The heavy metal doors of the side exit groaned as Ellie pushed them open, practically hauling Annie out into the cool evening air. The stinging heat of Peggy's slap was still radiating across Annie's cheek, a bright crimson mark blooming against her fair skin.
"Just keep walking, Annie. Don't look back at them," Ellie muttered, her voice tight with a mixture of fury and heartbreak. She kept a firm arm looped through Annie's, guiding her toward the desolate far end of the lot where Riley's sedan sat under a flickering streetlight.
Annie moved like a sleepwalker, her head bowed, her black hair shielding her face from the few students lingering by the gym. She felt small- shrunk by the weight of the secrets she'd just confessed and the physical sting of the hallway ambush.
"I'm okay, Ellie," Annie whispered, though her trembling hands said otherwise. "You don't have to... you don't have to hold me so tight."
"I'm not letting go until you're locked in that car," Ellie countered, her silver tongue momentarily silenced by the sight of her best friend looking so shattered.
They reached the car, the gravel crunching under their boots. Ellie fumbled for a moment, then realized her shoulder felt strangely light. She swore under her breath, a sharp, jagged word that made Annie blink.
"My bag," Ellie groaned, rubbing her temples. "In the chaos, I left it right by the lockers. My keys, my phone- everything is in there."
She looked at Annie, torn between the need for her things and the fear of leaving Annie alone for even a second. But the parking lot seemed empty now, the four girls long gone, and the silence of the school grounds felt heavy and still.
"Stay right here," Ellie instructed, pointing a finger at Annie. "Lean against the passenger door. Don't move, don't talk to anyone, and if you see a single blonde hair or a blue eye that looks like Peggy 's, you scream. I'll be back in two minutes. Okay?"
Annie gave a small, weary nod, leaning her back against the cool metal of the car. "I'll be fine, Ellie. Go get your bag."
Ellie hesitated one last time, her protective instincts screaming, before she turned and sprinted back toward the school doors.
Annie stood alone in the gathering shadows, the silence of the lot stretching out around her. She closed her eyes, breathing in the scent of rain and asphalt, unaware of the silver SUV idling in the dark row behind her, its headlights off, waiting for the perfect, cruel moment to strike.
The sky had turned a bruised purple by the time Ellie reached the heavy school doors, her backpack slung over one shoulder. She glanced toward the far end of the parking lot, spotting the glint of Riley's sedan. She could just make out Annie's small, dark-haired figure leaning against the passenger door, a solitary silhouette against the fading light.
Then, the world shattered.
A dark SUV roared to life three rows over, tires screaming against the asphalt. It didn't swerve, it accelerated. Ellie's heart stopped as she watched the vehicle hurtle toward the back of the lot.
"ANNIE!" Ellie screamed, but the wind swallowed her voice.
The sound was sickening- the screech of rending metal and the dull, heavy thud of an impact that vibrated through the pavement into Ellie's boots. The SUV slammed into Riley's car, the force of the collision pinning Annie's fragile frame between the two heaps of steel. For a heartbeat, there was a terrifying silence, and then the sound of the SUV reversing, tires spinning as it sped away into the darkness.
Annie crumpled like a broken doll, sliding down the side of the mangled car until she lay motionless on the cold concrete.
[Three Hours Later]
The air in the surgical waiting room was sterile and heavy with the smell of floor wax and grief.
Ethan paced the length of the hallway like a caged predator, his green eyes burning with a terrifying, cold fire. He hadn't slept, hadn't eaten, and the silence of the last five weeks had finally exploded into this nightmare.
When he saw Dylan emerge from the double doors, his face ashen and his surgical scrubs stained, Ethan intercepted him.
"How is she?" Ethan's voice was low, vibrating with a suppressed rage that made the nearby nurses glance up in alarm.
Dylan looked at Ethan, his Kind blue eyes clouded with a mix of exhaustion and sorrow. "She's out of surgery, Ethan. There's internal bruising, a broken ribs... and a head injury. She's in a coma. We don't know when she'll wake up."
Ethan's jaw tightened so hard it looked like it might snap. "Who did this, Dylan? That wasn't an accident. Someone pinned her to that car."
"The police are looking into it," Dylan said, his voice trembling. He looked over Ethan's shoulder to where Kyson was sitting, head in his hands, looking more irritated by the inconvenience than heartbroken. Dylan sighed, his protective instincts for his "family" overriding his logic.
"Ethan, you shouldn't be here. My orders stand. If Kyson sees you, there will be another fight, and I can't have that at my hospital. Please. Leave."
Ethan stepped into Dylan's space, his tanned skin pale under the flickering lights. "I'm leaving because you asked, not because I'm done. I vowed to protect her, and someone just tried to finish what they started four years ago. I'm going to find them."
Ethan didn't go home. He moved to the shadows of the hospital parking garage, his eyes fixed on the window Ellie had pointed out to him via text.
Ellie became his lifeline. She refused to leave the waiting room, her loyalty to Annie unshakable.
Every hour, her phone buzzed with a message from Ethan.
Ethan: Status?
Ellie: Still under. They've got her on a ventilator to help her breathe. She looks so small in that bed, Ethan.
Ethan: Is Margaret there?
Ellie: She's playing the grieving stepmother. It's making me sick. She keep whispering to Dylan that Annie was probably 'distracted' and walked in front of the car.
Ethan: She's lying. I watched that woman's patterns for weeks. She knows something.
Ellie: Riley found a piece of a headlight in the parking lot. It's silver.
Ethan: Margaret drives a silver SUV.
Ethan gripped his steering wheel, staring at the hospital lights. Annie was trapped in a silent world, her black hair fanned out against white pillows, fighting a battle she shouldn't have to fight.
"Hold on, Annie," he whispered into the dark of his truck, his green eyes shimmering with a dangerous resolve. "I'm not letting them get away with it this time."