Author's Note: Thank you all for the reviews! Oh, and a warning, there's a little cliffhanger at the end of the story, sorry!! Anyway, please continue to review, and enjoy yourselves!


Always Watching

Chapter 17

Lita felt the car moving further and further into the lake, slowing slightly. The redhead struggled out of her seat as the front of the car slowly sunk downward, breaking through the water's surface. She could still see the top of the black depths from the top half of the windshield. Lita clambered over the armrest, pain stabbing her head. She felt her body shaking as she collapsed into the backseat, sobbing. Looking out of the window, she could see the darkness encompassing the area. The redhead wrapped her arms around her throbbing body, burying her head into her knees. She couldn't stand to watch the slow progression of water moving up the windshield.

'I'm going to die!' the thought pounded through her head over and over again, becoming a mantra inside her skull. 'God, what did I do to deserve this? What did I do? Why are you doing this to me?' sobs wracked her body as her thoughts became less and less understandable as her panic worsened. She would never get to see her family again. Her mother, her father, her little brother Billy... Jeff! What about Jeff? Lita wrapped her arms around herself, the tears slowing, but her sobs not. It was all too much to take.

She was going to die.

Lita felt the overbearing panic in her body. 'I'm not ready to die! I can't die!' she screamed to herself. Could she get the backdoor open and swim out before the car sunk? 'And then what?' she asked. 'Swim to shore? Shore's a good fifty yards away! My clothes are soaked and heavy, if I took them off—and even if I didn't—I would freeze to death or drown by the time I got to shore!' Lita looked toward the windshield, and let out a trembling breath as she realized it was completely covered.

There was no way out.


Matt Hardy grinned to himself as he watched the dark form of the car sinking into the water. Finally, Lita was getting what she deserved. She thought she was the center-of-the-world, always trying to get attention. Lita didn't understand that she didn't deserve that spotlight; he did. Matt scowled, and then shook his head. It wouldn't matter anymore. Lita would die, and suddenly he became the grieving ex-boyfriend who Lita had never given a second chance. It was flawless...

Except for Chris Benoit.

Matt's scowl deepened at the thought of the man. He would have to take care of Benoit, and soon, before he could tell anyone that Matt was the one behind of this. The dark-haired man suddenly smiled, remembering his discarded gun. It was so simple. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it earlier. Benoit was undoubtedly going to show up, and in his haste forget to call the police. Matt would silence him with a shot to the head, and leave him there. It would be harder to cover himself up if Benoit touched him. That solved, Matt turned around, only to be blinded by a set of headlights from an approaching car.

A few minutes later, gunshots rang out over the lake.


Lita could do nothing but sob as the water began to inch by the backseat windows. The redhead looked down at the floor, and felt her stomach roll into her throat. There was about two inches of water gathered on the floor from various non-airtight places on the car. Lita ran a hair through her hair. She had tried to get out of the car using the back door, only to find that it wouldn't open, even after forcing the lock backward. With a great deal of force she had managed to push it open just a little but there was no way that it would open enough to let her through. She had immediately closed the door, but water had poured in, and the door hadn't shut completely. Lita had spent the past twenty minutes staring at the water as it swirled in, coming halfway up her shin when she sat in the seat.

What, in reality, was only a few minutes ago but seemed like an eternity ago, the car had shifted vertically, sending the water splashing down to the end. Lita was sitting propped between the back of the driver's seat and the floor behind it. Her eyes had taken on a glazed look, and all thoughts in her head had stopped. There was no way out of the sinking car. It was better to die with acceptance than with panic, Lita had reasoned as she sobbed out the last of her tears.

Crack!

Lita jumped at the sudden noise, and whirled toward the windshield. Her body shook with fear as she watched the crack in the windshield quickly spread across the surface as the water pressure pressed down upon the upper half of the car. Lita simply watched as water hissed through the cracks, splashing to the collection of it at the bottom of the car.

The redhead stared at the water, feeling the empty hollow within her. She was going to die here, inside this car, and all because of Matt Hardy. The answers were still so blurry to her. Why did Matt do this to her? Confusion was heavy on her mind, and the thought that she was never going to get the answers only added to the pit in her stomach. There were no more tears to cry, but sobs came from the woman's throat every now and again as she watched the cracks dance above the dashboard, forming circular-like patterns.

It was at the exact moment when she had begun to think about her own death that the ringing of a cell phone cut through the still air.