Chapter 9
CHAPTER
NINE
KRAVEN
My foot shifted from first to second to third, then fourth gear on an old dirt bike I stole from a junkyard last year. I finally finished fixing it up and decided to take it for a spin through the woods behind our house. I tore through the trees, racing at a rapid and unsafe speed.
All I could see were the memories attacking my mind at full throttle. I barely slept last night, still reeling from that damn cookbook.
The faint sound of a train’s horn in the distance let me know I was right on track. I began riding beside them, revving the throttle harder and faster, shifting into fifth gear, trying to push it to the limit. Pulling back the accelerator as far as it would go, I shredded onto the train tracks.
There was an endless stream of plaguing emotions clouding my mind and assaulting my body, fueling me to go faster. My vision tunneled, desperately wanting to escape the shit I was handed. If I thought things were bad before, I was wrong.
Everything changed for the worse with just her mere presence in a way I never imagined. The black cat I shared a wall with was beginning to claw at my skin, ripping into the hollow where my heart once lived.
Growling deep within my chest, I battled my feelings. Speeding quicker on the train tracks, I tried to outrun those sentiments.
Needing…
Anything…
Something…
The front tire steered side to side, navigating the rough and narrow tracks. I could feel the motor vibrating against my bones as I continued to push the engine beyond the max. Never letting up, I remained persistent and adamant about distancing myself from these reckless thoughts.
They were always overpowering my head.
Controlling my actions.
Deciding on the outcome.
I didn’t need this baggage, hating that I had to carry it like it was a badge of honor and not a steel chain I couldn’t break.
Wildlife came to life around me as if the animals knew trouble was on the horizon, making me think of Isla.
Nothing but fucking trouble.
The horn of the train was no longer at a distance, no longer echoing through the cold breeze, no… now it was right in front of me.
Blaring.
Blasting.
Sounding off.
Woooooooooo! Wooooooooooo! The train whistled, flickering the beaming headlight, warning me to get off the tracks, but I didn’t heed the warning. I decided to play with it instead.
I gunned the throttle, triggering my tires to skid across the rocks as I reached top speed.
Swerving from one side to the next, I practically dumped my bike to the ground, almost dragging my knees with it.
I didn't let up, jumping the tracks a few times to catch air, causing the suspension to protest when I landed.
The bike was screaming no.
My mind was yelling yes.
My body was in autopilot, like it’d been most of my life.
The motor revved up and down with every jump and bump I hit.
The train whistled louder, two long, one short, followed by one long bellow.
Woooooooooo! Wooooooooooo!
The RPMs on my bike were spinning out of control, rising higher and higher, causing the bike to shake as I lost myself to the intense game. Another horn sounded even closer this time, piercing through the evening sun.
Woooooooooo! Wooooooooooo!
Red lights flashed, and smoke suddenly filled the air as the train came barreling down the tracks, getting louder and louder every second it approached. The polluted air made it hard to breathe, hard to see, hard to feel as if I wasn’t suffocating from the inside out.
Woooooooooo! Wooooooooooo!
Exhaust smoke trailed out of the tailpipe of the bike while I continued to push the limit, redlining the engine seconds later.
But nothing was going to stop me.
Not the tires smoking as I hit seventy.
Eighty.
Ninety miles per hour.
The brakes on the train squealed, protesting against the tracks with the flashing red lights blinking all around me.
Woooooooooo! Wooooooooooo!
The train’s brakes pumped harder, clinking against the tracks while barreling toward me.
Woooo! Wooooooooooooooooooo!
And just like that, I shut my eyes for a moment, and all I could see…
Was her.
When the horn blared one last time, I opened my eyes and saw that it was right there, just a few feet in front of me.
I smiled.
Finally feeling what I craved.
What I strived for.
What I always desired, more so now than ever before.
A high to drown out the low.
The thrill of the rush surged through my veins, replacing all unnecessary drama. The life I couldn’t control and the future I didn’t know how to face.
At the last moment, I abruptly jerked the wheel to the side, right as the train was about to hit me head-on. Propelling my bike off the tracks, I hurled my body through the air. I flew through the wind at lightning speed, feeling free from everything that weighed heavily on me.
But it didn’t last. It never did.
The adrenaline junkie in me was never satisfied, and it wasn’t until I roughly landed on the ground and everything went black that I finally stopped seeing the past in plain sight.
However, it was only because I knocked myself out.
I didn’t know how long I was unconscious. If I were being honest, I didn’t know much about anything. The only thing I knew to be true in that second was that I had a raging, splitting headache.
I groaned, weakly thrashing around. “Hmm…” I tried to wake up, failing miserably at it. “Hmm…” I faintly mumbled, slowly shaking my head and willing my eyes to open.
“Shh…” That was the only sound I heard, coming from above me, which was followed by what felt like a wet washcloth on my forehead.
“Hmm…” I softly muttered again.
Immediately hearing, “Shh…”
It was only then that I realized my head was in a lap while a familiar scent suddenly attacked my senses. I lay there frozen. Sluggishly, I shook my head a few more times, and my eyelids slowly started to flutter open.
Only to be met with a pair of translucent green eyes, staring right back into mine.
A black ring of eyeliner emphasized her cat-shaped eyes as her long red hair framed her oval-shaped face. It draped across my chest. It was the first time I truly looked at her, and it wasn’t driven out of anger.
Did she always have freckles?
She swallowed hard, taking me in too. There was a hint of recognition, like I was sharing more than I meant to, and all we were doing was looking at each other.
It was this trap, one woven by only her, and I was helplessly captive in it.
I was suddenly her victim. Except I guess I was also her patient.
Questions propelled through my mind, one right after the other.
Why is she tending to me?
How did she even know I was out here?
How did she find me?
I hardly had time to contemplate one thought before another arose.
She didn’t move. I think she was barely breathing.
It was this awkward yet unshakable tether binding us together.
A strong current I couldn’t see, only feel as it yanked me under its riptide.
I tried not to drown, but it was as if she were a siren, both a promise and a curse.
Was she meant to come into my life?
Was I meant to come into hers?
Were we destined to meet?
For what, I couldn’t fathom or understand it.
Why is she helping me?
It didn’t matter. Nothing ever did when silence spoke louder than words.
I broke the stillness, needing to hear it from her lips and not my brother’s.
“What’s your name?”
Her gaze tapered. She wanted to answer, to talk, to let me in so to speak…
She didn’t.
My hand flew to my ribs, hissing from the jolt of pain. “Fuck,” I murmured under my breath.
Her eyes widened, her concern cutting through the tension.
“I’m fine,” I eased, trying to sit up. “Fuck,” I repeated, failing miserably at doing so.
I caught her slightly smirking before she reached out her hand to help me. I gawked at it for a minute until I had no choice but to accept her assistance, knowing I owed her one now, and I always paid my debts.
For some reason, that realization came and went.
She cocked her head to the side, arching her eyebrow at me. Basically arguing that I let her help me or that I was stuck there.
I couldn’t resist, I chuckled, amused with her muted response. The sensation was unexpected as the noise left my lips. I reluctantly grabbed her hand, and she lifted me with her. Carefully, she set my arm on her shoulder and wrapped hers around my waist. Gently, she stood with me by her side.
Once we stood, I found my footing, causing my ribs to ache and throb. It was my turn to narrow my eyes at her, feeling like she had something to say but was forever hesitating.
Our eyes connected again, and my patience wore thin when I barely had any to begin with. I wanted to ask her so many questions. Even if I asked, I wouldn’t get an answer, and it would only further piss me off. I had to bite my tongue, and that was the hardest thing for me to do.
It took us two hours to get back to the house, when it was usually a half-hour walk.
I had to keep stopping from the crippling pain in my ribs.
She was patient as we walked, never once showing any annoyance toward me.
I couldn’t decide whether I would have helped her in a similar situation, and I thought about it for most of the walk back to the front door.
It felt good as soon as we walked inside to have finally made it back home with her.
Home.
The four-letter word carried a big punch as I thought it over for a minute, realizing this wasn’t just my home anymore.
It was hers too.
And that realization hurt far more than any pain in my ribs ever could.