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Last night it was easy to explain it away as someone working late or visiting a friend and just going in the same direction as me but not tonight. Tonight, it feels less like a coincidence and more deliberate.
It’s almost half past one in the morning, and there is no one else on the road between Tungsten Bay and Silverbell. Around the halfway mark, the car comes in a little closer. I speed up, stretching the distance between us again. They close it again. A shot of fear sparks for the first time, and I take some deep breaths to keep the panic at bay. Finding my cell, I drop it into the holder, then scroll through my contacts till I find Everly. She’s not going to thank me for calling at this time, but I don’t have another option. Pressing call, I listen as it rings and rings and rings before cutting to voicemail. I hit redial. This time it only rings a couple of times before Everly’s sleepy voice comes over the speaker.
“Hello.”
“Everly, it’s Kennedy. Look, I’m sorry to wake you, but I think I’m being followed.”
“What the fuck, Kenz. What do you mean followed? Where the hell are you? Have you called the police?” she blurts, wide awake now.
“I’m on my way back from work. I don’t know if they’re following me or not, that’s why I haven’t called the cops, but it’s the same car that followed me back to Silverbell last night.”
“Shit! I can come and meet you. Where are you?” I hear rustling then the creak of a door.
“No, don’t come here. Just stay on the phone with me in case…” I don’t need to say anything more, she knows what I mean.
“Okay. But I really think you should call the cops, Kennedy,” she says, her voice laced with concern. And she has a right to be because when I look up into the rear mirror the car behind is practically riding my bumper now.
“No. No cops, Everly,” I say sharply. “Sorry, but I—” My words are cut short as there’s a bump from behind and the car lurches forward. “Son of a bitch!” I slam my foot down, shifting gear as the engine works to increase speed. My car is not built for this shit.
“Kennedy, what happened? Are you okay?” I try to put some distance between us as Everly continues to call my name down the line. “Kennedy?”
“I’m here.”
“What happened?” she presses again, panic still clear in her voice.
“He rammed me, but I—”
“He what?” she yells down the line. “Okay, enough. You don’t want me to call the cops, fine. But I am calling someone.” The line goes quiet as I turn off the freeway onto the road into town.
I check in the rear mirror and see the car gaining on me again. “Damn it.” I can still hear Everly on the other end and imagine she’s texting.
There’s another clunk of metal as I’m hit again, harder this time. The jolt causes me to lose control for a fraction of a second, but it’s enough for me to veer too far to the edge of the road. I let out a screech as I clip the verge, skidding on loose gravel. My tires lock as I slam on the brakes, but it does nothing more than cause my back end to spin out. My whole world spins and I lose all sense of direction as the car spirals out of control completely, coming to a stop with a grinding crunch of metal when it slams into a tree side on. The force throws me against the door, my head hitting the glass with a dull thud.
A little dazed, it takes me a moment to hear Everly’s voice calling to me through my cell, which by some miracle managed to stay connected even though it was knocked from its holder.
“Kennedy! Kenz! Fuck!”
“Everly… I’m…ahh, shit,” I curse, pain shooting through my head as I move. Touching a hand to my temple, my fingers come away wet, but lights on the road behind catch my attention.
“Kennedy, I’m coming right now. Just stay there. Wait for me and don’t move.”
“No, I’m…It’s okay, there’s someone here,” I tell her, but when I don’t get a response, I realize that the line is dead. Bright light blasts through the back window before dimming, then a car door closes and a voice I think I know calls out.
“Kenz!” Footsteps crunch gravel as a shadow blocks the light, and I then I can finally see who it is.
“Jackson?” I say, groaning as I try to move.
“It’s me. Don’t move. I need you to stay real still. Can you do that?”
“Yeah. It kind of hurts to move, so I’m good,” I say with a laugh, which makes my head and ribs hurt. Jackson pulls his cell from his pocket, moving a little way away from the car, and I almost feel like he doesn’t want me to hear. I strain to listen but he’s too far away, and my head is thumping. I close my eyes for a moment, or what feels like a moment. But when I open them again, it’s because of screeching tires, and then Everly is there.
Jackson stops her run, preventing her from coming too close.
“Hey, slow down. She’s okay, but I need her to stay still till…” I don’t hear the rest as he lowers his voice, but it’s completely drowned out by the blare of sirens as a fire truck rounds the corner, lights flashing.
It takes several minutes for my dazed mind to make the connection between the fire truck and what it means. When I don’t hear him as firemen begin to climb from the truck, I remember that he was at home earlier today so probably not on shift tonight.
However, my hopes of avoiding a second encounter in one day are completely dashed a moment later.
