Chapter Twenty-Two

11.2K 682 999
                                    

"The fire can't touch me, for I have burned one too many times.
And the sea can't harm me, for I've been drowning all my life.
Oh, but you could rip my heart open, darling,
For I have never known love before."

"

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.



I could faintly hear the sound of police sirens blaring in the distance as my mind feebly emerged into consciousness.

There were two things I could remember. First, it was the before – the unhindered road before us and the belief that everything would be okay. It was as if it'd happened to someone else, like I'd seen it in a movie. Everything was so perfect back then and I hadn't even realized how fragile all of it was. Gone in a matter of seconds. Just like that.

And then there was the after – after the car slipped and we hit a tree. I could taste the coppery blood pooling in my mouth. The sound of metal screeching against the slippery road, the way the car tumbled over and over for what felt like centuries and how all the blood rushed in my head. It felt like I was there and at the same time, I wasn't – fading and waking, fading and waking.

Then came the quietness. I assumed I'd died. Silence; it scared me more than the pain. Drifting in and out of consciousness, I became faintly aware of heat coursing throughout my body. My eyelids fluttered and I wondered why it was so dark. Was I at home in my bed? No, my bed wasn't that warm. It's the freaking heat. It's so freaking hot in here. I can't even breathe anymore... the oxygen in the air feels so scorching hot. It's burning my airways. My skin is turning to ashes. Why is it so unbearably hot?

My body jerked to the dashboard, the seatbelt tugging at my skin painfully. The pain throbbed in my guts, deep and warm. Ah, there it is. I almost thought I'd go peacefully from this world. Agony it is, then. Something was keeping me alive; otherwise I'd curl right up in here and let it take me to the grave. It was some fleeting thought that was vaguely invading the back of my mind. Dear God, why can't it just end already? Why can't I just go to sleep and not feel all of this?

My eyelids eased open achingly slow. I saw spots in the corners of my vision. My lungs contracted so hard I was afraid they'd fold into themselves. I felt the aching and cracking of my bones. It took me a while to recollect that the car had flipped backwards and I was now hanging with my head down. Steam rose somewhere from behind. I suddenly remembered the explosion. Was that our car?

My neck felt too fragile to move. Yet, I tried to look to my side. My arms flailing feebly next to my head. The blood flushing in my head was making me so dizzy I almost passed out again. I tried moving my paralyzed body somehow, but a gush of pain triggered a choked cry from my mouth. I flinched. I detected blinding lights coming somewhere from my peripheral, yet somehow I knew I had to turn to my other side. My head tilted to my left, and then I saw it.

"T-Tae!" a guttural cry fled my dry lips as I felt my heart almost burst from despair. A deep wound sliced in his forehead, heavily oozing out blood and staining his soft brown hair. It was dripping down sinisterly, pooling onto the car roof. Another prominent scratch traveled from his forehead to his jaw. Horrified, I stared at the bloody mess that was his chiseled perfect face minutes ago.

Black-hearted | kthWhere stories live. Discover now