The Water Before Me

Teaser

Prologue

A suffocating amora of iron and gasoline bombarded my nostrils strong and hard, waking me from an unconscious state, as the belt secured me in my seat. The first thing that I could recall was headlights which had grown larger and bigger by the second. It had refused to stop. Just got quicker.

My dear Nicholas had swerved to avoid getting hit which almost made him strike the trees that were quite a bit away from the road. He parked us next to the street once he had control over his car again, but it seemed like this driver wanted us dead since they came back -turning around somewhere- and ramming my side of the car. It wasn't directed at me, mainly the seats behind me, but still managed to flip the vehicle on its hood. My question exactly was Why would they do this?

Shaking my pulsating head softly -making me wince a tad bit, I glimpsed over to Nick who seemed to be unconscious, but he looked so lifeless with how limp he was. I felt utterly terrible at seeing him like this.

Quit wasting time. Get out. Get Nick and RUN. A voice in the back of my head susurrated but made it loud and clear about running. With that said, it got me into battle mode.

Glancing at the shards beneath me that was caused by the crazed driver, I readied myself for more wounds from the glass and unbuckled myself, landing on the pieces with my hand and knees. I wince at the slight pain before rushing to Nicholas's side, attempting to wake him, but he was too groggy to comprehend what was occurring. Cursing under my breath, I used my better arm to hold him up so he wouldn't land head first into the glass and unfastened him. I grunt at his weight in my arm before he became more aware of what's happening from his hazed state of mind which made him start freaking out. Not having time for this, I directed him through the front window to the car and took a brief moment of rest because any longer than a minute could be our life.

I forced myself to my weakened feet then helped Nick to his. We limped ran away from the car until we believed we were far enough from being unscathed from the blast, collapsing to the dirt ground on our knees and facing the car.

A few moments or so the car was consumed with flames and bits of it scattering around it like fireflies before disappearing. I laid onto my back -seeing the sparkling stars in the night and clouds somewhat concealing the moon- with a relieving sigh that we made it... That we're alive, but the sensation hadn't lasted for long because my guts told me that this whole ordeal was yet to be over.

Pulling myself back up, I cautiously observe my surroundings like prey would do to see if a predator was near and ready to sprint at full speed at any possible sound that was detected. I marked a car with its front end pretty damaged -making it questionable how it's still up and running- yards away from us and a shadowy figure -the moon hadn't given us much light to work with to see any features of this person- leaning against the side of the car, something I didn't notice at first. It was like this person anticipated to witness if we were consumed by the flames or made it out alive.

The only thing I know was that I'm way too weakened to fight this person off. "Nick..." I muttered to him even though he's completely out of it still, probably a concussion. "Nicholas!" I whisper-screamed at him, nudging his foot with mine, as he snapped out of his hazed mind. "Get up," I breathed out, not yet ready to run for my life.

Everything inside of me felt like lead or in pain like I've worked out for hours on in.

Even then, I hauled myself to my heels with a moan and hastily assisted Nicholas. In the corner of my eye, the dark figured pushed off the car, ready to come after us, and I swear I could feel this person glaring daggers at us. No, their eyes were on Nick, but why would they be on him? What does a demented human being want with him to actively attempt murder?

Shaking my head to get rid of the millions of questions edging its way to my mind, I clutched his wrist and simply darted off back towards the flaming car that had many memories in there. Though the moon was not brightly lit, it gave me enough light to see a bit ahead of me.

Hope swells within me.

A car flew past us and skidded to a halt, blocking us from the path we're taking. While I take my gaze off from in front of me and to the sides of the roads where the trees lied, the hinges of the door creaked open then slammed shut seconds later.

My vision blurred for a brief moment before it went back to normal. You may have lost a lot of blood, Bethany. You're not even sure how bad your injuries are, but you know you're too weakened to do much besides run even then, you might be too slow to escape. An instinct was whispering to me, but I rather not believe such things. Besides, I could distract this person to allow Nick to run through the woods. Terrible idea since he's completely out of it, but I'm hoping that he had his phone and that it was still usable. Will I die? Perhaps.

Heavy footsteps sounded somewhere in front of me as I turned to him, both hands on his shoulders, and stared him in the eyes. "Little Nicky, run through the woods to our right..." I whispered as quietly as possible, giving him a slight squeeze with my dainty hands.

"What... What abo-"

I cut him off and said in an authoritative manner, "Do not argue with me. If you have a working phone, call for help and stay along the treelines. I'll be fine... Just go, I beg of you." Turning him away from me and shoving him forward, he sprinted off with sparse hesitation and anxious eyes.

I twirl around to see the shadowy figure facing the direction Nicholas ran to, ready to chase after him. Gulping down the terrible thoughts that were choking me, I came to the conclusion to yell this, "HEY!" My voice sounded scratchy and hoarse, mainly because I don't normally scream at things. It'll hurt my singing voice. But, now, I have this being's full attention and the vibe of insanity. I'm observing them as much as I could, meaning how they were built. It didn't seem like some overly obsessive ex-girlfriend Nick dated before because it shaped more of a male than anything else.

This man wasn't an ex of mine because I hadn't dated since junior year in high school, so who exactly was this person?

As I pray to whatever mystical force out here in the universe to keep my dear Nicholas safe or awake enough to call for assistance -something that will probably occur after going with this man in hopes it'll keep him alive and appease this abnormal minded person.

All I have to do is put a convincing smile on.

Keep my head held high.

Hope.

Survive.

Sucking in a deep breathe of burning rubber and my own blood along with sweat, I straightened myself out and kept my heart in a steady rhythm like a song. My lungs aching and burning from injuries I endured, pleading that I seek medical attention. The air feels strained and off as my eyes stared right at the man in front of me -who's demeanour seemed to change. God, my legs feel so heavy... I don't think I'll be able to run anymore, let alone fight for my life.

He sauntered over to me, a vibe of a parental figure, and embraced me tenderly with his buff arms as a waft of manure and scented cigars filled my nose. I gulped down a gag because I'm not sure if that'll offend him or not due to him being erratic, so I must play along with whatever fantasy he had in mind. "Bethany," he started off -voice gravelly, deep, and low- as he squeezed a little tighter but not enough to hurt me and resumed, "Why had you ran away from me?"

__________________________________________________________
Here's a teaser to this book. I'm doing this because I want to know you guys feedbacks, ya know?

May your forge burn bright.