Page 70 of Behind These Four Walls

“What do you mean a game?” Roger asked from the back, his voice laced with worry, probably about his Jeep. Rogeralwaysworried about his precious Jeep. It annoyed the hell out of James. James strained to see ahead of them, watching out for any deer or other wildlife that could jump into the road. But it wasn’t wildlife he saw. He squinted. Headlights up ahead?

Without warning, Bennett flipped off the headlights, plunging them into total darkness.

“Bennett, what are you doing?” Edie was screaming.

“Holy shit, man! Turn them back on!” Roger said, as panicked as James was feeling. Roger grabbed the headrest in front of him. Danny laughed. He was always unserious until he wasn’t.

They sped down the narrow lane swallowed by a dark abyss. Bennett laughed, his foot pressing harder on the gas. The car surged forward, tires whining against the pavement as the road twisted beneath them. The trees that lined the road turned into dark, looming shadows that rushed past in a blur.

“Bennett, stop! This isn’t funny!” Edie was frantic, reaching out to grab the knobs around the steering wheel, looking for the light stalk, which wasn’t on her side. It was on James’s. Bennett batted her hand away with ease, his eyes wild with excitement.

“Relax,” he said, his voice calm despite the chaos he’d created. “We’re having fun.”

In the back, the others fell silent, their breath coming in short, terrified gasps. They all knew better than to challenge Bennett when he was like this, but the fear was palpable. No one wanted to be the one to tell him no.

The car hurtled forward, blind and fast, the road curving dangerously ahead. Then, in the distance, the faint glow of headlights James thought he saw became definite and were getting closer.

“Bennett!” Edie’s yell filled the car.

The oncoming car closed in, its high beams bouncing against the tree trunks. His grip tightened on the wheel. In the small rectangle of the rearview mirror, Bennett was a blank canvas and determined. Just as the two vehicles were about to converge, Bennett flicked on the headlights—bright, blinding, cruel.

“No!” James called out, wanting this nightmare to pause. It couldn’t be real.

The high beams of light flooded the narrow road with bright illumination just as the minivan in front of them came into full view. From his seat, he could see the driver and passenger throw their hands up in the blinding light. The driver, recovering quickly but not fast enough, grabbed the wheel in his blindness as the vehicles passed each other. The van swerved, banking hard. With a screech of tires and a metallic roar, the minivan veered off the road, crashing through the guardrail and disappearing over the edge.

The silent night exploded in a cacophony of shattering glass and crunching metal.

Bennett slammed on the brakes, smacking into the rail before finally bringing the Jeep to a jarring stop several yards away from thesite of the impact. The rest of them were thrown forward, smashing into seat backs and whatever else could stop their momentum. For a second, all was silent before the vehicle filled with heavy, ragged breathing and panic. James’s heartbeat thundered in his ears, and his hands were shaking. He didn’t want to look behind them.

Edie was the first to unbuckle her seat belt. She flung the door open and stumbled out onto the side of the road. “Oh my God,” she repeated over and over, her voice inching higher. “What have you done?”

They stumbled out of the back seats, their faces ghostlike, their breaths ragged. Danny ran a hand through his hair, muttering curses under his breath. Roger bent over at his knees, heaving. James felt like he might be sick, while Edie circled around and around in shock.

But Bennett? He was the last to get out, stepping out slowly and sucking in a deep lungful of air. His face was flushed, giddy, like he’d just finished a ride at an amusement park. He walked around to the front of the car, surveying the damage with a lazy smile.

“Your dad’s gonna be pissed about this,” he said to Roger matter-of-factly as he assessed the damage from where the front bumper had hit the rail. “I can take care of that for you.”

Edie spun on him, her eyes blazing with fear and anger. “You’re insane, Bennett! That wasn’t a game. You just made that van crash!”

James and the other two huddled close, casting worried looks at Bennett and behind them, where the guardrail was broken and the van had gone down. It took James a moment to realize what had really happened. A vehicle had gone over the ridge, and it was their fault.

Roger finally spoke, his voice shaky. “We need to call the cops. Someone in that van could be dead.”

Edie was already heading to the crash site, stopping at the twisted metal, looking down.

“They’re not too far down. They may be alive and need help.”

“Need help?” Bennett said, his tone chilling. “We need to get our story straight first.”

Edie stared at him, horrified. “You did this on purpose playing that stupid game! You caused the crash. You—”

“I didn’t know a car was coming up,” Bennett said, stepping toward her, his eyes narrowing. “No one comes up this side of the mountain. And we were all drinking. You think any of us make it out of this without jail time? State championship’s next week. You can kiss that scholarship goodbye. And your cushy life after graduation? Gone.”

James shook his head, his voice trembling. “But we have to do something. The people in there, man!”

Danny said, “Shut the fuck up about the people, okay? It was an accident. Just call it in as an accident.”

Edie pulled out her phone. “I’m calling the cops.” Bennett stomped over to her, and James rushed to head him off but got there too late. Bennett slapped Edie in the face. And then slapped the phone from her hands.