AmandasThoughts

As he walked toward the garage, his hands trembling inside his pockets. Not from the cold, but from withdrawal.

He pulled out his wallet for tenth times in the last 15 minutes, counting the money all over again, as if he does this, some kind of miracle will happen and he’ll have the full amount.

The garage wasn’t just a car service—it was Karl’s front. A drug operation disguised as a mechanic shop. Eddie had been coming here for years, buying on credit when he was short on cash. He had made the mistake of leaving his car as collateral last time, thinking he’d come back in a day or two with the money. That had been a week ago.

Today, he needed it back.

Karl was behind the counter when Eddie stepped inside, oil-stained hands counting a stack of bills. He barely looked up.

“You got my money?”

Eddie swallowed hard, pulling out a handful of crumpled bills. It wasn’t the full amount, not even close, but it was all he had. “Alright, here, that’s 350 —”

“And?” Karl replied almost annoyed.

“Everything I have man, that’s my red money, you know, i can give you the rest by Friday —”

“Then come back Friday” Karl said not letting him finish.

Eddie’s pulse spiked. “C’mon, man, I need my car.”

“You think this is a joke? You left it as payment. That means it’s mine until you pay me back in full.”

Eddie clenched his jaw, fighting back the panic. He had promised Sarah. He had told her, Tomorrow, just us. I swear.

“Please, man. You know I ain’t running from this. I just—”

Karl shook his head. “Not my problem.”

Eddie felt something snap inside him. He turned on his heel and walked out. He needed that car. He needed it now.

And if Karl wasn’t going to give it to him, he’d have to find another way.

Eddie had left the shop with his pulse hammering. He had called everyone—friends, old favors, anyone who might be willing to help him out. But no one wanted to lend money to a man like Eddie, not anymore.

That’s when desperation had started to sink in.

Eddie’s hands were trembling as he walked into the corner store, his mind still racing from the conversation with Karl. The money he had wasn’t enough, and it was eating at him. He wasn’t a man who relied on luck, but maybe… maybe today would be different.

The bright lights in the store burned his eyes as he shuffled toward the lottery section. He picked up a few scratch cards, his movements sluggish. He’d never won anything before. But desperation makes you try anything. It makes you believe in the impossible for a brief moment. He paid for the cards, his palms sweaty as he took them, his fingers tightening around them then nervously started scratching over the rough surface. He wasn’t sure why he thought this might work, but he scratched the first card, the numbers coming away in a flurry. Nothing.

The second card. Nothing.

He cursed under his breath, scrapping at the paper again with renewed hope, but it was a wasted effort. The third card. Nothing again. It wasn’t even close to enough. He stared at the blank numbers, his frustration growing.

“Shit,” Eddie muttered, his voice low and broken. He hadn’t won a damn thing, and it only made his nerves tighten even more. He’d done everything wrong, and the weight of that was crushing him. What else could he do? What the hell else could he try?

He needed to get back to Karl, but he didn’t have the money. He couldn’t face him again. But he had no choice. The thought of going back, of begging again, it churned in his gut.

Standing outside now, Eddie knew what he had to do. He had done it before. Small crimes, breaking into cars, stealing things just valuable enough to flip for some quick cash. He had promised himself he was done with all that, especially for Sarah’s sake. But what choice did he have?

He turned toward the parking lot, his feet dragging as he aimlessly walked through rows of cars. His mind raced, but no real solution came. Eddie scanned the rows of parked cars, looking for one that would be an easy target. His fingers twitched as he pulled out a screwdriver, slipping it between the window and the door lock of a sleek black sedan.

It was a moment of desperation. He walked up to the car, unsure of what he was doing. His fingers reached out and gripped the handle.

Then—click. The door opened.

He froze. His eyes darted to the interior. Leather seats, a dashboard with screens and buttons he didn’t even understand. He sat in the driver’s seat before his mind could stop him. He wasn’t even sure why, maybe it was just a distraction, or maybe something more. He needed a way out, something to fix this nightmare.

He quickly tried the door handle again, but the door wouldn’t open. Locked.

Eddie’s pulse began to race. Panic crept in, and he slammed his hand against the door. What the hell did I do? He tried again. Nothing. His breath quickened, and his palms started sweating as his heart pounded against his chest. He was stuck. What now? Was this a joke? Was he being watched?

Suddenly, the car monitor started to ring, snapping him out of his spiraling thoughts. His hands shook as he answered it.

“My name is Wiliam, I am the owner of this car”

“What do you want?” He asked anxiously.

“You shall not steal, that’s not complicated is it?” William asked, his tone unsettlingly smooth.

“I want you to experience the consequences of your actions” William said calm, cool voice.

Eddie’s stomach dropped. His heart pounded so hard it was all he could hear. The words barely registered at first.

“Let me out!” Eddie started to scream, panicking. His breath caught. He started to sweat, his body stiffening.

Eddie’s mind was racing, his heart hammering in his chest, still shaken from the call with William. Panic continued to seep into his every breath. There was something about this situation, something off, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

He sat in the car, trying to steady his hands, sweat dripping down his face, desperate for an escape from the constant storm inside his head. He didn’t know what he was doing. He wasn’t the kind of man to go this far, to sink this low, but the world around him had squeezed him into a corner, and now there was nowhere left to go.

It was then that he noticed something. An odd smell in the air. A sweet, almost floral scent, faint at first, but it grew stronger. Eddie wrinkled his nose, trying to pinpoint where it was coming from. The scent seemed to flood the car, pushing its way into his lungs. He shifted uneasily in the seat, his pulse racing.

Then came a strange heaviness, a sense of pressure building, squeezing his chest. His vision began to blur, and a wave of dizziness washed over him.

The gas. It was in the car, coming from somewhere.

The vents. The ventilation system, he realized, as his body began to turn against him. His mind screamed for clarity, for focus, but it was too late. His limbs grew heavy, his head spun uncontrollably, and his consciousness began to slip away like sand through his fingers.

His thoughts became jumbled, fragmented. Panic gripped him, but it was like trying to scream underwater. The world began to fade to black, and he felt his body losing control. No one had come. No figure appeared. It wasn’t a person. It was just the gas, and now he was slipping under.

His last coherent thought was a fractured memory of Sarah’s voice, her disappointment, her pleading for him to get clean.

Flashback – Seven Years Ago

“Pregnant?”

He says it like a curse. Like a joke that isn’t funny.

Across the tiny apartment, Maya looks at him with those tired, sharp eyes. Her arms are crossed, belly still flat, but she’s already acting like a mother. Worried, exhausted, knowing exactly what’s coming.

“It’s yours, Eddie,” she says.

He lets out a dry laugh. “Yeah, no shit. But… what, you’re keeping it?”

Her jaw tightens. “I don’t have a choice.”

Eddie drags a hand through his hair, pacing the room. There’s barely space to move. A mattress on the floor, clothes everywhere, the stench of stale cigarettes. He hates this life. He hates this moment.

“You always have a choice,” he mutters. “And what, I’m supposed to just—what? Be a dad now?”

Maya doesn’t answer.

Because they both know the truth. Eddie is a mess. No job. No real future. Just small jobs, petty theft, just enough to get by. He’s good at running. Good at making excuses. Not good at staying.

He swears under his breath and grabs his coat. “I need some air.”

“Of course you do,” she mutters, and when he slams the door behind him, she doesn’t call him back.

Flashback - Two years ago

“I can’t do this anymore. You need to figure yourself out. Sarah deserves better.”

She didn’t even take their daughter with her. Just packed a bag and left Eddie alone with a four-year-old girl who barely spoke to him.

Sarah didn’t cry when she realized her mother was gone.

She just sat at the kitchen table, small hands wrapped around a spoon, stirring a bowl of soggy cereal she didn’t eat.

Eddie watched her from the doorway, feeling like the biggest failure in the world.

Flashback - Early Today

“Daddy, daddy” Sarah burst into the kitchen, her energy like a burst of sunlight cutting through his dark thoughts. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet, her face lit up with excitement, her eyes sparkling with that innocent joy that Eddie loved.

“I can’t wait for tomorrow, Daddy! Just you and me!” She drummed her tiny hands on the table in rhythm, her enthusiasm so contagious that it almost made him forget his troubles. “We’re gonna eat ice cream, and go to the park, and I’ll race you to the swings!”

Eddie smiled, his heart swelling with a mixture of pride and guilt. “Yeah, of course, sweetie. Tomorrow, just us,” he said, forcing the words out with a tight smile.

But inside, doubt gnawed at him. How? He thought, the question hanging heavy in his chest. How am I going to make it happen?

Eddie watched her, trying to hide the panic behind his smile, trying to block out the ever-growing anxiety that was threatening to spill over.

I can’t let her down again.

He pushed the thought aside, focusing on her joy. She deserved a good day. She deserved more than what he could offer her, but damn it, he would give her everything he had. He just had to find a way.

“I promise,” he said softly, looking at Sara’s bright, trusting face. “Tomorrow, we’ll make it the best day ever.”

————————

The next moment, Eddie awoke with a jolt, gasping for air, his throat dry. But the world around him felt alien. The car, the streets. None of it made sense.

Eddie blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision, but everything seemed to swirl, the edges of his reality flickering.

“You’re awake,” A voice cut through the haze, low and cold.

Eddie’s mind was still foggy, but he was fully aware now. His senses were sharpened, every nerve in his body screaming with awareness. He couldn’t move, not yet—his muscles seemed frozen, bound by invisible chains.

A voice crackled through the car’s monitor, clear and cold.

“You’ll pay for what you did, Eddie.”

It was William. His voice was detached, almost casual, as if he were talking about something as trivial as the weather. Eddie’s pulse quickened, his breath coming in shallow gasps. But he couldn’t focus on the words. His eyes darted outside, searching for any sign of her. And then he saw her.

Sarah.

She was gliding down the sidewalk on her scooter, her tiny figure barely visible among the rows of parked cars. She wore her helmet securely, the one Eddie had bought for her last year, and her laughter rang through the air, innocent and free. She didn’t see him. She didn’t see the car coming her way.

William’s car, the one Eddie was trapped in, shifted forward, moving faster than it should have. He could see the direction it was heading, too fast, too close to where Sarah was riding.

“Sarah!” Eddie’s throat burned as he screamed, but the sound felt weak, distant, lost in the growing chaos within him.

He watched helplessly as the car’s tires screeched, edging closer to where his daughter was, the two on a direct collision course. His heart raced, but his body felt like it was made of stone, paralyzed in fear.

“No! No, no, no!” Eddie’s hands slapped against the seat, but it didn’t matter. He couldn’t get out. He couldn’t get to her.

He could only watch as the distance between Sarah and the car closed. It was too late.

Black tires screamed across the pavement, and everything seemed to fall away, as if time itself had stopped.

And then—

Nothing.

—————-