Chapter 4

THE CRASH

“Ryan!” I screamed,  my voice breaking the silence. For a moment, nobody moved.

He spun around with speed. The shock on his face, he had no idea I was there. He’d had his back to me the whole time.

“Why are you back so early?” he stammered, scrambling to put on his clothes. Sweat dripped down his forehead.

“Oh, the hag returns,” Sylvia blurted, rolling her eyes like I was just an annoying fly.  She grabbed her clothes, hissing as she dressed reluctantly.

My anger boiled over just watching her, I felt like setting her on fire. And Ryan just stood there and let her call me a hag, like I was nothing.

“Get out!” I shouted at her, my chest heaving.

Ryan stared at me, clearly shocked by my boldness. “Summer, can we just talk about this?” 

“Talk about what?” I tried to sound authoritative 

But Sylvia snorted, like she found the whole thing funny. She slipped closer to Ryan and hooked her arm through his.

“Ryan, sweetheart,” she purred, “just get rid of the hag so we can finish what we were doing.” she said, mocking my ego. 

That was it. I have had enough of the humiliation. 

“If she doesn’t get out of this house right now, I’ll make her,” I snapped, stepping toward Sylvia, ready to drag her out myself.

Ryan jumped in front of me. “Summer, what are you doing?”

“I want her gone. Now,” I said, breathless.

He laughed, cold, dismissive. “You don’t get to decide that. She’s my guest.”

Sylvia grinned, still clinging to his arm, satisfaction written all over her face.

I felt sick.

“So you’re sleeping with her in our apartment,” I spat, “and you call her a guest?”

Ryan’s face tightened as he spoke. “That’s the problem with you, Summer. You’re always overreacting over little things.”

There he goes. Again.

Gaslighting. Like always.

“I’m overreacting?” I laughed, the sound sour and sharp. “Fine. If she stays, I go.”

I grabbed my keys and walked out. Tired. Wrecked. Empty.

This time, I was done.

Ryan didn’t stop me, I thought he would. He just watched me leave.

“This hag just interrupted our video,” I heard Sylvia grudge.

“Don’t let it bother you, we will make another one” Ryan said in the most cringy tone ever.

I hated myself for being with him in the first place.

“Now it’s a sex tape? How could he consent to such” I asked as I stepped out the house, my thoughts banging in my head.

Well! Nothing mattered anymore.

I’m done and that’s it.

I got in my car. For a second, I waited, just hoping Ryan would run after me, call my name, anything.

He didn’t.

All I heard was Sylvia’s ugly laugh echoing across the house, mocking me like she had waited for this moment.

Anger took over.

I zoomed off with no destination in mind, just tears and a storm of thoughts clouding my head.

I hated to admit it, but Edna was right. I had been foolish, blindly trusting Ryan, ignoring all the red flags from the beginning.

Tears blurred my vision. My thoughts crashed into each other, I thought of Ryan and Sylvia, the lies, the humiliation and everything I had been through.

How much of myself did I give away? I sobbed harder.

My chest hurt as I gripped the wheel tighter. The speedometer climbed without my notice.  

“Breathe, Summer,” I whispered. “Just breathe.” I tried to calm down but I couldn’t. My body just wouldn’t listen.

I switched lanes quickly without looking.

Then, everything hit at once. Screeching horns. Blinding lights.

Bang!.

A car slammed into mine.

Metals crashed. Glass shattered. My body jerked forward, pain exploded through my head and chest. The car spun aggressively, then crashed to a stop.

Smoke filled the air.

Everything faded. My breath slowed.

And then, I saw her.

A woman, the same woman from my dreams. Warm, kind, familiar. She just stood there.

“Mariah,” she called, her voice soft.

“Huh?” I tried to speak, but she stepped backward, slowly fading into the air before I could move.

Darkness closed in.

I blacked out.

This time, it was real. I died.