Status: Updates are sporadic and may occur at whim, but I do try to add chapters regularly.
Silent Nights
Rude Awakening
Something has my wrist. My mind pitches out of sleep so fast I can’t remember what I’d been dreaming. All I know is that something has my wrist. In the haziness of waking, I immediately think the worst. Before even opening my eyes I jerk my arm away and lurch backwards, and somehow the world lurches with me.
I’m in the truck, I realize just as it comes to an abrupt stop and I’m dumped to the floor. I hit the side of my head on the radio. I sit still and the sharp pain eases into a dull, pulsing ache. I can feel the truck rumbling now. My ears are ringing shrilly, though. I stare blearily at my legs, trying to wake up the rest of the way. It takes a minute to realize the others are talking.
“-in the face!” I look up at Drew from the floor.
“You shouldn’t have grabbed her arm,” Anna says as she slowly shifts her foot out from under me.
“I was just trying to turn it off,” Drew snaps back at her. He turns his glare at me when she just laughs, and I’m pretty sure I deserve it more than she does anyway. There’s a bruise already forming on his jaw where I must have hit him. I look down and rub my hand against my forehead. My ears are still ringing. Except, maybe it’s not my ears at all.
I drop my hand from my face and look at my watch. It’s half past six. The little alarm symbol is blinking. I push the top button and the ringing ceases. I put my hand back to my forehead, willing the pulsing pain to stop. Half past six. It’ll be dark soon. I remember setting the alarm when I got to the house this morning. What I don’t remember is falling asleep.
“Are you alright?” Drew asks. He doesn’t sound like he wants to be asking.
“Yeah.” I grab the seat to pull myself off the floor. “And sorry,” I add, gesturing to his face. Anna laughs again, apparently not feeling very sympathetic.
“It’s fine,” he grumbles, “You hit like a girl anyway.”
“I am a girl,” I mumble, eliciting a chuckle from Anna. I see Matt shake his head as he reaches for the gearshift. On the other side of me, Drew just rolls his eyes and stares out the window. I look outside, too, and see nothing but endless fields.
“Not the highway,” I say, mostly to myself. I stare at the floor, expecting to see my map crumpled up somewhere down there. It’s not.
“We weren’t sure if you meant for us to get back to it.” Anna hands me the map. “We’re on this road somewhere,” she continues, pointing out our approximate location. It looks like we have officially reached the middle of Nowhere, New York.
I’m in the truck, I realize just as it comes to an abrupt stop and I’m dumped to the floor. I hit the side of my head on the radio. I sit still and the sharp pain eases into a dull, pulsing ache. I can feel the truck rumbling now. My ears are ringing shrilly, though. I stare blearily at my legs, trying to wake up the rest of the way. It takes a minute to realize the others are talking.
“-in the face!” I look up at Drew from the floor.
“You shouldn’t have grabbed her arm,” Anna says as she slowly shifts her foot out from under me.
“I was just trying to turn it off,” Drew snaps back at her. He turns his glare at me when she just laughs, and I’m pretty sure I deserve it more than she does anyway. There’s a bruise already forming on his jaw where I must have hit him. I look down and rub my hand against my forehead. My ears are still ringing. Except, maybe it’s not my ears at all.
I drop my hand from my face and look at my watch. It’s half past six. The little alarm symbol is blinking. I push the top button and the ringing ceases. I put my hand back to my forehead, willing the pulsing pain to stop. Half past six. It’ll be dark soon. I remember setting the alarm when I got to the house this morning. What I don’t remember is falling asleep.
“Are you alright?” Drew asks. He doesn’t sound like he wants to be asking.
“Yeah.” I grab the seat to pull myself off the floor. “And sorry,” I add, gesturing to his face. Anna laughs again, apparently not feeling very sympathetic.
“It’s fine,” he grumbles, “You hit like a girl anyway.”
“I am a girl,” I mumble, eliciting a chuckle from Anna. I see Matt shake his head as he reaches for the gearshift. On the other side of me, Drew just rolls his eyes and stares out the window. I look outside, too, and see nothing but endless fields.
“Not the highway,” I say, mostly to myself. I stare at the floor, expecting to see my map crumpled up somewhere down there. It’s not.
“We weren’t sure if you meant for us to get back to it.” Anna hands me the map. “We’re on this road somewhere,” she continues, pointing out our approximate location. It looks like we have officially reached the middle of Nowhere, New York.