Always Watching

Chapter 18

Lita took a moment to settle herself down before her attention returned to the ringing phone. The redhead was confused. It took her a brief moment to find that the cell phone was in her jacket pocket. 'I must've dropped it in there when I hung up on Chris,' she thought, the only rational thought in her head as of late. As she opened the phone, amazed that it was still working, her heart thumped loudly in her chest. "H-Hello?" she whispered.

"Lita! Oh my God, Lita! Are you okay? Where are you?" Chris Benoit's frantic voice cut through the fuzzy static on the phone.

"Chris!" Lita shouted, her voice hoarse. She felt a dim ray of hope well within her, but she did the best to push it away.

"Where are you?" he asked again. "We're at the lake!" he shouted.

"B-but...what about Matt?" Lita whispered. She knew Matt...or at least this new side to him. Remembering what he had said to her, she found it more than odd that Matt would just disappear from the scene; she knew that it was false. Lita's panic suddenly increased. If they arrived, and Matt wasn't there, then who was to say that Matt had simply hid somewhere? Who was to say that Matt wouldn't wait until their backs were turned and then attack Chris, Captain Moceri, and Edge? "Matt is out there!" Lita yelled into the phone. "Chris, get out of there! He's going to hurt you!"

"Lita! Lita, calm down!" Chris found a break in her shouts. "Moceri has him cuffed and a police car is coming," he told her firmly, but Lita could sense the worry in his voice, and she guessed that it was more for her than any worry about Matt breaking loose. "Where are you?" she opened her mouth, but no sound came out. "Lita, please. We just got here and your car was in the middle of the lake and it just about gave me a heart attack... Lita, please, tell me where you are."

When she spoke, her voice was high with renewed panic. "I'm in the car!"

"What?"

"I'm in the car, Chris, help me, please!" Lita said into the phone, clutching her lifeline.

"What's going on?" Benoit asked, his voice nearly as alarmed as hers.

"I'm in the back...the front is totally under," Lita's body shook with new sobs. Hope had grown inside her with Chris's call, and now, saying it aloud, she was noticing just how screwed she was. "There's a crack in the windshield, one door is partially open, and there's water all over."

"Captain Moceri called the fire department," Chris told her, then, earnestly, "Do you think you can make it a half an hour?"

Lita shook her head, trying to stifle a scream. "I don't think I can make it fifteen more minutes," she replied, her entire body trembling now.

"Hang in there, Red, hang in there. We're working on finding a way to get you out."

"Hurry, Chris!" Lita insisted. "Please...Lord... I can't open any door or break through any windows. There's no way out of here!" she said, more to herself than to Chris.

"The trunk!" Chris shouted after a moment of silence.

"W-what?"

"Does the trunk have water in it?"

Lita, kind of getting where he was going with it, propped herself up against the seats, and grabbed the hoop of fabric on the middle seat and pulled down. She pushed the black material that separated the trunk from the rest of the car, and to her surprise, saw that the trunk was empty. "No, it doesn't, it's empty, but what help is that? The trunk button is by the driver, and that's completely under!"

"Lita, just listen! I'm giving the phone to Edge, okay? Listen to him, and you'll get out of there!"

Her attention suddenly more focused, she nodded, although Chris couldn't see her. There was a clatter on the other end, and then Edge's voice came over the phone. "Lita!"

"Edge," she whispered.

"Okay, listen up... You need to squeeze through that hole, and once you do, stay as far toward the front of the car as you can, okay?"

Slightly confused but willing to do anything, Lita turned her eyes to the space. "Okay," she told him, and stretched her arms beyond her head, through the hole. Using her feet, she slowly pushed herself into the hole. It was a struggle to get her shoulders through, but she managed. Just as she got her hips halfway through, the car shifted.

Lita screamed loudly as the car shifted, the back wheels slapping against the water's surface. The redhead immediately moved back so that her waist back weren't in the trunk. The car wavered for a moment, and then the back wheels rose from the water once more. Lita let out a sigh of temporary relief, and then held the phone to her ear once more.

"Lita? Are you okay?" Edge's worried voice came to her.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Lita said hurriedly. Time seemed to speed by. "Hurry. What now?"

"Look around... There should be another trunk open switch. Don't hit it. Tell me if you find it." Suddenly realizing what the plan was, she immediately started groping in the dark along the walls, careful not to lean too far into the trunk. Her fingers brushed over the walls with no sign of the button. Lita leaned forward cautiously, and her breath caught in her throat as the car wavered again. Nevertheless, she continued looking, and finally she found it, near the end of the car.

"I got it!" she shouted.

"Yes!" Edge cheered. "Don't hit it yet. Get yourself ready and then hit it. Once you hit it, you have to act quickly," he stressed. "Jump out of the trunk. Swim toward the light—we've got one shining over the lake. Chris is swimming out to meet you. Go to him, and he'll get you back to shore."

Lita nodded numbly, preparing herself for the risk she was about to take, at the same time, realizing just how blessed she was to have friends that were willing to put so much on the line for her. The redhead steeled herself, reaching forward, her fingers on the edge of the button. Just as she was about to press it, the sound of a loud crack threw her off guard. She retracted her hand and whirled around, just in time to see the windshield implode.

The redhead screamed, throwing her arms up to guard her face from the glass. The car suddenly shifted, the front plunging deeper downward. Water rushed in quickly, soon furiously gaining up Lita's legs. Lita looked at the rushing water for one moment, and then turned around.

She hit the button.