2 Chapter 2: To Help The Helpless (1/2)

Luca's mind snapped from trauma, forcing the boy to disconnect from reality. He was stuck in place; staring into the unblinking eyes of his dead father was more than Luca could bear. Bile rose in his stomach as Luca turned his head and vomited. His terror kept him immobilized, even as blood and vomit pooled around him. That fear was helping to keep him alive, forcing him to choke back his sobs and tears, lest he to his ultimate detriment draw attention to himself. Eventually, after an unknown amount of hours, Luca stopped noticing the smell; Luca's senses had become deadened to it.

Silent tears rolled down Luca's cheeks as he silently screamed and raged in his mind. Unable and unwilling to use his voice, fearing the monsters would return. Luca feared the dark and whatever other dread secrets it hid. Even the phone he carried was no longer working, the battery since dead, and the service having disconnected long before.

Luca was spinning out of control as his thoughts raced. Desperation settled into Luca as he tried to wake himself from the nightmare he was in. Each time he opened his eyes, the terrible reminder of his fate remained as did his internal screaming. No, no, no. You can't be dead, dad. I need you. Please, dad, wake up.

As his body began to shake from fear and nerves, Luca tried unsuccessfully to escape into the recesses of his mind. Compartmentalizing himself, picturing he was anywhere else but inside the car. But even in his imagination, Luca could not find an escape. All he could see was his father's dead and lifeless eyes staring at him.

Luca snapped his eyes open, reality, unfortunately, grounding him, even as he mentally pleaded. Dad, please, you have to be ok. Luca willed and wished for his dad to say something. Still, no matter how badly he wanted and needed his father to be with him, guiding him, helping him, and protecting him, nothing change. Paul's eyes remained unmoving.

In his heart, Luca knew that no amount of wishing would bring his father back to life. Guilt weighed heavily on his conscience. On some level, Luca knew he bore part of the responsibility for his dad having been killed. If he had not been afraid if he had just gone with his father and tried to escape without fighting him over it, his father would still be alive. If Luca had not had a disability, they would have both been able to get away to safety.

Hours passed as the day became night. All the while, Luca remained trapped where he was, unwilling to try and move out from his beneath his grim hiding place. Throughout the dead of night, Luca would fall asleep periodically in short but miserable bursts. His arms cold, freezing as his body shivered from the chill of the night. The only mercy granted him was the relative heat of summer prevented him from dying of exposure. Or that the storm Luca had seen early on the horizon never hit him.

For Luca, the worst were the brief periods of intense awareness as long shadows plagued his mind, flooding him with fear as hits of adrenaline ravaged his body. His mind assuming that every sound he heard in the night belonged to one monster or another. Judging from the sounds of nails against stone, Luca knew the assumption wasn't entirely wrong. The car was moving a little as things better left unseen passed by.

The truth, though, was that even staring out into the night at the moving shadows was preferred to the alternative. Having to stare into his father's dead eyes. Luca wasn't sure if he could free himself, and he was too scared to try, and until he was ready, few other options existed.

Sheer panic flooded Luca's body as the windows of the car went completely dark. The car's suspension groaning as shadowy figures stepped onto the hood and the trunk. Luca heard the sound of bestial grows and sniffing of a predator.

Luca knew what they were, more monsters. Actual monsters, not just the nightmares that plagued his thoughts. He held his breath, trying to silence the sounds of his body. He heard talking in a language he had never heard before. His mind almost stretched to its breaking point as the figures jumped off the car and began milling about, sniffing the air. Luca closed his eyes, completely paralyzed by fear an absolute fear. Dad, save me, please. I don't wanna die.

When Luca heard the monster's move away, passing by the car and down the road, the flood gates opened of his emotions, and he cried. Tears flowed freely down his face as he sobbed. It was then that Luca knew he wasn't getting out of here alive. Even if somehow he got free from the car, he was still crippled. He wouldn't be able to outrun any of those things from a wheelchair, and that's assuming the road would be clear enough for him to pass over it in his wheelchair.

For the rest of the night and into part of the next day, Luca remained in place, unable to gather the courage to try and free himself to escape. When the sun came up, Luca caught his reflection in the rearview mirror. He was covered in blood, and it clung to him in coagulated lumps. Even his father's body was starting to change, appearing bruised and stiff as decay set in.

Eventually, as time passed, Luca would soil himself when he was unable to move from the spot. By midday the next day, Luca was ready to try and get out. His body ached all over from being cramped in the back of the car. The weight of his father's body shifting more on to Luca, making it difficult to breathe with the increased pressure against his lungs. Flies began to swarm, landing all over him, crawling over his face and his eyes. From outside the car, Luca could see a group of crows waiting patiently to feast. Their otherworldly gaze was never leaving him. He liked so many bodies on the road was marked for death.