“It’s been what?” My GPS suddenly spins in circles, distracting me. My stomach flips as I watch it reroute.
“Come on, don’t you go out on me!” I’ll be stuck up here in the mountains because I don’t have a physical map on hand; I’m using my cell.
My feet are on the brake, lightly stepping until I’m slowing down to a complete stop at a stop sign. Finally, the GPS reroutes successfully. I exhale, relieved. Instead of taking a right, it’s telling me to go left. It cut the distance time by five minutes, so maybe it’s onto something. I take a left.
“Maya?” I call out.
“Coraline, are you still there? I—” Her voice goes out again. My gaze hardens at her contact name. “Y-your flight is?—”
“Maya! Are you there? Can you hear me?” I shout, just as a pile of snow falls from a tree and lands on my windshield. I duck my head inside the car and swerve.
This is my worst nightmare. I’m pretty sure I’m in the middle of nowhere, and Mother Nature seems to be very angry tonight. I’m supposed to be at the airport by now, but everything is going wrong. It started when I couldn’t get a taxi or an Uber after the event. Hell, I didn’t even have time to report the weird, cryptic messages from my stalker. I’m on edge. I just want to be home.
“I can hear you.”Static. “Barely!” she responds. “Your flight has been canceled. I’ll book you another, but you need to find,” her voice goes out, “shelter! Go to a hotel or?—”
The phone beeps three times. I flick my gaze to the screen and see that the call’s been dropped. There are no bars, and mybattery is running low. But somehow, my GPS is still working. I hit the call button on her contact, but there’s no service.
Of course, there isn’t—just my luck.
“Crap!”
Another strong wind rattles my car, forcing it to sway to the left and almost hitting the metal guard rail that protects drivers.
Stay calm. Stay calm. Stay calm.
As much as I would love to say I can endure country life, I cannot. It's been absolutely beautiful, peaceful, and majestic to be up here in the mountains these past few days, but being out here in the dark is making me miss city lights.
Now, all I see is black fog mixed with mist. My windshield keeps getting hit by giant snowflakes that even the wipers can’t keep up with anymore.
Suddenly, a huge gush of wind blows by, making me steer my vehicle. I almost ram it on the side of the mountain before I'm plowing it back straight again. The storm is getting wilder by the second.
My heart thunders, adrenaline coursing through my veins, making my senses go into overdrive. I'm hyper alert, and I grip the steering wheel so tight it pinches my palm. A truck has its high beams on behind me, blinding me. The driver is flashing their lights, getting dangerously close to my bumper. I speed up, squinting in my rearview mirror.
What is their problem?!
I push on the gas. Maybe this person is in a hurry. I’m going ten miles per hour over the speed limit right now, and it's still not enough for the person behind me. I swing my hand to the left side of my head like a signal.
“Dude, go past me!”
They don’t budge. Their horn blares over and over again as they trail my exact movements. My anxiety is about to explode, and I feel a lump in my throat from being so damn nervous.
“Stop! You’re going to hit me, asshole!” I whisper-yell to myself.
Then, I feel it.
The truck crashes into the back of my car.
CHAPTER 5
CORALINE
“Ah!” I let out a piercing shriek.
The seatbelt tightens across my chest as I blink hard. My tires screech as I try to outmaneuver him without crashing into him, but he doesn’t let up—the vehicle slides as I make another turn down the mountain. Somehow, I regain control of the car.
How many freaking turns are there? How tall is this mountain? And why the hell is this guy trying to make us both crash?
“He did not just hit me…” I say aloud, quickly glancing in my rearview mirror as the truck mirrors my every move. My muscles tense as I grow furious.
