Burning Sage

Chapter 4: Brewing Lulls

As the darkness of the night descended upon us, I couldn't help but utter a curse of frustration, "God just kill me now." Only if he had blessed me with the sweet demise of death and heavens holy lights, then I might've felt better. My gaze lifted from the crumpled dashboard, and I saw Hope, her face buried in the steering wheel, her body obscured by the shadows of the night. Blood ran from my temple and clouded my vision, and as I clambered out of the car, I couldn't help but feel a sense of despair wash over me. The car was totaled and I could only hope that the girls were alright. But even in that moment of chaos and confusion, I couldn't shake the feeling that the darkness of the night had only begun, threatening to swallow us whole.

"That fucking bitch." Maple hammered, as she pulled herself out of the backdoor, falling onto the wet, freezing pavement, "What a fucking luntic. I swear to God I'm gonna like kill her if you don't stop me Sage." Maple looked upon her torn up dress with a malcontent stare, "Were fucking killing her!" Maple had paid a lot for the dress, well not her, but her dad did. It was ruined though, and she'd sue Hope in a heartbeat. Not for the money though, but in the name of being a world class ass.

I stood there on the hood of the car, taking in the scene before me with a sense of numb detachment. Hope looked up at me, her eyes heavy-lidded and blood running down her cheek. I could hear the faint sound of her breathing, labored and ragged. She cast me a frustrated glance, before burying her head back into the steering wheel.

I wanted to go back in time and stop all of this. I should've zipped up, but then something else would've happened. There's always something up the devil's sleeve; always something to bring me down. I got on my hands and knees, and like a cockroach, I crawled back into the crashed car with Hope.

"I'm sorry." Hope wiped the blood off her lips, and swayed her hair to the sides. "I'm really sorry." Blood was in her hair, pouring from her nose, down her throat and into the cleavage of her dress. Maple climbed onto the crumbled hood of the crashed car, "WISH YOU WOULD HAVE DIED!" Maple stomped, flipping Hope a bird while kicking the glass shards of the broken windshield at the both of us, "Why in the HELL would you crash the car? We should like fucking kill you. SAGE, kick her or something!"

"I hate, hate-" Hope bluely sputtered. Maple's eyes were bearing down on Hope's as if they had literal weight. Them gray, lead heavy eyes that would always guilt trip me into doing whatever Maple asked. "Hate what? Yourself? You should. Go die. Go die in a hole, Hope. And Sage, get outta that damn car! Let her die in there, alone."

"Yep. I hate myself, I fuckin hate myself." Hope spat all starry-eyed, burying her head back into the steering wheel. She cried in a low, subtle way. Not litteral tears, but she evoked dispirited whimpers that would concern anyone with a heart. But my heart was over-saturated with tonight's bullshit. And then the car began to smoke like a couple of potheads, filling the insides, and ultimately choking us up. Maple had enough sense to jump off the hood and run out into the road for help. But what she found were the empty streets of Hampton. Nobody was out at dark thirty... and Hope had driven us to the quiet side of town.

    Hope arose, rapidly blinking at the soon to be fire, "Help, fuckin how're we gettin out? FUCK!" The devilish engine spontaneously caught fire. It was a matter of seconds before our feral instincts kicked in. We scurried, crawled into the backseat and slid underneath the caved opening. "It ain't that bad is it?" Hope asked, distastefully hiding herself infront of the burning car, "Insurance will cover it, right?"

    "I'm calling the cops." Maple yelled, pointing at Hope from the road, "You tried killing us you clutz!" Me and Hope took a couple steps back as I didn't want to be too close to a burning car, "Get out of the road." I crowed at Maple, "You're gonna get hit."

"Let a car hit me. I don't fucking care." Blondy spun around and looked both ways before screaming, "BOOM, I'ma deer in headlights."

"Well I'll sing at her funeral." Hope rolled her dark eyes into the flames. A car eventually did drive by, and Maple ran out of the road. She took out her phone, "Yeah, I'd like to report an accident. This dumb hick-"