Sword Art Online-Encroaching Shadows

Chapter 20

February was always one of the coldest months and tended to be the month with the most accumulation of snow. It wasn't uncommon to see temperatures dip down into the negative twenties or thirties with wind chill. That was just part of living in the far northern suburbs of Chicago. A common joke was that if temperatures reached into the forties or fifties then it would be prime beach weather.

"What time does it start again?" She asked swiping her finger along the surface of her phone to scroll through various screens. Long brown hair with a slight curl covered her head as she glanced up at the road from the passenger side seat.

"Seven thirty I think. Just pull it up on the website." The young man driving the vehicle answered her while turning a knob on the steering wheel to lower the speed of the windshield wipers. Snow had been falling rapidly for the past few hours, but finally had started to relent making it much easier to drive.

"We're going to be late." The woman chided making the driver roll his eyes.

"You want to drive?" His response made her laugh and shake her head.

"I want popcorn!" The sound of an excited high pitched voice called out from the rear seats where a small little blonde haired girl bounced up and down in her car seat.

"When we get there alright? If we get there in time that is." She added the jab at the end for no reason except to irritate the man driving.

"I'm going to make you walk home mom."

"You would make your poor mother walk home in the snow?"

"Make her walk! Make her walk!" The little girl began a chant from the back making the two up front laugh.

"My own daughter turns on me as quickly as my son. A sad day this is." She tapped on the screen of her phone turning it towards the driver seat.

"What's it say? Seven thirty?" He could only steal a quick glance at the phone since he was paying attention to the road so his mother pulled it back and nodded.

"Seven thirty it is."

"Yay! Popcorn!" Tiny arms flew up into the air as his little sister cheered loudly. Her voices pitch rose into a yelp as the car lurched suddenly to one side. The phone in his mother's hand flew from her grasp as she grabbed for the handle above the door.

"Hang on!" The young man yelled cranking the wheel into the slide trying to correct the vehicle that had hit a patch of black ice.

"Oh god!" His mother cried out as the car broke through the guardrail and plummeted over the edge of the bridge. Their stomachs turned from the freefall, the car rotating nose down so they could see the frozen lake rushing up to meet them.

Immense pain mixed with a tingling sensation all over his entire body finally brought him back to his senses. Water was pouring in through various gaps and cracks in the windshield of the car. He was covered in a large amount of white powder from the airbag that had deployed. The internal lights flickered a few times and his hearing began to come back as he heard the sound of his sister crying in the back.

"Mom..." It hurt to speak as he reached down unbuckling his seat belt. Water was nearly up to his knees now and he turned towards the passenger seat. His mother was hunched over blood streaming down her face from where it had impacted into the console. The airbag had failed to deploy and with shaking hands he reached over to push her back into the seat. The cries from his sister grew louder and he was now very much aware of the freezing water sapping the strength from his body.