Page 194 of Fatality

Perfect, some fucking action.

Something to make me forget how Riven chose him over me, how she almost died, how quiet everything is.

I can’t stand the silence.

I grew up in the poverty of the Lower Layers. Noise wasn't just everywhere—it was life.

Silence leaves too much room in my head, too much room to think about everything that's wrong—the cars, the races, the enemies I still have to deal with.

Her.

Her mismatched eyes, the piercing in her nostril that wrinkles with it every time she gets angry.

When she’s around, she creates chaos. She reacts in ways no one else ever does. She drowns everything else out, she hits me and doesn’t back down.

No one even tries to touch me, afraid I’ll snap their necks like twigs.

Now that I actually left—the very thing I asked from the beginning—it feels like I’m back in that confinement cell, where everything was silent.

It was so silent I could hear my own heartbeat. My own thoughts.

Fuck that.

I need her.

But she doesn’t need me, she made that perfectly clear.

I hear the hum of the drones closing the distance.

One of them drifts up beside my window, their floodlights locking onto the Charger.

Attention. Your vehicle has been flagged. Pull over immediately. Exit the vehicle. Continued non-compliance authorizes lethal force. You are under arrest for intentional property damage and vehicular assault.

I slowly turn my head and lower the window.

“Oh, am I?” I grin.

I shoot my arm out and grab the drone one-handed and slam my foot onto the gas pedal.

One twenty, one thirty.

“You like that, huh?” I laugh, the sound wild, almost manic. “Let me show you how Crimson Velocity operates under arrest!”

I tighten my grip, the veins beneath my skin bulging.

I let go of the wheel and grab the drone with both hands, keeping the Charger steady with my knee.

You are not authorized to tamper with the property of the Central Authority. Please remain inside the vehicle and pull ov—

I cut it off by driving my fingers into the metal. They split open, blood running down my hands, but I don't stop until I rip the drone clean in half, laughing like a fucking maniac.

I drop the pieces.

I snatch the wheel just before the Charger plows into an asphalt barrier, yank the handbrake, slam on the brakes, and wrench the wheel to full lock.

The Charger spins in tight circles before finally grinding to a stop, the rear bumper kissing the wall with a soft click.

I’m breathing hard.