The van tore through the forest road, its tires spitting gravel, headlights cutting through the trees like twin blades. Inside, the silence was pierced only by Eric’s labored breaths and the low murmur of Rivers giving instructions from the passenger seat. Sonia sat beside Eric, clutching his hand, her other pressed firmly against the bloodstained towel on his side. Her jeans were soaked with it. So were her fingers.
“Almost there,” Rivers called back. “Fifteen minutes.”
Eric groaned. Sonia looked down. His skin was pale, almost waxen in the cold light. His eyes fluttered open, and for a second, they met hers. There was something in them, pain, yes, but something else too.
“You stayed,” he rasped.
She nodded, too choked up to speak.
Outside, the trees blurred past like ghosts.
Behind
