magnolia ~ h. potter

twenty-seven

[CHAPTER 27]

[ And how was I to know

I'm not strong

I should have saved you ]

"HE'LL BE OKAY, EM, HE'S SURVIVED WORSE," Kate reassured her, and Emily gave a weak nod, even though her stomach felt so uneasy she wanted to spew.

The first hour and a half of the drive went smoothly, and because it was so late, Kate and Emily encountered practically no traffic. They listened to the radio, switching between the news and music every so often, and talked. They had just begun driving through a forested part of the road that led to the small village of Ottery St. Catchpole, and everywhere around them dark looming shadows of trees surrounded them, giving Emily goosebumps.

"How far is it still?" Emily asked, fingers tapping nervously against the dashboard to the beat of the song in the background as she peered into the darkness ahead.

"About fifteen minutes I think," Kate said, before her eyes fell on Emily's fingers, "Will you stop that? It's driving me—"

"Kate, LOOK OUT!"

Emily didn't know how she had seen the figure standing in the middle of the road, but Kate barely had time to press her foot on the brake. Even with the brakes squealing, the car's momentum moved it forward and it smashed into what felt like a brick wall. The nose of the car tilted downwards as the back wheels lifted off of the floor and the car began to turn over in mid-air. Emily was vaguely aware of screaming, her own and Kate's, and her seatbelt was the only thing stopping her from falling against the roof of the car as it hurtled towards the ground. There was an almighty, deafening crash as the car landed, roof-first, onto the tarmac, and everywhere glass pelted Emily and Kate as all the windows seemed to smash simultaneously.

Emily must've blacked out for a split-second, and when she opened her eyes again the screaming had stopped, and she felt a blinding pain in her head and arm.

They were still upside down, and she looked to her side frantically as her finger searched for the buckle on her seatbelt. Kate lay against the roof, slumped with her seatbelt torn, blood trickling out of the corner of her mouth and her leg bent at an odd angle.

"Kate!" Emily sobbed as her fingers pressed down on the buckle in a desperate attempt to free herself from the seatbelt, the other arms stretching towards her friend. She hissed in pain as her elbow extended and a searing, white hot stab of pain coursed through her arm and body, "Kate!"

Kate didn't stir, and finally there was a click as Emily's belt gave way and she slumped against the ceiling, sending more pain through her body. Tears ran down her face as she crawled through the broken window, aware of cuts forming on her bare legs as jagged pieces of glass slid across her skin. Her arm was so painful she was seeing spots, but once she had crawled out of the wreckage she managed to stand, her chest rising and falling rapidly as her breath came in ragged bursts. She could her heart pounding in her body, her blood roaring in her ringing ears as she squinted ahead onto the dark road, making out the outline of a figure.

As by some miracle, Emily's wand was poking out from the passenger-side window of the wreckage, and she had to ignore the blinding pain as she dove down to grab it and pointed it ahead of her, hands shaking uncontrollably.

"Who's there?" she screamed into the night, "Lumos!"

Her wand flickered weakly and she heard a chuckle echo across the forest. Out of pure instinct, Emily fired several curses off into the darkness, towards the source of the sound.