Out of the Black - Lee Doty [37]
This was worse.
The minivan's front left wheel slammed into something that Anne didn't see. The car jolted with an abortive deceleration, followed by the start of a twisting roll forward and left. With another shuddering slow motion crunch, the car's front bumper buried itself into the earth of the median. She looked up to see that the van was going over. The cold grip on inevitability tightened around her.
Inside the car, the slow motion was unflinching. Debris from the car's floor filled the air. Empty juice boxes and snack wrappers floated by as the driver's airbag deployed. It drove his struggling arms apart as it expanded, filling the car with smoke. The passenger's airbag deployed, catching the twisting woman in the back, snapping her head back and up. Her hand had almost reached her child, but now it flailed away as the airbag and the fury of the crash had their way with her.
Anne dove sideways, reaching for the child. She wanted to hold him, shield him from the maelstrom, from the grisly events that unfolded in the front seat, as the car's roof crushed downward as it smashed into the ground, but something stopped her cold. The child was looking directly at her with bright, blazing blue eyes. He studied her intently through thick glasses, knocked slightly askew by the crash. The ground then sky then ground passed by in the window behind him, glass and dirt floated through the air between them. His eyes didn't blink; he didn't wince with the impacts. Around them, the fury became muffled, like the slow crashing of waves heard from under the water.
"This is how it started for me." The boy said, his voice clear against the muddy cacophony of the crash. "You've seen how it ends." he said with an ironic smile. "Born of the storm, my life death's whirlwind, it was unavoidable I'd exit with its fury in my ears."
"Wha?"
"They are coming for you, Anne." he said, smile disappearing, "They are coming, and it's up to you now. It's up to you to stop them."
His steady voice was a lifeline in the dissolving sea of violence, and as she clung to it, the scene around them further dimmed. The sound of rending metal softened as they sank inward toward a peaceful emptiness.
"But what about your parents?" She said, voice small with shock.
He glanced toward the front seat and the tragedy that still unfolded there. His gaze seemed to waver as it lingered, softening slightly. "I've missed them for so long now, you wouldn't think this would still hurt."
He paused, "I was the one who was supposed to die first. They always thought the mourning tears would be theirs." Then he looked back to her, grim determination in his eyes. "But they're gone now, and if I ever see them again, it'll be in the next minute or two. We don't have much time."
Disturbing Behavior
The metal key thudded at t the smooth biometric pad of the car door's lock. Ping's even features creased in consternation. He withdrew his hand and examined the keys. He'd tried each one twice, but none seemed to fit into the lock. There was a moment of disorientation as he realized that he didn't know which key should work... it had to be one of them.
As he stood by his locked car examining his keys, he felt someone watching him. He looked around and saw a man staring at him from the entrance to Ahmed's lobby. Ping stared back, casually spinning his key ring around his index finger. It was the bristly-haired guy he'd noticed in the lobby on his way into the building. The guy from the lobby didn't look away, seemingly content to engage in a staring competition. There was something odd about his appearance, though Ping couldn't put his finger on it right away- something odd in the shape of his face, in the placement of his features. The watcher's stare seemed to deepen into a silent form of communication.