Chapter 28
Bianca whipped her car out of its parking space and raced out of
the parking lot so fast her tires squealed and a horn honked at her. Ignoring it, she pulled onto the highway and
drove, accelerating to past the speed limit.
As soon as she could, she turned off the highway onto one of the back
roads, the same one she had gotten a flat tire on a month earlier, when she had
had to call Howie to come help her.
As she turned, she noticed the car behind her turn as well. It looked like a rental car from the license
plate. Taking her eyes away from the
rearview mirror, Bianca focused on the road again, taking the zig-zagging turns
with less care than usual. Her anger had
faded some, but she was still upset. How
could Brian do this to her? She had
always thought Brian to be so sweet and compassionate. He loved to joke around and play tricks on
people, he and Nick together, but this didn’t seem like the sort of joke he
would play. She supposed she had judged
him wrong. He wasn’t the sweetheart she
thought he was.
Reflexively, Bianca glanced up into the rearview mirror
again. She saw that the rental car was
still behind her, tailgating her. She
glared into the mirror at it and tapped her brakes, just to mess with the
driver a little. She normally did not
play games with tailgaters, for she was afraid of some road-rage-driven lunatic
ramming her car off the road or something equally frightening. But today, she was in no mood to be toyed
with. Seeing that the other car did not
back off, she put on the brakes again, harder this time, causing the other
driver to slam on his to avoid rear-ending her.
Smiling in satisfaction, she accelerated again, bringing her car to a
good ten or fifteen mph above the speed limit, hoping to leave the other car
behind.
No such luck.
In a moment, it was behind her again, tailgating her even more.
“Back off, asshole, I’m in no mood,” Bianca muttered, tapping her
brakes again.
Now, suddenly, the other car crossed the double yellow lines in
the middle of the road and got into the other lane. Bianca watched it out of the side mirror with
wide eyes. She could see the outline of
the driver, but was unable to make out his face.
“What the hell are you doing?” she mumbled, still watching. “It’s a no passing zone, idiot!” She half hoped another car would come in the
opposite direction, just to scare the crap out of the other driver, but then
there would be either a head-on collision, or the other car would swerve to the
right… exactly where her car was positioned.
With an annoyed sigh, Bianca took her foot off the accelerator and
let her car slow down so that the other car could pass her. But it didn’t. It slowed down too, so that it was right
beside her. She could see it out of the
corner of her eyes, but she did not look at it.
Instead, she kept her eyes fixed on the road in front of her.
“Oh God, oh God,” she whispered, her anger gone, replaced by fear. This car was following her. What was it going to do? Run her off the road? She debated quickly in her head about what to
do – put on the brakes and slow down more, or accelerate and try to leave it
behind? All she knew was she didn’t want
it right there beside her. She opted for
the brakes first, deciding that was safer, but as soon as she put on her
brakes, so did the other car. So, her
heart pounding rapidly inside her chest, Bianca gunned the engine, pressing the
accelerator to the floor, watching as the needle on the speedometer crept
up. 40… 45… 50… the other car was
accelerating now too… 60… 65…
“Oh God, oh God,” came the whispery chant. “Leave me alone!”
She was going seventy now, whipping around curves, terrified she
was going to skid straight into one of the guardrails, terrified the other car
was going to try to ram her, terrified another car was going to come at them
from the opposite direction. But there
were no other cars around, nothing coming in either direction. It was a relief… but it also unnerved
her. There was no one around to help
her.
They were coming up to Winnopega Lake now, she could see it up
ahead on the right side. The road curved
around it, and if she went off the road now, she’d go straight into the
water. There were guardrails of course,
but could they withstand the impact of a car going seventy?
Scared out of her wits by now, Bianca took her foot off the
accelerator. The other car slowed again
too. Her speed began to drop… 65… 60…
and that was when the other car started to drift into her lane. She laid on her horn, edging her car as close
to the narrow median as she could. The
other car continued into her lane as if she were not even there. Her car crossed the white line on the side of
the road, inching into the median, closer and closer to the guardrail.
Suddenly, the other car sped up and swerved into her lane, nearly
sideswiping her. Bianca slammed on her
brakes so hard that her car suddenly began to skid. She tried to turn into the skid as she had
been taught, but the car was out of control.
Before she could get herself back on the road, the car slammed hard into
the guardrail. Her whole body was thrust
forward. The airbag popped out, stinging
her face. She screamed out in pain, her
voice muffled by the airbag, as the seatbelt dug into her stomach and chest,
taking her breath away. And then,
everything came to an abrupt stop, the car, the forward motion of her body, her
scream… the only thing still going was her heart, pummeling erratically against
her ribs.
The airbag had cushioned her head and protected it from hitting
the steering wheel, but it did little for the rest of her body. Her stomach and chest burned with fiery pain
from the impact of the seatbelt retraining her.
She couldn’t see with the airbag in her face, and she felt trapped. She squirmed claustrophobically, trying to
push the airbag away, but it only aggravated her torso more. Panic set in, and her breathing grew even
more rapid and uneven.
Where was the other car? she wondered vaguely. The other driver? Was he coming for her? If so, to help her… or to hurt her further?
She began to feel dizzy and even more panicky, and then, the black
army of unconsciousness began to close in on her, invading from the corners of
her eyes and trying to conquer over her.
She fought it at first, but finally, it surrounded her. Powerless to stop it, she let her body
surrender.
***
The other car had stopped a few yards from the spot where Bianca’s
car had smashed into the guardrail. Now
the driver, clad in a baseball cap and sunglasses and carrying a small bag,
stepped out of the car, stopping to make sure no cars were coming down the
road, then walking up to Bianca’s car.
The driver peeked cautiously through the passenger side
window. There was Bianca, slumped back
against the driver’s seat, her head hanging to one side, unconscious. The driver smiled in relief and tugged on the
passenger side door. Luckily, it was not
locked, nor jammed, and it opened with ease.
The driver climbed into the car.
Reaching into the small bag, the driver pulled out a syringe. It was already filled with something. Quickly and efficiently, the driver held up
the syringe, plunged it into Bianca’s right arm, and pushed down the stopper.
Then the passenger door opened again. Satisfied, the driver climbed out, carrying
the small bag with the syringe inside it, and walked back to the other
car. The driver climbed inside, started
the engine, and pulled a quick U-turn.
Then the rental car disappeared around a corner, the driver sure that no
one had been around to see what had just gone on.
But the driver was wrong.
For there was someone there, peeking through the trees surrounding the
lake. And that person had seen the whole
thing.
***
