Chapter 4: The Accident
Ryan sped down the coastal road with his thoughts racing. Flashes of his father's angry words and clenched fists replayed in his mind. He shook his head trying to clear it but the memory kept hitting him like punches to the gut. Gripping the steering wheel tight, he urged the car faster along the winding cliffs. The engine roared as it strained against the steep incline. Through the windshield, all he saw was the narrow asphalt path and the rushing river hundreds of feet below.
A splash crashed against the rocks, spraying foam that caught the moonlight. For a moment, the beauty calmed him.
But then his father's voice boomed in his head again. "Why can't you just do as I say?"
Ryan slammed his foot down harder, accelerating up the cliff-side. The needle on the speedometer crept past 90. All he wanted was to get away, to leave it all behind. As the phone rang, Ryan glanced down at the caller ID - it was his sister Sarah. He steered with one hand and moved to answer with the other. That's when he looked up and saw them - a pair of blinding headlights rounding the curve in his lane. A massive truck had drifted into the wrong side of the road. The driver was slumped over the wheel, clearly drunk. Ryan slammed on the brakes but it was too late.
Tires screamed as both vehicles swerved to avoid the inevitable collision. Ryan dropped the phone to grip the steering wheel with both hands, fighting to regain control. But the road was still wet and his momentum was too great. The car started to hydroplane, losing traction completely. Ryan stared in horror as the truck bore down on them. There was nothing he could do. With a bone-jarring crunch, the truck's grille collided with the driver's side door.
Metal folded and glass shattered on impact. The car spun, flipped, and tumbled down the steep embankment. Rolling over and over, Ryan was flung about the interior like a rag doll. An airbag exploded in his face as darkness finally overtook him. Somewhere, a phone continued to ring in the wreckage. The truck careened off in the distance upon impact, but Ryan's car was sent flying over the edge of the cliff. It rolled end over end as it plummeted downward.
When the car finally slammed into the ground, it bounced and crashed down the steep embankment, colliding with large rocks. With a loud crunching sound, it struck a massive boulder, stopping its fall.
The vehicle came to rest on its roof, crumpled and smoking. Inside, the roof had caved in and the windshield shattered. Ryan was still strapped into the driver's seat, unconscious, a deep gash on his forehead pouring blood.
Gas from a severed fuel line hissed out, pooling on the ground beneath the wreck. The acrid smell of gasoline was thick in the air. Flames could ignite at any moment, threatening to engulf the crippled car and trapped driver. Ryan remained ominously still, as the pool of gasoline grew steadily larger under the totaled vehicle. Time was running out before the fumes sparked an inferno that could claim his life.
After a few minutes, Ryan slowly regained consciousness. Pain shot through his body as he came to, eliciting a soft howl. Looking around through blurred vision, he took in the wreckage with mounting panic.
"Ouch! Aaahh--" He moaned again as he shakily unfastened his seatbelt.
Every small movement sent agony through his numerous injuries.
With the belt off, Ryan cautiously tried to shift out of the driver's seat. But as soon as he put weight on the car's mangled frame, it creaked ominously. Peering over the crumpled roof, he saw just how precariously it was balanced on the massive boulder - any force could send it tumbling further down the cliff. Sinking back into the seat, Ryan assessed his desperate situation. Gas fumes were strong all around while flames licked at the crumpled engine. He was trapped and the car posed its own threat to life if he tried escaping.
Ryan noticed the rear wheels were slowly sliding on the damp rocks, the tread briefly gripping before inching further towards the ledge. The only thing keeping the mangled vehicle from plunging completely over the edge was a thick tree root that had caught on the undercarriage. But it was straining under the weight, creaking as the roots started to pull free of the soil.
"No way...I don't want to die," Ryan whispered in panic.
He gently pushed against the damaged driver's side door, hoping to crawl free. But as soon as he applied pressure, the whole car shifted slightly, the wheels slipping more. As the fumes thickened in the enclosed space, Ryan coughed violently. He fumbled desperately for his phone with shaking hands, but just as before, there was no signal in this remote location. Trapped without a way to call for help, panic rose inside him. The rear tires slipped further down the boulder, the stressed roots creaking under the strain.
In one final push, Ryan summoned his dwindling strength to shove against the crushed roof. But the car didn't budge, barely shifting to dislodge a few pebbles over the edge. Letting out an anguished cry, he slammed his bloodied fists onto the damaged steering wheel in frustration. The force caused the precarious vehicle to tilt ever so slightly. That night, Ryan's father sat alone on the sofa nursing a glass of champagne. His thoughts were far away, replaying the argument with his son over and over.
As he recounted their heated words for what seemed the thousandth time, the tumbler slipped from his hand. As if in slow motion, he watched it fall and smash into pieces on the hardwood floor. The noise jolted him from his stupor. An icy chill gripped his heart as fragments of the memory crystalized into a dreadful premonition.
"Ryan..." his son's name escaped his lips in a whimper of fear.
Something was terribly wrong, he could feel it in his bones. Trying to shrug it off as irrational worry, he poured another drink with a shaking hand. But the ominous feeling only grew stronger, an invisible force tightening around his chest.