Unseen

Chapter 20

Too many cars. Too many, and they were all moving so fast. When Violet tried to drive as fast as them, the darkening trees sped by in a blur, and the steering wheel bucked and lurched in her hands like the car had a mind of its own.

When she slowed down to where she almost felt in control, the other cars sped up behind her like they were going to drive right over her. Their engines growled menacingly. They honked at her, the high shrill screams of the horns filling the air around her. Car windows rolled down, and people stuck their heads out to yell angry words she couldn't make out.

Ahead of her, the sky grew darker and darker. The sunset burned like molten flame on the horizon.

Where was Yvette now? Was she still alive?

Violet had abandoned her. She had run. She had—

Honk! The sound of a horn right behind her made her jump and shriek. Her hand leapt off the steering wheel. She had gotten distracted, let herself slow down again.

The road curved. The car didn't curve with it. She careened in slow motion toward another car on a diagonal.

The other car swerved out of the way just in time. Another chorus of honks followed.

Violet let out a low moan. The metal walls of the car felt like a cage. They felt like the punishment room. Only the punishment room had never been so loud.

She grabbed the wheel again and swerved hard to the right. A car leapt aside to avoid her. More honks.

She stomped on the brake as hard as she could. No—that wasn't the brake. The car lunged forward. She whimpered.

Then the car came to a jerking stop, throwing her forward in her seat. There—that was the brake.

She flung herself out of the car. She pressed her back tightly against the cold metal exterior as traffic whizzed by around her. The flames of the sunset had been reduced to a few last glowing embers.

She forced herself to take a deep breath.

Darkness was good. She was safe in the dark. Darkness meant shadows. Darkness meant hiding.

But Yvette wasn't in the dark, and she wasn't safe.

Violet disappeared. She left the car behind with the key still in the ignition, and she ran.

At first there was only the road, and the traffic, and the dark looming trees. But the shadows were her friends, and she had done this before. She let the clock in her cells run out, then kept to the edges of the trees as she waited for her strength to come back. Creeping along cautiously. Watching the road for any drivers taking too much of an interest in her.

They whizzed by without giving her a second look. No one so much as slowed down. And although it was hard to see with them racing by so fast, she didn't spot anyone with those cold eyes of her pursuers.

Maybe they hadn't followed her.

Maybe it was enough for them that she had left them alone with Yvette.

The thought lodged itself in her belly like a piece of bad meat.

She followed the road until the trees gave way to the forest of shops. People passed back and forth on the sidewalks in twos and threes and fours. Talking, laughing, gesturing widely until Violet had to duck out of the way to stop them from hitting her while invisible. Every shop was lit. Every restaurant door was open, emitting a mouthwatering cacophony of smells.

Her stomach growled.

The upside of the crowds was that even when she was visible, no one looked at her. She was just one more person strolling anonymously by on the sidewalk. Unlike them, she had no coat, and had to pull her arms against her chest to conserve heat. Unlike them, she flinched at every shout and every unexpected burst of music from an open door. But no one seemed to care. No one seemed to even look.