CHAPTER 1
JENSEN
THIRTEEN YEARS AGO, THE DAY OF THE ACCIDENT
We’re going to die,and it’s all my fault.
My sister’s car rolls and plummets over the edge of the bridge. For a split second, the world goes silent, and then … it becomes unbearably loud.
Our bodies fly forward, smashing into the windshield.
“Jensen!” Carly, my older sister, screams, panic straining her shaky voice, which gradually fades away as we crash into the river.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
What should I do?
Think!
Think!
My eyes lock on to her teary brown gaze as the nose of the car pulls us deeper beneath the cold, dark water. As hard as I will myself to move, I remain frozen. It’s like my lungs aren’t working, nor my entire body, and I don’t know why.
“It’ll be okay,” I try to assure her—and myself.
Something wet trickles down my forehead, and I lift my hand to touch it, wincing at the stinging sensation from the contact. As I pull it away, I see bright red blood.
The vision makes the pain suddenly kick in, and my head pounds like it’s being smacked repeatedly against a wall. I guess that’s what I get for not wearing my seat belt and nearly going through the windshield during the free fall.
My scalp burns as I touch it again, trying to gauge how bad it might be. That’s when I see the circular cracks in the windshield that my head carved in the glass.
Jesus.
The entire right side of the windshield is destroyed, blood splattered over the broken glass.
God, I’ve lost a lot. Am I going to be okay?
“Jensen,” Carly murmurs timidly, her voice thick with emotion as water begins pouring through the wide cracks, the glass chipping away more and more. Her voice is haunted as she murmurs above the rolling tide, “I love you.”
“Don’t say that like this is the end. We’ll be just fine!” I snap, something inside of me finally kicking into gear. “You gotta undo your seat belt.” Water begins soaking my clothes as the floor fills up, my socks, shoes, and pants nearly underwater.
I have to get her out of here. That’s all that matters. I might not be able to be strong for myself, but I can be for my sister.
Turning to the car door, I press the window button, and thankfully, it’s still working. I watch my window roll down, water pouring over with vigor at the gap.
“You need to get out, or you’re going to drown,” she says coldly, her voice suddenly muffled.
My head whips her way, an eerie, sharp tingle slithering down my back. “I’m trying to get us out …” My words fall away at the sight before me, at the lack of what I should see—or rather who. “Carly?”
Dread claws at my insides. Her seat is empty and her body nowhere to be found.
“Carly!” My voice cracks. “Carrrlyyyy!” I shout her name as loud as I can, a vision in my mind fighting to break free, but something stops it. “Carly! Please!”
I scream, my voice ragged, raw, and tired as the car continues to fill up. I don’t understand what’s happening. It doesn’t make any sense. She was just right there!
The cold water reaches my chest, rising faster and faster as the most horrifying image flits before my eyes the second they land on the gaping hole on her side of the windshield.
She wasn’t wearing her seat belt.
