Chapter Fifteen

A Chance

In his hurry to leave, Jay had left the work he had been doing on the front of his Volkswagen unfinished and as such the front bumper was still partially hanging off; the marks Ruby and Tanzi saw leaving Upland Road, scratched into the tarmac, provided a surprisingly efficient trail to follow. He had turned off onto East Dean Road, leaving Eastbourne behind. The trail then turned onto South Downs Road, perhaps in an attempt to stay away from the main road and any unwanted eyes. After all, if the police pulled him over, they would discover that the car was illegal and that he didn't even have his license on him – as Ruby still had his wallet.

There was no tarmac to speak of on South Downs Road; You could hardly even call it a road. Nothing more than a thin country trail laid out with gravel, barely big enough for Tanzi's car. Certainly the poor vehicle wasn't made to handle the sharp bumps and spitting gravel, making for a very uncomfortable ride.

"He's smarter than he looks," Ruby said as a piece of gravel spat against her window, rebounding off with a tink. "We can't follow the trail of his bumper on this kind of road."

"But it's only one road," Tanzi replied nervously, not liking the way her car was on the road. "So we follow this and hope we find him."

"He wouldn't go far," Ruby said reassuringly. "He's got connections in town. His sister, his home – I didn't see any bags in his car. I reckon he will go back there. Perhaps he is circling?"

"I'd say we ought to wait for him at his home… but I suppose now that I've had that vision we can't afford to chance him coming back." Tanzi frowned and looked to the left and right. A great field of long grass swayed in the wind on either side – fields split with only trees and bushes. East Dean Road had moved them onto a large hill and they could see Eastbourne in the distance to the West.

"What's that?" Ruby peered over a small incline in the road to see a small trail of black smoke. As they rose over this incline, they could see that the smoke was coming out of the split bonnet of a blue Volkswagen. "There! Tanzi, it's him!"

Tanzi nodded, coming to a stop at the end of the road. As they had driven down South Downs Road, the fields on either side had been protected by lines of barbed wire. However at the end of the road it was clear that Jay had driven straight into the barbed wire, knocking down posts and taking the wire with him.

Ruby quickly climbed out of the car and ran over crushed long grass to reach the Volkswagen. "Jay!" She called out as she circled the Volkswagen. Seeing the front of the car Ruby gasped, taken aback.

The barbed wire had wrapped itself around the bonnet of the Volkswagen, catching in the wheels, around the wing mirrors and had gotten inside of the Volkswagen. Jay was pinned to his seat, three strands of barbed wire strapped across him. One dug into his left arm, another around his waist, and a third around his neck, drawing thin beads of blood. As Ruby approached, Jay's eyes spun in their sockets to look at her. He seemed unwilling or unable to move.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked as she moved to the driver's side of the Volkswagen, carefully opening the door so as not to disrupt the barbed wire. The engine was still running – the cause of the black smoke. It looked like one of the barbed wire posts had jammed itself in the front grill.

"That's a really stupid question," Jay sneered but didn't seem to put his usual effort into being rude. "No, I'm not okay," he said, using his right arm to gesture at the barbed wire. "Help me out here, okay?"

"I got it, I'll have to find the end of one and work from there," Ruby said as she tracked the wire around Jay's neck. It snaked down his chest to his foot. The end had looped itself around his foot and the accelerator pedal, sticking itself into the skin of his ankle.

"What are you waiting for?" Jay asked, his breathing getting faster. It seemed like the shock of the crash was wearing off. He couldn't look down else the barbed wire at his neck would dig in.

"I'm going to have to pull this out – it's gotten into your ankle..." Ruby said. She straightened up to look at Jay. "This is going to hurt, okay?"

"As if it doesn't hurt already…" Jay grit his teeth. "Just do whatever you have to do."

"Tanzi," Ruby looked to her friend, who was standing unsure of what to do. "Do we have any kind of gloves in the car?"

Tanzi just shook her head. "Sorry, I don't…"

"Then I'm just going to have to be careful," Ruby said. "Tanzi, hold Jay's shoulders. Push him down into the seat."

"What?!" Jay seemed defiant at this idea.

"If we don't hold you down then the pain is liable to make you involuntarily move – and that barbed wire around your arm and neck are gonna dig in tighter. Okay?"

"Jesus… Fine, do it." Jay let Tanzi lean forward and put her hands on either shoulder, pushing him back in the chair. He winced slightly at the pressure but held his tongue.

Ruby wrapped her hands carefully around the barbed wire, avoiding the actual barbs. With a grip she was comfortable with, Ruby tightened her hands around the wire. "I'm going to pull it out on the count of three, okay?"

"Bullshit, you're going to pull it on t—" Jay suddenly bit his tongue as Ruby pulled at the barbed wire. It resisted her more than she expected but a good inch pulled itself out of Jay's ankle. "MOTHER CHRIST ON A FUCK!" Jay roared, only prevented from moving forward by Tanzi's surprisingly strong pressure. His leg twitched but Ruby used one hand to keep the foot from moving.

Blood leaked down from his ankle, coating Ruby's hand but she still gripped the barbed wire again. "One more time and I think we'll have it, okay? I'm going to pull hard – Tanzi, ready?"

"Yes…"

"Okay… And-" Ruby squeezed her hands and pulled as hard as she could, wanting to get the barbed wire out as quick as possible. She knew it wasn't the best option but she was heavily worried that the engine would catch fire or something like that. That was how Death worked – putting time limits on people's deaths.

However, she misjudged the pressure of her grip combined with the coating of slick blood on her palms. They moved up and the barbs caught into her palms, causing her to let out a gasp of pain. At the same time she managed to pull out a little bit more of the wire, causing Jay to jolt out in pain again. Tanzi still held his shoulders but Ruby instinctively pulled her injured hands towards her chest, letting go of Jay's foot, which pushed down on the accelerator pedal. She only realised her mistake too late. "No!"

The still active engine roared and the wheels spun, pulling on the caught wire. Jay had only a moment to look at Tanzi in front of him with wide eyes before the barbed wire was pulled by the wheel, tearing through his throat with ragged movements. Blood burst outwards, coating Tanzi in a layer of Jay's blood as his body writhed and twitched. He seemed to gurgle something but they couldn't make out his words.

Then the horrible sound of metal grating on bone echoed out and the wire became taut, pulled as tight as it could go. Jay's head slowly tipped to left, barely hanging on. His throat had been completely torn apart as if he had been ravaged by some kind of vicious animal.

The engine sputtered and seemed to cut itself off, plunging the field into an ominous silence. Tanzi stumbled backwards in shock, completely covered in Jay's blood. Ruby was staring at Jay, her injured hands forgotten about, one thought running through her mind.

This was my fault…

No! Ruby shook her head. She shouldn't think like that, shouldn't give up after something like this. There were more important things. With this thought, Ruby quickly approached Tanzi and grabbed her arm. "Tanzi…"

"This is too much," Tanzi said shakily, stepping away from the Volkswagen. "This… We can't do this, Ruby, we can't!"

"Tanzi, please… The best thing to do for now is just calm-"

"Ruby! Stop this!" Tanzi didn't mean to be so sharp to her friend but Ruby immediately closed her mouth. "We're just… just people, normal people, this… these visions, the deaths… this isn't something we can deal with – we're not-not trained to deal with this… we should call someone… the police or… or some other… there must be someone to call, right?"

"We can't call the police," Ruby said quietly.

"Why not!?"

"Because we don't have time to be wrapped up in their questioning. So we explain to them about Death and we explain to them about the List and you think they'll believe us? They won't… how could they?" Ruby closed her eyes for a moment. "There is… someone I could call who may be able to help us."

"There is?" Tanzi looked to Ruby. "We couldn't have called after D-Daniel?"

"No," Ruby shook her head. "I met these people four years ago after… after Sabrina died. They are the DSI, the Department of Supernatural Investigation. But Tanzi… something like this… this is small-time."

"Small-time?" Tanzi echoed weakly.

"This world of ours… I don't know what but there is so much more going on." Ruby slowly moved back over to their car as she talked. "I spoke with a woman named Lisa Valentine four years ago… but, well, she spoke to me. She wanted me to be a part of the DSI. I told her I didn't want to. That I wanted to live and be myself and have a future. Thinking about things like Death it… honestly, it hurts my head. How the hell can I comprehend even more? She mentioned things like Ghosts and Abilities and…" Ruby just shook her head. "That's over my head but I did ask why didn't they help us?

"If they were this… Supernatural investigation team, then shouldn't our situation have been important to them? If I'm being honest with you, I got angry with her. If they had stepped in, then perhaps people would still be alive and Sabrina wouldn't have had to do what she did. But Lisa… She told me that the lives of nine people, unfortunately, don't trump the lives of millions. She said that the DSI is worldwide and that they have to look at the wider picture," Ruby sighed. "Lisa said that they used to deal with minor issues like ours, but recently something has forced them to only focus on the important issues."

Tanzi wasn't sure what to make of this. Instead she just opened the boot of her car and pulled out a rain-jacket that she kept in there for emergencies. Pulling it hid most of the blood on her clothes. "What is this world coming to?" Tanzi asked, almost to herself. She slowly got into the car and leaned back in her seat. Ruby got into the passenger seat quietly.

"I will call them for you, Tanzi… But I wouldn't get your hopes up. And… the reason I didn't call them before is that this number will only work once, so I was told. The SDI are big on being secretive so… I guess Lisa was feeling generous. Maybe she felt sorry for me, I don't know."

"If… If they consider this minor then… then maybe it's best for you to save that number if that's your only way to contact them." Tanzi shook her head. "I'm starting… to understand what it was like for you, Ruby. To try and save these people but… but Death being one step ahead…"

"It's not the end yet." Ruby said firmly. Somewhere in the back of her mind she felt absolutely devastated. She had wanted to save them all – all the survivors. Now Daniel and Jay were dead and that dream seemed to be just that – a dream; nothing more than wishful thinking. "We saved Jeffrey and he was first on the List. We have to get back to them… Hopefully he, Paige, and Lacey had luck with contacting the students." Ruby looked to Tanzi. "We'll go home first. Get cleaned up. I'm sorry, Tanzi."

"You don't have to apologise," Tanzi said as she started pulling the car away from the scene of death before them. Perhaps it would be written off as an accident – a street racer who drove too fast and tried to go off-road.

"I know I don't but… only a few days ago you were happy. Now… Now this… This death…"

"It's not your fault, Ruby. I don't know whose fault it is but all you've done is help me. Without your knowledge on this I doubt I would have acted on my first vision and then no-one would be alive. Because of you we have a chance and… and a chance is perhaps the best thing we can hope for now."