Short Story - The Red Car (2/4)

 

The first time that I saw the red car was about two months ago. I didn’t think much of it at a first glance. After sitting at my home desk for hours on end, I couldn’t help gazing out the window – the sun was out, the breeze was comforting and with a dozen unopened emails waiting for me, it made for a pleasant distraction. Something burned in the distance, smoke drifting in through the open window; my pulse quickened and I found my hand unconsciously clawing at my throat. I slammed the window shut and took a shaky breath. The car itself arrived at our house around lunchtime. It seemed to slow down as it passed by, an old red family car spluttering with its headlights on despite the clear blue sky above. From behind the driver’s side a window lowered erratically. I assumed it must’ve been one of those old winding ones. A small white hand snuck through the half open window and waved from the back seat, though their face was obscured from the sun’s reflection. Must’ve been a child. I waved back with a wistful smile and turned away from the window and desk. Stretching out my arms and letting out a deep breath I stood and headed into the living room to grab a cup of tea – I found Hazel at the table with the kids, TV blaring in the background in an attempt to keep them occupied. This little setup meant I’d be able to actually focus on my job when I was working from home instead of having Chris pulling on my leg constantly begging me for attention. God knows I wouldn’t have been able to say no. I turned on the kettle and settled down next to my wife, giving her a kiss as I sank into the couch.

She ruffled Christopher’s hair as he dragged a toy car across the carpet,

“No distractions today then?”

I chuckled and looked at Chris as he raced off with his car into the garden.

“No, nothing today.”

I paused for a moment.

“Actually there was something, did you see it too? A funny looking car passed by and a kid gave me a wave from the back seat.”

She laughed.

“Someone else coming to take your attention when Chris isn’t there to bother you?”

I scratched my neck again and decided to bring up the nagging feeling that I couldn’t shake.

“Something about it seemed familiar though. Have we ever have a red SUV?”

She thought about for a brief moment before shaking her head.

“I can’t remember ever having a car like that dear. Maybe from when you were younger?”

The stink of the orphanage was still fresh in my mind. Not likely.

“No…  it must’ve just been my imagination then. Never mind.”

I shut my mouth and took a bite of the cheese sandwich Hazel had made for me. It eventually wandered from my thoughts as everything does, and I didn’t think about it again for the rest of the day.

The next day at the same time, the car passed my window again, the child giving me another wave. They must’ve been new to the area – probably moved in on the street somewhere. But then it happened again. And again. Daily it would trundle by and I’d get a wave without fail. My neck was also beginning to redden, which I had put down to something work related. Hazel had suggested a doctor’s appointment to get it checked. Eventually I stopped waving back and tried to ignore it. I’d asked the neighbours if they knew of anyone new in the area, but no one had heard about anything of the sort. The logical side of me assumed that they must be heading to work. They could have some kind of appointment. The first time I noticed something was wrong when I saw it at work.

I’d been called into the office to assess some documents when I looked out the window and spotted it again, waving hand out as usual. The car was parked in the space directly next to mine. I shifted in my seat and leaned over my desk to nudge David, whispering to him.

“Hey Dave, d’you recognise the car next to mine?”

He strained his neck to follow my finger which was pointing at the red SUV in the car park. He raised an eyebrow.

“You alright mate? There’s nothing next to your car – the space is empty.”

I scratched my neck.

“Can’t you see the child waving at me?”

He brushed me away annoyed.

“Stop winding me up Lawrence, I’ve got to get on with this.”

He turned back to his papers. I got up slowly at first which quickly developed into a brisk jog. I flung open the door on a march towards the car park - I had to get to the bottom of this. After a skip down the stairs, the glass doors slid open in front of me finally letting me out of the office building. I puffed my chest out on approach and noticed some more details about the car as I got closer. Stickers had been clumsily slapped onto the bumper and there were a few dents and scrapes in the paintwork of the vehicle. One of the wing mirrors was damaged. With a roar, the engine jumped to life, the driver slamming his foot on the accelerator and zooming off, almost taking me out with him. In my astonishment I forgot to angrily shout after them, my mind whirring from the close up view of the car. I was forgetting something.

An ear-splitting horn blared from the car as it sped onto the road. My eyes followed it as it swerved dangerously, tires screaming as it skidded into the oncoming traffic. My stomach churned dangerously as I gagged, red throat closing up. The sickening crunch of metal scraped my ears as the vehicle veered into the path of a lorry, smashing into it head on. The sound was too familiar, the scene was so wrong. Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably, my legs carrying me towards the wreckage I had no reason to approach – nonetheless I sprinted across the busy road without hesitation. Cars honked and swerved around me as my feet pounded on the tarmac to make it to the scene of the accident. I had no rational plan or idea of what I was doing but my mind felt clogged. Pieces were slowly slotting together bit by bit. I approached it, a traffic jam building up from the cars behind me with honking horns. The red car was a ball of twisted metal licked by flames, with the filthy stench of burning oil filling my nostrils. It was familiar. I fell to my knees, remembering the sticker as I watched the small cartoon bear melt, engulfed by the inferno. I remembered the booster seat in the back, now crushed by metal, split into pieces. I remembered Catie accidentally smashing the rear view mirror. Blue flashing lights and blaring noise surrounded me as I vomited violently.. A vehicle pulled up next to the wreckage. Next to me. A man got out of the car and kneeled down.

“Sir, we’re going to need to get you out of the road.”

I looked up at him, his face blurry through the flood of tears falling from my eyes.

“Why didn’t you save them?” I choked, fists clenched, blood dripping from my palms.

He looked at me puzzled.

“Save who?”

I waved furiously at the wreckage next to me and sobbed.

“If you’d have gotten here sooner they could’ve survived!”

He looked at me blankly. I knew they were guilty.

“Sir, you’re causing quite the scene. I’m going to have to ask you to come back with us to the station and then we can have a talk.”

His tone softened a little as he took a closer look at me.

“We’ll get you some help – what on earth happened to you?”

My frustration boiled over as I threw my fist at the blurry officer in front of me. I still don’t quite know what compelled me to do it – I couldn’t control myself.

I was pinned to the ground and cuffed. Lots of people were shouting. He rubbed his chin and said something I couldn’t quite make out.

            I blacked out soon after.

 

[END OF PART TWO]