The hatchback was a smooth ride. It handled the corners and took the bumps without any complaints, grunts or clunks. The padding under Adrian’s rump was helping his gunshot wound, but even before he had absentmindedly turned onto the Pacific Coast Highway it began to throb and burn. There was also an insufferable itch around the area, Adrian was trying his best to ignore it. As the car bounded onto the PCH, making this the third time in Adrian’s life that he had seen the Pacific Ocean, Adrian flipped the radio on. It was a force of habit, something he did without even realizing. He met dead air, but was prompted to check the dashboard of the car as well as the front seat folding mirrors for any CD’s: no dice. The car was as empty as it could have been, but not pristinely clean. Ancient coffee drops splattered the gear shift and cup holders, hair clung to the seats. Dirt and loose pebbles rested at his feet, and as he inspected the floor he saw a quarter. He quickly glanced away, not too fond of that form of currency these days.

Now he was passing by the burnt shack. Physically it was unchanged but mentally, as Adrian was exploring it in his mind, it was filled with demons and shadows and men who wanted to hurt him. He pressed down on the gas harder, the dial on the speedometer was pointing at fifty miles per hour and the building went by him.

Where am I going? He didn’t quite know. Where was there for him to go? He knew of nobody and nothing in the area. Santa Monica was barely anything more than a name on the map to Adrian, traversing it twice before in the span of a year didn't exactly equate to a good knowledge of the town. But still he was driving toward it, not feeling compelled to that direction but having no real desire to turn around.

Being behind a wheel again was therapeutic. The constant vibration and hum of the road beneath him, the rubbery feel of the steering wheel in his grip. Adrian put the window down and felt an incredible gust of wind that he’d only felt anytime recently on stormy nights inside of the Croteau’s as it shook the house by its frame.

The feeling of homesickness was surreal and hit Adrian full force. It was a realization that pulled him out of the stupor he was in, trying to enjoy the joys of a vehicle. He would never again see the Croteau’s, he was certain of this. The feeling was molten lead in his gut and added a certain laboriousness to breathing. Breaths were coming out in sighs that felt like they weighed five pounds. In the rearview mirror Kevin slept with his face turned toward the seat, but the egg of a lump on his head was noticeable. Adrian had first noticed the swelling as he was loading him in, but had no time to ponder it.

Now it was a concerning thought. That’s just a lump from a blunt hit… I think. There’s no way that… his brain, or something, is swelling. I don’t think. The attempt to console himself only added to his worries.

Adrian had a limited medical knowledge, and about an equal amount in history or experience depending on how you looked at it. Beside’s a jaw surgery he didn’t have that many memories of a doctor’s practise, equipment, or even hospitals. At that last mention, Adrian scrunched his forehead in concentration. Wasn’t there… something…?

---

Adrian drove by a gas station that was well lit up with canopy lights. It was nearly midnight, the clouds were sparse. Adrian glanced back at the road in time to notice a man in complete marathon attire jogging on the side of the road to his right. The man grew smaller in the mirror, and Adrian thought he recognized the face but never made the connection. He forgot about him and turned back to the road, thoughtlessly rounding a corner.

Alyssa slept noiselessly beside him, her head was wilted onto the window sill, forehead pressed against glass that would leave a crude mark when she woke up. Adrian giggled silently at the charm of it. Despite the turmoil and strife they shared, he did think that he loved her. He never had to think about it before, he just felt it but tonight brought the question up. And his answer was that, yes, he did think that he loved her.

And he supposed that that answer only brought up more questions, ones that he asked himself. You think? What else are you thinking, what’s on the opposite side of the coin? And Adrian didn’t know. Not immediately.

They both drove on in silence for three minutes before Adrian could answer himself. She’s worsening. Alyssa is getting more sick. And he realized that he did think this need and obsession for alcohol was a disease that was growing stronger, too strong as of late. Tonight had been the worst by far. She normally would never push so far as to go to a bootlegger this late at night. Birthday or not, she used to be content with late nights inside and conversation, movies and cooking together. I don’t recognize this side of her.

Alyssa stirred when Adrian hit a rather deep pothole, distracted heavily by the self interrogation. In his peripheral vision he could make out her eyelids fluttering open in a way that expressed disorientation. Not quite sure of what she would do, sleep or wake, he silently ignored her arousal and focused on the road. Slowly and then methodically she went through the functions of sitting up right. She rubbed her neck, a small patch of skin on her forehead had went pink as the blood flow there returned to normal.

Now he turned his head and noticed her, and she noticed him back. Confusion rested comfortably in her eyes, but he could see her trying to battle it. He decided to help the process along.

“You’ve only been out for five minutes, maybe ten, my darling. We’re still quite a distance away. You can sleep if you want to, I know the last few days have been stressful on you.” he said with good nature. She soaked the words in and recollection finally shone in her eyes, followed by a dancing light that could only be excitement.

“No, I’m fine. I’m awake now, I think I had a power nap.” she said, growing buoyant.

Silence returned to the car. Alyssa nestled into a comfy if not childlike position, Adrian drove with his right hand on the wheel and his left propping up his head. They were about half way there, the trip would only be an hour there-and-back.

The car rolled over a small bridge, an immense river was flowing underneath it. Adrian knew the name of it, as it had been renamed in recent years to “Swimming Falls” due to a spot upriver being a popular swimming spot for the local youth and families. He barely glanced at it as they traversed it, but Alyssa poked up and took as much in as she could.

“Wow, it’s so pretty tonight Adrian.” she admired out loud.

“It looks like it does on any night… like murky water.” Adrian was not one to appreciate nature in a normal mood. As offput as he was tonight, he had no taste at all for the flowing water. Alyssa stared at him in discontent but said nothing. The river went by as they drove off of the bridge, and the surrounding scenery returned to evergreen trees and dying tufts of grass and gravel. They so far hadn’t encountered a soul beside the jogger they went by earlier. Adrian tried to place a name to the face again. Short black hair, a sharp pointed chin and a rather button-like nose, all on a slender-thin frame of a body.

“Adrian watch out.” Alyssa said, and Adrian had to swerve immediately around a tiny rabbit that was crossing the road. It bounced onto the gravel and Adrian returned to his lane and tried to pay more attention to the road. The spell of sleep was beginning to be cast on him, and he felt heavy eyelids droop, and then immediately flutter open. Nope. Wide awake.

Alyssa had been tossed in the swerve to avoid the animal and now was glaring a hole into the side of Adrian’s face. It took him half of a minute before he felt the intensity of it and glanced over twice, finally noticing the scowl she wore.

“...What’s up?” he asked timidly. Alyssa didn’t respond at first which led Adrian to believe she hadn’t heard him. He repeated himself, a little louder and more pronounced.

“I heard you the first time for fucks sake.” Alyssa snapped back instantly. Adrian‘s left hand fell to the wheel and he straightened his spine. As he grew to his original height he was blinded by the front lights of someone’s car in his rearview and wing mirrors. He shifted them a little bit while he spoke.

“Alyssa… what’s wrong?”

“You swerved on purpose and made me hurt my hip.”

“Your hip? How?”

“When you swerved I was pressed into the seat belt buckle, really hard. I think it’s already bruising, I can feel it still.”

“Alyssa… I swerved to avoid the rabbit you warned me about. I’m sorry I hurt you… should I pull over, do you want to go home?”

“NO!” And as she said this she made to grab at the wheel. Adrian jerked in response, and the car swerved into the opposite lane again, which Adrian quickly corrected.

They were both quiet. Adrian again adjusted the mirrors in his car, the vehicle behind him was nearly tailgating. None of them said anything nor looked at the other as Adrian rounded another corner. He went for the radio, almost out of pure habit. The static crackled, but before the signal could be picked up Alyssa shut it off.

“I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to sleep off this hip pain. Wake me up when we get there, I know it’s only fifteen minutes so don’t try to pull anything over me.” She threw an accusative look his way, which he gave a smugly bewildered one in return.

“We’re here, aren’t we? On our way to Emile’s. Go ahead. Sleep. I’ll wake you up when we’re there.” He said it with almost no inflection, no emotion in his voice. Alyssa looked like she might say something back, but thought against it and nestled into her seat and was asleep before Adrian felt his anger slide back down, which was nearly immediate, and he wanted to apologize.

“Look, Alyssa, I’m...” he stopped when he heard her snoring softly. The bated breath he held was released in a sigh, an expression that was starting to grow more common with him. Let her sleep. She won’t even remember the argument when she wakes up. He shook his head with silent disapproval.

What appeal is there in this? How is this a lifestyle craved by so many? This want… desire, no… obsession that goes so far as to control solid portions of a day. Time that could be spent on so many other things… it’s a waste.

But who was he to judge? Did Adrian not (unknowingly) have a similar obsession with love? Or what other reason could he have for staying with someone that he was so incompatible with? These thoughts were too far down the rabbit hole for Adrian to think about, instead they lie dormant in the dark places of his mind. In his repressed thoughts.

Instead he thought about ways to fix things, their broken bond and simple connection that was based on initial attraction and not much more. Like with water and rock, time simply eroded what Adrian and Alyssa had. What once was, was not possible again despite what he thought.

But he persisted in trying by letting go of his anger. He felt it exit on the exhale of his second bated breath. It was becoming a pet peeve to catch himself in the middle of one of them, and he didn’t want the habit to form. The inhale rapidly turned into a strong yawn, one that overpowers the system and sends the alert message: you need sleep.

Even though his eyelids gained more weight, Adrian could keep them wide open. It took a lot of focus, and he could feel the air rushing in behind them and drying them out, but he was determined to stay awake. His surroundings were of no assistance; all around him was the repetition of scant forest, asphalt, gravel and paint. The glare of light behind him, however, was helping.

He propped his head back onto his left hand and coasted over a small hill that had a pretty steep downslope. This position helped avoid the tailgater behind him, and in general made him more comfy. Which, with no true driving companion, why not make himself comfy? The road was stretching on as straight as an arrow for as far as his lights would penetrate into the dark. In this part of the backwoods there weren’t any streetlights out here, this was what the locals referred to as the boonies.

Why anyone would choose to live here was beyond Adrian. Beckley was a small enough town as it was. No, Adrian felt destined for bigger things than these back roads. He longed for the sense of climbing a figurative ladder, working hard to make it to the next rung. He had felt some of that thrill, cheaply. Working at a hotel for eight years provided a lot of opened doors. Adrian was a hard worker and it didn’t go unnoticed in the business, and so he had climbed a ladder there. He had made it to assistant manager of banquets after six and a half years, the hotel having one of the largest and also the most banquet halls in town made it no easy task. He’d served, cleaned, initiated cheap pleasantries and conversation and received expensive criticism and backlash for thousands and thousands of guests. He had personally hand delivered food worth hundreds of thousands of dollars that came in from all over the world. And all of that might look nice on paper he thought, but he wanted more for himself.

So he fantasized about packing up and moving across the country. The hotel industry was booming everywhere that a tourist would go, and with his resume he could easily pick up another job. Somewhere where the buildings were tall and the people were rude and to themselves. Where it was warm and where there was a place that he could be by himself. Which brought on the side question of whether or not he would want Alyssa to be with him on an adventure like that. He still felt the love for her that he has always had since they met, but maybe…

He swerved over the line again, this time drastically. The car had made it over the double yellow stripes before he managed to swing it back into his own lane. Fortunately, he hadn’t seen a single car go by on the opposing lane. He supposed that was part of why it was so easy to be distracted while driving these back roads.

Unfortunately was the sound of the sirens and flash of blue and red lights. The sound blipped twice in a shrill manner, a warning. Adrian could see the strobing colors in his mirrors and bouncing around the interior of his car. He glanced at Alyssa, who was still dead asleep without a care in the world.

“Piss.” Adrian muttered. The police officer sounded his siren again and Adrian put on his right blinker, not necessarily wanting to stop on the middle of a dark road but he didn’t have the slightest indication of where the next lit up area would be, the last one he saw was the gas station where the jogger was running by, some number of miles behind him.

The two cars pulled over and parked, Adrian shut his vehicle off. The squad car kept its lights on and the engine running. He was wondering whether or not to wake up Alyssa, staring at her sleeping, when there came a light rapping on his window. Adrian looked over to see the face of a no-bullshit black man in his fifties. This man had clearly been on the force for at least twenty years, maybe thirty. The name tag on his shirt read “Lieut. Barfield” and he had a closed shaved haircut that was beginning to grow out in curls, and a moustache that was neatly trimmed. He was an intimidatingly large man. Adrian rolled down his window.

“Sir, what do you think you’re doing?” came a deep voice from Barfield, he spoke quickly.

“I’m sorry, officer. Me and my girlfriend were-”

“I don’t care what you two miscreants were off to go do,” he interjected, “I care about why you’re behind the wheel of a motorized vehicle while intoxicated, young man.” the officer lowered his brow into a furious scowl, one he had seen worn by Alyssa a few minutes ago.

“Sir… what? I’m not… no. Wait. You’ve got the wrong-”

“Step out of the vehicle, sir. Be prepared to take a breathalyzer test.”

---

And so over the next twenty minutes Adrian was grilled by Lieutenant Barfield on the side of an unlit road. The breathalyzer test came back clean but the strong willed Barfield wasn’t having it. His voice rose in volume and bass as he repeated aloud the incidents of the multiple swerves, the stuttering, the clear anxiety of the situation. After some arguing there was even an accusation about the origins of an unconscious woman in his vehicle. Thankfully at that exact moment, Alyssa slammed the car door shut to promptly (and a tad bit outlandishly) handle the explanation, having woken up from the commotion. Barfield was more than inclined to listen, clearly able to see now that Adrian was the designated driver. He gave Adrian a brisk warning and told him to be on his way. The police cruiser left first, pulling around their car and passed it but not before casting a distrustful glance back.

“Thank you, Alyssa. That guy was giving me a hard time.” Adrian was stressed to the point that he felt like popping. He wanted to turn the car around.

“You’re welcome, Adrian. I thought he was being a dick, too. You just can’t let people treat you like that no matter who they are. Let’s just keep going, ok?” and with that she took off her coat and wrapped it around herself like a blanket, not waiting for a retort. Adrian offered one regardless.

“What was I to do? He said it himself… out here in the backwoods with an unconscious girl… maybe if you had been awake it wouldn’t of seemed so suspicious. Maybe if you hadn’t dragged me out here in the dead of night I wouldn’t have been tired enough to swerve over the line. Maybe if how I felt was considered, we wouldn’t even BE here!” his anger was building up, puffing his chest like a toad or some bird. Even while ranting it out, he knew how wrong he was, but it was impossible for him to bite his tongue. The bottle had popped and the cork went flying, and the contents that fizzed out was unsaddled rage. This time it had cost too much, the slice of dignity he left behind as he was forced to take that breathalyzer was embarrassing to think about.

Alyssa hadn’t heard most of Adrian’s rant, as was her habit, sleep had claimed her nearly immediately while in the throes of an alcoholic binge. She wasn’t impossible to wake up, but it would take effort. None of which Adrian felt like spending right now, so he let her sleep and let his reservoir of anger drain out at its bottom. He exhaled a breath with emphasis, there was no longer the slightest tickle of sleep in him. The brief interaction was more effective than a splash of cold water.

There was no longer any joy in what he was doing. He thought of how happy it would make Alyssa and still felt nothing. Adrian wanted to be home, doing anything. Anything but this. She was resting soundlessly in the passenger seat. How is that fair? I’m doing her the favor and I just turn into a chauffeur who works for free. Worse, one who's willing to drive to commit illegal activity.

Even the reminding thought that it was her birthday couldn’t stifle this sudden turn of the page. Adrian did not want to feed the fire any longer. I can’t keep giving in to her. It was a mistake to think that if I aided her that she would see that she was hurting herself, but now it’s obvious that I’ve only left a wound unclean so that it could fester. I need to stop giving her control. For her sake.

With this shift he took one last longing look at Alyssa. Thin blonde hair lay in messy bunches that spilled across her shoulders. Her delicate eyelashes fluttered once, movement was made underneath of her eyelids as she searched for restful sleep, and then they were still. She was beautiful. Adrian’s kind of woman, physically speaking. Even emotionally, to admit the truth. He admired the tenacity to defy the natural order of things that she has, and the ability to follow through with a commitment. Even if the commitments weren’t ones that she should be making.

There was a noticeable trend between all of her lovely traits. They spoke for a certain immaturity and a lack of wisdom to apply to her aspirations. Simply put, Adrian thought that Alyssa never truly left high school. She was still a teenage girl wanting to act out. What she thought of as “mastering both worlds”, was more like refusing to let go of the former phase of her life while stepping into the next, in his opinion. Was Adrian supposed to act as the parent. Or, more appropriately, the guardian?

Then he would. With dramatically exaggerated gestures he drilled the key into the ignition, turned it forward and felt the car come to life again. The gear shift left park and arrived at drive, and then Adrian made a u-turn from the gravel on the side of the road so that he was now traveling on the opposite side, heading back toward Alyssa's home.

There was a giddy, guilty feeling that bubbled inside of him. Adrian felt like a six year old who just made off with an extra cookie from the jar. He wasn't trying to do it intentionally, but he knew that this would royally piss Alyssa off. Defying her was bittersweet.

Given its natural characteristics and the fact that Adrian had just been driving here but on the other side of the middle lines, the scenery was starting to look aglow. As if the moon and stars had just come out from behind an enormous cloud. The trees waved merrily in the wind, and the sky had a peculiar shade of purple that was so deep and dark that it threatened to change to pitch-black. Adrian was a little alarmed to look down and see that the speedometer was pointing at seventy miles per hour, he let weight off of the gas pedal and coasted back down to the speed limit.

Alyssa slept on, as dead to the world as she could be. Maybe she’s out for good. For the night. She’s certainly having a lot of difficult staying awake, and that’s been a showing sign of her being ready to call it a night. Plus, that Russian vodka was stronger than what she normally drinks. And as he thought that in his head, she let out a long and very unlady-like snore. Another familiar indication that this evening was over for the birthday girl. Adrian let himself relax, his shoulders slumped from a tense position he didn’t realize that they were in. Likewise, teeth unclenched from a jaw that had been unknowingly clamped shut. I am stressed. I haven’t felt like this in… forever. But a good night of sleep will put me right. For now, just push the anxiety aside, Adrian. And he did. He exhaled it away and felt tension and stress leave. Now he was truly relaxed and felt control, behind the wheel of not only the vehicle he was in but also, and finally, his body once again.

Adrian glanced at the fuel tank and saw it was under half full by a slim margin. He tensed up with apprehension. That shit wouldn’t fly in my car. How can she drive like this? What if we have an oil crisis, or even more plausibly what if she got lost? It was easy enough to imagine the scenario, a confusion-ridden woman who would be driving with her head on a swivel, hoping for a landmark she remembered or a gas station to replenish the depleting fumes in the tank. It wouldn’t be a surprise to learn that she had even already been in a scenario like that. Alyssa wasn’t exactly a survivalist. She was barely someone who could keep her life in order with her plans. Not at all unlike a train running on its track, the vibrations of moving forward causing the screws to turn loose and fall.

And derailment was as unavoidable as much as it was an uncertainty to her, the only real questionable factor remaining was time. How many dregs did she have left before the bottom of the barrel was hit, literally and figuratively? What could she accomplish before her time was up and she reached the epitome of her shame? Even Adrian could now recognize that she was beyond the point of saving; at a certain point in their addiction, the junkie needs to make the choice to turn around for themselves.

So why am I here? Why am I with her? Our lifestyles are clashing so violently because they’re so violently different. Have I… have I only been hurting her? Has she only been hurting me? The thoughts brought an ominous silence inside of his own mind. They provided the illusion of being hollow and ached in a way that only hurt emotionally. Adrian loved Alyssa. She was his heart, and he hadn’t felt like this about anyone, ever. She was his first true love, the rest before her were simply, as the expression put it, puppy love. The strength of it still burned passionately each time his heart pumped. It was a fiery hot force that redoubled when he stared in her eyes or saw her mindlessly play with her hair while talking. It brightened when she joked with him and was its brightest on late nights spent inside of each other’s arms.

But this… this was not what they once had anymore. Realizing this was weird for Adrian. He realized that he had all of a sudden noticed a gradual change. Like… Like all of a sudden I’m caught in high tide. That panic, that alarm and disorientation. Adrian felt… loose and disconnected from himself, as if due to an overload of stress his consciousness had reverted as inward as it could, providing a good and thick layer of skin as a shield, a barrier from the world and all of its wrong doings.

A rock the size of a shoe was in the path of Adrian’s left tire, so he smoothly turned the steering wheel, and the car drove dangerously close towards the curb of the road. Out of fear of other watchful policemen, he avoided crossing over onto the left side of the road. Driving was a given skill to Adrian, his uncle had been a natural and coached him during the months that he had had his beginners permit. They drove over quite a lot of West Virginia, testing its back roads and the main roads, the highways and the byways.

Despite this knowledge, experience and ego, the right side tire’s dipped onto the gravel. The car shook with quick tremors, loose items in the dashboard jingled and clunked. Change spilled out onto the floor from the holder by the gear shift. But then it was over, in a matter of four seconds Adrian had swerved around the rock and pulled back onto the road.

Nervously he glanced over at Alyssa, the tumble and rumble onto the side of the road had been loud, it surely would have woken someone…

Dead asleep. Alyssa’s head lolled more limply, shaken out of place by the dip they took so that she was now pointing the top of her head at him. He thought, as she snored nasally, that she’d have a stiff neck if that’s how she slept on the way back but he didn’t dare do anything to correct it in fear of waking her up. It swayed like a branch in the wind when the car lurched and went over bumps.

It was a relief that was felt twice. Once for having her remain asleep, and again for the reassurance that she would most likely stay asleep until they both made it back to Alyssa's, where he would carry her into the house and put her comfortably in the bed that he had often shared. Adrian didn't think he'd stay there tonight, birthday or not. He needed time to clear his head and sort these thoughts out.

She looked so peaceful, most of her face was covered by a cascade of blonde hair, thin and straight. What he could see was a delicate and angelic face, so concentrated on sleep that her forehead had the faintest traces of wrinkles.

Adrian traveled on quietly for another five minutes. It was smooth sailing and he began to relax, going back to his head-propped-on-left-arm routine while his right hand took control of the wheel. Despite being tired he no longer displayed signs of it. Where formerly he had nearly dozed off at the wheel, he now was staring wide eyed out of the windshield.

Up ahead, way in the distance on the straight and narrow road, was the small bridge that ran across Swimming Falls. It was only a tiny reflective dot quite afar from Adrian, but it signified that he was nearing in on Alyssa’s house. It was the bridge, then the gas station, and then a short five minute drive and he’d be there. Free of the woman he loved who was creating thoughts that were to burdening for Adrian to handle right now. He needed time to think… this was not a subject he was well versed in.

It would be a much easier task to accomplish at his home, in his bedroom. A well furnished area on the third and top floor of the condo he lived in. There was a comfortable leather chair there that he could sink into and lean back. He would close his eyes and let time and his mind sort this problem out, followed by a decent night of sleep that would surely come after this stressful part was done.

He thought of calling Douglas. It was late, but Douglas was always one to stay up into the first hours of morning where Adrian craved ten, eleven or even twelve hours of sleep every night. Doug had been in a relationship for years, surely he would be able to relate with what Adrian was feeling. Or at least be able to give him some advice. That was the beauty of their relationship as brothers, even if they didn’t relate to each other’s problems they could always see the other’s point of view, because they had known the other for their entire lives. No one knew them better than Adrian and Douglas knew each other.

If it’s not that late when I get back, then I’ll call him. If it is than maybe this can all wait until the morning. And having settled on this plan of action, feeling security in that the future will heal the wounds that he now had, he pumped the gas a little further. Not too much, barely even noticeable.

Adrian could see the treeline beginning to break as the Swimming Falls was coming closer into view. The water was ten or fifteen feet below and not possible to see until you were crossing. It was a beautiful sight though, day or night. The bridge’s rectangular reflective pads were glaring, casting direct light into his eye.

“Adrian, are we there yet?” came the sleepy, grog filled voice of Alyssa. Adrian’s heart palpitated at twice its regular speed. This wasn’t supposed to happen, not when he was so close to freedom.

“Uh… well, Alyssa. You, um, you…” Adrian couldn’t put a complete sentence together. He saw Alyssa’s eyes flutter open.

“Adrian, where are we?” she asked with a suspicious tone, sleep shaking off quicker than he would have thought humanly possible. It was as if Adrian had just shook her awake to warn her of a sudden fire.

“Adrian?” she sat up, lurched slightly, steadied and looked out of the window.

“That’s… Swimming Falls. We’re going back.” she stated angrily, not questioning the events.

“Alyssa, ok… just-”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP ADRIAN AND TURN THIS CAR THE FUCK AROUND.” she screamed, ear piercingly loud enough to be a proper imitation of a banshee. In surprise, Adrian did the one thing a driver should never ever do while behind the wheel of a car. He let go of it.

His hands flew up in fear, out of what? He couldn’t say. Being hit, even though Alyssa was never a physical abuser? Maybe it was just being jumpy, on top of being caught off guard. Or maybe Alyssa truly scared him, with her powerful confidence and display of aggression, and he had never realized this until her full power was being displayed. Regardless, his hands left the rubber steering wheel, his foot accelerating a bit further making the speedometer touch just under seventy miles per hour. Wearing a feral snarl and using an uncanny speed for someone who has been awake for a total of twenty seconds she grabbed the steering wheel. The seatbelt prevented her from fully diving into Adrian’s lap as she had tried, but it also provided the jerking momentum necessary to haul the steering wheel down and hard to the right. Both people swerved, as did the car as it drove through both layers of wooden guard posts, laced with heavy, thick and taut wire. The automobile drove clean through both sets about a quarter of the way onto the bridge, and plunged deep down in an erupting and thunderous BOOM as it penetrated the surface of the Swimming Falls. From outside and with their windows shut, the sound of their death-frightened screams couldn’t be heard. The impact deployed both airbags, giving Adrian a concussion. He blacked out temporarily, and the last thing he consciously remembers was a weird… disembodied swimming sensation…