Everywhere I look, I see white. At first I think it’s the snow; but, the snow isn’t cold, and I don’t feel or see anything aside from it. Whatever I’m seeing is so bright, I can’t even think. Minutes tick away, and slowly, the nerves in my body begin to work again. The white haze begins to fade, and I can suddenly feel my left hand clenching something stiff in a death grip. My ears start to pick up faint noises, and then the pain comes. Searing pain. Everywhere. My hearing has almost fully come back, but I’m in too much pain to understand the incoming noises. I hear clanking, and moaning, a bit of yelling, and maybe even a bit of crying. My eyes are the last things to be rid of the blinding white; and when my sight does finally come back, I’m too afraid to look around. I’m not sure what horrors I’m going to find.
First, I look down. I seem to be in one piece, but my left leg is twisted at a weird angle. The leg doesn’t hurt, as a matter of fact, I can’t really feel it at all, and this worries me. I then hear the yelling again. My neck cracks as I turn toward the feral noise. I think I know who the voice belongs to.
My guess is correct. Standing in front of the car, yelling incomprehensible words, is the man; the man with the red eyes and unnatural black hair. I catch sight of the carnation on his dark hat, and am transfixed on the single blood-red flower for who knows how long. I’m still in such a daze; I can barely keep memory of why I’m here, and what has just happened. I must be in shock. The man notices I’m staring, and points his demonic-red eyes right at me. They’re so unnatural, so creepy; they scare me back into reality. I wish I hadn’t been brought back, though, because now I remember Karen. I turn my head to the left of me, but have to turn away immediately after. The sight isn’t pretty.
The yelling starts again. This time it’s in my direction. I feel a tugging at my left hand. My head turns back towards Karen, and I can see exactly what the man is yelling at. He’s trying to pry Karen from the car, but our hands are still wrapped around each other so tight, he can’t pull her fully out.
If I let go, my sister will be taken away from me. She may be taken away forever. I’m still not thinking rationally, and start to panic. I don’t want Karen to leave. I don’t want a strange man that I barely know to take my sister away. My sister has to stay with me. She can’t leave; I won’t let her. I lock my fingers tighter around Karen’s, and pull away from the man. Surprise is on his face; he doesn’t know what to do with this small, torn up girl who is half delusional and screaming obscenities. I don’t know what to do with this girl either. She doesn’t even feel like she’s me. I feel like I’m watching from the sidelines, wanting so bad to comfort myself and say everything will be alright.
After a forever of tug-of-war over Karen, my senses begin to come back. The man’s voice has calmed down, and he’s attempting to talk in a soothing manner, but it’s not working for him very well. My hand unwillingly begins to unclench Karen’s hand. The fingers have been stuck in that position for so long that they’re almost too cramped to move, but they eventually free themselves. The man finishes pulling Karen’s body from the car. I can’t tell if she’s dead or unconscious, I just know she looks worse than I do, and that doesn’t even begin to describe her.
The man starts walking off to the right with Karen. I begin panicking again, and start looking for an exit from the dead car. Fortunately for me, my side didn’t receive the wrath of the trees. With minimal struggling, I’m able to push the door open. The worst comes when I have to drag my crippled body out through the opening. By now the storm has ended, but it has left multiple inches of snow in its place, making it all that much harder to drag myself after the man and Karen. The frozen snow stings through my many cuts and my hands are soon red and numb. I finally find the two people a few feet from the car; the man has Karen carefully placed on his trench coat, on top of the snow. He finishes examining her, and then turns his eyes on me. Up to this point, I’ve been concentrating on dragging myself to Karen, but his gaze stops me in my struggle.
