A light, deep in the blackness, was moving, too.
It started small, then grew and grew, divided like cells until not one but two lights were rushing toward her.
Headlights. WHERE WAS HER HEADLIGHT?
Finn/Nora tried to break, but her muscles were frozen, numb.
Stop!a small voice inside her cried.
But this wasn’t time travel. Whatever was about to happen had already been decided.
A considerate moon suggested a road ahead, but Finn/Nora couldn’t feel the wheels underneath her.
The air moved faster, dragged her hair behind her like a comet’s tail.
She didn’t have much time.
Someone was expecting her.
Then:
A white-hot pain, the kind that steals the scream from your lungs, uses it as bellows.
It felt like she was being ripped in two. A cracking sound—her ribs?—shifted inside her chest.
Muscles, ligaments shuddered, straining to hold everything together, to holdhertogether.
The pain was too much. She had to turn around.
A bright light.
The bike was gone. She was weightless, airborne, shrapnel.
A new brilliant pain, in her shoulder this time. Her hip.
Her eyes slammed shut…
… then creaked open.
Letters, numbers snapped into focus. A license plate.
A blurry figure stood over her.
Finn/Nora’s mouth was moving. “You’re here,” it said.
When she came to, it took her a moment to realize who she was. Her name was Nora. No, that was her mom’s name. Her name was… Finn. Finn Wilder.
A car honked. She was standing in the middle of a road. As Finn ran to the safety of the diner parking lot, a wave of vertigo rocked her, and for a moment she was back in her mother’s body. Her elbows collided with the pavement, rocketing pain up her arms. Finn rolled onto her back and pictured the blurry figure hovering over her.You’re here,Nora had said. Had her mom known the person who ran her off the road?
Finn pulled herself off the asphalt, examined her skinned knees, and limped back toward the restaurant. She was almost at the front door when she ran into Zadie. Had she seen her in the road? It seemed she hadn’t, as the frown on her face seemed born more out of irritation than concern. “Dammit, Finn. You’ve gotta stop running out on me like that. The waitress thought we were dining and dashing. I had to give Joel my credit card so he could pay for the buffet.”
“Sorry…”
Her expression softened. “You okay?”
“I’m fine.” But what about her mom? Finn wondered if she had fared as well. “It’s Mom. She was in an accident.”
Zadie’s face dropped. “Wait… what happened?”