My eyes were attached to the window, watching all the big buildings downtown blur past us, until they died down, and we headed towards the part of town that was crowded with abandoned warehouses.
That surely struck a chord.
I looked over at Everett, the question clear on my worried face, but he looked confident as he continued driving.
I hadn't been to this part of town since—I couldn't remember. Most people knew to avoid it, apparently it was much too sketchy and crime ridden to be traversed.
I watched as the walls of abandoned stores become graffiti covered, the street lamps dying as we continued.
"Everett, I don't—"
I shut up as we turned into an alleyway that curved through the warehouses. Deep into the road, neon lights filled the cramped street, people of all kinds polluting what little pavement Everett could drive on.
My jaw dropped as I saw a very obvious drug deal go down, a few strippers stumble out of a very expensive looking car, and groups of men throwing money around.
Where were we?
Everett continued through the street slowly, and I was glad the windows were heavily tinted as I was gawking at each group of people we passed.
As we made it through the jumble of people and warehouses, the road suddenly opened up to a big field. I couldn't tell what exactly I was staring at, what looked to be hundreds of people crowded around something, and it was big. My face was practically pasted to the window as I tried to figure it out. But Everett turned abruptly, ditching the ginormous group.
We were headed towards another warehouse, though this one was clean of graffiti. There was a large garage which was already open, a dim cold light filtering through the opening we headed towards. I didn't see anyone crowding towards this part of the dim alley, and that I was thankful for.
As we entered the warehouse I was shocked to see insanely shaped, expensive looking cars.
My heart raced, my pulse in my ears as I calculated what I had been looking for all along.
"You're a racer," I gasped, turning to Everett. I didn't expect it, but my voice sounded scared, shaky.
It all made sense. His car, beautiful and pricey. How could he pay for such a thing? This must've been it. He sped more than often, and racing was dangerous. Everything was right in front of me and it took me all this time to piece it together. Stupid. My head was spinning.
He looked pained when he heard my words.
"Let's just get this over with," He gritted his teeth as he threw the parking break up.
He was hopping out of the car as I was still caught up in my realization, I hadn't noticed him waiting for me to get out. In fact, I was so distracted, I didn't realize he was hovering over me, unbuckling me. He tugged me out of the car by my hand.
I smiled shyly as I held his hand. Wordlessly, I let him lead us through the garage. He seemed angry, on edge, so I didn't bother letting my raging thoughts spill.
As we headed towards the back of the warehouse, I spotted a group of four at the front of the furthest car. I recognized the back of Gray, his glowing blonde hair giving him away.
I sucked in a breath of air, preparing to shout at him, when Everett yanked me behind a car we walked past.
The force nearly knocked the wind out of me. I looked up at Everett, no longer ignoring my urge to question him.
"What was that for?" I whisper-shouted when Everett held a finger to his lips. "Grayson is right there! And that looked like Asher, too. That kind of hurt—"
"My boss is there," He growled quietly, leaning over me.
I pressed my back further against the car, as if I pushed hard enough I would shrink. In any other circumstances, I would've been absolutely losing it over Everett pinning me to a car. He was still looking up through the car window to spy on the group. I took advantage of that, surveying his hard features, until suddenly he wasn't watching them anymore.
He was moving quick again, towing me behind him by hand as I tripped trying to catch up with him.
Once my footing was set as he slowed, I looked up to see Asher with a wicked grin, and Grayson whose face was hard and concentrated—for once— watching me. It was strange to see him in that light, his bubbly face I was so used to had transformed. Next to Asher stood what I assumed to be the closest thing to a goddess. This must've been Vera.
She had long, thick, black hair, reaching her tailbone. Her eyes were fierce and jet black, the slopes and contours of her face sharp and intimidating. She was breathtaking. Her arms were crossed across her tight, perfectly-fitting, black jacket, her finger tapping impatiently on her arm. Her gaze was cold, it nearly stung when she glanced at me.
I was suddenly overwhelmed with insecurities as we approached.
"What did he say?" Everett asked, his temper already diminishing.
"He told us—well, what is in his world considered—a pep talk," Grayson answered. He made a joke, but didn't bother cracking even the smallest smile.
"Nothing about the new guy still," Everett cursed under his breath.
New guy?
"You'll kick ass," Vera started, her voice so velvet smooth it shocked me. "He's... looking for you, though. He's not too happy either."
"I have to talk to my boss," Everett turned to only face me, squeezing my hand.
I wasn't sure if I was ready to let go of him yet.
"Will I see you before you race?" I whispered.
He didn't respond, just shook his head once faintly. I frowned, staring down at my feet. Racing was not safe, especially—what I assumed to be— illegal racing. There was no guarantee I'd see him afterwards.
Before I could pout any further, Everett's hands were on either side of my head, pulling me up to him. Urgently, he pressed his lips against my forehead. He pulled away just enough to bore into my eyes with his own. I wanted to say something, I felt I had to, but my mouth fell agape like a dumbfounded fish before he slipped away, stalking to a door I hadn't noticed.
"You must be Celestine," Vera challenged.
I turned very slowly, my lips still parted and eyes wide.
"Y-yeah," I forced myself to utter. Everett...kissed my forehead!
Grayson's arm was around my shoulder before I could process any further. He turned us around, touring around the maze of cars.
"So you found out?"
"Mhm," He kissed me! His lips touched my skin!
"You don't seem too shocked," He slowed to admire a sleek, futuristic looking car.
"Uh huh," He kissed my forehead and I said nothing.
"I'll be racing too, you know."
Wait...Grayson was racing too?!
"What?"
"There you are!" The corner of his lips lifted.
"You can't be serious," Asher and Vera still remained where we found them. We were far enough apart I could let loose. "You know how dangerous this is! I can hardly accept him racing, but you too?" I shook my head, disbelief seizing my ability to form proper sentences.
"What's that suppose to mean?" He lowered his voice.
"It means I don't want either of you endangering your safety so carelessly!"
"But...we get paid a lot," His serious features cracked into an ear to ear grin.
I pressed my lips into a hard line, socking Grayson in the shoulder. He pretending I punched him hard, falling back against the wall as he clung to his arm.
"Oh, you asked for it!" I grumbled, pacing away as quick as my legs allowed, my hands balling against my side.
"Ok, ok! Wait!" He chuckled as he caught up to me. "Everett'll be in the dark purple car. You'll find me in a white one."
"Is he racing in his own car, then?"
"No," He hesitated. "We're both racing in new cars tonight. We figured we needed our signature colors though, since our names won't make sense without them."
"Names?"
"I'm so happy you know now," He was babbling excitedly. "I don't have to keep any secrets! It's so hard not telling you everything. You'll recognize Everett when they show his car, so you'll find out his name then. Mine isn't too crazy though, they call me sunshine."
"Sun...shine?" I glued my lips together, surpressing a laugh.
"Hey—Just you wait till' I'm on the track, you won't be laughing then."
"Whatever you say, sunshine," I nudged him. The sound of our laughter was golden. It alleviated some of my nerves.
"Gray!" We both flinched, turning to see Vera stalking towards us. It looked like whatever matter she was yelling at Gray for was urgent, but she walked like a model, I was slightly stunned. "It's time to go. Now."
My heart dropped as she hissed the last word.
"Wish me luck!" He turned to me with a big grin, but his eyes no doubt were concentrating on what dangers lay ahead.
"Just...don't die," I pressed my lips into a downward grin. "Please. That would be cool. Tell that to Everett if you see him beforehand, would you?"
"You got it," He stuck his arm out, hesitating, then rubbed my shoulder quickly. He smirked, then jogged away to the same door Everett had gone through.
Scared, I turned to peek up at the gorgeous girl before me.
"Sorry, I was...distracted earlier," I fiddled with my hands. "It's nice to meet you, Vera. I really like your jacket and I think it's so cool that—"
"You've got a lot to learn," She gripped my forearm, towing me out of the garage.
I bit my tongue every time I thought of more words to say to possibly make up for our weird interaction, because clearly, she didn't want to hear it. She meant business.
Asher was walking close behind us quietly. Grayson had made it seem like this was all fun and games—which, I knew it wasn't—but the focused looks on Vera and Asher's face concerned me.
As the pair steered towards the giant group Everett had driven past earlier, it struck me that they were crowding around the race track.
I felt thoroughly overdressed on this cold night as I passed through everyone. They were dressed as if they were at a festival, bright, tiny clothes adorning every girl we passed.
I figured on my own that Vera and Asher must work for whatever company was putting on this show. Their all-black clothes matched the workers scattered along the dirty track.
I expected to stop somewhere in the giant crowd, but the two continued herding me until we entered a tiny booth at the front of the track. Vera let go of my arm roughly, before rushing to a panel that had switchs and buttons galore.
Asher closed the door behind us, before peeking out the window in the middle of the door with narrowed eyes. He locked the door.
I sat down next to Vera on a stool, gazing through the giant glass window that sat in front of the control panel. I realized it was getting to be time to start as car after car began lining up. I counted five total, one a purple so deep I thought it was black, and another a blinding shimmering white. I couldn't look away from them knowing who was inside.
Vera was messing with some switches before she put on a pair thick headphones with a mic. I sat quietly as she counted down from five, then she hit a big switch and suddenly the entire area was lit with blinding arena style lights.
"Welcome to another race!" A man I hadn't noticed stood before the cars as his voice blared on speakers surrounding the crowd. "Last chance to place your bids at the booth to your right."
I searched erratically for another booth, hoping the one he just mentioned wasn't ours. I caught sight of another one, relaxing the smallest bit.
I didn't listen to him introduce the first two racers as I was searching for the bidding booth, but luckily tuned in when he mentioned the last three.
"Smack dab in the middle here we have this city's number one racer," He gestured towards the dark purple car. "The one, the only, the greatest, Midnight!" He bellowed into the mic. I clasped my hands together, Everett was in that car! He revved the cars engine as the crowd roared, and I was taken aback by their reaction.
I guess his name really did make sense with the right color, like Gray said.
"Next to Midnight, we have his right hand man," He began again once the smoke from Everett's tires cleared. "Don't take his name too seriously, he'll rip you a new one before you can make a peep! Let's hear some noise for Sunshine!"
I laughed out loud, he sounded so silly! But the crowd cheered just as loud as they did for Everett.
"And last, but certainly not least," He creeped towards a dark crimson car at the end. "We have a newcomer, who's earned his spot here tonight. Let's welcome Hellraiser!"
I wasn't sure why, but a chill ran down my back at the sight of the blood red car.
As the crowd mellowed, a pretty girl in the shortest skirt I'd ever laid eyes on, switched spots with the guy in front of the cars.
I felt happy for her, happy that she was confident—she more than deserved it as I gawked over her glorious golden skin. But just like when I met Vera, I wondered if Everett knew he deserved a girl like her, not me.
I watched in amazement as she fluidly prepared the racers. All five of the cars engines began to rev and pop, smoke errputing from their tires. Then, with one quick swipe, she dropped the red hot flag in her hand, and all the sleek cars took off, sending her hair twirling.
If I had blinked a moment later, I might have missed them taking off. They were fast.
Immediately, Everett and Gray were in the lead, the dark red car trailing ominously behind the pair. My hand shot to my mouth as I nibbled anxiously on my nails.
A green car, who's name I didn't know, passed a deep blue one—who was now in last place— and sped up, reaching the Hellraiser.
I could hear the force being taken out on the green cars engine as he fought to pass the red car. They were side by side at this point, trailing behind Everett and Gray.
Well, that was it! An easy and clean race, no harm. I sighed, relaxing and slouching as I realized they hadn't run into any trouble tonight.
I watched the green and red car battle for third place nonchalantly, but suddenly, the red car pulled back, swerving into the back of the green car. My jaw dropped, my heart in the souls of my feet as my stomach knotted when the green car did a dizzying circle, the dirt from the track stirring about, before he skidded off the road, missing a young tree, before slamming nose first into an abandoned warehouse wall yards away.
I physically cringed, ignoring the raging thoughts of how badly the driver must've been injured, how that could've been Everett or Gray—how that could be them next.
I gripped the stool below me violently as Hellraiser chased after the two boys I held close to my heart. I didn't believe in god, I was hardly religious. But, I said a little prayer to the universe in my head as the crimson car crept closer.
As the boys started their second lap, I noticed Grayson began to drift slightly behind Everett, no longer competing for first place with him. But as soon as the red car approached him, I thought I might just jump out into the track and stop them. This was too dangerous, it was no longer bearable.
I was close to fainting as Grayson's pearly white car drove directly next to Hellraiser. Deja vu. I wasn't sure if I was going to cry as I glanced to the green car, that was now up in flames. I just understood how quickly things could go wrong for them, how quickly their car—and possibly them—could be demolished in a matter of seconds and it was terrifying.
My heart was working overtime, my pulse ringing deafeningly in my ears, as I bit my bottom lip. I gasped, a horrible churning beginning to twist in my stomach when Grayson swerved into the side of the red car. I gritted my teeth, hoping that they'd be onto their last lap in no time and this would all be over with.
But Gray did it again, and he continued until the passenger side of the blood red car was contorted and crumbling. He was right, I shouldn't have underestimated him because of his name. He caused serious damage. They were onto their third and final lap quickly, and I realized it felt like it had only just begun.
The red car stayed by Gray's side, and I was terrified that he'd strike back and hurt the sweet boy inside, but slowly he began to fall behind.
I felt myself relax the smallest bit as the boys spread out, and the Hellraiser's car seemed to be malfunctioning under the damage caused as he slowed even further.
And then, as I watched Everett's beautiful midnight purple car cross the finish line, I didn't think I could feel anymore emotions so quickly.
I stood triumphantly when Grayson—untouched by the red car— finished in second.