Prologue
Layla
Smoke was the first thing that registered through my brain. The smell of gasoline and dirt was the second. The piercing ringing in my ears caused my head to throb.
Forcing myself to open my eyes, I saw nothing but darkness. The moment I forced myself to move, sharp pains shot through every fiber of my body. I felt it in my toes, up my legs, through my spine, and straight to my brain.
Heat licked at my skin, but I couldn’t see anything.Where is it coming from?My cheek pressed against the cool dirt; I felt the breeze shift, wafting the smoke away from me and clearing my vision enough to see the darkened outline of trees and the stars flickering above them.
Bracing myself for pain, I pushed my hands against the dirt, lifting my body barely a few inches. But it was enough to roll over. I turned to my left and instantly stilled. The light from the glittering stars illuminated the boy’s body next to me. My boyfriend’s body.
Brian’s bloodied visage faced me, his blonde hair colored with blood, plastering it to his forehead. The smell of gas drifted all around us, and the smoke began to burn my eyes. Or were they tears? With a shaky hand, I reached out to touch him, his clammy skin cold under my fingertips. My fingers ghosted over the skin on his neck, searching for a pulse. And found nothing.
Find a pulse in the neck, wrist and…I recalled the words from Mrs. Smith, my health teacher, but I couldn’t remember where else.
Ignoring the burning pain wracking my body, I shifted closer to him. Reaching for his hand, I tried to find the pulse on his wrist.
Nothing.I was doing it wrong; I just knew it. It had to be! Or maybe I was dreaming.
A sizzling sound startled me and my eyes traveled over Brian. The heat I felt was coming from the burning car. The panic took hold. Less than ten feet, my mother’s car burned like an inferno, the vision of it somewhat hindered with the smoke engulfing the vehicle.
Where is my mom?The panic choked me, just as much as the smoke.
We had to move. The fire was spreading, the smell of the gasoline and smoke intensified with each second, suffocating. It would kill us.
“Brian,” I rasped in a voice that didn’t sound like mine.
I shifted my body again, pulling on Brian’s hand, desperate to get us away from the flames slowly inching closer and closer to us. Another piercing pain shot through me, and I felt my consciousness slip away before the world went dark.
Through the thick fog in my brain, I registered sounds I couldn’t distinguish. My eyelids were too heavy to lift them, my mouth too dry to move. Same sound again.
Voices. There are voices.
“We’ll need a chopper.” A man’s deep voice was close. “She needs to be transported to the hospital now.”
Brian’s pulse.I tried to tell him to check on him first.Please check Brian. Make sure he’s okay.I hoped the words left my lips.
Shouting in the distance. I had to open my eyes and make sure they took care of Brian. But my eyelids wouldn’t move, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t open them. Why couldn’t I open my eyes?
“Damn it. We need to hurry. The car will explode any second.” Why was everyone shouting?
“On three.” Another voice. I never heardtwobefore I drifted off into darkness again.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
“Keep monitoring her vitals.”
A loud noise and vibration shook my body, each causing more pain. I just couldn’t figure out if it was my brain that hurt or my body.
Finally, I peeled my eyelids open and found a stranger's face close to mine. A forced smile, worried gaze.
“We got you, kid. Just hang on.”
My eyes closed.
* * *
The metallic scent of blood,sweat, and death was all around me. The sound of crying in the distance… but the only thing that registered in my mind was the chill of my grandfather’s voice.