An Accidental Murder

Chapter 2: Deception

     "Fuck, Amber! Tell me you didn't hit that guy.  Please tell me you didn't just hit that guy," Ryan's voice wavered as his hazel eyes looked into mine with sheer terror. I shook my head, but no words could escape from my mouth.  I felt sick.  I could feel the bile rising in my throat. 

     "Well, we need to go see if he's okay," Ryan continued.  "Come on, Amber..." he said touching my arm  gently.  

     It took what seemed like hours for my hand to open the door, for my legs to move and my feet to feel the ground. My body convulsed as I walked around the front of my car and saw the body of the man lying on the wet pavement under the beam of the headlights. I didn't know if he was dead, but he looked it.  His body was twisted in the most unnatural way and there was blood - a lot of it.

     "He can't be alive," I whispered. "He can't be breathing.  This isn't happening, Ryan.  Please tell me this isn't real!" I cried.

     I stood there in the rain watching as Ryan knelt down next to the guy and leaned over to listen to his chest.  He placed his long fingers on the man's neck and his head drooped down in defeat. 

     "Amber,"he said, standing to face me, his dark hair plastered to his face. "We need to get out of here before anyone else comes.  I want you to help me push him over the side here into the ditch.  No one will find him right away. I'll clean up a little, pick up the broken glass and we'll drive your car to my brother's garage for now.  Everything will be okay," he said, reassuringly.

     "I'll grab his torso, you grab his feet," Ryan instructed.  He then went on to hoist the man up into a sitting position as he waited for me to lend a hand, but I couldn't take my eyes off the man's face.  He was handsome, young probably, in his early twenties maybe, with black wavy hair cut short, bow shaped lips, a perfect straight nose and a strong jaw line.

     "Jesus, Amber, for God sake, do I have to do everything for you?!  Why the hell are you staring at him?  You can't will him back to life, Amber. Are you waiting for someone to drive by and catch us in the act? Pick up his goddamn feet and walk!"

     "Stop yelling at me, Ryan!  What do you want from me? I've never killed a man before!  This isn't something I do everyday!" Tears began welling up in my eyes making it even harder to see through the rain.  I was cold and wet and shaking violently; whether it was from my nerves or from the cold I wasn't sure, but it took everything within me to will my body to move.

     "He's so heavy, Ryan," I whined, picking up his feet.  I must have dropped his legs several times as we walked the short distance from the road to the ditch on the other side of his car.  It was so wet and he was so slippery, I couldn't keep my grip.  Finally Ryan and I set him down at the edge of the road and pushed him the rest of the way over into the muddy ditch below.  

     "Amber go get in the car, I'll be right there."

     I did as I was told in silence.  I had to be the worst person in the world. How many teenage girls hit a guy on the side of the road and help their boyfriends dispose of the body?  Maybe we should have called an ambulance....We should have at least tried CPR or taken him to the hospital ourselves, afterall it was an accident.

     I watched Ryan through the windshield as he cleaned up the proof of our crime - my crime.  The rain was coming down hard now and I could no longer breathe.  I began sobbing uncontrollably,  riddled with guilt and though I tried to open the car door in time, I got sick on myself.

     Ryan hurriedly climbed into the passenger seat and glanced over at me.  "Amber, you okay?"  

     I turned to look at him, "I just threw up."

     "Oh hunny...." Ryan sighed, "It's okay.  You did it in the car, it's okay.  No evidence.  I didn't leave anything behind either."

     "I just killed someone, Ryan."

     "No hunny, this never happened," he said calmly, turning to look behind us. "There's a car coming, I can see the lights.  Drive baby, drive, before it's too late."