Page 97 of Into The Darkness

The way her lips turned when she was trying to be coy.

Her intelligence. Her mouth. Her sweet melodic voice.

“Fuck!” I screamed as I banged on the steering wheel.

And just as I was about to get drowned again in the thoughts of Ember, car lights lit up the rearview mirror. It was dark outside, and I was being fucking reckless driving the night before the bonfire, but I hadn’t expected to see anyone out here.

We were only about a mile out from the dirt path that turned toward where the rock was. Even in the pitch black, I knew this route like the back of my hand.

I pressed the accelerator a little harder and held onto the steering wheel tight as I navigated the windy roads.

I was seeing things. No one followed me out here, I did all my checks before I left Isles to make sure I wasn’t being followed . . . didn’t I?

“Goddamn it!” I had forgotten to check behind me as I pulled out of town. I was too fucking consumed with Ember.

Deep breaths. I could do this. I would pull onto the dirt road, then I would be veiled by the darkness. I had little less than a mile to go.

But the lights behind me crept up closer.

I quickly turned around and realized on this two-way road, there was no way to avoid this.

This was a cop or something. It was too early for the bonfire. Although, technically, I was out of the city limits and it didn’t matter what day it was . . .

No. I couldn’t have been this careless.

I grabbed my phone and realized I only had one bar, but I shot out a text to Ember in case this was the last time I was able to say anything to her.

Me:

Mi Sol,I love you.

I swerved so the nose of my car just missed the side of the mountain.

“Shit,” I exclaimed when I realized the car behind me was close enough to nudge me. This wasn’t fucking good.

I picked up the pace and pulled onto the dark path, then jumped out of the car, hoping that the cover of the night would hide me.

The person following me did the same thing, though . . . Shit.

“Ash Ortiz.” The voice echoed into the silence of the pines. I ran down the path and didn’t have time to grab the flashlight I usually used.

The pounding of my boots against the dirt boomed into the pine forest, so I tried to shuffle every time that my foot landed on the ground to both erase the sound and any trace in the dirt.

“Stop,” the voice screamed, and I realized that they were much farther back than me. Almost to the clearing, the rock where I normally stood was obscured slightly by a fallen tree trunk—the perfect place to hide.

I held my breath in, waiting for someone to come up right behind me, but I heard nothing. I also saw nothing, but that wasn’t a surprise since there was no light out here. The fog was thick, so not even the stars illuminated the night sky.

After fifteen minutes or so, I figured it was safe enough to get up, so I walked over to my rock and put my hands in my hair.

“Isn’t this fucking perfect?” I said aloud as I chuckled. It couldn’t have gone any worse.

I looked out into the darkness, and the pressure was so consuming. The pressure from my dad, my brothers, Rain, even Ember. I felt like I was suffocating, and tonight’s little rendezvous only added to all of it.

Glancing behind me, there was no sight or sound to catch my attention. I’d narrowly escaped, yet this bonfire was nothing short of sheer insanity. It felt like a gathering of overzealous kids with weapons, fueled by excess adrenaline and testosterone, seeking an outlet for their aggression. This annual event had turned into a macabre tradition.

Ember’s perspective had opened my eyes to alternative ways of resolving disputes, beyond resorting to bloodshed. Unfortunately, convincing these individuals to adopt a different approach was like talking to a brick wall. They remained stubbornly fixated on this violent ritual, blind to the possibility of an alternative path.

I stepped closer to the edge of the rock and looked over into the deep vast darkness. It hurt. Everything hurts.

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