I ran across the frozen field to find Peter’s car empty and locked. I turned around and saw the shadows of the young men still pursuing me.

“Shit, shit, shit,” I fumed while the boys came into the focus of the streetlight.

I turned to run away again and ran right into the headlights of a fast-approaching car. I dove out of the way and covered my head before I rolled on the painful cement of the road.

The entire world hurt and went silent. I stared up at the darkened sky as tiny little snowflakes started to sift down onto my face. I wanted to just lay there forever, but I heard a voice call out.

“Do you need help?”

I lifted my head and turned to see the front bumper of the car that nearly hit resting just feet away from me. A longer gaze revealed the vehicle to be the gold Dodge we had noticed driving up and down the street before. Sticking her head of blonde hair out the window into the snow was the woman I spotted earlier.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t see you in the snow,” she continued.

“It’s okay,”

“Do you want a ride to the hospital? Get checked up? Your face looks pretty bad.”

Right then, I realized the lower left side of my face was burning with the feeling my hand had once when I put it on a grill for a couple of seconds. I reached up to touch it and returned with a palm filled with hot red blood.

“It’s okay. I have a ride,” I declined, thinking about Peter.

“I don’t know if you should wait any longer sir. Your neck looks really bad.”

I reached for my neck and contacted blood before I even got to the skin. I felt a troublesome gash so brutal I thought I might pass out for a second when I first touched it.

I didn’t even say anything, just held onto my neck and made a move for the passenger seat of the Dodge.