"Car Chase"

★
★
★

I bet the guards stationed around our house must have concluded me crazy after hours of berating them for not letting me out to see my mother. Blake was no exclusion. He had tried to pacify me but it worked nothing.

I was a nervous wreck.

What caused the accident?

Last I checked, mum wasn't a reckless driver. Maybe it was another stupid excuse of a human that ran into her car.

A lot of what ifs crossed my mind as I paced about in the kitchen.

Gemma entered and flashed me an apologetic look. I just let her embrace me and rub soothing lines on my back.

"She'll be fine."

I believed.

Winston and Chad appeared next with interlocked fingers. Charlie had left at some point but the three remained. However, they hid themselves away from my mental breakdown until the coast was clear.

"You look like shit." Chad commented, grunting when Winston nudged him.

"Shut up, idiot." He hissed.

Sighing, I pulled away from Gemma. "You're supposed to be comforting me, Chad."

He hangs his head with shame. "I'm sorry."

Impressed, Winston shuffles his hair. I turn to Gemma. "For your sakes, I hope you saved my mozzarella sticks."

Gemma chuckled and pulled open a  cabinet. I ripped the packaging and dug straight in while my friends gawked at me.

When we moved to the living room, dad was already walking in,  completely devastated. His tie was undone and his suit jacket was nowhere on him.

I rushed forward. He managed a small smile for my sake, wrapping his arms around me.

"How's mum?"

"She's in the hospital."

"Yeah, that's all the information I needed, dad." I say sarcastically.

He grimaces. Blake shows up beside me and tugs on my hand.

" Later, Haze."

💭💭💭

A loud thunder jolts me out of my sleep. Checking the neon red digits on my digital clock, I reckoned the time to be 5:43a.m

But why am I awake by this time?

Although it's Friday, a school day, I'm never up before six.

Impulsively, I feel around for my phone. It's hidden under the pillow.

There are a couple of messages from the group chat with my friend.

Ilovebrownies: I'm dressing up as wonder woman this year halloween  (00:54 a.m)

Chadz: I'll go as grim reaper

Grim Reaper, that's cool. I'm not even sure dad would let me out of the house until everything is fixed.

Sighing, I scrolled to Shawn's contact. I haven't seen him in days.

The call went to his voicemail so I sent him a text message.

call me when you see this. and you better have a reasonable explanation for your absence

Sighing, I glanced at the rain pouring in sheets outside my window.

It's going to be a long day.

After showering, I changed into an oversized shirt and cargo shorts. Grabbing my phone, I trailed into the kitchen.

Dad was perched on the kitchen island with a glass of some liquid trapped between his fingers.

"Good morning dad."

He glanced at me. "Morning Haze. Did you sleep good?"

Of course I didn't. My mother is in a hospital for crying out loud.

I managed a weak nod. He probably saw through my lie and sighed.

"Your mum only sustained a couple of injuries which should heal soon. But your siblings, the twins, the doctor said they might not survive the hit."

Relief flushed through me only to be crashed by the fact that the twins might be in grave danger.

"Was the driver caught?"

"There was no driver, Haze. From investigations. The brakes in her car were tampered with."

I saw red literally. What had my family done to deserve this?

A tear slid down my cheeks and I felt dad's warm arms gather me in an embrace.

Gemma said we'd be fine. I believed.

Jackie came over later that morning with two other burly men in black clothes.

They went up with dad to his study, probably to discuss security details.

While they did that, I just wasted the time with some movies and chatting with my friends who were still at school.

           ★★★

"Oh shit!" Chad swears. Winston mutters a line of imprecations and I'm too busy clutching  onto my dear life as the sharp swerve in a bend throws us from one end of my car to the other.

"Gemma slow down!" I screech, shielding my head from contact with the hard glass window.

Beside me, Charlie was struggling to locate his glasses by patting around. The poor boy. I would have helped, but for Gemma's reckless driving.

"Are we going to die?" Winston wheezed out.

"We might be if Gemma doesn't stop driving like a mad woman." I responded, finally remembering the seat belt poking my butt.

"Shut up, guys, I'm trying to save us from getting caught." Gemma snapped, her curls bouncing from side to side on her face.

Are we criminals?

Well, yeah, if you consider my friends breaking me out of my house to have some fun after being trapped in there for four days.

My phone buzzed with a message.

Pops: Hazel, you have less than two minutes to stop that car or get grounded for life. (4:56pm)

Me: not a chance dad (4:56pm)

I know he means well and would be pissed with me, but I was losing my mind for being deprived of my freedom.
Partially.

I couldn't move around the gardens without a nosy body guard showing up somehow.

My every move was scrutinised.

Today, Gemma suggested a plan and it worked. Charlie created a distraction by saying I was  in danger. The guards at the front followed him immediately to the back and Gemma, Winston and I made a dash for my car.

Charlie scaled over the fence and met up with us.

That's that.

Adrenaline completely flooded my veins.

How did Gemma learn to drive like that?

She wasn't eighteen yet. She should be in a set of Fast and Furious. Vin Diesel would be proud.

When she rounded another bend, two police cars were stationed there.

"F*ck!" Charlie swears.

Frantic, Gemma searches for a way out, but there's no road leading right or left.

"Gemma stop the car!" Winston yelled.

She immediately stepped on the brakes and not two minutes outside, we fled through the doors.

Instinctively, we split up. Charlie and me, Winston and Gemma.

Charlie and I ran into an alleyway, jogging straight ahead to reach the other side.

But before we could get there, a pair of hands grabbed me and another set, Charlie.

Struggling against them was futile because they held a damp rag against my nose until everything faded into black.

☜☜☜

Hold your pitchforks guys, I'm terribly sorry that this book has been neglected for some time.

Well, I have been working on my new book "Replacement" and got about fifteen chapters out...

So...

Forgive me for leaving you on a hold.

Don't forget to smack that star at the bottom and leave your comments below.

Thanks for reading  ♡♡♡