THE DRIVE: Chapter 1: The Encounter
- mangalpalak125
- Dec 2, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 20, 2023
CHAPTER 1: ENCOUNTER
It was one of the monsoon nights when Catherine walked down the stairs of her office. The low echo of the sound of her heels tapping continuously could be heard in the quiet environment. It seemed like she was in a hurry to get out of there. She soon reached out of the headquarters and saw that the rain had started to pour. As every single second passed, the raindrops hit the ground harder. She opened her umbrella and walked up to the bus station willing a bus would come to pick her up. She knew there was hardly any chance that any bus would be coming at this hour since it was already 11 pm. She sat on the bench under the shed near the bus stand. She shivered and hugged her knees since the temperature had started to decrease. She wasn't wearing anything warm other than a thin coat. Even after waiting for almost an hour, neither a bus came nor the rain stopped. She had no option but to walk to her home. Her weak figure stood up, holding the umbrella firmly. Her legs stumbled, but she somehow managed to walk. She walked for some distance and saw Isabelle's car. She sighed in relief and sat in the car. After some time, they reached their house and went inside.
"How further did the investigation go today in your FBI department?”, said Isabelle, who was desperate to know something.
"Isabelle, you remember the road trip we had a few days back...?"
"I do, Catherine."
Catherine stood up and bought something.
It was something related to the road trip they had ten days ago.
About 10 days back, Catherine, Christopher, Isabelle, and Henry were driving their car on a long trip to the mountain. It was about 10 pm when they were driving on a lonely road with moonlight barely reaching the road. It seemed like only they were mounting at this hour. Hardly any vehicle passed through the road. The deep canyon lay to the right of the road, making it even more difficult to drive at night in the absence of road lights. They had no option but to mount in the light thrown on the road by the headlights of the car.
After driving for some time, the car suddenly stopped in the middle of the road. All four of them got out of the car to check what happened. After examining the car, they got to know that their car’s engine had some problems and the tires were punctured. Catherine and henry started to fix the tire whereas Christopher and Isabelle began to repair the engine. Eventually, their car got repaired and all of them sat in the car and started to drive. After covering some of the distance, they stopped their car. They got out of it and their eyes widened in shock as they looked at the person lying blood-soaked on the left side of the road fighting for his life. The man was injured which implied that the man collapsed from his bike as the bike was lying some distance away from him. Isabelle and Catherine froze in their spots because they were petrified to see the man. Henry stayed with both of them to calm them down and sat with them in the car. Christopher rushed to the man. Christopher kept the man’s head in his lap and held his imbrued hand. He noticed that the man was trying to put his thoughts into words but couldn’t. The man was trying to speak and was only able to whisper which was enough for him to hear. “Sophie….roadside stall. Hey man, give her this… ” The man tried to say and handled Christopher a letter sort of a thing. “My wife deserves better….she will live a good life.” These were the last words said by the man who lost the fight for life and death. Christopher checked but the man wasn’t breathing. “May his soul rest in peace” Prayed Christopher. Certain things were going on in his mind. Who is the man’s wife? What was he trying to convey by saying that she deserves better? To whom will Christopher give this letter?
Chapter 2:
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