Darkness fell around us unnaturally and I wondered where the time went. The cookies were all overpriced and while Anthony suggested to the group at large which would taste best, I smiled politely and feigned interest, all the while slowly removing myself from the display case. It wasn’t just me that noticed that change in the air. Tania and Lizzie looked like they would jump out of their skin at the slightest provocation. Something just wasn’t right.
Where misery loves company, paranoia hates it. I found myself standing next to Jacob and Anne who were chatting about something inconsequential like the lineup of movies out in the theaters. I never cared for movies but even if I did couldn’t focus on what they were saying, regardless it was comforting to feel their calm energies balancing mine out. They were so at ease even though my head was screaming to get far away.
Red and blue lights flashed in the glass pane door that led back out to the world. The only reason we had even stopped at this bakery was because the traffic was so bad and Anthony recognized it as one of his normal haunts. Kenzie had stepped out for a smoke when they got there and everyone knew her plan was to mooch off whoever ended up buying something but no one minded, she was in a hard place after a break-up with her longtime boyfriend Jonah so everyone took it easy on her.
We all ignored the lights but Jacob was murmuring about going to bring Kenzie back inside. There was no need. She threw open the door, sending the bell into a panic of loud chings, and she looked around at everyone. Her mascara was running down her cheeks, hands clenched at her chest and snot bubbling at her nose. Everyone froze and watched her, waiting for the bomb to drop,
“IT’S JONAH. I JUST KNOW IT IS. THAT IDIOT!!” her eyes darted between all of them but she wasn’t seeing them, she looked like a crazed animal. Before anyone could react she had turned on her heels and thrown the door back open, rushing out into the darkness.
Everyone mobilized like the sound of the door crashing shut brought us back to life, rushing towards the door and assessing the situation. Catty corner to the bakery, standing by itself near a lining of woods, was a drive through bank that was surrounded by ambulances and police cars.
I stuck with my instincts and ran towards the fray with Jacob and Anne. Whether or not Jonah was at the center of this mess we had to get Kenzie out of there before she got herself into trouble and I knew the others were thinking the same thing. Or at least I thought they were.
We were closing in on the bank, close to the end of the woods, when I saw Kenzie standing under a street light with a knife in her hand. Splatters of reds and blues danced on her features and as I skidded to a halt the blue lights started to flicker out, one by one. And then the red. Soon the only light left were the streetlights installed near the bank. They went out. One by one. I looked around to find Tania and Lizzie but they weren’t anywhere around. That’s when I saw them, back in the bakery, standing at the glass paned door with concerned looks on their faces. Confused, I turned back to the scene at the bank.
The last thing I saw before the world was lost to the darkness was Kenzie’s vacant eyes and a smile plastered unnaturally on her face. My chest prickled with fear and I didn’t know where to turn. The lights were out and I could only hear people running around and yelling to one another. Something made everyone scramble and I could swear I heard Jacob yelling “RUN! GET OUT OF HERE!”
My legs listened to him and started to move but I didn’t know to where. Night vision had barely begun to kick in and I could see the shapes of my friends around me and trees nearby, at least I knew I was moving with the crowd, I just didn’t know why. Were we running away from something? To something? Or were we just running.
Someone grabbed my hand and despite a tiny voice of panic in my mind, I was comforted by it. It was a small hand that probably belonged to Anne. She was guiding me along the tree-line and but I had trouble keeping up and not running head-on into any of the trees we passed so nearly by. When I caught my footing and started to keep up I ventured a glance to see if I could make out who was leading me.
Another shot of adrenaline hit my brain. I could feel my vision start to swim. The person holding my hand so tightly was dressed in a bulky hoodie with the hood pulled up and a face that appeared to be wrapped up with cloth. This person was not one of my friends. It was then that I realized I couldn’t hear them anymore. Was I being kidnapped? We came to a stop inbetween the bank and the bakery, the woods were left behind on the other side which was a small comfort. Small, because the real danger seemed to have taken me by the hand, literally.
The person leading me stopped abruptly and their hand dropped mine. I felt myself run into something and a hand, a different hand, grabbed at my arm. A white-yellow light began to grow behind me. It illuminated the person holding onto my arm, Kenzie, and in her other hand was that same knife as before. Her face was still splattered red but it wasn’t a light anymore and I didn’t want to think about what it was. She was smiling at me, adjusting her grip on the knife, the light behind me continued to grow until I could see a cone of the area in front of me, and then the light veered away.
Headlights. Anthony ran out and pushed Kenzie away from me, he grabbed my arm and led me to the car. Inside were Jacob and Anne. I didn’t ask where the others were. I didn’t want to know. The car pulled out of the lot and the traffic seemed to have cleared. We were all morbidly silent except for the sound of our breathing and the quiet whimpering sobs coming from someone in the car. Anne’s hand landed on my back and started to rub and I realized the sobs were coming from me. I looked down and saw red on my arm but I didn’t want to touch it.
Finally as we drove up the road towards the bridge Anthony spoke “What the hell was that? What just happened.” But none of us had an answer so the conversation died off as quickly as it came.
The bridge came into view up ahead but something wasn’t right. It was covered in ash. Not just a layer of it, it was covered in piles and piles of ash and the air all around it was completely solid gray. Other cars were driving along the best they could so at least we weren’t alone. Jacob was saying something about how we should just turn back but Anthony wasn’t hearing a word of it. He couldn’t handle the thought of passing that scene again. No, they had to go this way. We all held our breath as the tires hit the thick of the ash and struggled along. Anthony’s car was no jeep or truck, it was a small sedan that protested with every push of the gas pedal… but he kept pushing and murmuring “c’mon, c’mon”. Slowly we were making our way through and the unease was still buzzing across all of us in the car but it seemed to be fading. At least we were moving.
It wasn’t long before there was a jolt and the car lurched forward. Only Anthony seemed to know what was going on, switching the car into reverse as quickly as he could and slamming on the gas pedal, but it was too late. The other half of the bridge was missing and we were going over the edge. In the moments before we felt our stomachs lurch with the sensation of falling I noticed that the rest of the cars were continuing to drive over the edge and into the water without hesitation. Every single one of them.
Anne grabbed onto me and held me tight as we fell. Anthony was chanting “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry” and then there was nothing.
When I came to we were in the car again, except it was all of us. Anthony was driving and we were crossing the bridge but there was no ash in sight, everything was normal. I looked around. Everyone was here and they were chatting about something inconsequential… except for Kenzie.
“Where’s Kenzie?” I asked with a tremor in my voice that didn’t escape the notice of my friends. Anthony pulled the car over to the side of the road and exchanged a glance between the others.
It was Anne that moved in. She gave me a kiss on the cheek and ruffled my hair “Kenz, what are you on about now? You feeling okay? If you still have a temperature we can cancel the trip today.” And she put the back of her hand to my forehead.
“K-Kenz? What? I’m not… what are you talking about, Anne?” she frowned and looked to Anthony again.
He spoke up like he had said all this before. “You are Kenzie, hun. That’s your name unless you have something to tell us.” He laughed half-heartedly at his own joke. “We were going to the aquarium… but we can turn back.”
I felt tears well up in my eyes before I could stop them. I’m not Kenzie and she’s not here. Tania and Lizzie were whispering back and forth about something and they refused to look at me. Anthony started the car again, going the other direction. I reached out to tap Tania on the shoulder so I could ask her what was going on but before I could Anthony exclaimed “Hey there’s this little bakery right here that I love, I go there all the time. They do really cool cookie recipes, all organic, and half their profit goes to charity—they pick a different one every month. Let’s stop and get something while we’re here. Can’t go home empty handed, after all.”
I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t move other than to let my hand fall from the air and into my lap.