Peace in My Own Hands
I grabbed for the life hammer in the console, but found a pink toy hammer instead. Panicking, I called Dean. His ringtone blared from the other car.
Dean stepped out, arm around his childhood sweetheart Melissa, who fake-cried about her poor driving. He glared at me. "She did it on purpose."
I screamed, "The life hammer was switched! Get me out!"
Melissa grinned. "That was me! Cute, right?"
Dean sneered, "Just a bump. Get out yourself."
Smoke choked the cabin. I begged as Melissa giggled, "Cooking in there, sis? Baby's hungry. Let's go, Dean."
He walked off, saying, "Stop the drama. My parents are waiting."
With my last strength, I hit the emergency button.
1
That button was my lifeline. It instantly sent my exact location and a live audio feed of the situation directly to my brother, Caleb.
The moment I pressed it, a piercing alarm blared from the car's system. Dean and Melissa, who had already walked a few yards away, spun around.
Dean stormed back to my car, his face a mask of fury. He slammed his fists against the glass.
"What the hell are you playing at, Ava? When does it end?"
"It's just a little smoke! You hit the emergency button for that? Do you think the whole city's emergency services are your personal beck and call? Stop making a big deal out of nothing!"
Melissa covered her mouth, but a snicker escaped.
"Dean, honey, don't be mad at Ava," she cooed. "It's all my fault."
She pulled a small, matchbox-sized black device from her pocket and waved it triumphantly.
"The last time you gave me a ride, I bought this smoke simulator and planted it in her car. I just thought it would be a funny prank, you know? To mess with her a little."
"See? You just press this button, and poof! Smoke! It's harmless, no toxins or anything. Just for fun!"
Dean’s face grew even darker with rage.
"Did you hear that, Ava? It's fake! It's a joke!" he roared. "Have you lost your mind? Or do you just expect everyone to drop everything and cater to your every whim, just like I have to, twenty-four-seven?"
I was trembling with a fury so intense it burned hotter than the smoke. They were the ones who had been fooling around in their car, Melissa deliberately yanking the wheel and swerving into me.
But there was no time to argue. I pointed a shaky finger at the hood, where the smoke was growing thicker, blacker. "Dean, the engine is actually smoking! It's real!"
"The doors are locked from the inside! You have to open them from the outside! Get me out!"
Dean just sneered. "You're getting more and more pathetic, trying to one-up Melissa. You really think I'm going to fall for that again?"
I stopped wasting my breath on them. Every second of arguing was a second of precious oxygen lost.
Then, I remembered. For emergencies like this, Caleb had packed a large, heavy-duty wrench in the toolbox in my trunk.
I scrambled over the seat to get to it.
The impact had bent the latch on the box. I clawed at it with my nails, bit it with my teeth, and finally, it popped open!
A wave of relief washed over me. I reached inside, my fingers closing around the familiar shape of the wrench. But when I pulled it out, my heart sank into a pit of ice. It wasn't a wrench.
It was a wrench-shaped piece of chocolate.
"Chocolate?"
My mind went completely blank.
Outside the car, Melissa was clapping her hands, her laughter echoing in the small space. "Wow! You found it, Ava!"
"I told Dean, why would a girl want a big, greasy piece of metal in her car? You could hurt yourself with that! Isn't it better to have something yummy instead?"
"And it's not just any chocolate! It's a custom-made Swiss piece I had imported for you. It was super expensive! You should be thanking me!"
I crushed the chocolate in my fist, a primal scream tearing from my throat. "Who told you to touch my things! Are you out of your damn mind?"
Melissa's smile vanished, instantly replaced by a waterfall of tears.
"Ava, how could you be so mean? I was just trying to be nice, w-w-w…."
Dean's protective instincts flared. He pulled Melissa into a tight embrace, murmuring comforting words into her hair before turning his venom on me.
"Have you no class? Melissa saved that expensive, imported chocolate for you—she wouldn't even eat it herself! Don't be so ungrateful!"
The black smoke had now completely filled the cabin. The floor of the car was growing hotter, the heat searing the soles of my shoes.
And then I saw it. A flicker of orange.
Flames.
"It's on fire! The car's going to explode!"
I whipped my head back to Dean, my voice a desperate plea. "Dean, save me! Open the door! The car is on fire! It's real this time! Please… I'm begging you…"
"Have you completely lost it, Ava? To get my attention, to make me feel sorry for you, you'd set your own car on fire?"
"You'll stop at nothing, will you? Look at yourself! Your face is a mess, all smoke-stained and tear-streaked. You think that's attractive? I'll tell you what it is. It's pathetic!"
It was getting harder and harder to breathe. The smoke was like acid in my lungs.
With the last of my strength, I hammered on the window, my pleas becoming faint, muffled gasps.
"Open… the door… I'm… going to die…"
As he watched the black smoke billow and the flames lick higher, a flicker of doubt crossed Dean's face.
2
Melissa immediately tightened her grip on his arm. "Dean, honey, her act is so convincing. It's starting to scare me."
"Let's just go. Your mom cooked all that food for us. It's Thanksgiving, we can't keep your parents waiting."
At the mention of his parents, that sliver of doubt in Dean's eyes vanished.
He gave me one last, cold look, then turned his back on me, pulling Melissa along with him.
They hadn't gone twenty yards when the flames under the hood erupted, shooting two feet into the air.
The car began to crackle and pop as the fire consumed it.
Intense heat radiated through the glass, blistering my skin. The terror of death washed over me like a tidal wave.
A primal survival instinct gave me one final burst of energy.
"HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME! IT'S ON FIRE!"
I shrieked, grabbing my phone and smashing it against the side window with all my might.
The screen shattered on impact, the sharp edges slicing my palm open. Blood streamed down my hand, but I didn't feel a thing.
My horrifying screams finally made Dean stop.
He spun around, and when he saw the inferno that had once been my car, he froze.
But Melissa, standing beside him, let out a shriek even louder than mine. "Ava! Are you setting off fireworks in the car? It's so pretty, but so dangerous!"
"I know this car is supposed to be fireproof and blast-proof, but you can't play with fire like this just to get Dean's attention!"
"Fireworks?"
Melissa’s absurd explanation muddled Dean’s mind once again.
Yeah, he must have thought. A woman like Ava would do anything to get what she wants.
"You're a psycho, Ava!" he screamed at the burning wreck.
My relentless assault finally paid off. A crack appeared in the window!
A sliver of fresh air rushed in, and I pressed my face to the opening, gasping, my lungs screaming for oxygen.
But Melissa was faster. She ran to her car, popped the trunk, and pulled out a wide roll of clear packing tape. She sprinted back to my window.
"Oh no, sis, you broke the window! That's so dangerous!" she said, her voice dripping with fake concern as she tore off a long strip of tape and expertly sealed the crack I had just made.
She even pressed it down firmly with her palm, making sure not a single wisp of air could get through.
"This is your car with Dean, you know! How could you be so selfish and just smash it up like that?"
"You—" The precious mouthful of air I'd just inhaled was trapped in my throat. Black spots danced in my vision.
Dean, now seething, stormed over.
"Have you had enough, Ava?" He snatched the tape from Melissa's hand and, his eyes blazing with a terrifying hatred, began to wrap it around and around the crack, sealing it even more tightly.
As I stared at his face, so familiar yet so monstrously alien, my hand fell limp at my side. My breathing grew shallow.
Images flashed through my mind.
In college, when he was so broke he was starving himself, giving himself stomach problems, I was the one who cooked him nutritious meals every single day.
After graduation, I helped him start his business. I used every connection I had, called in every favor, to find him investors and clients. I drank myself sick at business dinners so he wouldn't have to.
And now, this same man was sealing my tomb, layer by layer.
Just as I was about to lose consciousness, a middle-aged guy on a motorcycle pulled over.
He saw the burning car and couldn't just ride by.
"Hey! What are you two doing? That car's a bonfire! Call 911, get her out of there!" he yelled.
A spark of hope ignited in my chest. I started weakly banging on the window again.
3
Dean’s face went pale, but Melissa quickly put on a worried expression and called out to the man, "Sir, it's not what it looks like! My sister is just… cooking in there!"
"She likes to do extreme things, you know? She calls it her 'car kitchen.' She insisted on showing us her skills for Thanksgiving, but the fire got a little out of hand."
"It's fine! The car is fireproof. She's perfectly safe in there!"
"Cooking?" The man looked utterly baffled.
Dean quickly chimed in, "Yeah, my girlfriend… she loves to mess around. Sorry for the scene. We're about to take her home."
The man looked from me to Dean and Melissa, his brow furrowed with suspicion.
Finally, he just shook his head, muttering, "Kids these days," and revved his engine, speeding off down the road.
The oxygen in the car was nearly gone. The car's system issued its final warning.
"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! DANGER! CARBON MONOXIDE LEVELS CRITICAL! OXYGEN CONTENT BELOW 8%! EVACUATE VEHICLE IMMEDIATELY! EVACUATE VEHICLE IMMEDIATELY!"
The fire roared, and the windows, superheated, began to groan and creak.
Suddenly, I remembered. Caleb, always paranoid about my safety, had placed an emergency fire extinguisher under my passenger seat.
With my last bit of strength, I dragged it out.
But when I tried to pull the pin, it wouldn't budge.
I looked closer and my blood ran cold. The pin had been superglued to the handle.
And worse, as I held it, I realized it was completely empty.
Melissa saw what I was holding and burst out laughing. "Oh, that! I told Dean the other day I'd never actually used a fire extinguisher before and was super curious what it felt like."
"And you know Dean, he'd do anything for me. He showed me how to use it, and… whoops! We accidentally used it all up."
She tilted her head, her expression one of pure, malicious innocence. "I figured you're such a careful driver, you'd never need it anyway, so I just put it back for you."
Dean stood behind her, not a trace of guilt on his face. He just ruffled her hair affectionately. "You're such a handful."
Then, he turned to me, his face a mask of pure exasperation. "Ava, will you stop this! Are you really going to play this out to the bitter end?" he yelled.
"Now you've brought out a fire extinguisher? If you keep this up, you're going to get yourself killed for real!"
I didn't say another word. I just stared at him, my eyes burning with a hatred I never knew I possessed.
Then, as they watched in shock, I used every last atom of my strength to lift the heavy metal canister over my head.
"Ava, what are you doing? You're insane!" Dean screamed, a genuine fear finally entering his voice.
I ignored him and brought the extinguisher down with a final, desperate heave, smashing it against the side window.
CRACK!
The tempered glass shattered.
Saved.
I didn't care about the shards of glass tearing at my skin. I scrambled to climb out of the broken window.
But a hand shot in from the outside, grabbing a fistful of my hair and yanking me back with brutal force.
Dean, his face contorted with rage, had pulled the car door open the moment the window broke.
"You bitch! So you were faking it! You still had the strength to smash my car!" he roared, shoving me violently back into the driver's seat.
Then, he grabbed the roll of tape and began wrapping it around me, pinning me to the seat.
I struggled, but I was too weak.
To my horror, he tore off another piece and slapped it over my mouth and nose.
"Mmmph! Mmmph!"
The agony of suffocation was immediate and absolute.
Dean leaned in close, his face inches from mine, watching me struggle for air. "You're too spoiled, Ava," he whispered. "It's time you learned a lesson."
The fire inside the car reached its tipping point, the roar deepening into a low hum that signaled an imminent explosion.
My vision blurred. Just as the world went black, I heard a furious shout from somewhere in the distance.
"Touch my sister again, and you're a dead man!"
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