Chapter 8 CHAPTER 8
I would have died if not for the man who was screaming at me from the window as I was driving fast, not seeing the glaring red light or the truck that was big enough to crush me into bits.
Instead of the road before me, I'd been seeing those sterile walls, instead of the cats in the area, I'd been seeing vicious smiles as my body was forced to perform tricks, pulled taut to find its extreme.
And right before the fire exploded from my skin, just one tiny second that would have coincided with the truck hitting my car as I did too, that scream reached me.
One second early.
I slammed the brake, muscle memory saving me. The car jerked hard and I felt my body snap forward against the seatbelt.
I looked up as the image of the red truck filled everything in front of me. So close I could see the rust. Then it swept past and there was that sound—metal scraping metal, high and sharp as he scratched my car just a tiny bit. Any second later and I would have been tumbling from the air right now, falling with my car to my death.
That was enough to snap me back to the present.
"Are you okay? Do you need me to call somebody for you?" A voice, the same one that had just saved my life asked with deep concern.
I blinked. My hands were shaking on the wheel.
I was here. Not there, not under those torture devices that I'd buried in my past and tried to forget.
I was right here where the concerned man had gotten out of his own car to come over to mine.
He knocked on my window and with shaky hands, I pressed the little button by my left side and watched the window roll down.
“Thank you sir,” I muttered, my voice cold and small. I was still dealing with the shock.
“I asked if you wanted me to call someone to come get you.”
And for the first time in a long while, I realized I was alone.
No friends, no relatives, Momma is gone, and not even a colleague.
I gripped the steering wheel harder
I shook my head.
“I'm good sir. Thank you for saving my life. My head was in the clouds but I'm good now, I don't need to disturb anybody.”
“It's not a disturbance when you just nearly…” he stopped talking, took deep breaths to calm himself down before continuing. “Where are you going? What happened to your window? Maybe I can trail behind you until you get close? Don't worry, I won't follow you all the way, just until you pull off the highway.”
He was talking but I was barely listening, my eyes were taking in my surroundings.
I had no idea where the hell I –
“Wait a minute,” I muttered, looking at a poster that showed an address.
I was close to the library.
My fight or flight instincts, brought me to the library. I'd been driving for the last four hours and I didn't even clock it, only obsessed with getting away from that monster.
It scared me that I had no idea where he was or if he truly had a chip in me.
“I'm going to a library by that little town over there that my Momma left for me before she passed away,” I explained to the kind man. “You don't have to worry about me, I'm home already.”
“Alright then. Stay safe, okay?”
By now, people from the back were already getting impatient, horns were blaring and everyone demanded that we get a move on it.
“Thanks again sir, you are a lifesaver.”
“Happy to help. Be careful out there, alright?”
I nodded, angrily wiping off the tears staining my eyes.
He walked back to his car, a slight tremor in his steps.
It seemed he'd been in an accident himself, and this was giving him PTSD.
I forced myself to kick the car back to gear and slowly drove off but not before ensuring the traffic light was shining and overwhelmingly green.
My speed wasn't so hurried anymore and as I drove, I forced myself to focus, not to get into my head, and to make sure I got to the location and parked this car before wondering what's next.
Thankfully, I did that without nearly dying again, parking the car at the back, this time, intentionally.
I took my time to look around the land where the library was built. I was so focused on the inside the last time that I hadn't bothered to check it out.
The front lawn wasn't as large as our house and the snow covered most of the flowers but I could tell here would be dreamlike during summer.
I realized I was getting used to the idea of staying here.
The library was big enough to house me, and I could stay here, lending out books while learning a new skill or maybe I could find a small bar tending job at night.
I walked out from the back, a plan forming in my head quickly, maybe because my brain knew that my mind might take over again and anxiety won't let her make plans to ensure our survival.
Before I went to open the door, I recounted everything in my head.
Get through tonight, get some basic survival supplies tomorrow with the small severance pay I got, and then put the library in good shape.
Maybe learn a good digital skill while looking after these books and working a bar at night until I wouldn't need to.
It was a good plan, it would have kept me sane, allowing me to process the madness that my life was turning into.
Except I finished opening the library doors and turned around, the screech of violent tires catching my attention.
Of course, how could I forget? Someone was actively trying to kill me.
Everything else was a secondary problem, the madman driving down the tarred but snowy path that led to the small houses that lined both sides of the library was a bigger problem.
I didn't know exactly what I was going to do but I could buy myself time.
So I went inside quickly, and I shut the doors from the inside.
But not before our eyes met, sending panic through my nerves again.
I locked everything and everywhere, carrying chairs and tables from all around the library and barring the door further.
With the fury in those eyes, I doubted these were going to be able to keep him out.
So once I was sure they could hold for a bit, I fished out my phone and dialled 911.
“Hello, 911 how can I help you?”
“There's a man that's been chasing me,” I spoke into the phone, my voice shaky.
Before I could explain further, I heard the first pound on the door that I'd shut in.
“Give me your location, I'll send a unit your way immediately!” The lady jerked me back from the spiral of panic I was heading towards.
I called out the coordinates for her but even as I did, he kept pounding into the door with something and I knew they won't be here early.
Someone must have tried to stop him because I heard a gunshot.
“Ma'am stay on the line, someone will be with you in a few minutes!”
I didn't have a few minutes.
“Ma'am? Are you there?”
Bam! The door was made of wood, and it won't last too long.
I turned around, the idea as ridiculous as this entire situation.
But it was the only one I had, the only chance I had to escape the horror this man put me through, and it was about to continue if I didn't find a way out.
So I rushed towards the book and just as I was about to begin wondering what the hell happened to the book, it appeared on the table, glowing as it once did.
I heard the wood break, swallowing my shock at the magical display before me.
I opened to the last page I was in the last time, my heart beating faster, tears spiraling out of my eyes, and the fear that this might fail lodged behind my mind.
I began reading about the girl again, about her adventures, about those who wanted to hurt her, just as the mad scientist broke down the doors.
I placed my hand on the book now, desperate for anything, any other reality besides this one.
I looked up as he strode in, brushing wood aside until he laid eyes on me.
“Hello Alira,” he whispered, a wicked grin on his scarred face. “I've been searching for you for a long long time.”