His bloodshot eyes watched the road curve softly through the desert, his body subconsciously leaning into each turn. Lewis knew he was exhausted, but adrenaline had taken over. It coursed through his veins and guided him as if he were a puppet. It and his determination were the only things keeping him running right now. Otherwise, after all that had happened, all he now knew, he probably would’ve collapsed back at Arcadia.
Then he saw something loom up ahead and slammed on the brakes. The car swiftly reduced its speed and came to a halt. Lewis blinked, shocked at the sight before him.
A black Chevy Suburban lay upside-down in the middle of the road. The body of a woman lay near it, face down.
Lewis threw open the Malibu’s door and cautiously moved toward the wreck, turning on his phone’s flashlight.
“Hello?” he called. Nothing answered him but the frigid nocturnal breeze. He approached the body and turned it over, jumping back in disgust. It was Katelyn Caruso, a shard of glass jammed deep into her trachea. Blood pooled beneath her, and her face was frozen in a look of abject terror.
Then another voice arose on the wind. “Please… oh please, don’t darling, I love you–”
There was a quick scream, then it was over.
Lewis turned off the flashlight and advanced around the rear of the overturned SUV very, very slowly. Then he looked around the corner.
A figure was hunched over a dead body, stabbing it again and again. “Go away,” they said. “I won’t let you hurt me, I won’t let you – no, no…” They broke down in sobs, their arms falling to their sides.
In the moonlight, Lewis saw a bloody glass shard clutched in the figure’s right hand. Gradually, he began to approach them.
“Jenna,” he said. “It’s okay, they’re not going to hurt you anymore.”
The figure slowly stood up and turned around. Tears streaked down her face and her clothes, a white t-shirt and a pair of jeans, were covered in blood. Lewis saw that the body she’d been butchering was that of Patricia Bateman, whose eyes were still agape in shock.
He covered his mouth, taking a step back.
Jenna raised the makeshift weapon in a defensive position. “Don’t come closer. You’re not gonna get me.”
“Jenna, it’s me, Desmond.” Tears welled up in his eyes. “This isn’t you. Come on, let’s get you out of here.”
They were completely alone. There wasn’t another car visible for miles in either direction. It was just the two of them and the desert.
“Come on,” he said, extending his hand. He could feel his knees wobbling. “Please…”
She launched herself at him, screaming as she slashed the shard like a blade. He jumped back and his phone clattered to the asphalt, his hands coming up protectively as she slashed again and again, driving him to the side of the road.
Jenna cut him along the forearm and he winced, ducking to avoid her next swing. The tears were making his vision blurry. “Please,” he said again. She screamed and charged once more, bringing the blade down toward him in a stabbing motion.
He caught her arm with both hands. She was surprisingly strong and brought her left hand around to assist her right. The glass got closer and closer. Jenna leaned her entire body weight into it.
Tears poured down his face. “Please, please,” he whispered.
Her eyes were frantic, like those of a scared animal lashing out in self-defense. The glass hovered mere inches from his face.
Lewis jerked his right leg up, kneeing her in the stomach. It drove the breath out of her and he used that moment to swivel around behind her, grab the glass shard, and wrench it from her hand. She gasped as it sliced her palm, but then it was gone, flung off into the night.
Jenna angrily turned around and clawed at him, tearing his cheek, but he grabbed both of her arms and held them up. Her legs kicked at him, but he turned to the side and tensed his abs to lessen the damage.
“Listen Jenna, it’s me, it’s over.”
“No, no, no,” she muttered, still crying. Gradually, the struggling was replaced with uncontrollable sobbing. He pulled her close and hugged her tightly.
“It’s okay,” Lewis said, guiding her away from the wreck. “I’ve got you.”
They stood there for several minutes as she slowly began calming down, but progress was abated when she looked over his shoulder at the corpse of her mother.
“Oh my God,” she said, covering her mouth. “Did I…?”
“No-no-no-no-no,” he whispered gently, turning her away. “Don’t look back.”
Together, they stumbled a good thirty feet from the carnage and sat by the side of the road, leaning against a metal railing. He pointed upward. “Look up there. Aren’t they wonderful?”
Lewis saw her force a smile through the sobs. He hugged Jenna tightly and together they gazed up at the sky. Out here it was really something. No light pollution, no busy streets crowded with people, nor the distant ambiance of traffic. An endless cosmic painting revealed itself, all the constellations twinkling down from a breathtaking abyss. And as they sat there, neither of them ever taking their eyes off the stars, he leaned his head closer and whispered in her ear.
“Everything’s gonna be alright.”
VISIT
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alexander Plansky currently attends Trinity College in the University of Toronto and graduated from Dreyfoos School of the Arts in Florida. A lifelong fan of technothriller novels, he is now the author of two of his own, Safari and Arcadia.
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2018 by Alexander Plansky
All Rights Reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without express written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Please refer all pertinent questions to the publisher.
Published by Meq Media, Inc. Visit www.meqmedia.com for more information
Cover artwork by Lauren Budney
Author photo by Derek Plansky
First Edition: August 2018