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Myarmandwristburned, but I kept waving. Not sure if we were on a motorway or a tiny back road in the middle of nowhere, I refused to give up hope until the very end.
I noticed the wind around my hand seemed to get faster and the bumps and jolts of the car, more violent. It was then I heard sirens, and for a second, I wondered if they were here for me. I allowed myself to believe, just for a heartbeat, that they would find me and get me home safe, but then the sirens raced past, and I cried out with disappointment. I thought I heard Amos laugh as I pulled my hand back inside the car, curling up in a ball, admitting that this was it; the end of my life was whenever he decided to stop the car.
Exhaustion took over, pulling me under, making rational thought hard work. The world grew fuzzy, and I was glad because I didn’t want to see my end in high definition. Tears streamed down my face, soaking my top… Grayson’s top. I wrapped my arms around it, imagining it was his arms… his and Ethan’s arms around me, keeping me safe.
Suddenly, the car hit a bump and then another. It swerved violently, and I smashed my head off the front of the trunk before it veered sideways with such force that it sent my body slamming against the back of the car. Pinning my arms and legs against the solid sides, I tried to stop any more damage from happening to my already broken body.
That was when I heard the sirens again. Closer and louder now. A loud voice demanded the car stop, announcing there was no way past because the road was blocked.
The brakes screamed, the car careering to a sudden stop as if Amos had run out of road. I waited, panting with fear, wondering if I’d hallucinated the sirens as a way to cope with my impending death.
“Amos, step out of the car with your hands on your head.”
“Amos, we won’t ask you again.”
“Put the gun down.”
“Where’s Ivy?”
I forced my breath to still, too scared to make a sound as I waited to see what would happen next.
Ethan
“Thepolicehavetheireyes on the car. They’ve laid out stingers to flatten its tires when the car drives over them and there are armed police everywhere. If she’s in that car, they will find her,” Thomas reassured us.
“But will she be—” I looked at Gray and I couldn’t finish my sentence. He needed me to be positive. To be strong. He’d been amazing all week, but since we’d found out this might have something to do with Hazel, he’d unraveled. Fear and worry etched into his beautiful face. Gray gripped my hand, and we held onto each other while we waited for news.
We pulled up on a bridge, looking down over the motorway, which had been closed off to other vehicles. Gray moved quickly from the car, and I followed. Thomas behind us. There was a stationary car in the middle of the road, its tires flat, the trunk looking damaged but still closed. We could even see the light that had been kicked out. Armed police surround the car, shouting at the driver to get out, but no one moved.
We watched in horror as the driver floored the gas, the car lurching forward, its speed building quickly. It happened in the blink of an eye. The car span, the driver losing control of the back end. Spinning towards the edge of the road, it mounted the tree-lined bank and the front of the car plowed, at speed, into a tree. There was a moment as the police ran towards the car, yelling. Gray, Thomas, and I moved as well, desperately trying to find a way to the road below, needing to know if Ivy was in there. Just as our feet hit the tarmac, the car exploded, flames engulfing it completely. The force of the blast sending the officers flying backward to the floor.
“Ivy!” I screamed as I ran towards the car, the searing heat forcing me back to stand on the periphery.
“No, oh my God, Ivy, no.” Gray fell to the floor beside me, crying out her name again and again.
“I’m so sorry,” Thomas whispered as we watched the car burn, the noise of the flames silencing our cries. He let us stay there for a minute before he dragged us away, moving us back towards the bridge. I watched as Thomas pressed his hand to his ear, speaking into his wrist. “Yes, they’re here. Why?... I’m not sure they want to talk to anyone right now. If you bring the press here, I will kill you my fucking self.”
The road filled with acrid smoke as my heart broke, my body shutting down, going numb, so when I heard someone talking to me, I didn’t pay attention. We’d lost Ivy in that fire, and I didn’t know how Gray and I would ever recover. I turned to reach for my husband, suddenly scared that I'd lose him too. That’s when I noticed him, open mouthed, staring. I followed his eyes until I could see what he saw.
Through the smoke was a figure. Limping towards us, wrapped in a blanket. They stepped closer and I wondered if I was dreaming.
Ivy?
She looked like Ivy but not like Ivy at all. Her wild curly hair hung flat to her face, her eyes ringed with dark circles, her body less curvy. But then she smiled. She took one look at Gray and me and she smiled, and I knew I wasn’t dreaming.
Crying out her name, not believing I’d ever see her again, I pulled Gray with me, and we ran. We ran to her like our lives depended on it, scooping her up in my arms as Gray held her hands, I stared at her, not believing she was real, but when she cried out in pain, I gently lowered her to the ground.
“Princess.”
“Firefly.”
“Husbands,” she whispered, cupping both our faces, staring at us both with so much love it actually hurt my heart.
“You’re alive?” I questioned, still not believing this was real.
She burst into tears. “I am. I think. Unless this is a dream.”
“The car. We thought you were in it.”
