The Ringleader | knj

24

Before I could enquire about his comment, a single bullet bounced off of the wingmirror, shards of glass shattering and scattering against the side of the road.

I watched as Jimin's jaw clenched, his  knife-like chin gleaming murderously within the dimly lit road. His mouth parted, his sharp tongue beginning to glide across his cherry coloured lips as he grabbed the steering-wheel, slamming the accelerator down with immense pressure.

The car instantly jerked forward, intensely speeding as we flew down the open track in front of us. I clutched at the arm rest, shutting my eyes tightly as he revved up more and more and more, figuring that if he went fast enough our final destination would be heaven rather than home. The cars behind us followed his actions, smoothly gliding across the tarmac at light-speed, catching up to us in less than a few seconds.

I watched as Jimin grew tense, beads of sweat trickling down his forehead as he pursed his lips in vain. His eyes hadn't moved an inch since our encounter with the obscure car drivers, and I could see that same familiar demonic blackness within them that he'd flashed at me the first time I'd seen him.
The dark and cruel mafia side to him shone brightly as he briefly leaned towards the window, effortlessly sticking hand out of it and began to cock back the trigger of his small black gun.

A loud bang was fired off, followed by the heart-stopping shattering of a large piece of glass fragmenting into a gazillion pieces. The car behind us swerved, undoubtedly hit cleanly in the chest, his raspberry blood oozing out until his body stopped altogether.
Jimin had hit the target, killing him off instantly.

But there were more.
And they seemed angrier, more blood-thirsty, than the previous driver.

Thick black balaclavas encapsulated their faces, dark leather gloves concealing their hands.

I gulped a little as I saw through the other unbroken wing-mirror as one began to signal to the other to take the wheel, pushing half of his torso out of the window to reveal two thick guns clutched firmly within his hands.

"Jimin!" I exclaimed, quickly catching his focussed attention.

His eyes widened as he began to swerve, the tyres screeching eerily against the worn out road as he shifted into a different lane. He bit his bottom lip, aggressively grabbing and switching gears as the momentum of the car began to slow down slightly due to his previous actions of shooting.

"Why can't you self-drive it??" I shouted over the loud ricocheting of the heavy metal bullets bouncing off of the car's brutally battered body.

"It won't self-drive at such a high speed," he frowned, constantly peering over his shoulder to eye his opponent's next moves. My eyes widened as I saw them began to catch up to them, noticing Jimin's weak and tired face as he tried to drive and accurately fire bullets at the same time.

I unbuckled my seatbelt, the deafening bleeping of the safety device instantly erupting, adding more to the chaotic outbursts of noise surrounding us.

"What do you think you're doing??" Jimin hissed, frantically placing his torso in and out of the window as he aimed and shot.

"You shoot, I'll drive," I exclaimed, pushing past him and delving at the wheel. He looked up at me alarmed, signalling for me to return to my seat.

"What the... are you out of your-" he couldn't quite finish that last sentence as the loud smashing of the rear glass screen descended into thick shards, hammering against the seat as it plummeted down.

"JUST GO!" he shouted, pushing me into the drivers seat as he quickly slid across the glove compartment and into the suede passenger seat.

I grabbed the wheel, my actions racing before my mind had the chance to think. Gripping it firmly, I slammed my foot up against the  acceleration pad, drifting down the dark and empty road up ahead.

I winced a little at the multiple gun shots firing in and out of the passengers seat as Jimin went full on beast mode, simultaneously firing one gun whilst firing another. The smashed wing mirror didn't prove to be of any use so I too began to tilt my head forwards and backwards to eye the intention's of the other party.

"SEOYEON SWERVE!" Jimin screeched with urgency. My breath hitched as I turned the steering wheel, jerking a little as I'd realised I'd shifted it a little too far to the left. Jimin jerked a bit too, a single bullet flying over his head, missing it by just a centimetre.

Stumbling a little as he found his balance, he got back up, mercilessly shooting left right and centre- each time hitting a new victim, dropping one after another off at the gates of hell. I quickly closed my window, cautious of the careless firing of bullets from the driver behind us. My heart stopped and started as each one flew and bounced off of the glass, a deeper and deeper crack embedding itself into the weakening material.

Until finally, it caved in, pieces of glass flying everywhere.

I yelped in pain as one scraped agonisingly against my forehead, thick darkened blood dripping down onto my blue jeans and staining them crimson. Jimin quickly turned to me, his eyes full of shock and dread.

"Are you okay??" he asked amongst the millions of bullets whacking against the metal frame of the vehicle. I nodded, ignoring the deep wound that had now implanted within the thin skin of my face. He nervously bit his bottom lip as he eyed me worriedly, quickly returning to the window to fire off more bullets.

This situation felt never-ending, the more I continued to drive, the more my body continued to deteriorate.

"Seoyeon, there should be a bypass up ahead, I need you to turn into it," Jimin instructed, his aim still meticulously focussed on the blood-shed of the cars behind us. My eyes widened as we approached it, noticing that there were around a dozen cars swerving in and out of it from the opposite direction.

"It says no left turns!" I replied, beads of sweat dripping off of my own forehead now as I struggled on deciding what to do.

"Trust me on this! It's our only chance to lose them for good!" he panted heavily as his exhausted state began to consume him. I took a deep breath, having no choice but to trust his words.

As I neared and neared I noticed the heavy incoming traffic that mercilessly swerved into the bypass, showing no sign of giving way whatsoever.

"JUST DO IT SEOYEON!" He shouted, eyeing my hesitancy.

"ARE YOU CRAZY, THERE'S NO WAY WE'LL SURVIVE THAT UNHIT!!" I exclaimed, wondering if the man beside me possessed the same level of eyesight that I did.

"Okay fine, lets wait until they finish us off here then hm?" he sarcastically threatened. I pursed my lips, heavily in thought.
Each situation was bound to result in a potential death.

Trusting his words, I went for it, swerving into the oncoming traffic from the opposite direction.

Deafening screeching of tires and loud beeping of horns sounded as our vehicle rudely interrupted the flow of cars, curse words flying at us in every direction as a result of our wreckless driving.

But other than that, we'd made it.
We were alive.

Jimin shifted his body, glaring straight out of the bare rear screen of the car.

He wickedly smirked as he saw one by one as the cars began to smash against each other, collapsing into one huge pile as they struggled to shift into the bypass that we'd so luckily managed to do.

A cool breath swept across my face as I'd realised it was finally over, and I sped down the lane like there was no tomorrow.

Vowing to never touch the wheel of a car ever again.