Recollection

nine | funeral

!!!THIS IS A PART OF A DOUBLE UPDATE, READ CH8 FIRST!!!

song: Billie Eilish - Six Feet Under

Trigger warnings: violence, alcohol abuse.

You are going to need a few tissues. We are almost over...

One month ago... (before Lia left for Greece)

Her eyes haunted me.

I saw them in my sleep and I saw them when I was awake.

She was everywhere except with me.

The nightmare always started the same way. I was behind the banister at the finish line, and the night was dark, but I could see her car just ahead, taillights glowing like two red eyes staring back at me. There was a tightness in my chest, something gnawing at the edges of my mind, telling me this wasn't real, that I had been here before. But I couldn't stop it. I couldn't wake up.

The road stretched out in front of us, and the engine of her car was roaring as if it was taunting her opponent to keep up. My hands clenched the banister, but no matter how hard I tried, she was slipping away, just out of reach.

Then it happened.

Her car skidded, the back end swinging out as if in slow motion. I screamed her name, but the words were swallowed by the sound of screeching tires, metal against asphalt. The car flips, over and over, the headlights spinning in a wild, sickening dance. I wanted to close my eyes, to turn away, but I was frozen, forced to watch as it all unfolded. Every night.

The car landed upside down with a shattering crash, and for a moment, everything was silent. Too silent. My breath was caught in my throat, my heart hammering against my ribs as I stared at the twisted wreckage. I couldn't move, couldn't think, but something inside me forced me to run, legs shaky as I ran toward the crumpled metal.

It was like running through quicksand. Each step felt like a lifetime, dragging on as the horror sank in. The closer I got, the more I saw—the flames starting to lick up from the engine, the twisted frame, the shattered glass. And then I saw her.

Lia hanging upside down, her body lifeless, blood streaming down her face as she came in and out of consciousness. The sight hit me like a blow to the chest, knocking the air out of me. I screamed again, but it was like the sound was trapped inside me, echoing around in my skull. My hands reached for her, but the metal was hot, burning my skin, and I couldn't get the door open. I kept pulling, kept yanking, desperate to get to her, to save her. But the door wouldn't budge, and the flames were spreading, crawling closer, their heat searing against my skin.

Finally, I ripped the door open and reached in, pulling her out. She was limp in my arms, her blood staining my hands, my clothes, everything. I couldn't stop shaking as I laid her on the ground, my hands hovering over her, useless. Her face was so pale, her eyes closed, and she was barely breathing.