Disclaimer - Is this really necessary? Everybody knows that Meg Cabot owns this, and not me, right?
Summary/Excerpt - This is it... This is the moment that has been haunting his every dream, until he wakes in the middle of the night, bolt upright in bed, a cold gleam in his eye and a smug, satisfied smile on his lips.
Author Note - So, this is kind of different. And I don''t want to say too much, because the suspense is part of the story. As far as I know this idea hasn''t been done before, but I''ve had it for a while and finally wrote it out. Enjoy!
Consumed
This is it.
It is late, and a dark figure sprints across the road and gets in a car parked in the shadows.
He slams the car door behind him, breathing harshly, and collapses against the back of the seat. His grip on the wrench in his right hand is painfully tight, and the metal seems suddenly to burn him. His fist opens, the wrench falling and coming to rest on the passenger seat, the only witness to what he has done.
He rests the back of his head against the headrest, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.
This is it.
This is the moment he has been living for for the past few weeks.
This is the moment that has been occupying his every daily thought, until he can think of nothing else.
This is the moment that has been haunting his every dream, until he wakes in the middle of the night, bolt upright in bed, a cold gleam in his eye and a smug, satisfied smile on his lips.
This is the moment that has consumed his mind.
No one has noticed. A short burst of unamused laughter escapes from his lips at the thought. Who would? His father is at work all the time, and his mother comes home crying every night, too upset to notice anything but her own grief and distress.
Well, this will change all of that, he vows to himself. He is doing this for her. For both of them.
He hears an engine in the distance and sits up suddenly, squinting through the windshield into the darkness, his ears straining to pick up any sound. He can only faintly hear another car rounding the bends ahead of him, but what he does hear is enough.
He relaxes back against the seat, bitterly disappointed, and yet strangely relieved. He lets out a breath he doesn''t realize he''s been holding, and releases his hands from where they''ve been clutching his legs.
The car zooms around the bend and rushes past him, headlights blinding him for a moment as they shine glaringly into his eyes. He blinks a few times and silently watches the car drive past.
Ever since it happened, he has been planning for this day. For so long, he has been meticulously planning. Planning and preparing everything, down to the tiniest insignificant detail, so that everything will go perfectly, and nothing will go wrong.
And then, once everything was planned, once he could plan no more, then he waited. Oh, how he waited!
It was torture, having to wait as long as he has waited. Each hour that passed seemed a year, each day a lifetime. A long, horrible lifetime.
But as much as he wanted to, he couldn''t risk plunging ahead recklessly. That would ruin all his hard work, and that was unthinkable.
Nothing could ruin this.
Nothing.
The inside of the car is cool and dark, the only sounds are his breathing and the low hum of the engine.
A cloud shifts, and a sliver of moonlight streams into the car, shining on the wrench lying on the seat beside him. It winks coldly silver at him, accusing, as if it is saying, I know what you''ve done.
He glares at it, fury mounting, and in a sudden burst of anger, he snatches it off the seat and flings it through the window. The sound of shattering glass fills the air, and the wrench flies through the window, hitting the side of the cliff and falling to the ground with a dull thud.
The silence is heavier than ever.
He lets his head fall forward onto the steering wheel, and his hand drops to his side.
He is shaking. Shaking with anger, and when he looks up, his jaw is clenched and his eyes are blazing with fury.
They deserve it, he thinks. For bringing us so much pain, for everything they did, and everything they didn''t do, they deserve it.
After all, they had just stood there. Stood there and laughed. Well, he would see who was laughing soon.
And then, as he slams his hand against the steering wheel, he hears it.
He hears the sound he has been waiting for, the sound that means he will have to wait no longer.
He hears the horn of a car coming toward him around the bend.
His fingers tighten painfully on the steering wheel, his knuckles white.
His body is tense, his breathing quick and shallow.
His foot hovers above the accelerator, poised and ready.
He is amazingly calm. Calm and confident.
And as the car comes around the bend, he is ready.
This is the moment he has been waiting for.
This is it.
-fin-