AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You weren’t invited, so you don’t get a say.”
Julia sneaked a quick gaze toward her stepdaughter before she returned her eyes to the road blazing past them. “I wasn’t letting you leave there alone. You’re drunk. And this is a really stupid thing to be doing.”
“Yeah, well, I do stupid things. Remember? That’s why my bitch of a mother is trying to destroy my family.”
“Sierra–”
“What?” she snapped.
Julia sucked in a shaky breath as she glanced sideways again, noting the glassy haze in Sierra’s eyes. “Please slow down. You’re going to hurt someone or yourself.”
“I already told you…that’s what I do. I hurt people.”
“You hurt yourself the most,” Julia said.
Sierra tightened her grip on the steering wheel, her lower lip trembling until she tightened it, her jaw flexing.
Julia’s mind raced with panic as they hurled around another curve. Blood rushed in her ears. “Please, Sierra, pull over and let me drive. I’ll take you wherever you want to go, but please stop this.”
“Stop what, Julia? Stop what? Stop being me? Stop being ‘that girl’? The one who destroys everything she touches? The one who disappoints everyone because she’s unlovable?”
“Sierra, that’s not true. You are not unlovable. You don’t destroy everything you touch.”
A tear fell to Sierra’s cheek, and she flicked it away, trying hard to maintain her hardened facade.
“Sierra, please. Pull over, let’s talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about, Julia.”
Julia slid further down in the seat, pressing her foot against the floor as though it would slow the car. “Okay, then pull over and just listen. Please, Sierra. I know you’re upset. And I know this is hard. But, please, Sierra. Give me the chance to talk.”
Sierra slid a teary-eyed gaze sideways to Julia, her lower lip trembling as she studied her.
“Please, Sierra,” Julia begged, her voice breaking.
More tears fell to Sierra’s cheeks as she bobbed her head up and down, pulling some of her mascara along with it to stain her cheeks black.
Julia swallowed hard, about to breathe out a sigh of relief as she flicked her gaze back to the road in search of a safe spot to pull over along the river’s edge.
Instead, her eyes went wide. A deer stood in the middle of the road, flicking its tail as its eyes glowed in Sierra’s headlights. “Sierra, look out!”
Sierra flicked her gaze back to the road, her jaw gaping open before she yanked the wheel to the side in a desperate attempt to avoid the animal.
With her responses delayed by the alcohol, she failed to recover from the swerve. Gravel crunched under the tires as they hit the shoulder before going weightless.
Time slowed. Julia’s stomach flip-flopped as her jaw unhinged and a guttural scream ripped through the air. The car plunged over the river bank, sailing for what seemed like an eternity before it finally slammed into the water.
Julia jolted forward, the seat belt catching her under her ribs as it fought to hold her back. The impact with the water failed to trigger the airbags, leaving Julia with a full view of the water inching its way up the hood.
“Sierra,” Julia hissed as she scrambled to collect her thoughts and form a plan. “Sierra, are you okay?”
She glanced sideways, finding an unconscious Sierra slumped against the steering wheel.
“Oh, no,” she breathed as she hurried to remove her seat belt. It stuck for a second until she finally ripped it loose as cold water started to lap at her feet, entering the car as it began to sink.
She pulled Sierra back, gasping at the blood running from a slice in her forehead. She pressed her fingers against Sierra’s neck, her shoulders slumping as she felt a thready pulse beat back against them.
She sat back in her seat, the water now reaching her ankles as it rose closer to the windshield. She dug into her pocket for her cell phone. With her trembling hands, she fumbled it, dropping it into her lap. With a cry, she grabbed for it before it plunged into the waters rising in the car faster than she hoped.
