Poison in my Blood

Broken Roads

And so it begins. 

Leaving my life behind was probably the easiest thing I've done in the past three months. My brother vanishing had left me numb. One minute we were eating chinese together in a small run down corner shop on a warm, saturday night and then the next day he was gone. It's hard to imagine having to fuel your distress with no answers, I was left with nothing - no notes, no texts, no single piece of him, which made it all that little bit harder to try and piece the non fitting puzzle together. It wasn't like I hadn't dealt with loss before. At merely nine my parents had died in a horrific car accident. Their death was painful, I struggled... but Marty disappearing, well that takes pain to another level.

My older brother, the one who helped me through life in general, the rock in my stormy waters, was now gone. I could still picture his cheeky, dimpled smile and the harsh shade he would be throwing at me if he were here right now. I gripped the steering wheel that little bit stronger and fought back the tears threatening my vision. I was now ready to head to Marty's hometown college and try and find some sense in this madness. Retrace his steps, anything. Some people would call it crazy, I call it smart. The college was on 100 pristine acres and was home to the castle of some dead King. It was a bit too fancy for me. You see, my brother is one of the smartest people you'll ever meet. He deserved to go to such a prestigious college like Kilverna and make a living for himself. Me going to Kilverna would just be a suicide mission, the place was pratically swarming with the best of the best. I only find peace in art but supporting a life out of selling paintings is a tough gig. Lets just say fitting it is going to be a soul-sucking challenge. I just hope I can paint my way through the Chemistry and Maths and Literature and god knows what. 

If I didn't get in, I didn't. Maybe I could try again next year, who knows. As I said before, Kilverna was a school that was HIGHLY prestigious. To the point where I have to audition with pre exams, and also present my life's works to the principle and vice deputies. I hadn't planned anything. I just hoped that I would pass the exams and they would be impressed with my works. The plus side was that I didnt have to pay anything, Students that attended Kilverna (roughly 450 of them) worked on a entierally scholarship based program, a bonus I guess, but you had to be amazingly talented. 

I let my window down, breathing in the fresh, crisp country air. Trees lined the road ahead of me, there was no other car in site. My mind slowly faded back home. Im sure Aunty Lucy and Uncle Hank would be missing me, I felt so bad leaving them behind they really had raised me as one of their own after mum and dad had died, they had help me to pick up my life again. I felt a little worse for the fact that I had stolen Hank's old Jeep Wrangler, oops. It was a spontaneous move, I just thought I should've added a bit more of a surprise element in this fucked up situation. The road seemed endless and I was in a distant daze as the sun lit up the bonet of the beautiful red jeep. I could feel my phone lighting up next to me probably with angry messages from Lucy and Hank and not to mention the un answered messages from my friends that I have blocked out of my life for the past three months. 

"Turn right in 400 metres." The monotone voice of the GPS broke me from my daydreams. "Thanks Babe, appreciate the help." I soon figured that the turn was really in 100m and made an upbrupt quick turn down a old, broken gravel road. It was spooky even at sunrise. I had about 10 minutes left to drive after the 2 long hours it had taken me already. I blasted some Chet Faker and enjoyed the wind from outside my lungs.  

A few more minutes passed and it was getting really, really cold. It didnt help that I was in a loose singlet and thin jeans. I turned around to grab my jumper out of the back and all of a sudden I hit something. I jolted around and tried to grab the wheel but the car was spirling out of control, I couldnt make sense of anything but the tree that my car was about to catapult into. I screamed in pain as my body was thrashed around in a uncontrollable mess. The car hit a ditch in the side of the road and began to roll. After this, I could only remember glimpses. The car finally stopped and I wasn't sure what was up and what was down. A dark figure ran across the road straight towards me. My leg was jarred between my wheel and my seat, a piece of aliminium was stuck straight into it, no chance of me going anywhere, There was no way to move without help. My breathing increased dramatically, the shock of it all began to kick in and I felt like I could barely breathe. Things got narrower, darker and before I passed out all I could see was five more dark figures emerge from behind the single, terrifying one.