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DELETED SCENE FROM BEAUTIFUL CREATURES
We drove down Dove Street toward the railroad tracks, the sameness of the houses blending together in a uniform blur of perfectly manicured lawns and wraparound porches. Link was messing around with the radio, trying to cue up his latest demo track, which would undoubtedly be horrible.
“Hey, man, keep your eyes on the road.” But it was already too late.
I heard the whistle before I saw the train barreling down the track. We didn’t have time to slow down, and neither did the train. It was coming right at us.
Link slammed on the brakes. “Holy crap!”
I heard tires screeching, felt the car rolling. I could see my books tumbling around inside the Beater, like we were in the drum of a gigantic washing machine. My body smashed against the passenger door. I could see the whole thing happening, but I couldn’t stop it.
Ethan!
I heard a voice, not mine or Link’s. It was a girl’s.
It was familiar.
The Beater flipped onto its side, sliding across the road toward the tracks. I could hear the metal scraping against the asphalt. I saw the train right in front of us.
We were going to die.
I saw the street twisting upside down, and I was falling.
Then I heard her voice, like a whisper.
Ethan.
The car froze upside down in mid-air, more like mid-roll. I could move, but Link was frozen, his face twisted into a scream I couldn’t hear. The train rushed past, only inches from my open window, while the Beater hung there, suspended in the moment before impact. The rearview mirror snapped off, ricocheting against the side of the Beater.
Then the car righted itself, the tires gently touching the ground, as if someone had put it down. And us. We were sitting in front of the train in a car that was still rocking back and forth, at the end of two long black skid marks. They looked like claw marks that an enormous animal had scratched into the street.
Link was screaming, “Holy crap! Holy crap!”
I felt like screaming, but I couldn’t make a sound. I stared at the train as the last car sped past us. I tried to open the door, but my hands were shaking so hard I couldn’t get it open.
Link was shaking his head. “Do you know how freakin’ close that was?”
The last car of the train flew by.
I couldn’t breathe. I had to get out of the car. I pushed my shoulder into the door and stumbled out onto the gravel. I closed my eyes, collapsing against the side of the Beater. Ten seconds earlier and I’d be dead.
If it hadn’t been for—what? What the hell had happened?
I looked up. A car was on the oth
er side of the tracks. I had never seen it before. You can’t imagine how impossible that is, because I know every single car in Gatlin. This car was long and black, like a hearse.
Actually, it was a hearse.
I tried to look in the window, but it was blacked out. It didn’t matter. I knew who was driving. I mean, I didn’t know who was driving, exactly.
But I knew she had green eyes and black hair.
