Intro -
Emily and Lucy had been each other's first everything—first crush, first kiss, first love—growing together until their affection became something soft, fragile, and warm. They'd promised each other a life beyond the cruel world they grew up in. That night was supposed to be their beginning.
Instead, it became the end.
Beginning-
Emily Holloway suddenly awoke to pain—sharp, electric, unforgiving. It cut through her shoulder and wrapped around her ribs like someone had driven a blade straight into her. For a moment she didn't know where she was or why her body felt like shattered glass. Her eyelids fluttered open, heavy and slow, letting in a blurry mix of darkness and spinning headlights. A high ringing drowned out everything else, her breath catching as she tried to move.
Her fingers twitched. Something warm slid past her cheek. Blood? Sweat? She wasn't sure. The world around her tilted and trembled. She forced herself to breathe, but the air was thick, hot, and tasted like metal.
Then she heard it.
A sputter. A hiss. The low growl of an engine dying in agony.
Smoke curled into her throat, burning her lungs. She coughed, the movement sending a violent pulse of pain through her shoulder. Instinct wrapped icy fingers around her spine. Something was wrong. Something was terribly, terribly wrong . She felt a warm sticky fluid spread across her skin seeping in to her cloths soaking them A dark crimson red .her vision blurred and slowly focused , her head slowly tilting around the car searching . Then it hit her , she wasn't just alone .
Lucy.
The thought landed like a punch. Causing her to jolt up choking on her fear .a wave of sickness and guilt swallowed her whole
Emily tried to turn her head more , she tried to look at the passenger seat beside her, but her vision blurred again. The dashboard was crushed against her legs, the windscreen shattered into a spiderweb of broken light. Her breath grew uneven as she blinked through the haze, trying to focus—
Lucy wasn't there.
The seat was empty, the torn seatbelt dangling uselessly. A shocked breath caught in Emily's throat. Her heart jolted so violently she thought it might tear itself apart.she looked around more seeing their broken glass everywear , the giant hole in the windscreen , letting in a cold icy breeze, she followed the treks with her yes slowly , hear heart beating faster and faster as reality hits .
"No…" It came out as a cracked rasp, barely a voice.more like a whispered scream .
The car was groaning. Heat surged from the front of it, the engine coughing up thick black smoke. Emily's pulse spiked. She slammed her hand against the door, but it stayed stuck, "FUCK! " she screamed out in agony , pain sawing through her .metal warped from the impact slightly . Desperation clawed at her chest. She had to get out . To get Lucy . She threw her shoulder this time against it hard , a loud crack echoed across the car —the wrong shoulder—and the pain exploded, white-hot and blinding.
A cry ripped from her throat as She tried again, using her good arm this time ,using everything she had left. The door shrieked and finally swung open, throwing her into the cold night. She stumbled onto her knees, coughing violently, her senses overwhelmed by the contrast of freezing air and burning metal.
Her boots slid on loose gravel as she pushed herself up. Her whole body shook and trembled ,Her hand instinctively pressed against her shoulder, but the pain was too much, forcing her to pull away. To grit her teeth and blinked hard, trying to stay steady, trying to see through the haze.
Then she looked up.
And her entire world collapsed.
Lucy was lying on the road a few feet ahead of the car, half-illuminated by the broken headlights drifting on and off slowly . At first the shape didn't register—not fully. It was just a twisted, crumpled silhouette on the cold tarmac. But as Emily stepped closer , the truth snapped into brutal clarity.
The torn fabric of Lucy's favourite hoodie.
Her golden hair tangled and matted with dirt and blood.
Her bare hand reaching out as if she'd been trying to crawl back toward the car.
Emily's breath left her in a ragged, choked sound, something between a sob and a scream.
"Lucy!"
She tried to run but her body failed her. Her knees buckled and she caught herself on shaking hands, glass slicing into her palms. She pushed herself up again, limping, stumbling, unable to feel anything except the terror expanding in her chest.
When she finally reached Lucy's side, she fell to her knees so hard it jarred her bones. "Lucy… Lucy, baby—" Her voice cracked, falling apart. Her shaking hands hovered, terrified to touch her, terrified to find out how bad it was.
Lucy's chest rose only a little.
Fell even less.
Each breath was a slow, wet drag, like her lungs were filled with broken glass. Her eyelashes fluttered weakly at the sound of Emily's voice. When her eyes opened, just barely, they were clouded with confusion… and fear.
Then recognition.
Then pain.
Emily cupped her cheek, her hands trembling uncontrollably. "I'm here," she whispered, her voice breaking. "I'm here, baby, I'm right here—don't try to move, okay? Don't… don't try to move." Emily looked at Lucy's broken body , realization setting in ." oh god , oh god no "she whispered in shock
Lucy blinked faintly , her lips parting. Blood smeared the corner of her mouth when she attempted a breath that was too deep making her cough—a thin, fragile sound that sent a spray of red across Emily's wrist.
Emily froze.
Her heart splintered.
Lucy's hand twitched weakly. "Em?" Her voice was barely audible, barely even air. "I… I c-can't… see y-you."
Emily swallowed the sob clawing up her throat. "I'm … I'm okay," she whispered, lying because the truth didn't matter. "I'm right here baby , shh it's okay I'm right hear …"
Lucy's eyes rolled slightly and her head roacked to the side , losing focus of the world surrounding her before opening her eyes again . Her body trembled beneath Emily's touch. She looked so small, so broken, lying in the middle of the road surrounded by shattered glass and torn belongings. Emily brushed a strand of hair from her face and gently rested Lucy's head on her lap , her fingers shaking harder with every passing second, terrafide to hurt her , to make it worse "I'm so- I'm sorry …. I'm so so sorry " she whispered .
Behind them, the drunk driver's car groaned loudly. Metal scraped. Flames licked around the edges of the crushed bonnet, growing brighter, hotter. Something inside hissed like it might catch fire at any moment.
Emily didn't look back.
All she could see was Lucy.
Lucy's lips quivered. "E- I.. it … it hurts. I'm… I'm sca…I'm scared…"
Emily closed her eyes swallowing the hard lump in her throne , pressing her forehead gently to Lucy's, as if she could shield her from everything—the pain, the cold, the fear, the world. "I know," she breathed. "I know, my love. I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry…"
Lucy made a small sound, something soft and broken. Emily felt her whole body contracting like she was trying not to cry, though she didn't have the strength. Her breathing was getting weaker, slower. Every second stretched thin and terrifying.
The smoke behind them thickened, curling into the air, choking the night sky. The flames from the other car grew louder, hungry, desperate. Something popped loudly—metal snapping under pressure. Sparks flew.
Emily barely heard it.
Her world had narrowed to the girl in her arms.
She didn't register her own injuries, the blood soaking her shirt, the dizziness making her sway. She didn't feel the cold or the slicing bites of glass against her knees. She only felt Lucy, slipping away in tiny breaths.
"Stay with me," Emily whispered, her voice trembling so badly the words nearly crumbled. "Lucy, baby, stay with me… just look at me, okay? Just keep looking at me."
Lucy's eyes fluttered open a fraction.
Then closed halfway again.
Then opened.
Barely.
"Emily…" she breathed, voice trembling. "I… love you."
Emily's heart shattered so violently it felt like a physical break inside her chest.
"I- I love you too….i love you ….so much darling …," she whispered,stroking Lucy's cheek . "I love you more than anything" a voilent sob broke though her lungs as she knocked her head back sobbing into the silence trying to hold on to what she had left " ple- please ! Y- you can't ! don't—please don't go, Lucy, please—" Emily's heart shattered as she choked out words .
But Lucy's breathing stuttered.
Her chest rose.
Fell.
Rose again, weaker.
Fell again.
Lucy's breaths were turning fragile—thin little pulls of air that barely lifted her chest. Emily felt it before she understood it. Something in the rhythm changed. Fell out of sync. Became wrong.
Her heart stuttered.
"Lucy? Baby, talk to me—please…"
Lucy tried. Emily saw her lips part, just slightly, but the breath that came out was hollow, wet, fading.
Emily cupped her face, her fingers trembling so hard she kept losing contact with her skin. "Stay with me. Please, please—just stay with me. Look at me, baby."
Lucy's eyelashes fluttered faintly… then slower… then slower still.
Behind them, the engine of the other car spit out a violent hiss.
Then a pop.
Then silence.
Emily didn't move.
She didn't breathe.
Her whole world was Lucy.
"Em…" Lucy whispered, barely a sound. Barely a thought. "I'm… tired."
Emily's throat closed. "No. No, no, don't say that. Stay awake. You're safe. I'm right here, angel, please don't close your eyes."
Lucy's unfocused gaze drifted across Emily's face like she was trying to memorise her one last time.
Emily broke. A sob tore out of her, sharp and choking. She pressed her forehead against Lucy's, their tears mixing. "I love you," she whispered, voice splintering. "I love you so much, baby, please stay—please stay—"
Lucy's next breath didn't come.
Her body loosened suddenly, horribly.
Not peacefully.
Not gently.
Just… gone.
Emily froze, terror strangling her lungs. "Lucy?" Her voice cracked. "Lucy, breathe. Please. Please breathe—"
She shook her gently. Then harder.
"Lucy!"
Her scream came out raw and ragged, tearing from a place deeper than fear.
Nothing.
No rise of her chest.
No twitch of fingers.
No spark.
Just stillness.
Emily's sob erupted like a physical wound. She collapsed over Lucy, clutching her so tightly her fingers dug into her hoodie, dragging her closer, refusing to let the world take her.
"No, no, no—please, baby, please don't leave me—Lucy!" she screamed, shaking, choking, losing every piece of herself.
Her cries echoed into the empty road, swallowed by cold air and smoke.
She tried to breathe but her lungs locked. She pressed her ear to Lucy's chest, desperate—hoping, begging—for the faintest sound.
Silence.
Thick.
Heavy.
Final.
Emily screamed again, a sound so raw it didn't sound human. She rocked Lucy in her arms, her whole body shaking violently. Her tears soaked Lucy's hair, her cheeks, the blood on her hoodie. She kissed her cold lips, whispering broken promises into her skin.
Behind her, the drunk driver's engine gave a harsher hiss.
Emily didn't notice at first.
She was too busy dying in a different way.
But then—
CRACK.
The sound shot through the night like a gunshot.
Emily flinched. Her head whipped around. Flames crawled up the belly of the wrecked car, eating their way toward the fuel line. The fire spit embers into the dark, showering the road in sparks.
Another crack—louder.
The heat pressed harder against Emily's back, hot enough to sting her skin. Smoke thickened, swirling around them, burning her throat with every gasp she took.
Emily gathered Lucy in her arms, hugging her tight even as panic clawed at her spine. "I'm not leaving you," she whispered hoarsely. "I'm not— I'm not leaving you."
She slowly tried to lift Lucy over her back with her good arm but the pain was too much , her legs gave way sending her crashing forwards , gravel and mud slacking her already bruised face .
The engine spit again.
Spit harder.
Growled.
Boiled.
Emily's heart pounded wildly. She reached down instinctively, trying to pull Lucy closer to her chest—she tried getting up but couldn't , panic setting in "I- I can't! " she sobs
Another violent snap.emily swung her head to see
Silence followed.
A strange, eerie silence.
The type the world gives right before something ends.
Emily's breath hitched in her throat.
Then the fuel line blew.
BOOM.
The explosion erupted like the sky was splitting open, raining fire, metal, and heat across the road. The shockwave slammed into Emily's back so brutally her vision went white. She felt herself lifted—thrown—dragged by the blast.
Lucy was ripped from her arms.
Emily screamed, reaching out blindly, fingers clawing at empty air.
The world spun violently.
Metal shards flashed around her like knives.
Her body twisted mid-air, limbs flailing without control.
She crashed onto the road hard—shoulder first—and her scream strangled into a choke as pain tore through her body. Her legs dragged across shattered glass, slicing deep, leaving streaks of blood behind her. She tried to curl, to protect herself, but she couldn't. Her collarbone snapped with a sickening crack, the bone shifting beneath her skin in a way that made bile rise in her throat.
Her breath hitched into a sob.
Her body spasmed from the pain.
Debris rained down—burning fragments, shards of metal, bits of both cars—slamming into the ground all around her. Smoke swallowed the air, thick and choking. The heat from the second explosion grew too close, too loud.
Emily forced her head up, blinking through blood and smoke.
Lucy's body lay further ahead—thrown like a doll across the road, limp, twisted, half-hidden in the smoke.
Emily's lungs collapsed into panic.
"Lucy—Lucy!" she choked, dragging herself forward.
Her legs wouldn't bend. She tried—God, she tried—but her bones shifted unnaturally, sending white-hot pain snarling through her whole body.
She screamed and pulled herself anyway, using her arms, dragging her broken body across the tarmac. Glass dug into her palms. Her blood smeared across the ground. Every inch she moved felt like her bones were grinding, snapping, tearing inside her.
"Lucy!" she sobbed, coughing as smoke flooded her throat. "Lucy, I'm coming—please—"
Her arms shook violently.
Her vision blurred.
Her body trembled from the agony of each drag forward.
Another piece of burning metal struck the ground beside her, spraying sparks across her skin.
Emily sobbed and kept crawling, choking on her own breath.
Her fingers clawed at the road.
Her elbow buckled and she collapsed onto her side, shaking.
"Lucy…" she whispered, reaching toward her with a blood-soaked hand.
But the world was fading at the edges.
Colours darkened.
Sound turned distant.
Her body grew too heavy to move.
She tried to lift her head one more time—
The fire surged.
The smoke thickened.
Lucy's silhouette shimmered in the haze, so close yet impossibly far.
Emily reached out again, her hand trembling in the air—
The world swallowed her in black.