Drifting into Darkness (32 page)

“My passion is cars. I don’t have to have the racing to love it. Plus, I’d rather spend my free time with you. Unless, you’d rather spend it with someone else,” he said, raising an eyebrow at me and laughing.

“Nah, I think I’m good for now. But ask me next week; I might change my mind,” I smiled and he shook his head at my nonsense.

We pulled up to the gas station, and instead of having everyone follow us right away, Landon parked next to Derek. Lisa was at my door as soon as I got out, pulling me toward the doors to go inside.

“So, you weren’t at work today,” she smirked with a raised eyebrow.

I bit my lips trying not to laugh. I had asked Nan for the day off, but didn’t mention it to Lisa. I didn’t want her to make it into a big deal. “Yeah,” I replied.

“Did you take full advantage of your time off?” she asked with a wiggle of her brow.

I rolled my eyes and laughed. It occurred to me she probably already knew where I went today if Landon told Derek.

The guys walked in behind us and Landon walked straight to us. “We’re going to get some drinks before we head out. Grab whatever you want and bring it to me.”

“Oh, I can get it. You don’t have to get me something,” I stated as he started to walk off.

He turned with a smirk. “Humor me, okay?” he insisted, and then he turned, walking toward the coolers.

I smiled at him as he walked off.

“Oh, you’ve got it bad,” Lisa giggled.

I turned and looked at her with a frown. “What?” I retorted, which only made her laugh and bring a smile to my face. There was no denying it. I had no reason to hide how I felt.

“Come on,” she said as she walked toward the coolers to grab a drink. “We need to get this show on the road.”

After we grabbed some drinks and a few snacks, we made our way to the location they were going to film. According to Landon, Tate and Aaron would be showing off to the camera too.

“Derek isn’t going to be participating, so if you don’t want to hang out with me in the car while we do all this, you can go hang out with Lisa,” he suggested. I loved the fact that he always made sure I was comfortable, but I didn’t want to leave the car.

“Nope, I’m good. But if you are going to do donuts, then I might have to take you up on that offer. That might make me sick,” I stated. There was no way I’d be able to handle that.

He laughed and shook his head. “You don’t have to worry about that. I’m not doing any burnouts or donuts. I don’t want to mess up my tires before the race.”

He turned down a few back roads that looked completely deserted. “How do you guys find all these roads with no traffic? Wouldn’t the cops think to check these areas?” It was baffling. It was like they had their own little section of the county they could race in.

He pulled off to the side of the road and waited for the others to do the same. “There is a lot of farm land out here.” He pointed to the fields and trees around us. “There aren’t a lot of houses out this way so nobody really uses these roads.”

It all made sense; I was just surprised they were able to get away with it.

“So, what do we do now?” I asked, looking behind us to see the cars lined up.

He reached over and pulled open the glove box. “Now it’s time to put on a show,” he smiled. Turning on the two-way radio, he brought it up to his mouth. “Hey, who do you want to go first?”

Devon’s voice came through the speaker. “Well, we have an hour before we need to head out there, so let’s get you first, since you’re the star of the show.” Landon looked over at me and I smiled at him. These guys really were crazy.

“All right, give me a minute,” he said to Devon, looking over at me.

“Ten-four.”

He set the radio down and leaned over to capture my lips in a soft kiss. His hand rested on my cheek as his thumb rubbed back and forth. I opened up to him and took the kiss further. I couldn’t wait until after the race because I was going to ask him if he wanted to stay over. I knew it was wrong and I would be going against my mother’s wishes, but what she didn’t know wouldn’t kill her. I wanted to feel him lying next to me when I slept. Make love to him in the middle of the night. It was like my life was suddenly on warp speed, but I didn’t care. It all felt so right.

He pulled back slightly and I smiled at him. “What was that for?” I asked. I brought my hand up to brush back some of his unruly hair.

“Just because,” he said softly, “I think I’ll kiss you at least fifty times before the day is through.” He kissed me again to prove his point.

He pulled back again and I giggled. “Only fifty times?”

He kissed me again before pulling back with a smile. “I am an overachiever. I gotta set my goals low, so I can pass them up and feel accomplished,” he joked and we both laughed.

“So, are you gonna wrap that up anytime soon.” Devon’s voice came through the speakers.

I bit my top lip and laughed as Landon picked up the two-way radio. Looking behind me, I saw that everyone was standing around Derek’s car and they were looking over at us. They could obviously see us through the back window and I blushed.

“Shut it, Devon. Get your ass in the car. We’ll do the drift around that corner first, and then I’ll race Tate, so I can go ahead and head out there. You can film everything else without me.”

I saw Devon and Joe run to his car to get ready. “Sounds good, man, get ready.”

Landon put the car in drive and drove a few yards away from the group before he turned to me. “You sure you’re all right? You can hang out with the rest of them,” he suggested as he put the car in neutral. “You didn’t like it last time,” he added with a smirk.

I turned and glared at him. “If you would have warned me what you were doing last time, I wouldn’t have freaked out.” I pushed at his arm to emphasize my point, which caused him to laugh. “I’ll be fine now that I know what you’re doing.”

He reached an arm behind my head and pulled me into another kiss. “I don’t think I’ve smiled and laughed this much in a long time.”

I felt exactly the same way. I gave him a quick kiss on the lips and pulled back with a smile. “Okay, Romeo, show me what you’ve got.” I pulled back and rested my body flat against the seat; just like he’d told me last time.

Landon shifted the car into first gear and grabbed the two-way. “You ready?” he asked Devon.

“Yep, let’s roll.”

Landon took off with a shot and I squealed involuntarily. I looked over at him to see that he was completely focused again. I’d asked him about how tense he gets while driving while I was watching him work on his car earlier this week. He’d told me it was his way of staying focused. He zoned everything else out and focused on the road. I guessed in order to stay in control that was exactly what he had to do.

As the car picked up speed, the curve got closer and closer.

“All right, I’m right behind you, rocket. Ready to roll,” Devon yelled through the speaker.

Landon had one hand on the steering wheel and one hand on the emergency break. As soon as the turn was a few yards away, he picked up speed to about sixty miles per hour and pulled the emergency break as he turned the wheel in the opposite direction. The back end of the car swerved out just like it did the first time he did it, except…

“Shit!” Landon yelled as the car veered out of control. A plume of smoke rose from the ground as Landon tried to get the car under control. I screamed in terror as my hands squeezed the handle and seat. I looked over at Landon as I prepared for impact and the trees came into view.

I saw the fear in his eyes. “Sadie!” he yelled. And it was the last thing I heard before the car hit and I drifted into darkness.

Twenty One

I woke up on the blanket laying under the oak tree by the pond and looked around confused. My eyes were blurry, but everything was in the same spot as it had been, except Landon wasn’t there.

Pinching my eyes closed, I rubbed at my head. I had such a bad headache. I needed some aspirin, but I knew I didn’t have any with me.

Scooting over to the cooler, I lifted it and grabbed a water bottle that was next to the white container holding the chocolate covered strawberries. I smiled as I remembered him licking the juices off my face earlier. It made me feel giddy inside to know even though we just met, he felt the same way toward me as I did of him.

I drank some of the water and set it down as I looked up at the lake again. The sun reflecting off the lake pierced my eyes, causing me to wince in pain and grab at my head again. I groaned as I rubbed at my temple.

What the hell?

Wanting to find Landon so we could head back home, I stood up with the assistance of the tree.
I must be getting a migraine
, I thought as I walked out from under the tree. I looked to the right and there he was. He was standing by the edge of the pond staring out at the water. I was going to shout his name to get his attention, but the thought just made my head hurt worse.

I walked toward him feeling slightly dizzy along the way. I’d had migraines before, but this one took the cake. It felt like someone was chiseling at my brain. As I got closer, I looked over Landon the best I could with my aching eyes. I had to squint to see him, but it looked like he was wearing different clothes.

Yeah, he was. He was wearing jeans, in this hot-ass weather. Then I looked down at myself and stopped where I was. I was wearing a white baby doll sundress. I frowned, “What the hell,” I mumbled to myself and looked up at Landon confused. He still hadn’t noticed me approaching, so I called out to him.

“Landon!” I shouted, but he didn’t respond.

I kept walking and finally reached him. He didn’t turn around to acknowledge me at all. “Landon?” I said concerned. I pulled at his shoulder to turn him around. He finally turned and looked at me. He looked confused, out of it almost. Like he had no idea what I was doing there.

He turned fully to me and gripped me in a tight hug, like he never wanted to let me go. I squeezed him back, but hissed as pressure went to my head, causing it to pound. I moaned, as the pain got worse. My eyes were filling with tears. I needed to lie back down before I fell over.

Pulling back from Landon, I looked up into his beautiful blue eyes. “Landon, there’s something wrong.” I lifted my hand to my head again. “My head is killing me.”

“Sadie,” he said in a soft tone.

I looked at him with my eyes squinted, but I could see his saddened expression as he leaned down and kissed me. It was a soft gentle kiss, but as usual left me wanting more. Even with my head hurting like it did, his touch was always so soothing.

“I need you to live for me,” he mumbled against my lips.

I didn’t understand what he was talking about. “What does that mean?”

He pulled back from me and looked into my eyes, lifting a hand up to caress my cheek. “I want you to do what I wasn’t able to do with my life. Live it. I need you to live, for me.”

I shook my head. He wasn’t making sense. “But…”

“Just say you will,” he said, cutting me off.

A tear escaped my eye. He was scaring me. I had no idea what was going on. I was confused and my head hurt so badly. “What is going on? I’m going to live my life, I promise. I’m going to talk to my parents. Is that what you are talking about? You’re not making any sense.”

He dropped his hand and stepped around me not saying a word. I tried to reach out for him, but he was already so far away.

How the hell…
I rubbed at my head again thinking it must be the migraine making me see things. But when I tried to walk after him I could barely lift my legs. It felt like something was holding me down and I started to panic.

“Landon!” I yelled at him as tears fell freely from my eyes. I was scared and he was leaving me all alone.

I didn’t understand why he was leaving me.

“Landon!” I yelled through my sobbing. “Please, come back.”

He stopped walking and looked at me. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you before, but know that I love you. You made me better even if it was for a short period of time. Now go home.”

My heart ached in my chest at his words, and all of a sudden, he was gone. I cried out loud and fell to my knees. “What is going on?” I yelled and it only echoed back to me, causing me to fall to the ground and hold my head.

Slowly, my crying ceased. My emotions were too much to handle and I stared blankly into nothingness. The pain in my head was easing off, but I felt the sudden urge to sleep and I didn’t know why or understand it. I didn’t understand anything that was happening. I just wanted Landon to come back to me.

My eyes started to drift shut, but I fought to keep them open. Maybe if I stayed here long enough, he’d come back to get me. But then again, maybe this was all a dream. Maybe I’d wake up in his arms. The thought alone made me smile and close my eyes with a sigh, as I gave in to the darkness and finally drifted off to sleep.

Twenty Two

“Sadie, baby, please wake up.”

I could hear a soft voice calling to me, but I couldn’t tell who it was. Every time I tried to open my eyes, they wouldn’t cooperate. I tried multiple times and I was starting to freak out.

What the heck is going on? Why can’t I move?

The voices were fading in and out. It was like using a cellphone in a bad service area. I could make out what they were saying, but just barely.

“We’re waiting here for you. Please wake up, baby.”

Where is here? Where am I?

I tried to open my eyes again only to be blinded by a bright shining light, causing me to jerk back from the pain.

“Oh, my God…go, go get Adam.” I heard scurrying. Then that soft voice was whispering in my ear. “Sadie, honey. Momma is here. Wake up for me, baby. Open your eyes.”

I squeezed my eyes closed tight from the pain that penetrated the first time. I was afraid to open them again.