Chapter 6 – Fasten Your Seatbelts

I slammed a foot on the brake and took a swerve on the narrow parking space in Main Street, my eyes trailing at the Hopkinton Police Department building. It looked more a big house made of bricks, with white windows and a pointy roof. Two flags stood at the very front of it—a national flag and another white one that I didn’t care much about. A gray patrol truck waited outside. There was a name tagged on the parking slot which I ignored. I wasn’t planning on leaving Nathan to his own devices for more than twenty minutes. Hopefully, no one would issue me a ticket.

I jogged into the building, heading straight to the investigation department. Officer Perkin’s table was at the very end of the room, which was pretty much stuffed with a dozen white tables and huge piles of paperwork. A typewriter dinged from a corner.

All that came to mind was: Whoa, artefact. Jurassic Era.

Officer Perkin’s table was as messy as all the other tables lining the whole square of the workplace, except that it had more trinkets than paperwork. Plus, it looked too small for him, as if a professional wrestler just got kicked out of a fixed match and landed straight on a toddler’s workbench. The tall buff blond middle-aged officer scraped his receding hairline before glancing up at me.

“Anything new?” I asked before he could even put down his pen.

“Not really,” he said gesturing for me to settle down on one of the two padded foldable chairs in front of his table.

But I kept standing. I was too edgy to sit.

When he finally realized that I didn’t come for chitchat, he just shrugged and continued. “But I just found one company that actually rents a black series two thousand and eight Mercedes Benz CLK63 AMG. Just as you described.” He sounded sceptical. “I’ll be checkin’ on it first thing tomorrow.”

I nodded and shifted uneasily on my feet.

“I think I know someone who has a possible motive to hurt Sarah. Her name’s Megan Coltrane,” I said hurriedly glancing at my blue celestial wrist watch.

Four forty P.M. Nathan could’ve burned the whole hospital by now.

He nodded, flipping folders from his drawer as he did. “This Megan Coltrane, can you tell me why you think she’d do this to Sarah Littman?”

Clearing my throat, I started to think up some story but couldn’t so I said, “She’s kind of my stalker… She found out about Sarah and threatened to hurt her.”

The officer rubbed his stubbly chin like saying “You have a stalker?” before scribbling on a piece of paper. “Can you give me more details?”

I didn’t argue. What was the point of pointing out that someone wearing thick glasses and fake braces at the age of eighteen could actually have a stalker?

“Sure. I think she’s about twenty, tall—about five-ten—gangly, red curly hair, fair complexion, brown eyes…” I paused when I saw the officer snigger. “Something wrong?” I asked, very close to snapping but I tried to calm down.

“Nothing. Just wanted to ask. Is this Megan Coltrane some sort of a model? Sounds to me like one.” The officer kept snorting, not even trying to keep a straight face while he tried to get up from his seat, knocking his knees against the table.

“I think she did a little modelling but—“ I clenched my teeth, pressing my lips into a thin line. Perkin’s wasn’t taking me seriously. Sure. Mock the nerd.

He must be thinking that I was a crazy four-eyed freak with perverted illusions of having a model stalker. The bomb in my head just got detonated.

Without another word, I marched out of the office, clenching my fists tightly until my nails dug on my palms. And as I went, I thought I heard him laugh.

Why won’t anyone take me seriously? What? Just because I looked like some nerd? If Perkins knew who I really am, he’d be scuttling off his seat just to hear what I wanted to say, no matter how stupid it was.

No, I decided, that couldn’t be right.

Ego check. Ego check. Red alert.

Calm down, I told myself. Growing a cocky gland in my brain won’t help me now. Luckily, Dad knew what he was doing when he hired private investigators. For the meantime, they’d have to do.

I got in the car and I slammed my head on the steering wheel muttering Sarah’s name. A wrenching feeling in my chest slowly crept to my throat. I couldn’t even do anything for her. Cursing, I banged my head on the wheel again.

Thud. “Useless!”

Thud! “Good for nothing!”

Thud! Thud! Thud! “Better off dead!”

My whole body was trembling as I tried to recall Sarah’s smile. That smile when I first saw her picking a flower in a sidewalk. The first real smile from a total stranger since Leon Walden existed. It shattered me to pieces knowing I might not see that smile again.

My phone vibrated against the dashboard, playing a Darth Vader theme I set up especially for my brother.

“Don’t tell me the hospital exploded or I swear I’d—“

“Ha-ha. Very funny, little bro. Instead of making obnoxiously lame threats, shouldn’t you be hurrying here?” He chided as I heard several loud voices coming from the background.

“What’s that? What’s happening?” I demanded in panic. Oh, good Lord. Please, not the hospital.

My brother let out one of his famous sinister laughs and said with a mock tone, “Oh, nothing much. But listen to this,” he said.

Static. Rustling. More rustling. Voices talking in hushed tones, whispering “C’mon, say something” to someone.

“What am I supposed to say?” I heard familiar voice said as she was talking to someone else in the room she was in before clearing her throat and speaking to me, “Uh, hello?”

My heart did a flip. Oh God. Sarah!

I almost dropped the phone when Nathan spoke. “So, hurry. Oh, wait. I’ve already told you that.” He chuckled mockingly before hanging up. Pure evil.

For like a minute, I stared blankly at nothing. My brain seemed to short-circuit for a while before I could blink out the daze. I gulped. Sarah.

Without thinking, I revved the engines and floored the accelerator, hitting ninety once I reached the road, which is pretty much idiotic for someone who’s driving within a mile radius from a police station. Like I care. All I could think of was how to get to Milford, where Sarah waited for me, in two seconds.

A big grin made its way to my face, my hands shaking while I gripped on the steering wheel. Sarah woke up. She finally did, for me. The feeling was so surreal; I was just about skipping on my seat.

A hundred and fifteen and I still felt like riding on a turtle’s back. I should buy a faster car, I decided. On second thoughts, Sarah won’t like it, so maybe not. Maybe she’d get really angry and scream at me.

I laughed at myself. It actually felt great thinking that Sarah could get mad at me again. Because I knew she could smile and laugh again. Only, this time, for sure, I’d be by her side to see it. I won’t miss it for the world.

Secretly, I hoped she forgot all those things she used to get mad about me. That way, we’d have a fresh start. And I swore that this time, I’d never mess up.

My heart pounded in my head as I reached Prospect Street. What should I say to her? A hundred and twenty five miles per hour straight on the accelerometer. Either the traffic officer was having a long coffee break or I was really lucky. Just two blocks away. One block…

Once I saw the compound of the series of stark gray and brown buildings of Milford Regional, I eased my foot on the pedal, veering into the lot, and turning sharply to the left for a vacant slot before slamming on the brakes.

Nothing happened.

I tried the brakes again.

Too late to buckle up.

My first impulse was kill the engines but even that didn’t help much. The car kept skidding off the lane, heading straight towards a cluster of trees bordering the lot before the bumper hit the metal railing with a thunderous crash. I was lurched through the shattered windshield, landing onto hood, which had crumpled like a flattened tin can. Shards of broken glass rained on me.

The world whirled like a dull kaleidoscope. Pain shot from my left arm. My vision blurred while I gasped for breath.

“E.R.! Stretcher please!” I heard a tall middle-aged security guard in navy blue uniform call out.  A German Shepherd guard dog slinked its way to my side and barked.

 “I have… to,” I coughed, barely able to lift my head up.

“I’m coming, son. Don’t move. I’ll be right there!” he shouted as he tried to fit in the narrow gaps between the cars.

My left arm was pointing the wrong way with a sickening throb that made my head buzz. “Sarah…” I called before everything went black.

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Hi! So, just had a busy day and thanks to all who greeted me :) Really enjoyed writing this and I hope you enjoy reading it too :) So, do what you wanna do, and tell me if there are errors or anithing that bothers you.      xoxo ~shim