4. An Accident

"Who are they? Why are they following us?" I asked frantically. My heart was racing fast, my breath was ragged.

"Calm down, let's just say they don't like me," he replied quickly. He steered the car into a fairly quiet lane. I saw from the rearview mirror that the black sedan was still following this car.

"What the—aaakkkhhhh!" I screamed hysterically as the bullet fired and hit the rear windshield, making a loud shattering sound.

"Unbuckle your seat belt!" he ordered.

"What for?"

"Drive my car!"

"I can't drive with one hand."

"You can use a gun?"

"What? Of course not!"

"Therefore, drive the car—"

Prang!

"Hurry up!"

Quickly, I unbuckled my seat belt, and so did the young man. We switched positions with great difficulty, until the car felt like it was swaying right and left. I ignored the pain in my shoulder and drove the car without wearing the seat belt.

He opened the desk on the dashboard and found a revolver-type firearm. He opened the car window and looked out. A shot rang out from his gun. I jumped a little. I had just been hit by a bullet, and I had to get ready to be hit again. Really, this wasn't on the fantasy list I had compiled in the taxi earlier.

A gun battle ensued. I ducked several times to avoid the bullets. The windshield was shattered. One shot hit one of the rear tires, made me lose control for a moment. I grabbed the guy's black coat as he almost tumbled out.

"Shit! I'm out of bullets!" He sat back in his place. "Looks like they're out of bullets too."

There were no more gunshots. For a while, I was a little relieved. And it was only temporary when I saw a large truck coming around the corner on the right as we neared the intersection.

"There's a truck!" I exclaimed in panic.

"Don't stop! Just keep going straight ahead!" he interrupted.

"Are you crazy? We could die!" I screamed even more in fear. My heart literally felt like it was going to explode.

"Trust me, you can do it!"

I didn't have a choice, because I was sure that my life wouldn't be guaranteed either if that damn chasing car caught us. I picked up speed, spurring on with great hope.

"Come on! Come on! You can do it!"

I screamed as the car came to the end of the intersection, passing it just before the giant truck reached the center of the intersection. There was a deafening sound from behind. The car chasing us had crashed into the jumbo-sized vehicle.

I let go of the gas pedal, coming to a slow stop while holding my breath. When the car came to a complete stop, I could only breathe heavily. I turned to the man—who was also catching his breath—bitterly.

My stagnant tears were already falling. "I-I killed people. I-I killed them."

"No, no. Don't cry! Please …."

"I killed them!" I covered my face with both palms while crying bitterly. "I am a killer."

I felt my body being lifted up. He sat me on his lap and hugged me tightly. As if trying to calm me who was still shaking with fear. "No, you're not! Please, don't cry!"

I squeezed his coat, distributed the pain in my left shoulder as well as the tightness in my chest. Pleasure and fear mixed together: pleasure that he was holding me like this, and fear because of what happened earlier. For God's sake, I've killed a human! His hand on my head made the rhythm of my breathing gradually slow down, and finally become regular. My grip on his clothes had loosened, so I just touched him.

"Feel better?" he asked softly. I nodded twice against his chest. "Good."

He sat me on the seat then got out of the car, walked around and got behind the wheel. He drove the car slowly away from this place, shuffling as one of the tires was hit by a bullet. I didn't dare look back, afraid that my feelings would get worse. He steered the car into the gap of two old buildings that were completely deserted, then stopped behind them.

"Why are we here?" I asked timidly. The notion that he was a Prince Charming type faded away instantly; I was sure that he wasn't a man whose life was going to be smooth sailing. But at the same time, I also knew that he wouldn't do anything bad to me--at least not yet.

"We can't be seen around the crime scene with the car in this condition," he explained. I still didn't look at him. "I'll call my friend so he can help us."

No answer came from my mouth. He picked up his cell phone and typed something before putting it to his ear. It took a few calls--and curses--to connect with the friend he was talking about.

"Isaac, where have you been? I need your help; my car is broken. Come here!" Isaac... That was also the name he called when he called earlier.

"..."

"At the hiding place we were at during the D-3A incident."

"..."

"Yes, she was with me." Dare to bet that she was talking about me.

"..."

"Shut up, there's nothing like that. Come here quickly or I'll ask Brigitte to beat you up!"

The young man closed his cell phone and faced me. "You'd better call your sister so she won't worry."

Sister? Kim? That's right, because of this incident I had forgotten about that girl. Taking the cell phone he handed me, I typed in Kim's number that I had memorized--and by the way, I didn't even remember my mom's number.

Kim answered on the first ring, which was crazy. "Hello?"

"Kim, I..."

"Leanne? Is that you?"

"Yeah. I just wanted to say--"

"For God's sake, Leanne! Where have you been? I was really worried about you. This afternoon I heard that there was a commotion at the cafè, I looked for you right away, but you weren't there. I only managed to find your bag and notebook. I'm thinking all kinds of bad things, Leanne."

"Calm down, Kim. I'm fine."

"Tell me, where are you now! I almost went crazy looking for you! Mandy must be worried about you too."

I glared. "You talked to my mom about it?" Kim knew all too well how hyper Mom would get if she knew the slightest bad thing had happened to me, and now she was telling me that I'd disappeared in Missouri.

"Almost, if you hadn't called me first." I breathed a sigh of relief. That girl almost pushed my mom to make a report to 911 to find her kidnapped daughter. "By the way, whose cell phone are you using?"

"I can't say right now, Kim. I just want to say that you don't have to worry. I'm fine. I'll be home soon too."

"Well done, Leanne. You're driving me crazy."

"Understand, Kim. I promise I'll be home soon. Don't worry. Bye." I quickly hung up before Kim launched another protest. I gave the phone to its owner. "Thank you."

He just nodded slowly. I ducked back down, playing with my fingers while fighting with my mind.

"I asked for an explanation," I whispered. I only dared to look at him when he also looked at me. "Tell me what really happened."

211122, Anne Joyce