h o l d i n g m y b r e a t h

f o r y o u

c h a p t e r X

I sat in the back of Jack's van curled up in a ball crying. My head was spinning, my whole body ached, and I couldn't get rid of this terrible feeling of guilt. Joe and Mac were nowhere in the entire complex. They'd stopped all the movies and gone into every theater looking for them. No such luck. They were gone. They were not coming home tonight. And it was all my fault.

Thoughts like "I should have gone with them" and "I should have told them to wait" ran through my mind over and over, while in the background my brain chanted, "It's my fault. It's all my fault." The mantra seemed ceaseless.

Jack began to pull out of the parking lot. I could hear Wendie and Sam sobbing. I curled myself into an even tighter ball as the blue and red flashing lights that had filled the cineplex's parking lot over an hour ago began to disappear.

It seemed as though the whole world were coming to a stop. And yet the DJ on the radio continued to ramble on in a cheerful - almost annoying - voice. Jack grumbled and flipped off the radio.

I could only imagine where Joe and Mac were at this very moment. And I was almost positive that my imagination couldn't be horrible enough...

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