It took way too long for me to write this! Mainly because I just went way too into detail. I hope you enjoy this.
TW: There's blood (from an arm wound) and a dead body.
(Eliza POV)
I sighed as I gathered the last of the essays together and put them in my bag.
And children complain about writing papers. Grading them is the true horror.
I blew a stray hair out of my face, too tired to fix my bun.
I stood up for the first time in two hours, stretching my arms to hear the satisfying crack of bones.
"You look exhausted."
I jumped up at the sudden noise but relaxed as I saw it was only Philip.
"Hey, sweetheart. What are you doing here?" I suppressed a yawn as I waved him in.
He smiled and walked over to a stand in front of my desk.
"I was just checking up on you. Making sure you got home alright."
I rolled my eyes at him.
"Honey, I'm fine. I was just working a bit late grading papers."
Philip nodded absently as he took in my tired appearance. I must have looked pretty tired, I had been working a lot lately. With the government swarming schools with their new standardized tests and activities that won't even affect their grades while trying to make a lesson plan, my week has been pretty hectic. A flash of concern crossed across his face before he quickly schooled his features to appear calm.
I shrug and get back to putting my stuff away. He worries about me too much. I wish he could just relax sometimes and focus more on his youth, maybe make more friends.
I suppose it's our fault. Ever since the divorce, he's been more attentive to my well being. I was in a bad place then, but I'm better now. I can handle myself. I wish he believed so.
"Anyway," I couldn't keep thinking about this. Sad thoughts brought sad emotions which led to much worse. I looked back at my son to see him frowning as he checked something on his phone. His eyebrows were furrowed, and he had two lines showing between them. He pursed his lips as his eyes scanned down the screen.
"Uh, oh. What is it?" I attempted a lighter, joking tone to hide my concern.
He looked back at me in confusion. "What do you mean?" he asked pouting slightly.
I smiled before walking around my desk to be right in front of him.
"That's the face your father makes whenever he thinks too hard about something bothering him. So… what's wrong?"
He sighed and decided to just hand me his phone. "I'm just worried about this storm. At first, they said it would just be a tropical storm skirting by us on the coast, but now they say it might be—"
"A hurricane hitting New York." I finished, reading from the news article he had on his browser.
He nodded as he moved to stand next to me.
Then the intercom came on.
"All personnel should end all after-school events now! There is an emergency storm warning, and we want everyone safe. I repeat, cancel all events and return home now! School doors will be locked in 20 minutes."
The intercom went off and I stared at Philip who stared back at me in concern. "Wow, I didn't know it was that bad."
I frowned as I finished putting away the papers into their assigned folders and zipped up my laptop bag.
"Well, I guess we should go. Did you drive?" I ask as we walk out of the classroom and I fish for my keys.
He shook his head, "Nah I just walked. Thought I could use the exercise." I gave him a disbelieving look and glanced at his hands which he discretely hid in his pockets. I sighed as I found my keys and locked the door. We started walking down the hall when I decided to just confront him about it.
"Are you sure it isn't because your hand still hurts?"
He tensed slightly before shrugging again. "It's fine, I can handle it."
I hummed but didn't question him. "Okay, just tell me if they feel sore and remember to sanitize them and refresh your bandage. You don't want to get an infection." I said in concern.
He nodded, "I will mom, you don't have to worry so much. I've learned my lesson."
Yeah, that's what you said last time.
I nodded along as we reached the front of the school.
Through the new windows, the school had been remodeled over the summer, we could see the storm. The wind was whipping around the tree branches causing the wood to bend harshly.
Leaves that started to fall early were being swept around by the wind. The sky was probably the scariest part. All of the clouds were dark and blocking the sun's valiant effort to bring light into the depressing scene.
"Woah, it got pretty bad out there," I said.
"Yeah…"
I tore my eyes away from the unsettling scene and started walking towards the front office. "Come on, I need to ask for them to open the doors. They always look them after 3 o'clock."
Creek….
I frowned, "Hey did you hear—"
Boom!
I felt the ground shake and was flung forward as a wave of air flew over me. There was a loud crash as the glass broke and shattered being pushed forward with the air.
I laid there in shock as shards of glass fell on my back and a faint ringing started up in my ear.
Philip!
I tried to ignore the pain as I looked around for my son.
"Philip! Philip can you hear me!?"
I heard a groan to my left and tried to turn, wincing as a sharp pain flared in my side.
"Ugh...mom?"
I sagged in relief and I reached out my hand towards where I thought he was.
"I'm right here! Over to the right!"
"Argh, what happened?" he said in a gravelly voice.
I looked around but couldn't see much and it hurt to move. "I-I don't know… I think the windows shattered."
I could barely see over the dust in the air. What happened?
"Hello? Is everyone alright?" A voice is heard from somewhere close probably the front office.
"I'm fine!" I yelled back even though my left side flared sharply in objection.
"I'm alright." There was some shuffling from my left as Philip tried to move. "I just need to—ah! Everything hurts!"
"Philip?!" Worry coursed through my veins as I tried to move again, ignoring the pain, to get to my son.
"Stay where you are! Help is coming!"
Like hell, my son is in pain. I'm going to him.
After a few agonizing minutes of shuffling and groans of pain, I saw the outline of a body in front of me.
"Philip?" I asked, trying to get closer. The body responds with a low groan of pain before speaking. "Yeah?"
I reached out to put a hand on his and felt something wet. I pulled my hand back to see a dark liquid.
Blood.
I tried to stay calm, but my heartbeat skyrocketed.
"Philip? Can you move?"
Another groan but I see his legs shift slightly.
"Yeah, I can move my legs."
I find some relief in that and nod. "Okay. Now, can you move your arms?"
He moved his left arm with ease. His right arm twitched and he let out a sharp cry.
"Ah! Ow, ow, ow, ow!"
"Philip!? What's wrong?" any relief I had disappeared as I looked at him in great concern and fear.
"I-I can move my left arm, but I think the right one is injured, possibly broken."
That explains the blood then.
"Mom? Are you alright?"
He's asking after my well being while he's here with a broken arm.
"I'm fine, sweetie. Don't worry about me."
I heard footsteps and turn to my right to see two figures moving towards us.
"Are you two alright?" One of them comes closer and I see it's a young woman. She had some ash covering her face and hair, but no blood.
"Yes I'm fine, but my son here has an injured arm." She looked towards Philip and frowned at the sight of his bloody arm.
"Okay, can either of you walk?" asked another figure that looked like an older man. He was covered in ash as well, although he was bleeding from his temple.
"Um, I think so…" I try to get up and thankfully am able to get into at least a sitting position, although my side was screaming in pain.
I grit my teeth and managed to push myself up a bit.
Seeing my struggle, the man stepped forward and grabbed my arm, helping me to my feet. I saw the other woman go to help Philip, who was also struggling to get up.
"Thank you," I said as soon as I'm standing stable on my feet and I heard my son echo the phrase towards the woman.
"No problem," he said, then looked back at where I'm assuming they came from.
"We were in the office when it happened," he said.
"I was about to warn you to look out but it was too late, thankfully no one else was near the doors when it crashed down," said the woman.
"Yeah, what happened anyway?" Philip asked, now walking to my side.
The two glanced at each other and the woman pointed behind us. "Just look for yourselves."
We turned around to see a huge oak tree. It sat surrounded by broken cement from the building entrance. The floor was covered in glass and leaves with a thin layer of dust, most likely from the cement.
The newly remodeled doors were destroyed, the tree lying on the bent steel with some larger glass shards littering the scene.
"Is that… the oak tree that was in front of the school?" Philip asked in astonishment.
"Yeah…" I answered, barely noticing my own response as my eyes surveyed the damage.
The tree was big, it had been planted when the school was first built which had been about 25 years.
"How are we supposed to leave now?" Philip asked, nudging a piece of glass with his converse.
"There are still some side and back exists around the school. They're locked electronically and should still be open."
The woman frowned, "Actually, we locked them early because of the storm." at our faces of dismay she quickly continued. "But they lock from the inside, so we should be good as long as there are no electrical problems," she said.
As soon as she finished speaking, the lights flickered. We all looked up hoping it was just a small falter in the lighting. After a few seconds, the lights stopped flickering and were stable.
There was a collective sigh of relief as everyone slouched.
"Phew! It's just a small flicker, nothing to worry ab—"
That's when the lights all shut off.
We looked at each other in fear.
"Uh, don't panic everyone. It's probably only a small system failure from the tree crash."
We all knew that none of us believed that.
The man walked over some glass towards the office saying he would check the computers.
He was in there for only two minutes but it felt like half an hour.
He came walking out with a grim face and confirmed what we already knew had happened.
"I'm sorry to say the computers aren't turning on. The power has gone out."
(Peggy POV)
Ugh...everything hurts.
My head was pounding as I blinked my eyes blearily.
Where even am I?
I tried to move my head but that sent sharp pain immediately through my skull.
Okay then. Move slowly.
I tried to move my left arm but something was restraining it. Thankfully, I could move my right arm enough to touch my head. I pulled my hand back to see a blurry hand in front of my eyes. I blinked a few more times and could finally see my hand clearly enough to recognize the blood.
Well… that can't be good.
I groaned as I felt down my body, grateful to feel no sharp objects lodged in my torso. There was a seat belt holding down my body and everything came rushing back to me.
Angelica scrambled for her phone and hit Eliza's contact picture. The phone rang and rang but there was no answer. She started to leave a message. "Liza! Are you alright! God, I'm so stupid for not checking on you earlier! Please tell me you got to safety! Call me as soon as you can! I lov—"
I turned my focus back to the road and saw a wave like no other heading right towards us. Oh dear god above…
"Holy shit, Angelica brace yourself!"
She turned around and her scream was muffled as the wave crashed into our car.
Everything after that was a blur of rushing water and a burning in my lungs as I had to hold my breath for a long amount of time.
Thank god for those swimming lessons in 3rd grade!
I tried to regain my bearings and focused on what was in front of me. I could hear a faint ringing in my right ear. There was something hanging down from above blocking my vision. I reached forward and felt my hair.
Odd.
I looked up to see the roof of the car soaked with water and at the bottom were glass shards and a few pens, coins, leaves, and branches.
Then I looked out my window and saw that the ground, or what I assumed was the ground as it was completely covered in foggy water, was not at all in the right place. Well, unless the sky became gravel. It was like the world had turned upside down.
What the…
The car had been upturned.
I heard a groan to my right and looked over to see Angelica.
She wasn't in much better shape than me from what I could see. Her hair was a mess and her clothes were covered in muddy water… or what I hoped was muddy water.
"Angelica? Ange, can you hear me?" I called out, my voice was a bit raspy but I guess that was to be expected after being hit by a storm surge.
She groaned again but I saw her eyes flutter. "Pegs? Is that you?"
I sighed in relief. "Yeah, it's me, sis. Are you alright?"
She squinted down at her body. "Uh... Yeah, I think so. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine my head hurts a bit. I can move alright from what I can tell. I just can't move my left arm, I think it's trapped."
Creak…
The van shifted and the water rippled.
Well, that can't be good.
Angelica looked around to see that we were upturned in my van who knows where.
"What… How did this happen?"
"I can't fully remember… I think I might have hit my head. The last thing that I remember is getting hit with that wave."
She nodded in understanding, or well she started to nod before the car shifted again.
"Ugh! Why does it keep doing that?"
I looked up, well down, for my phone and saw it shimmering under the water.
"Well, my phone's probably useless. Do you have yours?"
Angie lifted her right hand to show that throughout the entire ordeal with the wave she had kept it tightly in her hand.
"Wow, impressive…"
She shrugged. "I honestly think that as soon as the wave hit I probably involuntarily clenched up and so my phone didn't float off."
"Well can you see if you can call 911? If not call Eliza." she nodded and started to dial a number on her phone.
I looked around and tried to survey our surroundings.
It was dark, darker than it had been before the storm surge. So we could either be in a shaded area or the sky got darker as more clouds rolled in.
There was also the sound of water dripping that seemed to be coming from every direction.
That could be a problem.
"Hello?" I looked to my side to see Angelica with the phone to her face. "Hello? This is an emergency call. My name is Angelica Schuyler and I'm s-stuck in a car with my sister Peggy in our car that got upturned. Please send help!" she paused waiting to hear feedback.
All I heard was some muffled static.
"... Is anyone there?"
Still, nothing.
"Tell them we were last in the Hamilton Heights… do you remember the street we were on?"
I said as I racked my memory for any sign we passed.
"I think it was Riverside Drive?" she whispered. I nodded, "Yeah I think so."
"Okay, uh, we were last on Riverside Drive? In the Hamilton Heights. But we've probably been moved quite a bit by the recent storm surge."
There was still just static as we both desperately waited for someone, anyone to respond.
"Come on… come on." I mumbled under my breath.
Then we heard a sound.
"H-hello? T-t-this is 911. What is y-your em-emergency?" A male's voice came through. Although, it was scratchy and broken apart. At least it was there.
"Hi! Oh, thank god. Um, okay... This is an emergency call. My name is Angelica Schuyler and I'm stuck in a car with my sister Peggy in our car that got upturned. We were last on Riverside Drive in the Washington Heights? We were hit by a storm surge. Please send help!"
"T-the Wash-shington H-Heights? D-do you see a-any sign of w-where you a-are n-n-now?"
"Uh…" We looked around but couldn't see anything from where we were.
"We can't really tell, it's pretty dark wherever we are."
I sighed and tried to get a better view, but I still couldn't see anything.
I have to undo my seatbelt if I want to get a better look.
"Hey," I called out getting Angelica's attention.
"What is it Pegs? I'm kinda busy right now."
"I'm just going to undo my seat belt."
She frowned but nodded. "Okay… well, be careful." She then proceeded to talk to the person on the other end of the line.
I looked down at my seat belt, I could reach it since my right arm was still mobile. I easily unlatched the buckle.
"Woah!" I stumbled a bit as my body fell forward a bit. The car jolted and some more water spilled onto the car roof.
I now had my right hand on the cracked windshield. My left hand, which I now realize was previously trapped by my seatbelt, was on the ceiling to keep my head from hitting the roof. My legs were still beneath the steering wheel as I held my weight.
"Hey! Are you alright?" Angelica asked still holding the phone in her hand.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Are they sending help?" I asked from my somewhat awkward position.
"Yeah, they'll be here in— Hey when do you think they can get here? Oh okay— In 20-30 minutes depending on the foot traffic."
"Okay then." I tried to free my legs from under the wheel, but it was difficult.
I start to crawl forward and the next thing I know I'm crouched on the windshield.
"Woah!" I yelped and tried to get back to my previous position but the windshield started to form more cracks, so I stopped.
"Peggy! Are you alright?" Angelica said hastily putting her phone away.
"Um… I think so." Then more cracks formed. "Or maybe not."
Angelica started to unbuckle her seat belt. "Be careful! The windshield is cracking!"
"I'm trying to move but I can't."
"Wait, I'll help in a second…"
More water leaked from the windshield.
I crouched still, waiting to see if the windshield would break under my weight. After a few seconds, cracks stopped forming and I sighed in relief.
"Okay, I think I'm alright, but we need to get out of this car," I said looking over at my door.
It was dark, but I don't think anything was blocking the door. "Hey Angelica, try to see if you can open your door, I'll do the same with mine."
"Okay. Be careful."
I crawled over to the door and tried my best to open the door being upside down.
I heard a click and the door moved out a bit.
Success!
But the door only moved a bit before being blocked by something on the other side that was out of sight.
Or maybe not.
I groaned and tried pushing a bit harder, but the door would budge.
"Okay, so my door won't open."
"Neither will mine," Angelica responded after a few seconds.
"Okay… We'll have to get out by our windows."
While both windows did have quite a few cracks, they wouldn't roll down. They were still mostly intact and it would definitely hurt to punch cracked glass with my bare hands. Not only that, but the force would probably cause the windshield to break underneath me and I don't feel like crouching in broken glass.
"Hey, Pegs?" Angelica called out.
"Yeah?"
"Do you still have the emergency flashlight I gave you last Christmas?"
I frowned in confusion. Where was she going with this? "Uh yeah."
I pointed under my seat and after a bit of struggling, she found it.
It was a yellow bulky flashlight she gave me for emergencies. I remember she explicitly told me to keep it in my car, although I don't know why…
"No offense Angie, but a flashlight seems pretty useless to get out. I don't even know if there are batteries in there."
She glared at me and took it out of the box, which I had neglected to take it out of.
"This 'useless flashlight' actually acts as a multipurpose car emergency tool."
I gaped at her.
"Why didn't you tell me that?!"
Angelica rolled her eyes. " I did actually but you were too busy ogling your other presents to notice. I thought you would have at least read the instructions by now."
She passed the tool to me and I examined it for the first time. Angelica was right, it not only served as a flashlight, but had a blade to cut seat belts, a magnetic base, and—
"Yes! This has a hammer to break windows! I really should have checked this out earlier!"
"Well, no time right now. Just break your window and then pass it to me!"
I focused back on the task at hand and gripped the hammer tightly. I tried hitting the center of the glass but only managed a few cracks.
I tried again only to get the same result.
"Try aiming for the corners," Angelica said from behind me.
I shrugged and aimed a hard hit at the top right corner.
The glass shattered and I shuffled back to avoid getting cut by the many shards. After a few more hits, I took out most of the glass so that I could get through without getting scraped up.
"Okay, now I'll crawl out the window and you can break yours." I handed her the hammer and crawled forward. I winced as I got a few cuts on my knees, but made it through. I stumbled down onto concrete and nearly hit my head on a concrete pillar. It must have been what was blocking the door.
I heard a crash behind me and turned to see Angelica crawling out her own window.
"Hey, are you alright?" I asked once she got to her feet standing next to a similar pillar.
She looked down at herself. "Yeah, I'm fine just got a few scratches on my arms from the glass."
I nodded and took in our surroundings. We were in a parking garage. There a few cars in similar positions as ours and others had crashed into each other.
"Is anyone out there?!" I yelled out across the garage.
There was a sudden light and I turned to Angelica holding the flashlight up.
"Hello?" a hesitant voice spoke out.
Angelica aimed the light to the left and I saw a car with a moving figure inside.
I started walking towards it with Angelica on my heels.
When we got there, I saw that the hood of the car was being crushed under a fallen pillar.
Once I was close enough, I bent down to look in the backseat window. There was a woman sitting there. She had dark golden brown hair falling waves down her back. Some of it covered her left eye while the other eye was filled with fear and desperation. She had tanned caramel skin and wore a red blouse with what looked like once nice designer jeans. She was bleeding from her temple and had a bruise on her forehead.
Her dark chocolate eyes widened once we got in her view.
She looked a little familiar like I've seen her on TV or something before.
Her mouth started moving but I couldn't understand her through the glass.
I tapped the glass to get the woman to listen.
She looked up at me in confusion and I imitated rolling down something while mouthing the word "window."
After a few seconds, her eyes widened in realization and she rolled down the window.
She took a shaky deep breath before speaking. "W-Who are you?" she had a melodic voice, although it shook slightly.
I smiled, trying to seem a bit more friendly. "Hi, I'm Peggy, and she's my sister Angelica."
Her eyes flickered to Angelica who was wearing a smile similar to mine just a bit more cautious.
"Can you tell us your name?" Angelica asked walking to my right side.
"My n-name is Maria." She said pronouncing the name more like Mariah.
"Okay Maria, are you hurt?" I asked her trying to look further into the car.
She shook her head. "N-no b-but my dr-driver—" her voice broke as she glanced at the seat in front of her.
Angelica walked over to the front and gasped.
Frowning, I walked up behind her and felt my blood freeze at the sight.
There was a man in the front seat leaning forward. His bloody head rested on an airbag and it looked like his legs were crushed under the concrete pillar that had fallen on the car.
He had shards of glass in his neck and laying on his lap.
He was dead.
I swallowed back the bile that had come up in my throat and took deep breaths.
Come on, pull it together. You need to help this woman.
"I-I see, um… But are you hurt anywhere? Any broken bones?" I asked going back up to Maria's window.
She gazed down at herself and moved her arms.
"I d-don't think so. Just a bit banged up."
As her arms moved, I did see a few bruises but nothing too serious.
"Okay well, we're going to help you out. Can you open your door?" I asked.
She unlocked the door and tried to pull.
To our relief, it opened easily and Maria stumbled out.
I immediately moved forward to help, as did Angelica.
Maria winced once she was stable and on her feet.
I looked down and saw she had a large bruise forming around her right ankle. I could also see she was wearing red, what was once shiny, high heels.
This woman must be a celebrity or something.
"Are you alright?" Angelica asked, looking at the woman in concern.
Maria nodded stiffly, "Yeah, I'm fine."
Your ankle begs to differ.
My eyes lingered on her ankle before I looked back up to see Maria had been looking at it as well.
I looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
"I'll be fine, it just hurts a little. I can still walk."
"Okay… well, we've gotta move. Angelica called 911, and they are going to be looking for us around Riverside Drive in the Washington Heights."
Angelica turned to the woman. "Do you know where we are Maria?"
Maria frowned in thought as she considered it. "I think… we might be near Broadway."
She seemed hesitant to say that but I might have just imagined that.
"Alright, well do you know what parking garage this is?" Angelica asked.
Maria nodded. "Yeah, uh, I think we're in Park-it parking garage."
Angelica raised an eyebrow. "Park-it? I know that place. I have the address in my phone for when I need a place to park when I go to see stuff on Broadway."
Now I raised an eyebrow. "You're into Broadway musicals?"
Angelica shot me a confused look. "Well, duh. Don't you remember how long I obsessed over Wicked?"
I shrugged. "I thought you were just into the Wizard of Oz."
Angelica shook her head, "Nevermind, it doesn't matter now. Aha! I found it!"
She held out her phone, and we saw on Google Maps a red pin. "So that red pin is our current location being 528 W 162nd St, New York, NY. We need to get back there, to Riverside Drive, which is where the emergency responders will be looking." She pointed at another street to the west of here, closer to the Hudson River.
I nodded. "Okay, well we better get out of this garage."
Angelica frowned, "Yeah… The car is totaled. We'll make it further on foot." she said as she looked at the banged-up vehicle.
I sighed, "We'll just leave it."
I glanced at both Maria and Angelica before starting down the ramp toward the entrance of the garage. "Well, we better get a move on."
Ugh! Why does it take so long to get through this exposition! Next chapter someone is getting in that Mansion. Alright, frustrated author out.
~PJOandHP4life
