Scornful Revenge

Chapter Eighteen

Alice turned her head to the side, looking out the window at the buildings passing by her. Tom's glances in the rearview mirror went unnoticed by her as she kept her gaze on the lights of the buildings and street lamps. Tom cleared his throat as he gripped the steering wheel a little bit tighter. After a moment, Alice shuddered hearing the sound of brakes coming to a halt as the car stopped at a stoplight. Tom noted how she flinched as he came to a slow stop.

"Alice, are you alright?" He asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Alice panted.

She placed her hand on her knee and began kneading into the flesh, gripping onto the fabric of her jeans. As the light turned green, Alice inhaled sharply feeling her body be pushed back into her seat by the force of the car beginning to start. Her head hit the headrest lightly and as she closed her eyes she remembered seeing the world in front of her begin to turn. She shut her eyes feeling the sensation of Tom's fingers wrapping around her arm, trying desperately to hold her in place. The impact of the car and the sound of metal scraping against the road rang in her ears as she brought her hands up to her face. The shards of glass illuminated all around her as she felt her body be thrown against the side of the car. Just as she turned her head to look outside the window, she could see the bark of the tree coming dangerously close.

Alice inhaled deeply, realizing she had been holding her breath. She panted heavily and furrowed her brow as she looked outside her window. There was no tree but rather several buildings and the sidewalk. She saw that the car was parked alongside the curb and she swallowed the lump in her throat, trying her best to steady her breathing. She then looked beside her to see George's hand wrapped around her forearm. She hadn't realized she had been crying until she noticed the water stains on her jeans. Alice raised her hand to her right temple and whimpered as she tried to speak but found herself unable to. She could make out the muffled voices of Tom and George. Looking over their faces, she could see the panic, confusion, and worry written all over. When her hand instinctively gripped the door handle, all the sounds around came flooding in. In a matter of seconds, Alice undid her seat belt and hurried out of the car onto the sidewalk.

"Shit." Tom hissed as he undid his own seat belt.

He and George both got out of the car and rushed to Alice's side. She quickly balanced herself against a streetlamp, feeling the coolness of its metal slowly start to calm her. She pressed her forehead against it and breathed deeply, trying to catch her breath that almost seemed as if it was never there to begin with. When the two reached Alice, she broke down sobbing, unable to hold anything back. George stood a few feet away from Alice as Tom took her hands off of the lamp. He held them tightly as he did his best to coax Alice away from the lamp. When she pulled herself away, she looked up at Tom with wide eyes and cried ever harder as he wrapped his arm around her.

"That's it. Keep breathing. You got this. It'll be okay. I got you." Tom told her.

Those all too familiar words pushed Alice over the edge. Tom furrowed his brow as Alice's face contorted into one of anger, pushing him away from her.

"Alice, what are you doing?" Tom scoffed.

As he reached out to her, Alice balled her hands into fists and started to thrash at his chest.

"Get away from me!"

"What are you saying!"

"Go away!" Alice screamed.

George quickly intervened, seeing a few people on the other side of the street stop and observe what was happening. He reached out to her, gently placing his hand on her shoulder. Tom panted heavily as he watched Alice melt into George's embrace. He cradled her head and hushed her while running his hands up and down her back. Tom ran his hand through his hair and swallowed hard as he took a step towards them.