100 Years to Live (Completed)

Chapter 23 : Emerald

The whole middle of the night escape thing would have worked if only I had remembered to fill up my gas tank. Because now here I was, stuck on the road in between nowhere and somewhere, still a long ways to go and too stubborn to turn back.

I opened the car door and looked around. The road was empty, all was quiet, and I felt like crying. What was I supposed to do now?

Maybe this is what I get for trying to run away. Maybe this is what I get for trusting a vampire who made me want to run away in the first place.

Maybe this is what I get for dreaming.

Groaning, I sat down on the paved road and leaned against my car. As I saw the needle slowly drift closer and closer to the E, I somehow thought that if I keep going straight, the car was also keep going. I didn't even bother pulling over. When the car used up the final drop of gasoline, the engine shut off and now I was parked smack dab in the middle of the road. Oh well. It's not like things can get any worse.

A gentle breeze blew by. It puffed on the bandage on my neck and a sharp pain made me shiver. I shouldn't stay out here. I should go home. I only drove a mile or two, I could walk back…

…but if I return now, when will I ever get the chance to leave again?

I sighed. Perhaps if I'm lucky, a car will drive by and I can hitch a ride.

Almost on cue, two small headlights could be seen in the distance. Excitement swelled in me. Here was my chance! The fates are on my side after all!

I stood and brushed the dirt from my pants. The bright headlights were getting larger as the car approached. It looked big, like a truck. Well, as long as it's a vehicle and it will get me where I want to go, I'm not complaining. This was called desperation.

The truck was closer now. I was going to be saved.

…

And then a horrible thought struck me. It's the middle of a moonless night. It's so dark, I can barely see myself. Without the car lights turned on, the truck driver can't see me. He won't see me—until too late.

Quickly, I yanked the car door open and jammed the keys into the ignition. Please, please work! Yet I knew it wasn't going to turn on. No matter how many times I turned the ignition, no matter how many times I wheedled it as if it were an animate object, it wouldn't work. The car would not turn on. The lights would not turn on.

The truck was even closer now. There was no way he could brake fast enough to avoid hitting me. Collision was inevitable.

Moral of the story? If you're low on gas, pull over. Don't get stranded in the middle of the road.

I did what any sensible person would do. Your life is more important than your car. I jumped back out of the car and started to run out of the way. But on my hurried way out, my foot caught on the step of the car and I tripped, falling face-first into the pavement. My head was bent in the wrong direction and the injury on my neck seared so much pain I was momentarily immobilized. And what a terrible moment to be immobilized.

Before I could get up, the bright headlights flooded my vision, blinding me on top of my previous impairment. I heard the screeching of the tires and the driver attempted to swerve around me, yet I knew it wasn't going to work. I knew this was it. No one could save me now.

Or so I thought.

In the last split second, two figures ran up against the truck to help it stop. It was Benjy and Amy, pushing the truck to help it brake. Then another figure ran onto the road, knocking my car out of the way. It was wolf, I saw, with chestnut fur. It was Lindsey, trying to save me.