Soul Wipe by Tahira Iqbal

2 YEARS AGO

Jaxon manoeuvred the car into the driveway after a long day at work. The house lights blazed. She was home. He spotted his wife moving around the kitchen, the large bay windows bleeding light onto the driveway.

Entering the house, he dumped his coat and keys on the table and spied various packed bags at the bottom of the stairs. This wasn’t good…

“Honey?” His gaze was glued to the cases, then to Cassidy as she walked through from the kitchen.

“What’s going on?” He gestured at them, but she just smiled, “It’s only a weekend, why pack all that stuff?”

“This one is in case it rains,” She pointed out to various designer embossed bags, “This one is in case it’s sunny, that one is for lounging about the hotel…”
“Cass…” Jaxon smiled despite himself, “We don’t need clothes, not for the weekend that I’ve got in mind,”

She smiled that smile that made him melt as she grinned at his candidness. Kissing him on the cheek, she headed back through to the kitchen.

* * *

With all the bags packed into the small boot, they set off on their journey. It had become a rather misty and rainy Friday night, but that didn’t matter. This was their weekend.

High beams cut through the night, wipers moving the drizzle from the view as Cassidy drove Jaxon’s high performance sports car. They had left the motorway some 40 minutes ago and now she drove carefully along dark country roads.
“The hotel is in a village called Southgreens, we should be…” Jaxon checked the satellite navigation, “20 minutes away,”

Soft music played in the background, and he watched his wife as she tapped the wheel in time with the beat.

He had missed her this week. She had been working in New York on an important deal for her company, only returning on Wednesday evening. Vice president of her division, she kicked arse when it came to closing deals. She had come home with stories about the city, her colleagues and how much he would have liked the city. He wasn’t looking forward to the credit card bill as she had come home with an extra suitcase filled with designer “souvenirs”. How she had time to shop, he would never know.

He smiled as he turned his gaze to the window. Fields whipped by, the bare trees, the moonlit sky. Inky blue was the colour that he was seeing, but not a single star in the sky, just the full moon was all he could see. He realised that there was nothing better than being here, with her.

He heard Cassidy scream, and he whipped his gaze back to the road.

The deer came hurtling out of the dense bushes, yards in front of the car. Creating an arc with its body, its front hooves hit the road as Cassidy hit the brakes. Headlights picked out sheer muscle, flexing and reacting on the beast.

But it was too late. The deer slammed into the bonnet, then sweeping up, it crashed into the windscreen. The blast of the windscreen as it shattered caused Cassidy to instinctively raise her hands to shield her face. And the wheel was free, the car losing control instantly. The last thing Cassidy remembered was yelling for Jaxon as the car tipped and turned.

* * *

Cassidy was sure that there was gravel digging into the back of her head. Little stones that caused little digs and cuts. When she finally had the strength to open her heavy eyes, she realised that she was staring up at night sky.

“That doesn’t make sense,” She thought.

Sitting up, carefully, she realised that there was blood and even more gravel in her mouth. What had happened? She was on a road… Lying down? It was dark, and cold… It really wasn’t making sense. Her body rumbled, telling her that various points in her body were aching. And aching bad.

She spat the blood, but what she saw wasn’t stones in the palm of her hand, but fragments of her own teeth.

Whimpering in fear and shock, memories kicked in, and she realised that she had been travelling with Jaxon. In the car. The deer! They had hit a deer!

Cassidy wiped the stain hurriedly against her clothes, and began patting the roadside. Searching for something, anything.

Her fingers stumbled across something cold. Lifting it close to her blurred vision, she saw that it was the emblem from the front of Jaxon’s car.

“JAXON!” Cassidy’s voice was torn, and her throat bucked in pain. She spat more blood, more teeth.

Up and onto shaky legs, Cassidy stumbled forwards. The dark tripping her back to the ground. She spied the debris… A tyre. Their packed bags.

“Jaxon!”

She felt on her person for her mobile… But it wasn’t in her pocket. She mentally figured back, she had been driving, she had been wearing her seatbelt… Yet she had managed to end up on the road? It didn’t make sense!

Wiping the fraught tears from her eyes, she got up again, searching the dense foliage, carefully moving around glass and metal that was once part of their car, moonlight guiding her way.

The pain centred suddenly on her forehead and she touched it carefully. The agony hit her hard. A deep cut let her fingers travel into her flesh.

Dropping to her knees, she took deep breaths to calm down, but it only led to vomiting until she was breathless. Coughing and spluttering, she found the strength and got up. She had to find Jaxon.

Breaking into a faltering run, she spied their car around the bend. Upturned and practically crushed, she went to what she believed to be the passenger side.

She dropped to the shattered window. Luckily the car was outfitted with roll bars, and she could just about see inside…

Her breath was whipped from her dry throat as she realised that Jaxon wasn’t there.

The adrenalin left her body, dropping her into a chill that made her knees go weak.
“Jaxon…” She called, sinking against the car, “Where are you…?” She slipped down, to the ground, suddenly feeling incredibly hot.

She stared up at the sky, her back melting onto the road. Blinking the blood away, a star shined, she realised, bright and strong. In her pain induced delirium she realised that she had been in a serious accident, and that something deep in her body was broken. But Jaxon was safe. He had got out, and gone for help… That’s what must have happened. He was okay. And he would come and find her.

* * *

When Cassidy opened her eyes, she was still on the road. Laying on her back, concerned voices around her. Lights flashed. She realised dizzily that it must be the emergency services…

She tried to speak, but an oxygen mask had been placed over her nose and mouth.
“Jaxon…” She managed. And a face filled her line of sight. It wasn’t her husband.

“Stay still,” The male voice was soothing, but Cassidy was getting agitated.
“My husband…”
The paramedic glanced to his colleague… Cassidy tried to follow the gaze, but realised that her neck had been anchored in a brace.
“Where is he?”
“They are trying to get him out of the car,”
Cassidy’s heart thumped,
“He wasn’t there…” She whispered as the mask was lifted, “I checked…”
“They are working right now to free him,”
“No…” She mumbled, sharp fragments of broken teeth cutting into her tongue. The mask was replaced.

Cassidy sobbed. She hadn’t seen him! He wasn’t in there! She listened to the harsh metal on metal sounds, urgent shouts as their car was cut open to get Jaxon out.

Cassidy stared up at the sky, peppered with stars. Some shone brightly, others further in the heavens betraying almost no light.

“He’s got to be okay…” She said, fixing her gaze to one star. “He’s okay,”

The shouts became even more urgent, and the paramedic left her view. She realised that she had been placed onto the stretcher and there was no way that she could get up.

The machinery stopped. And she listened. An angry pain was beginning to form in the base of her spine, igniting her nerves as it crept through her. The paramedic came back to her. He didn’t have to say anything. His eyes said everything. Jaxon was dead.

Frozen in agony, Cassidy accepted the pain that was causing her body to fit and buck on the stretcher. Shouts from her carer to his colleagues filled her ears. Her gaze darkening, she concentrated on the only thing she could see. One star, in all of heaven.

* * *

From the safety of the woods, some distance from the scene, the deer stepped out, shaking off the buzzing zipping through its bones. Ouch. That had hurt, it thought. Watching as the woman was lifted into an ambulace, it thumped its hooves on the road. A success, it had been a success.

Rearing up, it connected its gaze with the star.

“Good,” Said the star to the deer, “Good,”

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COPYRIGHT - TAHIRA IQBAL - 2006