Page 34 of Wrecked
“What the fuck is this?” I ask, leaning closer to the screen.
“I think it’s a video from a police car. It’s got a bunch of stuff flashing on the screen.”
Staring at the screen, the first thing I notice is the date, March 26th, 2012. The date alone makes my pulse race. It’s all dark, except for a random car lights flashing by every so often. My throat is beginning to go dry, as I continue to watch the date blink on and off the screen.
Suddenly, it’s as though the world around me stills. Nothing else matters except what I’m watching. The car drifts into oncoming traffic, seemingly not even in control. That’s when it happens. A silver SUV comes into view. But fuck, not just any. It’stheirSUV. The wind is knocked out of me, and I need to grab onto the desk.
It happens so fast, I almost can’t comprehend what I’m watching. The big oak tree, metal twisting, glass shattering, smoke rising. “No fucking way,” I whisper, choking back a sob.
“What?” Brett questions, but I’m too focused on what I’m seeing.
That’s when I see him. That son of a bitch ran over to see what he did, and as he’s rushing back to his car, I see his face. It will forever be burned into my memory. I will fucking find him.
“That’s him,” I whisper, trying to speak around the lump in my throat.
“That’s who?” Brett asks, looking back at me.
“That’s the son of a bitch that killed my parents.” Squeezing my eyes tightly for a second, I snap them open. “Brett, go back.”
“Asher, what do you mean this is the guy who killed your parents?”
Scrubbing my face, I blow out a breath. “That’s them. Now go back.”
“No, let’s just take it to the police,” he says, looking up at me with sympathetic eyes.
“Fucking play it back,” I yell, holding tightly to the seat.
I watch again and again. I watch my parent’s SUV come into view before swerving to miss the hit. I watch the person who did it, get out of the police car, check on them and fucking flee. All these years of trying to figure it out and here it is, the fucking evidence. I have Brett freeze it on the person and I get a bad feeling.
“Take that to the cops, I need to see what Payton was doing with this tape.”
“Don’t. You have no idea who that is, don’t go fucking up the only good thing that’s happened to you, probably ever. You’re too emotional right now,” Brett says, trying to be the good friend he is.
“She’s been hiding things, keeping her past hidden. What if this guy is part of the reason? What if she was in the car? What if this whole fucking thing has been a lie because she’s protecting him? Fuck. That.” I feel an anger I haven’t felt since I found out about my parents. Seeing it, watching it play out in front of me, makes me physically sick. I need answers and I need them right the fuck now. But I start to think of Payton, and the fear on her face today. It doesn’t make sense. “What if he’s what’s she’s scared of?” Fuck.
“What?”
“Take that to the cops, I need to go make sure she’s alright. I have a feeling she’s here to avoid him,” I yell, hauling ass to my truck.
I race over there, getting to her place in record time. Jumping out of the truck, I rush up the stairs. I turn the handle and it’s locked. “What the fuck?” Knocking on the door, I step back and fold my arms. A minute goes by and nothing. Knocking, I try the doorknob again. This time I bang my fist on the door and yell her name. I hear the door unlocking and my stomach, that is in knots, starts to relax. But the door only cracks open and she peeks out at me.
“Hey,” she whispers.
“Hey? What’s going on, Payton?” I question.
“Not now, another time,” she says, looking at the ground, as she starts to close the door.
“Payton, what are you doing?” I don’t even know if I’m more pissed or worried at this point.
She swallows, shaking her head. “Nothing.” This time she lifts her head, locking onto mine. “It’s dark now. You know how I feel about the dark.”
Before another word comes out of her mouth, the door slams shut. What the fuck? Staring at the closed door, I run my hands through my hair. Closing my eyes, I blow out a breath and it hits me like a fucking ton of bricks.
“I don’t like the dark. Everything bad that happens, happens when it’s dark.”
Fuck. She isn’t pushing me away, she’s begging for my help. A strength I didn’t even know I possessed comes crashing over me. I slam my body into the door, over and over until I hear it starting to give way. “Fuck. Come on,” I grunt, slamming into it one last time.
The door slams open, banging into the wall behind it with so much force I’m sure the wall is fucked. Stepping in, the air is sucked out of my lungs. My heart slams against my chest, my pulse races and the world crashes around me.
“Payton,” I yell.
Defenseless, powerless, wrecked.
