EDEN (Completed) (EDEN Series Book 1)

Chapter 3

I feel like we've been driving for hours now, but I'm not sure how long it's actually been. I'm still in a weird haze from being in and out of sleep. Why am I always so tired? The sun is hidden behind the overcast clouds. It's my favorite kind of day, not too hot and not too sunny. I don't think I've been this excited in years. I almost forgot what the feeling of excitement was. I lean my seat forward and appreciate the view of vast fields and farm animals. It's a delightful change from the hectic city life.

"Do you hear that rattling noise? I didn't hear it yesterday when I went to the store," Lucy says.

I yawn and turn the radio down. How has she been listening to hours of classical? I listen and hear a slight rattling coming from the rear of the car.

"You probably just hit something and shook something loose. You aren't the best driver." She shrugs and nods.

"Food!" I exclaim.

"There's a rest stop coming up somewhat soon, but not another exit for about thirty minutes. We'll stop and get some snacks."

I would prefer some real food, but I guess my options are limited. Oh, the pleasantries of driving past farm after farm. We arrive at the rest stop, and I get out to stretch. I notice something that makes my stomach turn. A black car, the same model as the one from outside of our apartment. There can't be two vehicles with windows that tinted, or can there be? My pulse rises and my heart feels like it's about to jump out of my chest as I get back into the car.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asks.

"B-Black car." I can barely speak. I feel the panic rising in my veins. Stay positive, I need to stay positive. Lucy gets out and walks toward the black car.

"No!" I yell.

She knocks on the window, and it rolls down, slowly. There's an elderly couple inside. The woman in the passenger seat is staring intently at a map.

"Hi, dear. We're lost. Can you help us find I-74?" The elderly woman asks.

"I know where I'm going!" Says the man.

Lucy turns to me with an "I told you so" look. I sit back down and try to collect my thoughts. This can't all be a coincidence. Someone is messing with my head... I know it. They want me to drop my guard, but I won't. More like I can't... Can I? Lucy comes back and looks at me with her lips pursed. I know I'm about to receive an earful.

"Do I even need to say anything?"

I shake my head. The looks she's giving me says it all. I can't ruin this trip for us. She deserves to be happy more than anyone I know.

"Wait here, I'll get the snacks," she says.

I nod, and she heads to the vending machines. This staying positive thing is going to be rather difficult. It's hard not to see the worst in everything. What if I stay positive and it turns out I was right all along? What if I drop my guard, but could've prevented something if I had just been alert? Lucy comes back with the snacks, still wearing an aggregated look.

"Peanuts?" I question. She leers at me, and I can tell she's irked. She turns up the radio and heads back to the highway. At least this orchestra crap will calm her down some. She always turns it up loud when she's in one of these moods. It's probably best if I don't bother her anymore. There's a lot of beautiful scenery to occupy my time with, anyway. I open the peanuts and shove them into my mouth, one after the other. We pass a sign with all the restaurants coming up at the next exit. I feel my mouth watering, pleading me for nourishment. Now, I regret not finishing my tacos yesterday when I had the chance.

"Food!" I yell, pointing at the sign. I guess being ravenous reverts me to a primitive state.

"We're about an hour from the beach, we'll eat when we get there," Lucy says.

That makes sense to me, but not to my stomach. I guess I have no choice but to hang on for this last, agonizing hour. I let out deep sighs over and over.

"You're such a brat," she says.

"Okay, I'll wait. But I won't like it."

My mind is filled with visions of the beach. From pressing my toes into the hot sand to feeling the cool, refreshing saltwater wash away all my problems. I've accepted, one hundred percent, that I need this. I almost forgot this feeling. Happiness, I'm engulfed in its delightful aroma.

We take the next exit, and I feel like a kid heading to Disney World, that is, until I see the detour sign shortly off the exit. Oh well, a few extra minutes isn't enough to bring me down. We follow the series of signs and come to a fork in the road. The road on the right has a "road closed" sign, so, I guess we have to go left. It strikes me as weird that there are cars further down on the right path driving away. They're probably just working on the construction, I guess. We head to the left and continue down a one lane road. I'm trying not to survey the surroundings and analyze everything, but my head and eyes have another plan. There isn't a single car on this road. It's midday, where is everyone? Should I even bring it up to Lucy? I don't think she can handle another accusation from me.

The road is a series of twist and turns with hills on each side. Lucy, the speed demon, is making me nervous. Fifty might be a little too much for this road. Seriously, where are the other cars? I'm starting to get concerned.

"Hey, Luce, kinda weird there aren't any other cars, huh?" I try to express my concern as casually as possible.

"Uh, sure," she replies.

She's completely enveloped in her music, bobbing her head from side to side. I have a bad, no, a terrible feeling about this. I know I had it earlier today, and I was wrong, but this time feels... different. I can feel the hairs on my neck standing on end. I turn the music down and try to refrain from having a meltdown.

"I think we should turn around, or at least slow down," I insist. Lucy glares that ever so punishing glare.

"This is the second time today you're freaking out. I can't even just have a relaxing ride without you scanning every single thing in sight. You seriously need to chill out."

Her words drift into a murmur as she continues to speak. I can't stop searching for something, anything wrong. Time seems to slow down as I clutch the armrests, tightly, attentively looking from left to right for any ill omen. Lucy's words are nagging at my ears, and it's hard to concentrate. That's when I see it. It looks like a spike strip that cops use to catch the bad guys. I've seen these same ones on t.v. I need to tell Lucy, but I can't focus, and in her ranting, she's lost her focus on the road. We're seconds away from running it over. I know there's no more time, but I still try to turn and open my mouth to warn her. Before I can even get a word out, I hear loud pops from the outside of the car.

The car twists and turns as we swerve off of the road. I can feel my adrenaline pumping, and I grab onto Lucy as we begin to roll down the hill. I feel my body starting to shift from the pull of the force. The crunching of metal fills my ears, almost as loud as the scream Lucy is emitting. Broken glass hits me from all directions. My head bangs against the dashboard and I feel something wet start to creep down my face. Lucy's fallen unconscious, at least I hope that's it. My hands slip from her as I feel the car start to slow down. I'm completely disoriented as the car comes to a stop, and I can feel myself starting to fade. I hang upside down, and through blurry eyes, I see two figures descending the hill. I know it's the people who have been following me. It's all I can think about as everything goes black.