Free Last Breath by Diane Hoh

in the darkness. As it slowly, quietly, pulled up beside her, the right sideview mirror gently nudged her left elbow.
    Even before she turned her head to look, she knew it was the TransAm.
    She stopped walking.
    The car stopped, too, but its engine continued to murmur.
    A scream welled up inside her throat, but she swallowed it. What good would that do? There was no one around to hear it.
    What did he want with her? And how had he known she was out here?
    Cassidy glanced uncertainly around her. The car was blocking access to the road. Not that it would do her any good to run in that direction, anyway. If there were cars, she’d run the risk of being splattered all over the blacktop, and if there weren’t cars, dashing out onto the road wouldn’t accomplish anything except making her a better target for the TransAm. And running into the woods would be stupid without a flashlight.
    She was safer right where she was, on the berm of the road. If she had to, she could always dive into the ditch on her right, between the road and the woods. Half-filled with cold, muddy water from recent rains, it looked unappetizing. But the car couldn’t follow her into the ditch.
    One thing she was very sure of. She was not retreating to Nightmare Hall. The way they’d all looked at her when they realized she was there for a party…no way was she going to go running back there to say that an eerie, creepy car was stalking her.
    The black lump of metal sat beside her, humming.
    Murmuring.
    Waiting.
    It hadn’t been a good day for Cassidy. First the surprise test, then the party mix-up, not a good day at all. I am not in the mood for any stupid auto-pedestrian games, Cassidy decided, and in a sudden burst of temper, kicked out viciously at the TransAm’s right front tire. Her foot connected with a loud thunk.
    She wasn’t prepared for what happened next.
    The car’s horn bleated angrily in response to the blow. The engine roared, the wheels spun, spraying Cassidy with a shower of gravel before veering sharply to the right as if the car intended to drive straight across the water-filled ditch and into the woods. When the TransAm was positioned sideways on the berm, directly in front of Cassidy, the passenger’s door suddenly swung open, slamming into her.
    The suddenness of the maneuver caught Cassidy off guard. As the door flew open, she caught only a glimpse of the face hidden beneath a floppy, cream-colored hood before she was struck in her midsection. She let out a soft, startled cry of surprise as the blow knocked her off her feet. She flew backward, landing full force on her back in the grass beside the berm, the breath knocked out of her.
    She was too stunned to move as the door slammed shut, the TransAm shot backward, spun around, and with a triumphant blast of its horn, roared away, up the road toward campus.

Chapter 9
    C ASSIDY LAY ON HER back next to the ditch, her right hand immersed in the icy water, as if she had decided to soak it. She pulled it free and sat up, shaking her head to clear it as she wiped the hand dry on her pant leg.
    What had just happened?
    She remembered kicking the car’s tire and then…
    Shuddering, she gingerly pulled herself to her feet, grateful that she hadn’t landed in the muddy ditch. Had he meant to send her flying into that cold, filthy water?
    Why? Why would he do that? What was he doing out here in the first place? Looking for her ? Why? And how could he have known she would be out here?
    Her legs felt very shaky. But she realized very quickly that she had a bigger problem. Her breathing wasn’t stabilizing. Before she could stop it, the familiar cough rose up out of her chest and spilled out into the air, increasing in quantity and volume until her body was wracked with coughs. In minutes, the air filled with the harsh, wheezing sound of her tortured lungs. Ann, when she’d heard it, had called it in awe, “the agonized cries of a dying frog.”
    Doubled over, struggling for breath,