Long Live The Car Crash Hearts Novels & Stories

He finally looked away, breathing deeply, then turned back to me. “There must be a reason why your countdown is speeding up.” My stomach twisted. “Speeding up? What… do you mean?” “You were meant to live ninety days. But that number can shorten… especially if your heart is triggered.” “Triggered? By what?” “Grief, Pearl. Pure, intense grief. That’s what damaged your heart. That’s what shortened your life span. If you keep exposing your heart to more of it, you may collapse and never wake up. Vomit blood. Die in the process.”

And maybe, just maybe, it would finally show the man who broke my heart what his mother was really like. "Goodbye, Blood Moon Pack," I muttered, hitting the gas. The road stretched out before me as the rain started again, harder this time. My thoughts scattered, flashing through eight long years of being treated like garbage, of waiting for a mating ceremony that was never going to happen. Suddenly, a flash of yellow cut dangerously in front of my car. My heart leaped into my throat as I slammed on the brakes. The jolt of a rear-end collision threw me forward, my forehead cracking hard against the steering wheel.

Not gentle just desperate. I want to make a shoutout to one of my loyal readers marlynmarcel42 , thank you for always being the first to read, comment and vote.

Monthly reunions planned with the precision of race weekends, the anticipation that was its own pleasure, the reunion that was maintenance and celebration combined. The annual renewal they held in January, on the anniversary of Bahrain—the crash that had not killed Arthie but had killed their old life. They returned to the track, now, walked the corner where Arthie's car had hit the barrier, where his heart had stopped for forty-seven seconds. Cyrus had the medical records; they had the memory; together they built the narrative that was not trauma but origin. "I died here," Arthie said, the first year. "And you brought me back. And then we—" He gestured to the three of them, standing in the

Pain bloomed white-hot, but I barely registered it. The car lurched, slowing, jerking, before shuddering to a stop. My body sagged against his, boneless, gasping. We were alive. Barely. The silence afterward was worse than the fall. A silence filled with the sound of my ragged breaths, his thunderous heartbeat, and the groan of tortured steel holding us by a thread. “We’re not safe,” he rasped, chest heaving against mine. Sweat glistened on his temple, his hair plastered to his forehead. “This thing could give any second.”

I muttered into the wind. I turned away. I couldn’t watch anymore. The air down there felt… wrong. Too hot. Too alive. Like the forest itself was breathing around them. I leapt from the ridge and landed on the broken highway below. My boots hit the ground with a dull crack. *********** The armored truck Kris Heather had been driving looked like someone had crushed it in their fist. I walked toward the wreckage slowly, kicking shards of glass aside. Kris wasn’t dead. Hunters like him rarely were.

His face bruised and bloodied, whether from the impact of the car crash or someone’s fists, I couldn’t tell. With each heartbeat my life slowly faded, following him. Until something inside me snapped. “Nooo!” I shrieked and my world as I’d known it ceased to exist.

Steven smiled as he held out a piece of cake. Ruby took the bite. I stayed silent for a long time. Then tires screamed. A runaway semi burst into frame. Heading straight for the café. Straight for Ruby. Without hesitation, I yanked the wheel and floored the gas. The Audi slammed into the side of the truck. The footage exploded with violent shaking. Metal screamed. Glass shattered. The crash boomed through the speakers. Then, in the final second, my voice barely whispered: "Take care of yourself." The screen went black.

"Do you have any idea how serious this flood disaster is? That two-story house of yours was bound to be submerged! Your mother-in-law is dead!" On the other end, Nathan murmured that he was thirsty. Tricia's voice softened with immediate concern. "Nathan is thirsty. I need to get him some water. Stop calling to bother me!" I had always known how much she cared about Nathan. But even so, at this moment, my heart felt unbearably cold. This was the woman I had loved with all my sincerity for more than a decade… The machines suddenly shrieked with piercing alarms. In an instant, the doctors rushed forward. "The patient's heart rate is plummeting—prepare emergency resuscitation immediately!"

If this was my punishment for ruining her life, I don't think I can endure it. It was better when she still stayed around town but didn't want to see my face, but now the case is totally different. I don't even know what town they moved to. My phone beeped with a notification, I glanced away from the road to check it, a terrible mistake. What I heard at the last moment was a loud crash, and blood gushing from my head before I passed out. Charlotte. Vegas is, well, Vegas. Not so different from where we came from, maybe more flashy and bubbly but anyways settling in was very easy.