keys from where I’d dropped them on the passenger’s seat. I realize suddenly that I’m sweating. I’ve been sitting in this hot car for several minutes.
“Run, Lucy,” Savvy screams in my head. “Run!”
“Come inside,” Emmett says again. He puts a hand on my cheek. “Let me take care of you.”
Emmett unbuckles my seat belt. I didn’t know I had it on.
“Come on.” Emmett puts both hands on my arms. “Let’s just get out of this car, okay, Lucy?”
His voice is gentle.
It’s confusing, because in my head he’s screaming.
LUCY
FIVE YEARS AGO
Emmett lunged, knocking me into Savvy. We both tumbled to the ground. “Oh god.” Savvy was on her feet first, reaching for me. I gripped her
arm.
Emmett punched her. My fingernails scraped her skin as she stumbled away from me.
“You fucking bitch! I’ve spent my whole life waiting for you, being the nice guy, being the friend, and this is how you repay me?” He grabbed me by the shirt, hauling me to my feet.
Savvy flew at Emmett, locking her arms around his neck. He twisted and squirmed, letting go of my shirt.
He yanked one of Savvy’s hands free, and she tumbled off his back.
Emmett whirled around, desperately grabbing for me. I darted around him, reaching for Savvy’s hand. She grabbed my hand again and took off, pulling me with her.
We ran, ducking through the trees. I dared a glance over my shoulder. I didn’t see Emmett.
“Oh shit,” Savvy gasped suddenly. “I went the wrong way.”
I stopped, looking over my shoulder. It was dark, and quiet. We’d run away from the road, and Emmett was nowhere to be seen.
My breath was coming in short gasps. I tried to reach for my purse. My phone. It was in the car.
“Do you have your phone?” I asked.
“Yes!” She slid her hands into the pockets of her dress and took it out.
Her face fell as she looked at the screen. “Shit. It’s dead.”
Tears streamed down my face, and I wiped them away with a shaky hand. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten out of the car. I didn’t know that he…” I sniffled.
She shook her head. “It’s not your fault. But later, after we call the cops, I want you to remember that I probably saved you from being raped and murdered. I expect eternal gratitude.”
I laughed through my tears. “Eternal gratitude. Got it.”
Savvy took my hand. “Let’s go back to the venue,” she said, pointing to the dark trees. “Emmett’s probably waiting for us by the car.”
“It’s like a mile, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but I think it’s the safest option. She reached down to pull her heels off. I did the same.
“Are you even sure that’s the right way?” I looked up at the sky, like I might magically gain the ability to tell direction by the stars. I could barely tell north from south when the sun was up.
“Uh.” She looked left, and then right. “That’s a good point.” “We came from that way, right?” I pointed.
“Yes? I can’t see my headlights anymore.” She pressed both hands to her forehead. “Oh my god. How did people live before phones?”
“Wait, we weren’t that far from the main road,” I said. “Let’s listen and see if we can hear the cars. We can go that way instead.”
A fat drop of rain landed right in my eye, and I blinked, startled.
“Great,” Savvy said, holding her hand out to catch a drop. “Rain is just what we need right now.”
The sound of leaves crunching made me turn.
Emmett ran out from the darkness, something poised over his head. It looked sort of like a hammer, though not the kind used for construction. It was just a metal block at the end of a stick.
“Run,” Savvy whispered.
We took off together, bashing through the trees. We were faster without our heels on. I threw mine behind me, hoping to hit Emmett.
I missed. And he was gaining on us.
Savvy let go of my hand. She was gasping for air. “Go, Lucy. Run.” I tried to grab for it again. “Don’t stop. I can hear cars.”
“No. You’re faster than me. Just go. Get help. I can take him.” “No, you can’t—”
I screamed as a hand yanked on my hair. I stumbled backward, and a fist connected with my face. Stars danced in my eyes. Even Matt had never hit me that hard.
I was on the ground. I didn’t remember how I got there. Savvy ducked as Emmett swung the hammer at her.
She lunged at him, trying to wrestle the hammer from his grasp. It hit the ground with a thud.
She dove for it, scrambling across the dirt. He yanked on her ankle, and she yelled as he dragged her back through the dirt.
I dove forward, dove for her. My brain was still misfiring, spots in my vision. I wrapped my fingers around her arm and desperately tried to pull her toward me. I was holding on to her so hard my hand was starting to ache.
Emmett let go of her suddenly and grabbed something off the ground. He swung a tree branch, heavy and thick.
It connected with her skull.
She grunted as she hit the ground. I scrambled to her. She slowly sat up, blood pouring from a cut on her head.
Emmett stood over us, breathing heavily. He’d tossed the tree branch aside in favor of the hammer again.
I wrapped my arms around her, protecting her. “Please stop,” I begged. “We won’t tell anyone if you just stop, okay? We were planning on leaving anyway. We’ll just go and you’ll never hear from us again. I promise. Please, Emmett.”
He stared down at me, his eyes black in the darkness.
“Lucy?” Matt’s voice rang out in the quiet. “Savvy? Emmett? Are y’all out there?”
I froze. We’d run back to the car, not to the main road. The car I’d heard was Matt’s.
“Ma—”
Emmett cut off my scream with a hammer to the skull. It barely grazed the left side of my head but still knocked me back. Savvy caught me before
I hit the ground.
“Matt! Help!” she screamed.
Emmett lifted the hammer again. I swayed. I was dizzy. I opened my mouth to scream, but nothing came out.
I looked up. Emmett had his arm drawn back, eyes locked on mine. “You made me do this,” he growled.
The hammer was coming straight at my head.
Savvy shoved me out of the way. He smacked the hammer into her head so hard that the crack reverberated through the trees. She collapsed across my lap. Blood pooled on my dress.
My hands were covered in blood. There was a buzzing in my brain.
“Savvy?” Matt’s voice was still distant.
Emmett looked over his shoulder, cursed, and then swung the hammer again.
Everything went black.
