Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 62783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
Would anyone even miss me? They’d probably be so relieved. I could see them at my funeral, teary eyed but content knowing they didn’t have to deal with me anymore.
The bottle was in my hands without me even realizing it, the lid partially cracked open.
Fuck it.
I opened it completely, bringing it to my lips, the harsh smell hitting my nose—
“No,” I said to myself. “No, I don’t want to be this person anymore. I don’t.” My hands shook, the clear liquid in the bottle sloshing slightly. “I’m stronger than this. I’m a VanDoren for Christ’s sake.”
I hurriedly put the cap back on and started the car, suddenly desperate to get home and dump this down the drain. I pulled onto the road, swerving slightly as the bottle in my lap tipped and liquid spilled onto my pants.
“Damn it,” I groaned, trying my best to scoop up the bottle with one hand and drive with the other. I obviously didn’t get the lid screwed on tight enough, and trying to do it one-handed wasn’t exactly easy.
Luckily the traffic was light—
Something small and black darted out in front of me, a flash of light blinking off a reflective surface. I slammed on my breaks and swerved off the road to avoid hitting it. The bottle flew out of my hands, upturning and dumping its entire contents all over my shirt.
I threw the car in park, my hands shaking from the jump scare.
“What in the absolute hell?” I said, glancing down at myself now covered in the exact drink I was trying to stay away from. “Perfect.”
A whining sound rang outside my car, and I leaned up over the steering wheel to see over the hood of my car, silently praying I hadn’t hit anything. Relief crashed over me when I spotted the culprit of the whole mess—a midnight-black cat with its head stuck in some sort of plastic container, the poor thing.
It jerked its head back and forth, ferally mewing as it tried to get the thing off.
I unbuckled my seatbelt, and hurried out of the car, but that made the little thing speed off in the opposite direction.
“Well, now I can’t help you if you run away!” I said to the cat like it would understand me, then stamped my foot for good measure. I was soaked, my feet hurt, and I was pissed at myself for even buying the bottle of alcohol now seeping into my clothes. I wanted nothing more than a good bath and a long sleep. But I couldn’t leave it like this.
I spotted it across the street, darting under one of the vacant houses that lined the road, and hurried to follow it. Using the light from my phone, I found a gap underneath the dilapidated porch and knelt to find the cat curled up and hissing through the plastic jar on its head.
“Talk to me like that again and I’ll leave you here to be forever known as the cat in the jar.”
It glared at me.
Well, the attitude matched the vibe.
There was no grass to speak of, just mud that I crawled through as I wedged myself into the hole, reaching for the cat as best I could. I could kiss these clothes goodbye, which normally wouldn’t bother me, but since my parents had cut me off, I had very little to my name and I needed these pants for work.
“You see this mess you’ve gotten us into?” I chided the cat, wiggling under the porch a little more. Gracious, it smelled like old wood and dirt and I tried really hard not to think about all the bugs that were likely waiting to feast on my skin like an all-you-can-eat buffet. “Now, come here and I’ll help you.”
The cat didn’t move. In fact, it looked like it would bite my head off if it weren’t for the jar currently muzzling it.
“Fine, suit yourself.” I reached, finally able to grab hold of its neck fur, and dragged it toward me. I moved backward, knowing I needed more space in order to remove the jar without hurting it.
I made it halfway before a creaking sound cracked through the air, and half the porch slumped to my left, squeezing against my hips. I cringed, bracing for pain, but thankfully, the impact was slow, almost lazy in its crumbling. After realizing I hadn’t been properly crushed because of some random cat, I blew out a breath and tried to move again.
Only I couldn’t.
I tried again, my hips hitting a tighter squeeze in the wood now that it’d crumbled.
I flailed my legs, trying frantically to gain purchase and shake my body free of the space.
Nothing worked.
I shook my head, looking at the cat in my arms. “Are you happy now?” I snapped. “We’re totally, fully stuck.”
CHAPTER 2
Jim
“Are you sure there isn’t anyone in there?” Barbara asked me as I motioned for her to go back inside her house.