Test of my patience
There's things that we'll never know
You sunshine, you temptress
My hand's at risk, I fold
Crisp trepidation
I'll try to shake this soon
Spreading you open
Is the only way of knowing you
We'll be a fine line
- Fine Line by Harry Styles
PROLOGUE - THE ACCIDENT
Willow Anderson was a stubborn person. She always saw this as a strong trait to have; she always stuck by her beliefs and morals, almost always stuck to her decisions and rarely stepped down in an argument. Despite this, others saw this as more of an attitude problem than her having any form of independence or having the gift of almost always knowing what she wanted. Unfortunately, her stubbornness and refusal to back down from the argument that she had had with her boyfriend Tyler Lockwood back at the bonfire party was what had gotten her to end up on the road towards Wickery Bridge all alone.
It was 11:20 PM so it was dark and there were no cars coming down the road. It was eerily quiet, the only sounds she was able to hear being the chirping of crickets and the occasional hoot from an owl in the distance. While it wasn't too cold now due to summer rolling in there was still a slight breeze that had her wrapping her arms around herself to keep warm and caused her brunette hair to fly into her face.
Willow sighed and pulled her hair out of her face as she leaned against a tree near the side of the road. She pulled her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans. She knew that she was going to have to ring her Aunt Liz to come and pick her up. Willow knew that she was going to be in a lot of trouble for leaving the party alone, especially because she had left her cousin, Caroline, behind. Chewing on her bottom lip, Willow reluctantly unlocked her phone and scrolled through her contacts until she found her Aunt's number. Her thumb hovered over the dial button when she heard someone calling out to her.
"Hey!" Willow looked up at the greeting finding Elena Gilbert walking towards her. "Willow? Is that you?"
Willow blinked her hazel brown eyes several times in surprise at seeing her classmate, "Um, yeah, hey."
Elena came to a stop a couple of metres from Willow. Elena raised her hand and waved slightly at her in greeting before questioning, "What are you doing out here?"
Willow looked around her slightly and gestured towards Elena, "I could ask you the same question." Willow and Elena would never really classed each other as friends. While Elena was friends with Caroline and Willow sometimes hung out with Jeremy at his house, Willow never really clicked in with the friendship group of Elena, Bonnie and Caroline. Willow and Elena only ever spoke when they were passing in the school corridors or if Willow was talking to Caroline, Jeremy or Matt.
Elena shrugged her shoulders, "Got into a fight with Matt." She admitted.
Willow raised an eyebrow at this; she had always assumed Elena and Matt were a good couple. Although she had only ever gotten all of the information about their relationship from Matt, and just because he was happy didn't necessarily mean that Elena was.
"Coincidence," Willow said, "I was in an argument with Tyler too."
Elena raised both her eyebrows in surprise at this, though Willow knew that it wasn't because she and Tyler had argued. That was a regular occurrence lately and everyone knew about it. "Wow, it's like we're twins or something."
Willow snorted at this, "Sure." The two couldn't be more different from one another.
Elena placed her hands in her jean pockets and said, "Now I have to go home and deal with a lecture from my parents about ditching family night for some stupid bonfire that wasn't even that fun."
Willow shrugged her shoulders and nodded her head in understanding, "At least you don't have to deal with the sheriff. I'm pretty sure she'll arrest me just for losing Caroline back there."
Elena laughed lightly, "Oooh, yeah I think that you have it worse. I'll be thinking of you when I'm grounded and you're stuck in a prison cell."
Willow smirked back at her, "Thanks for that." She held her phone up to Elena, "Here goes nothing." She made to call her Aunt again but was once again interrupted by Elena.
"Hey, I could get my Dad to take you home?" Elena cringed at herself for making it sound like a question.
Willow blinked rapidly in surprise at the suggestion. "Um, n-no, it's okay. I'll have to face the music sooner or later."
"Yeah, but if the sheriff knew that my parents dropped you off I'm sure she'd be less hard on you."
Willow thought about what she said for a moment and realised that Elena was most likely right. Aunt Liz would be much happier to know that at least one of the teenagers that were under her care got home safely, and she'd probably be even happier to know that Mystic Falls' resident doctor was the one to drop her off.
Willow nodded her head slowly, "Okay, yeah. Thanks, I appreciate it."
Elena grinned, "No problem." She said just as a grey SUV pulled up on the side of the road near the two teenagers.
Once the car stopped the driver's window rolled down, showing Grayson Gilbert who looked to his daughter, "Elena, are you alright?"
Elena nodded her head, rolling her eyes at her father fretting, "I'm fine, Dad." She looked back towards Willow who was standing behind her, "Is it okay if you give Willow a ride home?"
Willow nodded and waved awkwardly at Elena's father. She saw Elena's mother, Miranda sit forward to see both teenagers. Grayson's eyes moved from Elena to Willow. He seemed to swallow deeply, watching her intently to the point that it made her feel uncomfortable.
Elena frowned at her father's behaviour, "Dad?"
It was Miranda who answered Elena's question about Willow, "Of course. We don't mind." She gestured for them both to get into the car. Willow smiled at them both in thanks as she followed Elena into the car, sitting behind the driver's seat.
She quickly buckled her seatbelt up as the car started to move and droned out the light argument that was happening between the parents and their daughter. They were only berating her for ditching family night for a high school party with Elena apologising.
"I thought that Caroline would be with you, Willow," Grayson said to her after the three had stopped arguing.
Elena nodded her head, "I think I saw Caroline for five seconds when I arrived."
Willow shrugged her shoulders, "You know Caroline; places to be, people to see." Elena nodded her head in agreement with a smile on her face.
Miranda turned back to the two girls but addressed Willow, "How are you settling in at your Aunt's, Willow?" She asked softly like she genuinely cared about her.
Willow cleared her throat and nodded her head, "Uh, yeah, Getting there."
Miranda smiled kindly at her, understanding clearly written in her eyes. "I'm sorry about your mother, sweetheart. She was a good friend."
Willow ducked her head down as she could feel her eyes burning with unshed tears. It was only four months ago that she moved into her Aunt and cousin's house due to her mother's death. She sniffled as she tried to hold back her tears. She felt all she had done for months was cry and cry, she didn't think that she had any more tears to give.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to find Elena offering her a reassuring smile and Willow could feel Elena's thumb rubbing against her shoulder in comfort. Willow sniffled and nodded her head in thanks.
Suddenly there was a loud bang and the car swerved. Grayson attempted to get control of the vehicle but it seemed futile. "Grayson, what's happening?!" Miranda demanded as the car swerved off course as it came onto the bridge. Before Grayson could reply to his wife the car crashed through the fence of the bridge and went over the edge.
Willow's eyes widened in horror as the front of the car went head-first over the side of Wickery Bridge, heading straight for the lake below. All four of them screamed in terror as the car made impact with the water, causing a gigantic splash.
Willow's head hit the window causing her to blackout, though she wasn't sure for how long, but it must have been only a few minutes because when she finally managed to open her eyes she found the car submerged in the lake and water rushing inside at an incredibly fast rate. Willow gasped loudly and pulled herself back from the water that was already raised to her stomach.
"Dad!" Elena cried to her father. She reached for her father desperately as Willow grabbed the door handle. She tugged and yanked on it desperately but due to the pressure of the water the door would not open. She could hear Elena calling out for both her mother and father, and she thought she heard Grayson call out to Miranda numerous times which lead the frightened teenager to believe that the woman was unconscious.
The water had risen very fast and Willow seriously began to panic now that it was up to her neck. She tilted her head back and spluttered as some water went into her mouth and continued to try and get the door open to free them.
Her heart rate was rising and she could feel tears streaming down her face as well as something warm dripping down her forehead from where it had hit the window on the impact. Ignoring all of that she banged her elbow as hard as she could against the window, trying with all her might to find some hope of escaping. That hope dwindled quickly though when the occupants in the car were suddenly completely submerged in water, with no possible way of coming back up for air.
Willow held her breath, quickly glancing back at the others in the car. Elena was calling out to her Dad despite the fact that he wouldn't hear her underwater now, or maybe Willow just couldn't hear anymore. Her ears were burning and it felt like they had popped. Her instincts were telling her to kick, to jump, anything to get her to the surface as if she were running. She couldn't control her legs from moving and trying to get her out of this situation. Willow almost felt frustrated because in a way she knew that she and everyone else in the car was a lost cause. She felt gagged by the water and she couldn't scream. Willow knew that they were down way too deep. Her Aunt Liz wasn't going to save her from this.
Despite all of this, Willow still tried to escape but eventually, she could feel her lungs starting to burn. All Willow wanted was a taste of oxygen; she never realised how much she missed it until she was at the bottom of a lake. She just wanted to go home. Home to her Aunt Liz, and Caroline, her Dad who ditched her, her dead mother...
She kept thinking that she could breathe; air bubbles came out of her mouth and nose, her body attempted to breathe against her will, but she just couldn't breathe. Willow held her throat as she could feel it burning more and her body wanted her to take a deep breath. It felt like she was going to explode.
Willow's mind went haywire, she just wanted to breathe, she couldn't swim, she couldn't get out...
She felt a hand on her forearm, the one that was banging against the window. Willow turned and saw that it was Grayson who had grabbed her. She frowned and looked anxiously between Grayson and Elena who had also stopped struggling. His other hand was holding his daughter's as he looked between the two girls and shook his head. It was Elena who reacted first and nodded her head at her Dad and mouthed "I love you." to him.
Willow looked to Elena, shaking her head in question. Elena met her eyes and took her hand in hers now that Grayson had let go of both of them. Similar eyes locked onto one another, Elena communicating completely with them.
And Willow understood.
There was no getting out of this. They could hit the windows and doors all they liked but the pressure from the water was too strong and they'd never get out. Willow accepted it. Maybe things would be better off if she were gone. That way she wouldn't be such a burden to her Aunt Liz and Caroline. Maybe she'd be able to find peace and be with her mother again...
Willow nodded her head in understanding, "Okay." She squeezed Elena's hand tightly.
As soon as Willow opened her mouth water flooded in, she still felt the need to breathe but now the water just made her feel heavier. As Willow inhaled more and more water, she began to feel dizzy. She started to feel weirdly calm. Almost like she had woken up from a deep, long nap. She felt too weak to do anything now; her arms hung limply, floating beside her. The only thing holding her to the seat was the seat belt. Death didn't worry her anymore.
Her vision had started to spot and she believed that she must have started hallucinating due to the lack of oxygen because she saw someone come up to her window.
The only thing Willow could remember before she blacked out was a pair of forest green eyes.