He held her in his arms. He could no longer feel her weight; he could no longer feel anything but the heat of the flames on his back. Her eyes were closed, her lips slightly parted. The only thing missing was the rising and falling of her chest against his own. He was numb; time seemed to stop passing as he knelt there on the road, illuminated by the orange fire blazing in the wreckage of the car.

'What the hell are you doing? Go! Shit, someone's gonna come soon. We have to get out of here!' Heather was now yelling at Volchek. He sat silently, staring at the blackness in front of him. He gripped the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles white.

'What the fuck is your problem? Ok, so you crashed- nothing new there.' Her voice became increasingly sarcastic: 'Oh, is it the fact that you probably killed them? Oh, yeah, big deal…oh, actually, is it really? That's not such a new thing either!' He moved suddenly and looked at her.

'SHUT UP! Just shut the fuck up.' His eyes were full of some burning emotion that Heather had never seen before. She sat back in her seat, muted.

'I'm going out there to find her.'

'No way. No you are not. We need to go. The police will come and we'll both in prison AGAIN. We need to get out of here.'

He stared at her again, seeming not to understand what she was saying.

'I fucking killed her. You don't understand do you. I don't care about prison. I don't care what happens to me if she's dead. She was..' His voice broke suddenly and he whacked his thigh with his hand; Volchek didn't cry. Volchek was not the crying sort.

' I need to go.' He opened the door, and glanced back at her.

'Just..stay. Or, if you have to, go. I don't care.' She started to say something but he slammed the door.

'Shit' she muttered and slumped back in her seat.

'Shit.' The car came to a halt about twenty metres from the burning wreckage, and about ten metres from the boy cradling the body of a girl in his arms. The driver got out and ran towards Ryan.

'Hey, what happened? Is she ok? Did you crash or something?' Ryan didn't raise his head.

'Susan- call a fucking ambulance! Some kids, been in accident. The girl's in a bad way. Shit..hey, son, who can I call?' He heard his wife speaking into her phone. He stared at the fire in front of him and then down at the upturned face of the girl. It was pale as snow and had a slight sheen. She was beautiful, and young.

'Are you ok? The police are coming, everything will be fine. Don't worry. They'll be here soon.' He was at loss for things to say or do. He didn't want to touch either of them, as if it might break a spell. Ryan didn't respond.

Ten minutes later a police car screeched to a halt behind him and then a police officer was standing at his side. The officer knelt down in front of Ryan and spoke to him slowly and gently. Another officer came to his side. 'Excuse me sir? When did you arrive? Did you see this happen? Was anyone else involved?' He allowed her to steer him gently away from the boy and the doll-like figure in his arms.

The sounds around him began to register slowly in Ryan's brain. He heard sirens blaring. He heard people shouting. He heard a quieter voice, of someone addressing him. The black and white world around him began to change into colour, everything illuminated in orange. He felt someone touch his shoulder and jumped suddenly.

'It's ok. Let go of her. We're not taking her away. The doctor needs to see her.' He raised his eyes to stare at the face in front of him. The officer saw eyes full of pain, confusion and grief. He was so young. Ryan allowed someone to lift the body out of his arms and went the weight left them he realised how heavy she was. Marissa. Marissa was dead. Someone took his by the arm and gently pulled him up, escorting him to a nearby car. As he walked he looked around him, trying to find something that would make the situation a whole lot less real. Instead, he met the eyes of someone else standing half concealed by branches and shadow, whose features were illuminated occasionally by the flames. The reality came flooding back. Volchek. After a blink, Ryan looked back but the figure was gone, disappeared back up the bank and into the blackness beyond. Ryan closed his eyes and felt himself disappearing into a similar blackness, and hoped he would never have to wake again.