Highway Rebirth:This Time I Won’t Save You

A road trip over the holiday weekend. My boyfriend missed the highway exit because he was too busy chatting with his childhood friend, Kathryn Fox.

To save time, Kathryn suggested driving the wrong way back to the exit.

I objected on the spot and pulled up gruesome crash videos to scare my boyfriend out of it.

In the end, under my insistence, he agreed to take the detour off the highway.

Because the detour cost us time, Kathryn missed the influencer meet-and-greet at the prairie music festival.

Furious about missing the signing, Kathryn stormed off on her ownand wandered straight into a wolf pack. They tore her apart. There was almost nothing left.

My boyfriend cradled what remained of her bones and passed out from sobbing. When he came to, he calmly buried her, then turned around and proposed to me.

Just as I was dreaming of our beautiful future together, he drugged me on our wedding night, tied me up, and drove hundreds of miles through the darkness to the exact spot where Kathryn had died.

When he saw the wolves, he kicked me out of the car. His teeth were clenched so hard the words came out shaking: "You and your brilliant idea got Kathryn killed. Now you can crawl into a wolf's belly and keep her company!"

I was eaten alive.

Then I opened my eyesand I was back. Back to the day Kathryn talked my boyfriend into driving the wrong way on the highway.

"Take a detour off the highway? Are you out of your mind? Do you have any idea how many extra miles that is?"

"By the time we get there, the signing will be over! Then what was the point of driving all this way?"

The moment my eyes opened, I was staring at Kathryn Fox twisting around from the passenger seat, her face contorted with rage as she screamed at me.

I glanced out the window at the highway and everything clicked into place.

I'd been reborn.

Reborn to the exact day Ivor Dickerson had missed the exit and pulled over on the shoulder to figure out what to do.

"If we just drive back the wrong way, it's less than twenty miles. Go fast enough and we'll be there in fifteen minutes! Fifteen minuteswhat could possibly happen?"

"Ivor, listen to me. Just turn around and gun it. If anything goes wrong, that's on me!"

When I didn't argue back, Kathryn turned to Ivor and kept pushing him to reverse down the highway to the exit.

Ivor did whatever Kathryn told himhe always had. But driving the wrong way on a highway wasn't exactly a small thing. He turned around and looked at the three of us in the back seat, his eyes asking the question his mouth wouldn't.

Five of us in the car. That's how many there were.

Originally, it was supposed to be just me and Ivora couple's adventure trip through the Gobi Desert. Halfway there, his childhood sweetheart Kathryn called saying she wanted to go to some prairie music festival. Ivor ignored my objections, drove over a hundred miles out of the way to pick up Kathryn and her two friends, and rerouted to the festival.

I'd been driving at first, with Ivor in the passenger seat. Then he offered to "take over for a while," put himself behind the wheel, and moved Kathryn up front. For convenience, he said. So they could catch up.

That left me in the back seat with Kathryn's two friends.

Those two were cut from the same cloth as Kathryn. Naturally, they were all for her plan to barrel down the highway in the wrong direction.

In my previous life, I was the only one who'd fought it. I'd pulled up video after video of horrific wrong-way crashes until I finally scared some sense into them.

I'd used my common sense and my stubbornness to save these idiots from themselves. And my reward was being fed to wolves.

Not this time. This time, I wasn't going to stop a single one of these fools from getting themselves killed. All I needed to do was get as far away from them as possible.

I smiled faintly. "You know what, I was being hasty before. I didn't consider the time issue."

"Since you all think driving back to the exit is fine, I won't argue."

"But my stomach's acting up. I need to step out for a minute."

I stood and reached for the door handle.

"No!"

Before I could even straighten up, Kathryn whipped around and shoved me back down.

"Who has time to wait around for you? Just hold itwe're almost there!"

Her words lit a fire in my chest. "Is this your car? What gives you the right to talk like that?"

Being snapped at like that turned Kathryn's face red. She spun around and demanded of Ivor, "Ivor, tell medo I have the right to say that or not?"

Ivor hesitated for a beat, then glared at me with undisguised irritation. "Kathryn and I grew up together. My car is her car. Of course she has the right."

I'd long since stopped expecting anything from him, but watching him take another woman's side at a moment like this still sent a dull ache through my chest.

I'd given him everything. On more than one expedition, we'd stumbled into the path of wild predators, and I'd nearly died shielding him.

Yet none of that measured up to a few pouty words from a woman he could summon and dismiss on a whim.

The thought made me sick at how many years I'd wasted.

I shook my head and looked at Ivor, my expression flat. "Fine. Then don't bother waiting for me. I'll find my own way back."

His lips parted, panic flickering across his face. "Kitty, don't be mad, okay? I"

I had zero interest in hearing him fumble through excuses. I reached for the door handle.

"Don't move!"

Kathryn seized my arm, then barked at her two friends, "Watch her. Don't let her get out."

Being blocked again and again shredded the last of my patience. I wrenched her hand off. "What is your problem? I can't even get out to use a restroom now?"

Kathryn's expression was pure arrogance. "Please. The second you step out of this car, you'll call highway patrol. Then they'll find out we've been driving the wrong way."

Fury boiled inside me, but I knew a head-on confrontation wouldn't end in my favor.

So I softened my voice and turned to Ivor. "Ivor, tell your friend to let me out. I promise I won't call the police."

Before he could answer, Kathryn cut in. "Don't even think about it. Once you're out of this car, who's going to stop you? One phone call and you screw us all."

Seeing how adamant Kathryn was about keeping me here, Ivor shifted to persuading me instead. "Kitty, I know you're upset that I didn't stand up for you. I'm sorry about that."

"But Kathryn needs to make it to the prairie music festival on time. Can you just not make a scene?"

Before I could respond, the engine roared to life. He swung the car around and merged onto the highwaygoing the wrong direction. The doors clicked into lock mode. Even if I wanted to open them, I couldn't.

Highway markers streaked past in reverse, their arrows pointing the opposite way. Cold sweat beaded along my forehead, and a chill crawled down my spine.

These reckless idiots were actually doing itbarreling down the highway against traffic at full speed.

The stretch of road happened to be light on cars, and after a while, they hadn't run into trouble. That only emboldened Kathryn. She started pushing Ivor harder. "Go faster! There's nobody out here anyway. The sooner we get off the highway, the better. I have to get Frenzy's autograph this time."

I spoke up, urging Ivor to at least stay in the emergency lane instead of drifting into the main lanes. Kathryn and her two friends clamped their hands over my mouth and refused to let me say another word.

Over the next stretch, oncoming cars appeared several times. Each time, the other drivers had enough warning to swerve into a different lane, narrowly avoiding catastrophe.

After a few close calls that ended in nothing, Kathryn grew even more smug. "See? I told you it'd be fine. Even when cars are coming, they just get out of our way like good little"

The words hadn't left her mouth when a black sedan came tearing around the curve.

Ivor's reaction came a split second too late. He screamed, "Look out!"

CRASH!

Both drivers had slammed their brakes with everything they had, but the sheer momentum was too great. The two cars collided head-on.

The angle of impact sent the oncoming black sedan into a violent roll, flipping onto its side.

We were still reeling from the shock when a woman crawled out of the overturned car, her face drenched in blood. She staggered toward us, swaying with every step.

Ivor finally snapped out of it, his face white with panic. He spun around to look at me, stammering the same question over and over: "What do we do? What do we do?..."

Before any of us could answer, the woman had already reached our car. She slapped her bloodied palms against the driver's side window and screamed, "Pleasehurry! There's someone still inside!"

I knew every second counted. I told Ivor to unlock the doors so we could get out and help.

Hands shaking, Ivor hit the locks and let us out.

The moment Kathryn stepped out of the car, she rounded on the blood-streaked woman and unleashed a tirade: "Are you blind? You saw us coming and didn't even think to get out of the way!"

"Do you have any idea what you've done? You've ruined my plansdo you understand that?"

The woman's right arm hung at a grotesque angleclearly broken.

But she didn't acknowledge a single word of Kathryn's abuse. She just pointed at the overturned car and pleaded, "Please, I'm begging yousave her. Save my mother-in-law."

The desperation in her voice cut through everything else. I rushed forward, crouching low to peer inside the wreck. An elderly woman, frail and gaunt, was pinned inside the crumpled cabin. Her face was the color of ash. She was in bad shape.

I dropped to my knees, crawled partway into the wreckage, and carefully pulled the old woman free.

Despite the pain etched across every line of her face, she managed a faint whisper: "Thank you."

Then her eyes fluttered shut, and she slipped into a semi-conscious state.

The blood-covered woman saw that I'd gotten her mother-in-law out and rushed over, bowing deeply. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Pleasecan you take her to a hospital? She's in critical condition, and my arm is broken. I can't drive"

I could see the situation clearly. If the old woman's injuries went untreated and something happened to her, none of us would walk away clean.

I turned to Ivor. "Help me get her into the car. We need to get her to a hospital. Now."

Before Ivor could respond, Kathryn stepped in front of me, her face twisted with fury. "Have you lost your mind? Why should we take her anywhere?"

"If we go to the hospital, we'll miss the music festival. How am I supposed to get Frenzy's autograph?"

She whipped around and barked at Ivor in a tone that left no room for discussion: "Get in the car. We need to hit the highway now, or we won't make it."

The bloodied woman saw them preparing to leave and threw herself in front of Ivor, blocking his path. The pleading softness drained from her voice, replaced by steel. "You're not going anywhere. My mother-in-law has severe internal injuries. If she doesn't get to a hospital in time, she will die."

Kathryn's expression darkened the instant the woman blocked Ivor's way. She stormed forward and shoved the woman hard with both hands, sending her crashing to the ground.

"Your mother-in-law dying is none of my business. Get out of my way before I make you."

Pushed to her limit, the bloodied woman's demeanor shifted entirely. She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with her good hand, gritted her teeth against the pain, and hauled herself back to her feet. Her eyes burned with a cold, dangerous fury as she pointed at Kathryn.

"You were driving the wrong way. You hit us. And this is how you act?" Her voice dropped low. "You really think I'm someone you can push around?"

"Let me tell you something. My husband is Byron Head of Crestport. He's on his way here right now. When he finds out what you've done to his wife and his motherdo you have any idea what he'll do to you?"

The name hit me like a jolt of electricity. Byron Head of Crestport.

My heart seized.

Back when I was in college in Crestport, I'd heard of Byron Head's fearsome reputation.

On the surface, he was the richest man in Crestport. In reality, he was the one who ran the city's underworld.

He was merciless to his enemiescross him wrong and he'd have your limbs broken without a second thought. But with his family, he was fiercely devoted. He was famously filial, too. He once spent a billion dollars throwing his mother a birthday banquet, and the whole city talked about it for months.

If the people we'd hit really were Byron Head's family, then the others were in deep, deep trouble.

Crack!

A sharp slap cut through my thoughts.

I looked up to see Kathryn raising her hand again, her face twisted with venom as she struck the blood-covered woman over and over.

"Who the hell do you think you're scaring? Dragging your husband's name into thisI don't care if your husband is Byron Head or Byron Dead, you pissed me off, and I'll slap you as many times as I damn well please!"

The woman spat out a mouthful of blood, then fumbled for her phone and started dialing. "Honey, where are you? Mom and I are hurt. We're at Silkveil Ridge and some people"

She didn't get to finish. Ivor snatched the phone right out of her hand.

He hurled it at the ground. The screen shattered, pieces scattering across the asphalt. Then he pulled a wad of cash from his bagten thousand dollarsand flung it in the woman's face.

"Quit making a scene. You just want money, right? Take the ten grand and get lost."

The woman kicked the scattered bills away from her. She pointed at her car, her eyes burning into Ivor and Kathryn. "Open your eyes and take a good look. You think someone who drives that would shake you down for pocket change?"

"I wasn't even going to make this difficult. All you had to do was take my mother-in-law to the hospital, and I would have let the whole thing go."

"But you didn't just refuseyou decided I was easy prey. You smashed my phone. You slapped me across the face."

"My husband is almost here. You can wait and see what happens next."

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Before the last word left her lips, Kathryn slapped her three times in rapid succession.

"Wait and see, huh? I'll rearrange your face right now. Let's find out what your precious husband can do about it."

I knew what Kathryn and the others were doing was a death wish. I had no intention of going down with them. I rushed forward, grabbed Kathryn's arm mid-swing, and pointed at the old woman lying on the ground, barely breathing.

"Stop hitting her! Drive the old woman to the hospitalif you don't, it'll be too late!"

Kathryn wrenched free of my grip, then drove her foot into my stomach. I hit the ground hard. She jabbed a finger at me and screamed, "Back off, or I'll beat the hell out of you too!"

The blood-covered woman saw me go flying and winced. She tried to help me up with her uninjured hand, her face full of concern. "Sweetheart, thank youfor helping me and my mother-in-law."

Only I knew the truth. I wasn't just helping them. I was helping myself.

I had to draw a clear line between myself and Kathryn's group right in front of this woman. Otherwise, I'd meet the same ugly end they would.

That kick just nowI could have dodged it easily. But I didn't. I let it connect and threw myself backward, tumbling an exaggerated distance across the ground.

All so the blood-covered woman could see, beyond any doubt, that I was not one of them.

"Violet Whitney! Meg Jennings! Hold that little traitor down!" Kathryn barked. "I'm going to teach this mouthy woman a lesson she won't forget."

Her two friends snapped to attention the moment they heard the order, rushing over and pinning my arms behind me.

Kathryn charged at the blood-covered woman and stomped down on her broken hand.

A sickening crack echoed through the air. The woman crumpled, her face draining of what little color it had left. She had to be in agony.

But she didn't make a sound. Not a whimper. Her eyes locked onto Kathryn, burning with silent fury.

Kathryn sneered when she saw the defiance still smoldering in the woman's gaze. She ground her heel into her cheek and snarled, "Had enough yet? Still want your husband to come deal with me?"

Ivor trailed behind, his voice dripping with mockery. "That's what you get for being greedy. We offered you ten grand and you still weren't satisfied. You deserve every hit."

The blood-covered woman pinned beneath Kathryn's foot showed no fear whatsoever. She glared up with bared teeth and snarled, "That leg of yoursmy husband will hack it off and feed it to the dogs!"

Kathryn's expression darkened when she saw the woman still had fight in her. She drove her foot straight into the woman's face, cursing as she did. "Cut off my leg? Who the hell does your husband think he is? Today I'm not just beating his wifeI'm kicking his mother too. Let's see what he can do about it!"

With that, she spun around and launched a savage kick at the dying old woman.

"No!" the blood-soaked woman screamed, scrambling to her feet to stop it.

She was too late.

The old woman took the full force of the blow. Her body crumpled sideways, and a gush of bright red blood erupted from her mouth. She collapsed onto the ground and didn't move.

That was when a convoy of vehicles pulled up and lined the emergency lane.

A squad of imposing men in dark suits and sunglasses came sprinting toward us. The one in fronttall, powerfully builtshouted as he ran: "Marianne! Are you and Mom okay?"