Chapter 3

I exited the house with Sultan the next morning after my night of restless horror. With one black leather glove trapped between my teeth, I worked the other glove onto my right hand, flexing it to a comfortable fit, then I removed the glove from my mouth and proceeded to pull it onto my other hand,

“I was wondering, does Sven have any relatives or close friends?” I said this looking at him through the corner of my eye, my grandfather’s death was just too painful to rehash and so my family avoided the topic of Sven at all cost. Sultan looked at me, eyes narrowed in suspicion; he was privy to this unspoken rule.

“Uh….yeah he has a daughter, I had only been in the group for a little over a year so I wasn’t allowed anywhere near her, I’ve never even seen her, but the guys talked about her a lot, apparently she’s a hottie. I think her name's Serene or something, I don’t remember.” He cleared his throat noisily before he continued,

“ I don’t think mast- I mean Sven has any other relatives, or even friends for that matter. Why'd you ask?” he questioned, scrutinizing my facial  expression,

"Just curious.” I said with a noncommittal shrug.

It was obvious he didn’t believe me and I could see that he was going further pursue the topic so I tried to side track him;

“ So what did you and Tira do yesterday?”

“Oh you know the usual, studied, watched TV, nothing out of the ordinary.” he shrugged trying to make light of the time he spent with the girl of his dreams. I looked up at him grinning.

“What?” he demanded.

“ Nothing” my grin widened and he stared at me as if I’d gone crazy.”

"Race you there!” I shouted suddenly and I  sped across the yard, my feet barely touching the ground as I went. I appeared at the warehouse a little over thirty seconds later and spotted my parents first, they sat on the overstuffed couch in a far corner heads together as they looked at something on their laptop.

Analise stood with her fiancée Cort, a redeemed vampire, apparently he only drank animal blood, weird guy, you wouldn’t see me going against my nature, if I was born to drink blood, I’d do it, no questions asked, but I guess it was a good thing for my sister though, I imagined it would be pretty hard being in love with someone bent on sucking the very life from your body, but then again what do I know.

I turned my attention to my brother Gabe where he stood with his condoloid girlfriend Daniel. They were bent over the engine of the 2010 Ford Mondeo that came in the previous day, Gabe was explaining to Daniel the features of the vehicle he’d be racing later that day;

“…turbocharged 2.0c Ecoboost gasoline engine with a power shift transmission, it has a six speed dual clutch....” he gushed,I was surprised she seemed to be hanging on to his every word.

I tuned them out and went over to the car I’d ordered for myself, it was a 2011 c7 corvette. I opened the hood and glanced over the interior, it was as impressive as I’d expected it to be, it had to be, considering the strings I had to pull to get the manufacturers to sell it to me-three times its worth mind you- but I didn’t mind, as long as it helped me to win the race.

I glanced over the  other cars my family had chosen, Sultan, a 2010 GT500 Shelby cobra (Red Snake), 

Neil, a 2011 mazda Rx7,

Analise, a 2011 Subaru WRX STI and my dad, a 2010 SpertWerks corvette GTR. These were the vehicles I’d be competing against today and I was confident I would arise victor of this match, just as I had the one before.

At that time I was driving a  Nissan GTR, with Sultan coming second driving the Lamburgini Gallarado. It was a great match, one I had won with ease. I glanced around the massive store room which housed a total of one hundred and seventy six cars and forty three motor bikes. Each vehicle was a testimony to the level of competition with which my family took part.

While most families played baseball and went to the movies to show their true family spirit, my family competed in car races, with my brothers taking it a little further to long range shooting and fighter jet stunts. I, however drew the line at motor bike racing, guns in my opinion were a waste of time, while aircrafts were something I tried not to think about- I had an aversion to heights-.

Whenever we got wind of a new car about to hit  the market we bought it  and on the first Saturday of each year we’d race, in the process testing their speed and durability, it was a tradition in my family. I’d been racing cars since the age of thirteen, it was something we did to keep our selves occupied since we found most other human activities unfulfilling.

“ Ok guys, let’s get going, and remember, the race doesn’t begin until I say go” My mother said looking pointedly at Gabe. She looked around and inquired, ”Where’s Sultan?”

At that precise moment Sultan entered the room, a sweaty mass of pure muscle..he looked annoyed and when his gaze found mine I smirked at him before entering the car.

            We arrived on the derelict back road off highway 27  half an hour later, and got into position at the starting line,only five of us would be racing today because we needed two people to watch the race to ensure that nobody cheated and we also needed a time keeper so my mom was the time keeper and Cort and Daniel were referees.

At the starting line, my twin brothers were on either side of me; Gabe on my left and Neil on my right, beside him was Sultan and Analise respectively, while my Dad was positioned next to Gabe. Daniel stood at the first bend which was about a mile up the road, Cort at the second and my mom at the finish line, each person holding a pair of binoculars.

“Ok guys, get ready” my mom’s voice sounded over the speaker; “ I’m looking for a fair race, none of your underhanded tactics Gabe”. She reprimanded.

Gabe snorted over his speaker” Yeah, yeah, yeah”

I imagined him waving his hand in a way that said she should get on with it.

“I’m serious”, her tone was adamant.

“Ready”

Six sets of engines revved at her next words;

“Set”

I released a pent up breath.

“ Go!” and we were off! six high powered vehicles neck and neck speeding down the rugged dirt path, the first bend would determine the outcome of the race. I’d learned from experience that whoever got ahead at this turn had the best chance of winning.

I braced myself, pushing the clutch into turbo-drive, I outmaneuvered all five cars with ease, the car spun and then smoothly drifted around the corner taking up most of the road and forcing the other vehicles to drop back in order to avoid impact. I straightened the car and upped the speed, I was in front but I wasn’t in the clear yet, glancing in my rear-view mirror, I glimpsed Gabe’s Mondeo gaining velocity.

I was going as fast as the car would allow yet we were now side by side, I shifted gears trying to gain momentum and managed to make it an inch before him. The second bend was insight, I spotted Cort standing at the corner, arms crossed, eyes narrowed. I glanced once more in my rear-view mirror, Analise and my dad were a short distance away battling for third position, through the corner of my eyes I noticed the close proximity of Gabe’s car to mine and tried to maneuver the car farther, he followed.

“Damn, I can’t believe he’s up to his tricks again” was the thought that slithered through my mind before he slammed into the corvette’s right side.

I cringed at the sound of metal scraping viciously against metal, my car spun off the beaten track. I tried to regain control of the vehicle which spun so fast the road blurred and I had to close my eyes to stave off the wave of dizziness that engulfed me.

When I opened them, the first thing I saw was a small boulder directly in the car's path, I tried to teleport but I was too disoriented to even move and half a second later, the car hit the rock with such force, the two windows on the car’s left side shattered, throwing splinters into the vehicle. I threw my hands up to shield my eyes and it took me two seconds to realize I was no longer in my seat. Instead, my entire body was being supported by my shoulders as the car flew upside down through the air.

After what seemed like hours, the corvette slammed into the ground with brute force, I felt a searing pain shoot up my arm and my mouth filled with warm liquid- I had bitten my tongue-. I lay there, the car still balancing on its roof. My head throbbed; I couldn’t feel my right hand and my right eye remained shut as warm liquid cascaded down my face.

In my mind’s eye I saw Gabe’s smirk before he plunged his car into mine. I growled in anger at his underhanded trick. Not for the first time I found it hard to believe I was related to that jerk, he was a hundred and three years old and he  acted like a bloody nine year old ! Anger billowed off me in waves at the thought of him winning the race, I felt my body heat up, the veins in my forehead bulged and throbbed at an unhealthy pace, I burst into a raging inferno of blue flames and the car caught fire as well.

Gabe went too far this time. I kicked what remained of the corvette’s  door open and crawled out, careful not to put any pressure on my wrist. I’d lost the race, I couldn’t believe it and it was all thanks to that cheating scumbag! Standing on two feet, I stared at the remains of my car.

“Son of a bitch!” I raged before I kicked the burning pile of useless scrap metal away from me, it flew about a hundred feet in the air and exploded when it hit the ground about a mile away. I turned and stumbled, hitting the dirt with a sickening thud, the flames died and I suddenly felt too tired to do anything but lay there covered in blood, dirt and broken glass. Not long after, I felt a pair of strong arms lift me from the ground, my head lolled to the side.

“Oh God" a broken voice whispered,

"Little Jay,  I’m so sorry…oh God” a hand hesitantly touched my cheek and something dripped on my forehead “ Oh god”. I recognized the voice. It was Gabe’s.

“Who won?” I managed to whisper through the haze of pain. I didn’t hear his reply as I drifted into the dark and welcoming abyss.

When I awoke I was alone in my room, wrapped in about half a dozen blankets, my head propped up against my pillow. I steeled myself, waiting for the pain, but I felt surprisingly numb. My lower lip felt supersized so I stuck out my tongue and came into contact with a shallow slice. I freed myself from the quilts and sat up, realizing I was naked except for a pair of striped boxer shorts. I glanced at the mirror after dragging on the pair of jeans which was draped over a nearby chair.

A wide bandage encompassed my forehead, my wrist was wrapped in thick gauze, I sported a large bruise on my cheek, just below my left eye and an even larger one on my right shoulder. Could have been worse, I thought heading for the door, my body felt stangely numb but I was determined to do  to Gabe at least half the damage he’d done to me.

“Conniving piece of-“

“Honey what are you doing out of bed?!” My mom appeared before me, a food tray in hand.

“Mom I’m fine” I whined, brushing at the hand that came to rest on my cheek. " Now where’s that cheating bastard?’

“Jasam! You will not use that type of that language in this house” she scolded “ Besides, he left about an hour ago, I’m sure he’ll be back tomorrow and when he arrives I want no fighting, is that clear? How do you feel? The morphine should wear off soon so I’d better work fast."

I glanced down at my wrist.

“ It’s broken, I was just coming up to set it, thank goodness you don’t have any more serious injuries” and I realized the tray was filled with an array of medical supplies. It was a bonus to have a doctor in the family because I couldn’t stand the thought of going out in the public sphere yet. When I was seated in bed, she kept up a string of complaints and concerns;

“…don’t like you doing anything so dangerous you’re so fragile, this is exactly why I didn’t want you racing in the first place…” I droned out her voice. The only reason she’d dubbed me as fragile was because I was the only one in the family who healed at a  human pace. Condoloids were born with special healing agents, they healed in a matter of seconds. I,on the other hand, had no such quality, this was probably due to the fact that I had so many other abilities, it would be quite unfair if I had extraordinary healing qualities as well, but I had to admit, it would have been an added bonus.

                                                       AUTHOR'S NOTES

YUP IT'S CHAP 3 EVERYONE\(^_^)/ YES YES I KNOW IT'S SHORT BUT..MEH :p I'LL MAKE IT UP TO YA ;) AS ALWAYS I HOPE U LIKE IT, DON'T FORGET TO COMMENT LETTING ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!.<3 I'LL BE UPLOADING IN THE WEEK, MAYBE TUESDAY (21/10/2012) BUT DON'T KILL ME IF IT'S NOT UP IN TIME BECAUSE I HAVE ALOT OF OTHER WORK DOING NOW. SO VOTE, COMMENT AND ENJOY! :) (not edited... yet) -DoUbLe.A