Prologue

You should go…It’s not safe…I love you…Did you hear that…What happened…Where am I…Don’t hurt me…Please……

 

My eyes shot open when I heard the voices and I began looking around frantically, the nurses surrounding my bed came towards me.

 

“It’s okay love” the one closest to me said soothingly. “Do you remember what happened?”

 

“Yes” I said. “The car…I crashed.”

 

I laid my head back against the pillows and clenched my eyes tight, I didn’t want to remember what happened. I wanted to find a way to forget.

 

“You’re quite lucky” the nurse told me as she tended to the cuts across my cheek.

 

Lucky? I thought with an inward laugh, sure because it’s everyone’s dream to be involved in a five car pile-up. Yeah, Lucky to be alive.

 

I suddenly remembered that I hadn’t been alone in the car, my friends, what had happened to my friends. They had to be okay, but what if they weren’t, what if they were hurt or even worse, dead…because of my careless driving. I felt tears welling up in my eyes, and I looked up at the nurse expectantly.

 

“My friends? Are they okay” I whispered, not really knowing if I wanted to know her answer.

 

“Are they the people who were in the car with you? They’re fine, don’t worry. Just a few cuts and bruises” The nurse picked up the clipboard at the end of my bed and began writing something down “It seems you got the worst of it”.

 

“Oh” My eyes suddenly started to feel heavy, and I could feel myself drifting off to sleep. Please no nightmares, I thought desperately.

 

‘…if they find us?”

 

“They won’t, hardly anyone knows this place…”

 

“…I’m starting to feel like a third wheel…”

 

‘ …you’re there…’

 

‘….No…’

 

‘It’s not…’

 

I opened my eyes a short while later, to find my two friends Ryan & Erin sitting on two chairs by the wall.

 

Erin’s light brown hair was pulled into a loose ponytail round the side of her head, she had her arm in a sling, it must be broken.

 

Ryan, on the other hand, didn’t look worse for wear, his short blonde hair was as messy as ever and he had a few scratches down the side of  his face. He was the first to notice that I was awake, and he looked at me with concern in his eyes.

 

“Hey, how you doing?” he asked lightly.

 

“Fine” I said, shifting on the bed to try and get more comfortable. Why did hospital beds have to be so uncomfortable?

 

“You guys?”

 

“We’re both fine too” Erin said, unconsciously rubbing her arm in its sling.

 

It seemed obvious that all three of us were avoiding the subject, of why we were actually here in the first place. I didn’t want to be the first one to bring it up, I wasn’t even entirely sure I remembered everything clearly.

 

Erin leaned her head back against the wall and began tapping her fingers on the metal legs of the chair, a nervous habit she had picked up during our school days.

 

I saw Ryan throw her an agitated look, this habit of hers had always annoyed him, and I guess today was no different. He glanced back at me, and from the look in his eyes I knew what he was going to say next.

“We should talk about what happened”

 

I knew it, trust Ryan to get right to the point.

 

“So…um…what exactly happened?”  I asked, “In all honesty, I don’t really think I remember”

 

Ryan shrugged “ I was hoping you could tell me, I think I blacked out”

 

Erin leant forward in the chair, but continued to tap her fingers.

 

“It was that red car, the one that kept trying to overtake us”

 

I did remember that car, whoever was driving it was extremely impatient and kept beeping the horn and trying to overtake, I slowed down to let him pass. I detested angry drivers, they made me nervous.

 

“He must have been going over the speed limit, he was in the outside lane and just swerved into a lorry. It was horrible”

 

Erin shuddered, and that in itself scared me a little. Nothing scared Erin.

 

“How did we get involved?” Ryan asked, he seemed a tad confused. He had a point though, that car was on the opposite of the motorway to us. What had I done to get over there?

 

“It was a big lorry” Erin said “It skidded right over all the lanes”

 

I gasped as I suddenly was hit with a memory of a 16wheel lorry screeching across the road, tipping over.

 

“It’s amazing we’re all okay. Thanks Amber.” She sent me a half smile.

 

What was I supposed to say to that? You’re welcome? It hardly seemed fitting. So I only smiled back slightly.

 

Ryan cleared his throat “So can we spring you? Or you stuck here tonight?”

 

“I think I can go” I said slowly.

 

“I’ll go check” he said with a wink.

 

Erin and I sat in silence as we waited Ryan’s return, I didn’t really know what to say to her right now. She was my best friend, but she wasn’t known for her sensitivity, pretty much anything could rub her up the wrong way.

 

“Looks like we’re all free to go” Ryan announced as he came back into the room.

 

That was a relief, I really didn’t like hospitals, they gave me the creeps.

 

A doctor entered the room, flanked by two police officers.

 

“We have to ask you a few questions regarding today’s accident --Miss Parker, if you’d follow me please”

 

“Questioning?” I said to Ryan, once Erin had left.

 

He shrugged “I guess its protocol”

 

My panic must have showed, as Ryan put an arm around my shoulders and said “ Don’t worry about it”.

 

I was a notorious worrier, sometimes that was a good thing but at times like this it was definitely a bad thing. My imagination was running on overdrive.

 

Naturally I was the last one to be questioned, which only made me worry more. As I sat down on the cold chair in the doctor’s office opposite the two police officers, I mentally coached myself to keep calm. Breathe in and breathe out.

 

“Could you please state your name for our records”

 

“Amber Roberts” I said my voice surprisingly strong.

 

“How old are you Miss Roberts?”

 

“19”

 

The officer wrote this down, and I felt my palms grow sweaty.

 

“Can you tell us what you know of the accident that took place today at 15:34 on Junction 18 of the M25.”

 

I swallowed hard, my mouth suddenly felt dry and the room seemed to be getting smaller. What did I remember?

 

“I…I…I was driving, me and my friends were going on a trip this weekend. We thought it’d be fun to drive for a change, we usually take the train”

 

I wasn’t sure if any of this was useful to them but I told them anyway. At least it was kind of involved with the accident, these chain of events led me to being there.

 

“We’d been driving about an hour and a half, when this red car came up behind us. He kept beeping his horn, and indicating that he wanted to overtake. I couldn’t do anything though, there was cars either side of me. He was very persistent and he kept doing this until he finally managed to get past me.”

 

This was where things started to get a bit fuzzy, I pushed myself into remembering and I told them what I could.

“It all happened so fast, I remember hearing the screeching of brakes and by the time I looked over the lorry was skidding across the lanes. I didn’t know what to do, so I panicked. I think I must have hit the car in front… I’m sorry I don’t really remember anything else”

 

The officer smiled reassuringly at me.

 

“It’s okay. You told us what you can, and that’s all we ask for”

 

I nodded shakily, and got to my feet.

 

“Thank You”

 

Ryan and Erin were waiting for me just down the corridor, both staring out the window at the night sky.

 

“Ready to go?” I asked.

 

They both nodded and we left the hospital, not saying a word.

 

Erin flagged down a taxi just outside the hospital car park; Ryan made a move towards the taxi but stopped when he noticed I wasn’t moving.

 

“Amber?”

 

“I think I’m going to walk” I said weakly “ I just…cars” I finished lamely.

 

“Yeah” Ryan agreed “Erin let’s just walk. It’s a nice night”

 

Ironic, how the sky could be so clear, so bright and beautiful on such a horrible day. I guess the saying goes ‘it’s as different as night and day’, that made sense to me at that moment.

 

 

It was an unusually long walk home to the flat we shared near the center of London, I partly took the blame - it would have only taken 20 minutes by taxi but I just couldn’t stomach the thought of getting into a car. Watching them drive past me was enough to make me jump.

 

“Finally” Erin huffed as we reached the front door.

 

‘is that them?”

 

‘Yes’

 

‘ the brunette…’

 

I spun around so fast that I started to see double. Someone had said my name, a woman, but there was nobody else there.

 

“Amber?” Ryan was holding onto my arm, he’d placed his arm around me when we were walking after I kept jumping every time a car drove past us. It was comforting, safe, in a strange way.

 

“Didn’t you hear that?” I asked him shakily, Erin had already let herself into the flat so it was just the two of us standing outside the door.

 

“Hear what?” I must have looked spooked because his eyes widened slightly “Amber what?”

 

“Someone…Someone just asked if it was them, and they knew my name”

 

“It was probably just the neighbours”

 

“You think?”

 

Ryan only nodded “Come on, let’s go inside it’s been a hell of a day.”

 

I allowed him to pull me through the doorway and into the sitting room where Erin was sitting flicking through the channels on the television.

 

“There’s nothing on” she moaned, throwing the remote control onto the chair next to her.

 

I rolled my eyes. How could Erin act as if nothing had happened? I was having enough trouble seeing straight, my mind was all over the place. The accident and the voices…maybe I should have stayed at the hospital.

 

I rested my head on Ryan’s shoulder as a cheesy advert for car insurance played on the screen; I was kind of tired now.

 

“On today’s breaking news. Traffic was brought to a standstill on Junction 18 of the M25 today, when an overturned lorry blocked cars going southbound. It’s thought that there were many fatalities, while only a few managed to walk away with minor injuries…” the reporter carried on talking, but I zoned out.

 

Fatalities? People had died today? How did I walk away with only a bump to the head?  And why? What made me any different to anyone else in that accident, if anything I was more involved. Slap bang right in the middle of the whole mess. But I’m still standing here, and I’m fine.

 

“Jeez” Ryan muttered next to me, breaking me out of my reverie.

 

“People died?” I said hoarsely.

 

“Yeah seems that way” Erin answered., for the first time she seemed a bit shaken by the whole event.

 

Ryan quickly shut the TV off and turned to look at me and Erin.

 

“What do we do now? How do we get past this?” he asked.

 

I shrugged my shoulders “Maybe we can’t…Maybe it’s just something we have to learn to deal with”

 

“The hell with that” Erin said, standing up. “I’m sorry those people died…but I’m alive, I survived that damn crash and I’m not going to mope around because I didn‘t die.”

 

I felt my mouth drop at Erin’s statement, as much as I hated to admit, she was right --in a way. Life had to move forward, or I’d be stuck in the same frame of mind forever. But I couldn’t forget that easily, I needed some time to get my head around it all.

 

“It hasn’t even been a day yet Erin. So I’m sorry if I can’t be fine with everything that happened today so quickly.” Ryan seemed to share my sentiment.

 

There was an almost unbearable silence following Ryan’s remark. I bit my lip nervously wondering if Erin would start an argument.

 

Instead, she just left the room without another word, shutting the door to her bedroom quietly. At least it wasn’t a slam, that showed that she wasn’t really angry at Ryan and she understood where he was coming from.

 

“Sleep sounds pretty good right now” Ryan said, glancing in the direction that Erin had just left in.

 

“Yeah, I’m tired too…” I stopped, unsure if I should say the next words that almost came out of my mouth.  I decided too, it wouldn’t do any harm.

 

“Would you stay with me?” I asked him, a bit hesitantly.

 

Ryan seemed surprised at my request. “Um…”

 

“You don’t have too…” I said quickly, “I just don’t really want to be alone”.

 

“Of course” he said “I’ll come to your room in a bit, okay?”

 

“Okay”

 

I walked in my room, and saw everything the way I’d left it that morning -- a few clothes strewn across the chair by my desk, some books in a pile next to the window. It calmed me in some way, to know that things were still the same even after the terrible events of the day.

 

A light knock on the door made me jump; I put a hand to my heart as Ryan poked his head into the room.

 

“Alright?” he said

 

I responded with a small ‘yeah’ as I climbed into my bed, Ryan followed suit.

 

I cuddled up next to him, placing my head on his chest. I needed to feel safe, Ryan was safe -- he was my best friend and I’d trust him with my life.

 

“How can things change so much but still be the same?” I asked quietly, as he began running his fingers through my dark hair in a comforting manner.

 

“I don’t know” he whispered back “ Another of life’s great mysteries I suppose.”

 

“I suppose” I echoed him sleepily “Night Ryan”

 

“Night Amber”

 

‘It’s not possible…:

‘Obviously it is…’

‘ that’s …’

‘just friends…’

‘that isn’t funny…’

‘…is that why they don’t…’

 

“Amber!”

 

I was pulled out of sleep by someone shaking me.

“Amber! Wake up”

 

I opened my eyes a fraction of an inch and saw Ryan’s face peering at me.

 

“What?” I moaned.

 

“Are you okay? You were shaking?”

 

“I was?” I asked him, shocked.

 

He nodded “Yeah I thought you were having a fit or something”

 

“So you decided to shake me awake to stop it?”

 

He grinned sheepishly “Not my finest moment I’ll admit”

 

“No” I said hitting him lightly with a pillow.

 

“Oi!” He snatched the pillow from my hands and hit me back.

 

“Breakfast” Ryan said after a few more rounds of our impromptu pillow fight.

 

“Ryan! It’s only 5:30” I exclaimed, after looking at the digital clock on my bedside table.

 

“And…your point is?”

 

“We best keep quiet” I said suddenly remembering Erin sleeping down the hall.

 

Not bothering to keep his voice down, Ryan said loudly “You think we’ll wake Erin?? A herd of elephants trampling through the room during a freak tornado wouldn’t wake her up”

 

I couldn’t help but laugh, Ryan had just nailed Erin’s sleeping habits down to a T.

 

“You win” I giggled, leading the way to the kitchen.

 

“…I think you’re wrong…”

 

“…look at them…”

 

“…forgetting?”

“Don’t they always…”

 

I stopped short; I knew I had heard those voices again. Was I going crazy? Something was different this time though; there was a new voice, a male voice.

 

It’s just your imagination Amber, that’s all, I told myself. No need to tell anyone and have them call the men in white coats to take you away. Just an overactive imagination.

 

“Did you want lemon or syrup on your pancakes?”  Ryan asked, expertly flipping the pancakes in the frying pan.

 

I scowled playfully, I’d tried so many times to flip pancakes but they always ended up on the floor or one time on the ceiling.

 

“Syrup, show off”

 

Ryan only smirked at me, as he placed a plate on the table in front of me. “Dig in”

 

“Yummy” I said after taking a bite “I love your pancakes”

 

“All hail the Pancake King” Ryan said jokingly raising his hands above his head.

 

“Euh you guys suck!” Erin said as she walked into the kitchen “I can’t believe you had pancakes without me.”

 

I bit my lower lip “Sorry, there’s more batter though”

 

“But my pancakes are rubbish compared to Ryan’s” she whined childishly. “Make me some please…“ She folded her arms over her chest…my eyes widened and  the smile dropped from my face.

 

“What?” Erin asked me “I wasn’t serious…”

 

“Your arm”

 

“Yeah I have two, like most people” Erin waved her arms around stupidly.

 

I shook my head, wasn’t her arm broken last night? Surely I hadn’t imagined that. No I definitely hadn’t imagined the car crash! Her arm was definitely broken. I hadn’t dreamt all that, I couldn’t have.

 

“I thought you hurt it” I said, though I didn’t sound too convinced.

 

“I thought that too” Ryan said, looking slightly puzzled.

 

“Ooooh--kay” Erin said slowly “I think you two are a bit crazy”

 

“You don’t remember?”

 

“Remember what?”

 

“Being at the hospital last night” Ryan and I said in unison.

 

Erin raised her eyebrows “Seriously guys, its wayyy too early to be on the vodka.”

 

I looked blankly at Ryan, “It was broken, I know it was”

 

“I’m pretty sure, yesterday seems pretty fuzzy though. I don’t remember much except for the hospital”

 

I thought hard about the day before, and finding myself stumped I could hardly remember anything that had happened. Flashes of things passed through my mind but nothing that would have led me to a hospital.

 

I wasn’t losing my mind, was I?

 

Reviews

[whiterabbit]

Wow. Very good, very intriguing. The writing is simple, you can tell that you're writing what you know rather then trying to sounds pretty. Very well done, I'm excited to read the rest :D

[bluessadmood]

this is a very nice start of a very complicated series of things that will happen..
if the mind is excited to work freely ,unhindered ,it will bring you some very strange images..you never know how this our mind could work wonders..
i really liked how you started this..lets see how you end it.

[boyinblue]

Gd stuff, very good writing. I really can't make much of this until I read the other chapters. Till then, keep it up man.