The Gift

Chapter Twenty-Speed Up

Blizzard was snoozing in the backseat, and I looked out the foggy window, yawning tiredly. It was raining hard outside, as we sped on the freeway quickly. I had my knees up to my chest, and my chin resting on them. My arms were wrapped around my legs, and I watched all the trees and bushes pass by quickly, getting a little homesick. I was never the leave-home type. 

"Are you alright?" Eli cut into the silence, and I looked over at him. He glanced at me, and then looked back to the road. I sighed and shook my head.

"I just want my life to be back the way it was. It's only been a day and I know it's going to be so exhausting and scary...I'm scared," I buried my face in my knees, tearing up slightly. Eli grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

"You'll be okay, Nichole," he assured me. "It'll be okay, it's not that bad. You're with me, now, okay?" 

"Okay," I whimpered, and he didn't let go of my hand. And I didn't let go of his. I held onto it tightly, letting him comfort me. 

"You'll get the hang out this--shit!" Eli swerved, jerking me and Blizzard sideways and startling both me and him. Eli looked in his mirror madly.

"Damn!" He cursed again, and sped a little more. I looked behind us, and Blizzard started complaining and groaning.

"Really? Why are you such a bad driver? Jesus, I just need some sleep--"

"Who's that?" I cut Blizzard off, looking at the black car riding our butt. He swerved into the other lane, making the car behind us honk loudly. Brad was having a hard time following us, since he was behind the black car. 

"Call your friend. Tell him to get off at the next possible exit. Hurry." Eli told me, handing me his phone. I could only call Jeremy, since he was the only phone number I memorized. I dialed his number and put the phone to my ear, whispering for him to pick up.

"Who's the dude following you?" I heard him answer the phone, the wind cutting him off a little. He was also laying down, hiding himself so no one saw them in the back. I looked back, and shook my head.

"No time for that. Eli said to get off at the next possible exit, and you need to hurry." I said quickly, and buckled up. Eli also buckled, and Blizzard jumped into my lap.

"If we are all going to die, I need to be able to see why." Blizzard looked in all the mirrors, and kept on the lookout for us. 

"No way, Nichole, we're not leaving you with Eli--"

"You have to. There's no choice. Do it for me, alright? Spread the message." I hung up, cutting off Jeremy's response. I didn't know how he would transfer the message, since he was outside and Brad was inside, but he would figure it out. 

"Here's an exit." Eli said. I watched, hoping they would get off. Whoever was behind us, I bet they thought we were all in one car. They had to get off the freeway before the people found out. So I watched hopefully, all my nerves on edge, waiting for them to get off.

And they did.

"Thank God." He pressed on the gas. He swerved between cars the best he could, and sped when he had to. I watched as we passed bunches of exits.

"We're leaving them behind!" I cried.

"I'm sorry, Nichole..." He looked at me sadly. "They weren't safe with us. The exit they got off at was my mom's place. It's invisible. You're pretty much driving off the side of the freeway in other people's eyes. They are safer over there,"

"You tricked me!" I shouted. "I thought we'd go back for them!"

"We can't, Nichole, you have to trust me. If it was that easy, I'd throw a party. But it's not. The longer they were with us, the more in danger they were. Not because of Jake, or anyone else. Because people are following you. And if you have your friends following you around everywhere, they'll get hurt. And you can't risk losing another person, can you?"

"I hate you," I whimpered, and curled into a ball. My heart throbbed, as tears streamed down my face. I felt like they really did just drive off a cliff. I would never see them again. I was on the run with complete strangers now. I was going to die surrounded by people I barely knew. People that probably wanted me for the exact same reason. Honestly, I really couldn't trust anyone. No one would want to help a girl on the run, unless there was something in it for them. And as much as I liked Eli, he wasn't a good guy. He had to of been dangerous.

We swerved around, until the car got behind us again. My heart beat fast as I looked in the mirror. No one I knew. But he looked scarier than Rufus.

"Shit. That's Micah's dad." Eli looked forward, and I could tell now we were screwed. He looked at me sorrowfully.

"Not like this is going to help you trust me anymore, but hold on tight to Blizzard." He told me. He went into the next lane, and the car behind us shoved a car in the opposite lane, causing a crash, while he sped and then he was back at our butts. We were speeding quick, and then the man behind us pressed the gas, shoving his front into our rear, and we flipped. I screamed, and almost lost hold of Blizzard, but I hugged him to me. We tumbled, and flipped, going down a huge hill. All I saw was a blur of nature, and then black. Then it came back, but we were still flipping. The glass and the car was getting destroyed as we flipped more and more all the way to the bottom, where I hung from my seat belt. I dropped Blizzard, who had no cuts, bruises, or anything wrong with him. He was just wide-eyed and horrified as he looked at me. His lips moved, but I couldn't hear anything. I eyes flicked over to Eli, who was cutting himself out of his seatbelt with a pocket knife. And that's when my sight gave out, and I fell into a world of blackness.

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Boop boop! :3 Who else liked that chapter?? :) Xoxo!!