Betwixt

"I'm not answering!"

I try to listen carefully to see if I know the voices, but they are muffled at best. I strain to make out the rest of the conversation, forcing my scattered mind to follow whatever phrases I can capture.

"I'm sorry..."

"Stop apologizing!"

"I - I messed up! We don't do that in our family."

"You're damn right, we don't. Now where do you think you hit her?"

My heart accelerates as the words register.

"Over there, see the railing."

"Some of that damage is older, but that blue paint might be from your car."

Blue paint. Remember blue paint, Nicky. I close my eyes and try to burn it into my brain. I feel the thought floating away from me, but will it back. Dale will want to know. Remember this, Nicky. Don't you dare forget!

"I hope we find her."

There's a pregnant pause and I hold my breath, wanting to make sure I don't miss any information. "She probably won't be alive."

Should I call for help?

"Please don't say that."

"You better hope she isn't?"

I swallow back my scream. What did he just say?

"What?"

"Your life is over if this gets out. Do you understand?"

"I..."

"There'll be no chance of a scholarship. You'll be looking at juvenille detention... maybe even jail. I'm not going to let that happen to you."

"What are you saying?"

"We find her and bury her - dead or alive."

Panicky breaths punch through my system and I have to fight to keep my body still. My limbs feel like they're on fire and I have to resist the urge to throw my jacket off. I reel my lucid mind in and scream at myself to stay silent and still.

"All we have to do is sell that run away story until everyone in town believes us. It won't be hard."

Terror swirls through my brain. They're going to kill me. Whoever those men are up the hill, they have come to finish the job. The idea of being buried alive is horrifying. I don't want it to end like that. I'd rather pass away in my own sweet time!

My depressing death wish from before vanishes as my mind ticks with strategies of how to survive this. I try to scan the forest floor for some kind of weapon, quietly grasping for sticks with my clumsy, stiff fingers. The pain is excruciating and I'm so scared of making a noise that I soon give up.

I don't want to die like this. I have to get back to Dale. He has to find me.

Licking lips that are begging for water, I'm about to will myself back to him when I stop. No. I need to stay. I need to protect myself and make sure these guys don't bury me.

My eyes search the darkness, sca

A torch beam grazes the ground to my right. I try to turn my head away as the light flitters past me, but I can't move fast enough. I close my eyes instead, willing them not to notice me.

"This is impossible. We're not going to be able to search this whole area by torchlight?"

A frustrated sigh follows.

"It's safer this way."

"You want to do this all night? How are we going to explain it to Mom?"

A loud curse echoes through the air. "We'll come back in the morning, have a proper hunt and finish this. It's time to put this mistake of yours behind us." The voice drops low and menacing. "And God help me, if you ever do something like this again, I'll strap you so hard you'll be walking fu

Fear permeates the air around me. Whoever he is talking to, totally believes what was just said. I can sense his consternation even though he is all the way at the top of the hill. I know he hit me with his car and I know he deserves to be punished, but right this second, I almost feel sorry for him.

I listen to a car engine firing up and then wait an eternity for it to drive away. My heart slowly returns to it's normal thud, but the heebie-jeebies are still massacring my system. Come the morning, I was a dead girl.

"Dale," I whisper. "What do I do?"

Shivers make my muscles quiver, but my body can barely shake. I'm growing weak. My parched throat needs water. The limbs that were throbbing yesterday are starting to go numb. My sluggish eyes struggle to stay open.

"Dale. I can't let them do this to me. My parents won't survive death by murder. What do I do?"

A tear slides down my cheek, but I don't have the energy to brush it away.

"I need you to find me." My head lolls to the side. "Find me. Please find me."

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

"Find me."

I open my eyes and I'm lying on Dale's bed. Sitting up, I see the room is empty. I run my hands over his neatly made bed and scan his desk for homework. He's already gone.

No.

I jump off the bed and rush out the door. The kitchen is empty, so is the dining room. I can hear his mother humming to herself in the bedroom upstairs. I'm about to run outside to see if his car is still in the driveway when I hear a flushing sound.

"Okay, Mom. I'm off to school."

"Have a good day, sweetheart."

"Will do."

Racing up the stairs, I follow the sound of his voice and nearly collide with Dale.

"Help me."

He tumbles backwards at the sound of my voice and lands on his book bag.

"Sweetie?" His mother comes out of her bedroom, looking worried. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." He smiles. "I just slipped."

He stands up and brushes himself off.

Mrs. Fi

"You've got to help me. They're trying to find me. They're going to look for me today and bury my body so no one will ever know the truth."

Dale unlocks his door, concern marring his features.

"Nicole," he says softly, "calm down. Start from the begi

"Okay." I climb over to the passenger seat and lick my lips. "You were asleep so I went home last night."

"I figured." He buckles his seatbelt and starts the car.

"While I was there, I went back to my body."

"How are you doing?" He glances in my direction.

"Not great." I struggle to say the words, knowing they'll disappoint him.

His eyebrows bunch together as he brakes at the end of his road and flicks the indicator. "We're ru

"That's not our biggest problem... well I mean it kind of is... but not because I won't make it, but they might beat you there."

"What are you talking about?"

"The cellphone. The whistle. It brought me back to my body last night. I heard it ringing in my head and then I woke up and they were up on the hill with flashlights looking for me."

"Who was?"

"I don't know. It was two guys, one sounded older and the other one wants a scholarship."

"You're not making any sense."

I take a breath and force myself to slow down.

"He said that if anyone finds out he hit me he'll have no chance of getting a scholarship and will be sent to juvie, maybe even jail."

"Okay, so it was high school student."

"Yeah, I think so."