Page 38 of Vows of Silence

The world snapped violently sideways. The metal of the car screamed in protest, glass shattered everywhere, and my shoulder slammed against the car door hard enough to steal the breath from my lungs.

Pain burst through my ribs as the car spun across the wet tarmac. My head cracked painfully against the window, despite the airbag deploying, and suddenly all I could hear was ringing.

I tried to blink past the pain, tried to force the fog out of my vision, and ignore the sensation of something warm and wet running from my temples.

Everything seemed to stop. Moving in slow motion. The engine hissed in front of me, rain still pattered softly overhead—which would have been peaceful given any other circumstances—and the smoke wrapped around me, making my lungs burn.

My body wouldn’t move. I tried to command my arm to lift up, but nothing happened. For long seconds, all I could do was blink dazedly, glancing around, noting the glass in my lap, the shattered windscreen, and something moving through the rain outside.

My seatbelt dug painfully into my chest, locked tight across my body, pinning me to the seat.

“Frank…” I croaked weakly.

No answer.

My vision swam sideways as I tilted my head toward him.

Blood ran down the side of his face, dripping from his temple onto his collar. His body hung unnaturally against the steering wheel, completely motionless.

Fear crashed into me so hard it cut through the fog instantly.

“Frank!”

Nothing.

My trembling hands clawed uselessly at the seatbelt, and panic rose fast and violently. The seatbelt jerked, giving me no slack, locked into place with the impact of the crash.

Outside, the guards’ vehicle had crumpled into the divider several feet ahead of us.

I heard the crunch of the glass over the hissing of the engine. Heard him before I saw him.

Helpless to do anything else, I could only watch as one of the car doors opened, and a dark figure fired gunshots into the night, illuminating the car in sharp, loud flashes.

I was in too much pain to even scream. All I could do was groan helplessly, my chest heaving.

And then the figure straightened, and another scream gargled in my throat.

A silver mask, illuminated by the streetlights.

Looking straight at me.

He walked towards me. Slowly. Predatory. Emerging from the rain as though he had all the time in the world.

No.

No, no, no… This couldn’t be happening.

Every inch of my body went cold, and I felt as though I was drowning in fear.

He moved calmly through the rain whilst my entire world collapsed around him.

Silas.

He was here. The same black gloves, the same black suit. And, of course, that fucking silver mask.

And he was coming for me.

I closed my eyes against the pain. When I forced them open again, he had crossed another few feet. The same thing happened every time I blinked. I never saw him move, never caught the shift itself, only the result. Each time my vision returned, he was closer than before, advancing through the rain with an eerie inevitability that made him seem less like a man and more like something stalking from a nightmare.