I came to with a shudder, Amelia’s grip on my shoulder disrupting my trance.
“Call for help,” she cried out as she dashed towards the broken car.
I fumbled with my phone and unthinkingly pressed the last dialled number instead of the emergency mode. I couldn’t see how many people were in the vehicle, only that the top of the car had been almost completely crushed, warping all of the doors.
With super-human strength, Amelia yanked at one of the doors, pulling it free from the wreckage, and then ducked her head inside.
Dorian answered his phone. “Done already?”
“There’s been a car crash.” My voice sounded weak and shaky. “It looks bad, but I don’t… I don’t know where we are!”
“Look for signs,” he said. “Landmarks.”
“We came out of the woods,” I said. “I fell. There was a hill.” I gasped for breath, turning in a slow circle. “We’re about half a mile from the brook maybe. There’s, um, the main road, but no path, just barricades then some grass. I can see pink blossoms coming over a wall from somebody’s back garden.”
“Can you see a broken sign?” he asked. “Green but illegible.”
I looked around. “Yes! It’s at the corner.”
“I’ll call for an ambulance. We’ll be there first.”
“I have a bad feeling.” I was barely holding it together. “Amelia’s trying to get the people out, but I… Dorian, I feel weird.”
He hung up.
Amelia dragged a figure out of the car then heaved him onto the grass. Some wispy threads grew taut around him before snapping then spinning back to the car. My legs wobbled. The cold in my chest deepened, making me numb.
“Move him,” Amelia commanded. “Two adults are unconscious, and I smell petrol pretty strongly. Could be a leak. I need to get them out in case the car goes up in flames. Get as far back as possible!”
I pulled myself together and half-fell towards the one she’d saved—a teenage boy. I looked him over. Blood ran from a cut on his forehead, but he appeared relatively unharmed. I knew him. “Adam?”
He gaped at me with unfocused eyes until recognition transformed his stunned expression into one of terror. He opened his mouth and released an odd moan that triggered a memory for me. I was sure I’d heard that sound before, at Halloween, on the night a confused spirit had ruined a party. I’d been mostly unaware of what was happening at the time. Now I vaguely recalled his panic, how those strange moans had quickly become a high-pitched scream that would have earned him some teasing if everyone else hadn’t been so freaked out. He pointed at me, his hand trembling, as though my appearance was an awful reminder.
“It’s okay,” I hurriedly whispered. “Nothing’s going to happen. You’re safe now. Okay?”
A loud noise behind me drew him out of his panic, brought him back to the present. He stared over my shoulder at the wreck of a car. “My parents are in there.”
“Help is coming, but we need to move back. Can you walk?”
He looked at his legs then back to me. “I… I think so.”
But even after I helped him to his feet, he only made it a couple of steps before dropping to his knees. He gazed at the car, his face slack. The shock had probably gotten to him. I managed to drag him a couple of feet away before my arms completely gave up. I held his shaking hand, trying to comfort him, but he didn’t seem to be aware of my presence anymore.
A jeep sped around the corner. I winced, half-expecting another crash, but the vehicle braked sharply, coming to a neat stop. Somewhere nearby, sirens wailed. Amelia struggled to lift a woman from the wreckage as flames licked the undercarriage.
The chill expanded and receded. I had no idea what that meant, but I was terrified. Adam inched back, but he had stopped trembling, muttering for his mother instead.
Dorian left the passenger side of the jeep to dash towards Amelia, closely followed by Nathan Evans.
“Keep her steady,” she called out as Dorian helped her cradle the woman. “Broken bones.”
They moved away from the car, carefully carrying the injured woman while Nathan attempted to free the driver. Too slowly. It was all too slow. I concentrated hard, saw what was probably death leave Adam’s mother and return to the car, to the driver—and Nathan. The cold threads licked around his shoulders and arms in an awful caress before constricting across his chest.
I gasped as the chill burst up to my lungs. Something bad. Something worse. “Hurry!” I screamed, taking a few steps towards the car. The word came from my mouth, but it felt outside of me. Everything felt hazy and strange, separate from me, as though I were far off, watching through a lens.
Smoke drifted upward, blocking my view. My eyes streamed with water, but I kept focusing on where the cold led. An odd sound filled the air, and I held my breath. The car burst into flames, the heat threatening to penetrate the chill surrounding me. The sirens grew louder.
The threads stretching around me snapped. This time they aimed straight for me, striking me back until I hit the ground.