The Harvest

No Looking Back

I put Ronny in the car and started to drive. As soon as we had left the town, I would call Henry and tell him to get my things and meet us somewhere. There was no going back now.

My sister was asking what was going on, where we were going, why we had to drive away that late, what our parents were going to do, but I didn't answer. I was fully focused on driving through the empty streets. It was past midnight. The town was silent.

Ronny started crying as we left the houses behind us and demanded to know what was going on.

"I'll explain it!", I reassured her, but my voice was trembling with fear. "I will explain everything when we are in the next town, okay? Just trust me right now."

"What about Mom and Dad? Are they coming?"

I shook my head. "They won't, sweety. I'm sorry."

"What?" She grabbed my arm. "Are you kidnapping me?"

"I'm saving your fucking life, Veronica!", I snapped. We had reached the road towards the town's border, a straight street through plain fields only illuminated by a few scattered streetlamps.

And the lights started to flicker.

My heart stopped.

"No...", I muttered. The end of town was near, we had to make it there. I floored the gas, my old Honda was obviously not made for such high speed anymore and started to rattle, but I didn't slow down. My hands gripped the steering wheel so tight it almost hurt as I tried to outrun the flickering lights.

The wind grew stronger.

"Slow down!", Ronny screamed. "You're going to crash!"

I didn't listen. The howling wind threw itself against the car as if it was trying to push us off the road. The flickers grew faster. "It won't get you", I said, more to myself than to my sister. "It won't get you, Ronny."

I turned the air conditioning off, but it still blew icy air into the car and I noticed frost creeping on the windows. The howling of the wind was almost deafening; I had trouble to keep the car on the road. Ronny screamed. The lights flickered like a stroboscope.

Without warning, the lights went off and the car came to a sudden halt, as if someone had smashed the brakes. I was thrown against the steering wheel and then back into my seat in the fracture of a second, completely blinded by the darkness. I reached over and grabbed Ronny's hand, holding onto her tightly. The air around us was freezing. I heard nothing but the sound of the storm.