Haunted by the Past

Chapter 20

I shook off the odd feeling I got from my encounter with Adam. then continued my search for Brandon. The one thing I couldn't seem to get out of my head was the smug grin on Adam's face as I was walking away. What could that be about? I completely rejected him, so why did he look like he just won the best prize of his life? Oh well, it doesn't matter anyway. All I need worry about right now is finding Brandon.

After a while of searching, I run into Jackson, literally. We bump into each other and I almost fall over, but he catches me by the shoulder and helps me regain my footing. "Woah girlie, what's got you in such a hurry? Just take a deep breathe and calm down."

I take a deep breath like he said. Then, I start my mini rant at him. "Okay, first don't ever tell a girl to calm down. Now I know why you don't have a girlfriend. Second, you should watch where you're walking so you don't run into someone who's just looking for a fight. Lastly, the girls told me that you were talking with Brandon earlier. So would you have any clue where he is? I've looked for him everywhere and can't find him anywhere."

"Don't tell girls to calm down, got it," he laughs. " And as for Brandon, I haven't seen him for a while. He went to go look for you five or ten minutes ago. He's still probably looking and that's why neither of you can find each other. If I were you I'd just stay in one room and wait for him to find you so you're both not just running in circles."

I pat him on the shoulder and thank him before finding somewhere to wait. After a little thinking, I decided to wait at the top of the stairs where it overlooks the living room, which is where most of the people are dancing. All I can see are random people drinking, dancing, chatting, and enjoying themselves. The bad feeling from earlier sets in my gut again, but I brush it off and blame it on my little bump in with Adam earlier. And I had been doing such a good job at avoiding him. I really should have had Brandon come with me to check on Laura, then I wouldn't be searching all over for him.

My stomach lurches forward once more and almost makes me throw up, but before I turn away I spot Brandon walking into the room. I race down and meet him at the bottom of the staircase. "There you are, I was looking everywhere for you," I say as I hug him tightly.

To my surprise, he doesn't return the gesture and instead pushes me roughly away from him. Now that I get a good look at his face he looks furious. "What's wrong babe?" I ask him.

Just when he looks like he's going to say something Savannah comes up, and without saying anything to either of us she grabs Brandon by the front of his shirt and kisses him. I stand there and I must look like a fish out of the water, mouth hanging wide open gasping for air and my eyes wide as saucers. Standing there, not even three feet from them, I wait for Brandon to push her away just as roughly as he just did to me. I wait for what seems like forever, but he doesn't pull away. At first, I think I must be having a nightmare because my Brandon would never do something like this to me. He would never break my heart like this; not with her, not like this, not right before my eyes.

As tears begin to form in my eyes, I rush out of the room. Not caring that I'm running straight into half the people I pass like I just told Jackson not to do, I somehow make my way out of the house. I search my pockets with shaky hands for the keys to my truck. By the time I finally manage to pull them out I'm to my truck and I'm in it before my legs have the chance to give out underneath me. With tears blurring my vision I drive out of the ridiculously long driveway and head home.

Images of the night flash through my mind while I try to piece together why this is happening to me. Every step I took, from the second I walked into that house until he kissed Savannah right in front of me, flashes before my eyes.

Confusion clouds my mind. What did I do? Why was he so mad at me? Where did I go wrong?

Why do I mess up everything?

Adams triumphant grin flashes into my mind and gets stuck there. I realize that that's what he looked so smug about. He must have known Brandon saw what happened, and that's why he was trying so hard to keep me from getting away.

As I come to this realization a horn blaring pulls me out of my mind. I'm on the wrong side of the road and headed straight for a semi truck. Seconds before impact, I turn the wheel to the right and get back on my side of the road, but I over turn and my truck goes off the road and straight for a tree. All I can do is watch as I slam head on into a massive pine tree.

Everything happens so fast that my mind can't process what is happening to me. I hardly feel the glass biting into my skin thanks to the adrenaline courses through my veins. Afterwards, everything sounds deathly quiet, and without any more breaking glass or crushing metal, everything seems normal. The smell of gasoline invades my senses, along with the coppery taste of my own blood. I unlock and try to open my door, but it won't budge. I unbuckle myself and hold up my stiff body against the door, using my body weight to try and move it.

After a couple attempts, it finally swings open and I fall out of the truck and slam into the ground. Groaning from the impact I attempt to stand, but my leg muscles won't support the weight. Instead, I have to crawl away from everything that just happened. Deftly, I pull out my phone that was in my pocket. I try to turn it on so I can dial 911, but it got broken in the crash.

To my luck, I see a vehicle pull to the side of the road near where I went off the side of the road. The adrenaline wears off and the pain hits me full force. For some reason, the airbags didn't work so my chest and ribs are in an immense amount of pain from slamming into the steering wheel and my seatbelt catching me from going through the window. I feel the cuts all over me from the glass shattering everywhere.

My eyes refuse to focus, so all I see is a blurry figure walking away from the car and towards me. I try to talk and tell them to call the ambulance or the police or someone that can help, but nothing comes out. Unable to speak and no longer having the energy to move all I can do is look on in pain as the person takes in the scene.

They make their way over and crouch down beside me. Their face is covered in shadows so I can't make out who they are. As the person continues to inspect my still body a feeling of dread comes over me, more intense than at the party I just escaped from.

After a while, the person stands up and calmly walks to my truck, By now there is gasoline surrounding it that's leaked out. "Not what I planned, but this works just as well. Actually, I think it will work out better than the original plan," he says to himself. He sounds familiar, but I can't think clearly through the growing pain all over.

I get extremely dizzy and my vision begins to form black spots. The last thing I see before blacking out is the mystery man throwing a lighter into the puddle of gas, which immediately catches fire and quickly engulfs my totaled truck. His face becomes illuminated by the flames and as he turns back to look at me I recognize who it is; Adam.