Chapter 6 Screaming Echoes (Jasmine's POV)
"Get inside right now before someone sees you standing out here like a sitting duck," Ethan ordered, his fingers biting into the fabric of my shirt as he practically dragged me back toward the safety of the porch.
"Let go of me, you're hurting my arm," I gasped, wincing as my bad leg struggled to keep pace with his sudden, frantic momentum. "You can't just run across the street, scream about the people who wrecked my life, and expect me to just lock myself away."
He released me abruptly as we reached the front door, his eyes darting toward the empty street where the dark sedan had disappeared. The sheer panic rolling off him was completely intoxicating, a heavy, suffocating wave of protective anger that made my skin prickle.
"You have zero idea what you are playing with, Jasmine," he muttered, his jaw shifting as he loomed over me on the small porch. "Standing out by the road like you're trying to prove a point... it's stupid. It's dangerous."
"I was trying to get a reaction out of you, and clearly it worked," I countered, leaning my back against the locked door, refusing to retreat inside just yet. "Why do you care so much? If I'm just some random neighbor who lost her memory, why does your entire world seem to stop every time I take a step outside?"
Ethan leaned closer, his shadow completely blocking out the harsh afternoon sun. The smell of rain and cold metallic ozone rolled off him, a scent that suddenly made my head spin with a weird, agonizing sense of familiarity.
"Because watching you is the only thing keeping me sane," he whispered, his tone dropping into a possessive, dangerously quiet register. "And if you keep pushing your limits, you're going to end up right back where you started... or worse."
"Is that a threat, Ethan?" I asked, my voice cracking emotionally as I stared into his dark, obsessive eyes.
"It's a promise to keep you breathing, even if you hate me for it," he said, his hand coming up to rest on the door frame right next to my head, trapping me completely. "Now go inside. Lock the doors. Don't look out the windows today."
Before I could demand more answers, he turned and strooped back across the street, his black hoodie swallowing him up as he retreated into his silent house. I stumbled inside, my mind a chaotic mess of static and fear, Kaia's frantic warnings looping endlessly in my brain.
The weight of the day collapsed on me the moment I hit my mattress. The intense heat of the afternoon gave way to a violent evening storm. Lightning flashed across my bedroom ceiling, throwing distorted shadows against the walls. The thunder was a low, aggressive rumble that vibrated through the floorboards, matching the rhythmic throb in my broken knee.
I fell into a heavy, suffocating sleep, but my subconscious refused to give me peace.
Suddenly, the darkness behind my eyelids dissolved into a terrifying reality. I wasn't in my room anymore. I was trapped inside a compressed cage of shattered glass and twisted metal. The overwhelming scent of burning rubber and gasoline choked my throat. Everything was spinning in a sickening, chaotic tilt.
The rain outside my window merged with the illusion of water slamming against a shattered windshield. Through the blinding downpour of the memory, headlights flashed from a massive vehicle, blinding me, pinning me down like a helpless animal.
A pair of hands gripped mine in the dark wreckage. They weren't my father's hands. They were smaller, desperate, covered in slick, warm blood. A voice was screaming my name through the screech of tearing metal, a raw, agonizing sound of pure heartbreak that tore through the fabric of my soul.
Jasmine, look at me, stay with me!
The headlights flared into a blinding, white hot explosion.
I woke up screaming, the sound ripping from my raw throat before I could even open my eyes. My chest heaved violently as I sat bolt upright in bed, my hands frantically clawing at my sheets, trying to escape the phantom metal crushing my legs. The physical pain in my knee was blinding, a sharp, screaming agony that felt like the bone was fracturing all over again.
The bedroom door flew open with a violent crash. The hallway light flooded the room, blinding me as my father rushed inside, his face completely pale, his eyes wide with an overly panicked, frantic terror that seemed entirely disproportionate.
"Jasmine, what happened, did someone get inside?" Eduardo demanded, his voice shaking as he gripped my shoulders, his eyes darting wildly toward my window.
"The car... there was someone else in the car, Dad," I cried out, tears streaming down my face as I gripped his forearms, my voice cracking under the weight of the terrifying realization. "The headlights... someone was holding my hand. I wasn't alone in the wreckage. Who was screaming my name?"
Eduardo's entire posture went completely rigid. The color completely drained from his lips, and his hands dropped from my shoulders as if he had just been burned.
"You're just having a nightmare, Jasmine," he said, his voice dropping into a tense, defensive whisper that sounded completely rehearsed. "The police report was clear. You were entirely alone when the paramedics found you. There was no one else."
"You're lying to me," I sobbed, the emotional weight of his denial crashing down on me. "I felt them, Dad. I heard his voice. Why are you looking at me like you're terrified of what I'm remembering?"
"Because your mind is broken right now, Jasmine, and you're inventing things that aren't real," Eduardo snapped, his tone turning sharp, an edge of desperate panic breaking through his usual gentle demeanor. "You need to stop digging into that night. The doctors said stress would ruin your physical recovery. Just drop it."
"Why does everyone keep telling me to stop looking?" I screamed, the frustration making me hysterical. "Kaia, you, Ethan... everyone is acting like my memory is a loaded gun!"
Eduardo froze at the mention of the name, his hands clenching into tight fists at his sides.
"Did Ethan Villanueva talk to you today?" Eduardo demanded, his voice trembling with a dark, dangerous undercurrent.
