Dammit, Dalton, hold yourself together, I thought. I'd been wary of cops since I started the drive to the border, but now I felt like one was tailing me. He'd been behind me for a while. Hopefully, the driver hadn't reported their car as stolen yet. I kept looking into my rear-view mirror, waiting for the cop to take the next exit off the interstate.
Eventually, he did. I let out a sigh, and continued my drive to the Illinois border. But somebody had other plans for me. Time began to slow down, all except for me. And by me, I mean just me. I slammed forward when the car came to a complete stop, and the seat belt left a nasty sting across my chest and neck. I hissed. Suddenly, my mother appeared next to me, in the passenger seat. Everything about her had a glowing blue tint, just like my father had when he visited me from beyond the grave. I shrieked, and tried to open the door to get out, but I was locked in by means other than the mechanism. I was locked in by time.
"Dalton! Dalton, stop!" My mother said, reaching over and grabbing my shoulders. I was crying. "You need to turn around and go back, Dalton. This isn't right-this isn't you." She said. But she wasn't going to deter me from the goal I was trying to accomplish. She's dead, I thought, don't listen to her. You need to get to Missouri. You need to escape.
I turned towards her, and I was pissed. "You don't know me anymore! You died almost two months ago! For fucks sake, Mom, I stayed in a cave for a week, without sleep or food, just to escape! If you and Dad hadn't died, I wouldn't be in this situation right now!"
Even beyond the grave, my mom still had that calm demeanor. She looked at me, with this look on her face that she knew, and she was sorry. I broke again, and cried some more. She hugged me. It felt way too real, y'know, since she was a ghost. "I love you, Dalton," she said. Then, she faded away. I wiped my eyes off quickly, then put my foot back on the gas. Time began to speed up again, and I continued my drive to the border. I knew my mom was right, this isn't me.
But I'm not me anymore, and I never, ever will be again.
YOU ARE READING
Through the Wringer
Teen FictionDalton Versailles' life was going great until the accident. He thought the Lanes foster family could be the worst of it, but it was the exact opposite. The worst was yet to come, even over the tragedy that befell his family.
