♕✿~♕✿~Chapter 33//: The art of stealing a car♕✿~♕✿~

Madison's POV

Arenal paces the room very slowly, her movement mimicking that of a predator. My eyes follow her movement nervously as I shake my leg up and down to combat the adrenaline pumping through me.

She comes to a stop in front of me, the table being the only thing separating us. She slaps her hands down on the tabletop, and I jump a mile in my seat, my heart racing maniacally.

"What details can you remember of the Rogue Dawn base?" she questions me. I swallow the lump in my throat.

"I don't really remember a lot. I didn't get to see much of the Rogue Dawn base. I was kept down in the prison for the majority of the time, and I was blindfolded whenever I was taken out of the prison. I escaped during night, and I wasn't paying much attention to my surroundings while escaping," I tell her truthfully.

Silence collects in the air surrounding us, and I start jostling my leg once again out of nervousness. I tap my fingers against my legs, but stop quickly and place my hands underneath my legs, losing the feel of them soon enough.

Arenal finally speaks up. "What do you know about the leader?"

I rack my brain for anything to tell her. I didn't have too much information on him, really. "I think he's of Calore descent. Or maybe a Newblood. He has fire abilities. And his hair is disturbingly similar to Ahre-Prince Ahren," I correct myself. I fall into silence, indicating that's all I have to offer her. I don't bother telling her I knew Nathan as a child. I just didn't feel like giving up information like that to her.

"How did you escape, exactly?" Arenal clasps her hands behind her back, looking at me expectantly.

"Lucas used his abilities to weaken the bars of my cell and Damon's. Lucas created a distraction, and we escaped through a hole in the fence surrounding the base." How long have I even been here? It felt like time was moving slowly in here.

Arenal stands there in front me, only watching me and not saying anything in reply to what I've just told her. I shift uncomfortably in my seat.

Suddenly, the door to the room squeals open and a Scarlet Guard member walks in. The man looks old enough to be around my father's age. He walks quickly to Arenal and whispers to her about something, expressing his words with hand movements.

Arenal's brows furrow, and she whispers back to him questioningly. He doesn't hesitate to answer her quickly.

I only catch words like "dead", "found", "palace", and "Rogue Dawn". When I hear about the Rogue Dawn, my interest peaks, and I try to get more out of the whispered conversations, but it seems as if their voices have become quieter, making it practically impossible to hear anything else.

After a nod of understanding from Arenal, the man salutes to her and leaves. Arenal looks back at me with a quizzical look on her face.

"You can go. It's lunch time; food is being served in the dining hall." Arenal dismisses me with these words and a wave of her hands. I quickly get up from the seat and escape the room.

Walking across the perimeter of the Scarlet Guard, I try to get rid of the adrenaline in my body, making my heart race fast. The interrogation had been intimidating, even though I didn't like admitting it. For some reason, I had felt like I was guilty of something. I hope that I will never have to be interrogated like that again.

The chatter of the dining hall greets me. Sounds from T.V.s around the room blare as people eat the food. I join the line of people getting food, and only pick up a bowl of soup and bread when I get to the front of the line. I had learned the hard way that I couldn't just stuff myself with food after not having an adequate amount of it for a certain time period. The first day I had arrived here and quickly ate the food offered to me resulted in me ending up in front of the toilet later on.

I look around the crowded room, trying to locate the heads of Lucas and Damon, or even Evelyn at this point. I just wanted to be in the company of people I know.

After a while, I spot Lucas and Damon at a table, by themselves. The Scarlet Guard members have been avoiding the three of us like we had the plague and they would contract the disease if they were anywhere near us. I move towards them with my tray of food.

When I arrive at the table, Lucas is intently watching the T.V. closest to us, and Damon is doing the same.

As soon as I place my food down and settle down in the chair, I turn to focus on the T.V. as I spoon some soup into my mouth. I recognize the familiar background of the Norta news.

The news anchor can't really be heard since everyone was talking. But the headlines beneath her provided enough information to shock me.

The crown prince, Ahren Calore, announces his coronation.

The news anchor continues to speak, and I watch attentively for the headlines to change. I feel the urge to tell everyone to shut up so that I can listen, but I stop myself.

Only a moment later, the headlines change. And the new words there make my eyes widen.

Coronation is to happen in two days time.

You have got to be kidding me. Please, oh please, tell me this is some joke, I think desperately in my head. If this was actually to happen, life was truly being cruel. His coronation couldn't be happening in two days. His planned murder could not be happening in two days. It's too soon, too sudden.

I turn to Lucas and Damon, who look back at me with troubled expressions that mirror my thoughts.

"So we have to find a way to get to the palace in two days' time," Lucas states in disbelief.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Damon exclaims. I shake my head, stirring my soup mindlessly with my spoon. My appetite becomes nonexistent and I sigh as I stand up and throw the food away. Lucas and Damon follow my action. We all walk out of the dining hall and out of the building.

The weather is perfect, not too hot and not too cold. I wish I could enjoy it, but I can't now that I know Ahren will die in two days if we don't find a way to get to the palace before then.

"It's impossible!" Damon says loudly, breaking the silence. He turns to us, and we all stop walking. "There's no way we can get to Archeon in time when we don't have any means of transportation except for our legs. Lucas himself said that it takes hours to get there with a car. We won't be getting to the prince's coronation in time."

His words start to blend in with background noise as I watch a group of Scarlet Guard members drive back into the base after a routine check up around the perimeter. I watch them intensely, a thought forming in my head.

"Earth to Madison?" Lucas snaps his fingers in front of my face. I turn my head towards them but my eyes stat glued to the Scarlet Guard members. It takes a lot of effort for me to finally remove my eyes from them. I look at Damon and Lucas with a smile.

"You said we need a car to get to Archeon in time, right?" I ask them. They nod.

"Remember what I said before when we were talking about possible plans we could follow in order to get to Archeon?" This time, they nod slowly looking at me suspiciously.

"Yeah, you had talked about stealing a-" Damon stops suddenly and stares at me wide eyed. "Don't tell me-"

I shrug innocently. "That's the only way we'll get to Archeon in time. And I see a free car right over there." I point to the car the Scarlet Guard members had just driven in.

Lucas and Damon both turn to look at the car. Damon is the first to look at me with the sane smile I had graced them when the idea had formulated in my head. Lucas looks back at me with an impressed look on his face.

"I would have never thought you would be the type of person to steal a car," Damon tells me with amusement. I shrug, a smile forming on my face.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," I tell him, looking at the car and already forming a plan in my head on how we can take it.

I can't even believe I'm considering doing this. Three months ago, I would have never fathomed the idea that I would be doing this: contemplating stealing a car. It was absolutely crazy. It was dangerous. Yet I was willing to do it just to prevent a death.

Damon immediately says he'll help me, and I'm not surprised because he already looks overly ecstatic at the idea of participating in something dangerous like stealing a car from a rebel group armed with guns. Lucas hesitates before saying he'll come along and help as well.

Now all that was left to do was to steal the car and leave.

♡

It's night time. The day has wasted away, and I've been waiting anxiously for the sun to go down and to give us the cover of darkness. Now that the time has come for us to execute our plan, I was nervous. I was so anxious for this to all be over that I was ready to collapse under the pressure.

I turn to Lucas and Damon, who are strapping on some small pistols they had snatched from the shooting range when no one was looking to their pants. I hold only a small kitchen knife I had swiped from dinner. It wasn't much of a weapon, but I felt more safe with it even if I wasn't exactly trained on how to use a knife. But it couldn't be too difficult to use one. I mean, all I had to do was jab, right?

Damon takes the lead this time, going up to our room door to open it. But the door swings open before he can even grasp the door handle.

I immediately recognize Evelyn, who arches a brow at the three of us. We looked pretty suspicious; all out of our beds and dressed to leave, with guns hanging from Damon's and Lucas' pants.

"I just came here to deliver a message from Captain Arenal to you guys, but..." she trailed off as she made eye contact with Damon. They seemed to have a silent conversation before Evelyn realizes exactly what was going on.

"You guys are planning to leave already?" she says. No one says anything in the room.

She's silent as well before looking at us individually. "You guys are in Delphie right now," she quietly informs us. "You'd better leave now. Almost everyone is asleep."

None of us move, and it's easy to realize that Damon and Lucas aren't trusting of her, as am I. It was suspicious that she was telling us this.

"Is this just another one of your tricks?" Damon asks her darkly. She narrows her eyes in annoyance at him and crosses her arms across her chest.

"No! Just...just accept my help. Not everything I say is a lie," she mumbles crossly.

"I find that hard to believe," Damon simply states.

Evelyn rolls her eyes, already exasperated with us. "Whatever. Believe me, or don't believe me. I don't care at this point. I just want to make up for that time in the Rogue Dawn prison," she tells Damon.

Silence. Then, in a quiet voice: "...Thanks. I guess."

Evelyn simply leaves after her brother utters those words, leaving the door wide open for us. We walk out soon after she leaves.

When we reach the exit, Damon carefully looks outside before telling us it's safe to go. I try to act natural, walking calmly across the grass like I'm not planning on stealing a car.

"There." Lucas points out a truck coming in from the night patrols. The Scarlet Guard members in the truck drive past us, coming to a stop a few feet away from us. They pile out of the car and start to unload some boxes in the back.

As Damon, Lucas, and I loiter around, waiting for the perfect chance to jump in and drive off, one of the boxes drops from a Scarlet Guard member's grasp. The box breaks open to reveal shiny metal. Guns.

This wasn't a night patrol. This had been a supply gathering, I realize. They had been out collecting guns. I wonder where their supplies come from. Do they have benefactors? Or do they steal them?

All of the guard members swoop in to collect the guns and get them out of plain sight as quickly as possible. Now was our chance. I start to walk quickly to the car, Lucas and Damon following behind me.

The Scarlet Guard members hear our footsteps and look up, but it's too late. Quickly glancing inside the window, I can see the key has been left in the ignition switch. I open the driver's side, and quickly hop in, closing the door behind me. Damon and Lucas quickly get into the car as well. I lock the car doors just as a Scarlet Guard member grabs the door handle to yank it open and drag me out.

The other members surround the car, trying to get the doors open. They stupidly try to yank the doors open, as if the lock will suddenly break for them and let them at us. I turn the keys and the engine roars to life.

Suddenly, a bang emanates. We all turn around to see one of the members has resorted to using the butt of the new guns to try and break the window by Damon. I grip the steering wheel, trying to prepare myself to drive off.

"Drive now, Madison!" Lucas yells at me frantically as a guard climbs up the car to whack the windshield with a gun. A small crack forms.

My palms are sweaty now, and my hands are shaking. My vision is dizzy from the lack of oxygen to my brain due to my shallow breathing. I stare at the controls of the car, trying to figure it all out in my moment of panic.

"I...I've never driven a car before," I admit to them nervously as my hand hovers over the gear stick, trying to figure out how to use it.

Lucas and Damon look at me with incredulous and shocked looks. "What the hell do you mean you've never driven a car before?" Damon asks in shock.

"It means I've never driven a car before, all right?" I yell back frustratedly back at him. I was ready to break down right then and there from my anxiety and panic. I grasp the gear stick and pull it back, hearing the gears change. There were letters imprinted, but I didn't know what they meant. I pull the gear stick, hoping for the best.

"Hurry the hell up, Madison!" Damon shouts as the window next to him breaks. He curses loudly and promptly kicks the guard member in the face, knocking the man away from the window. Others take his spot.

Now, Damon is trying his best to kick at the members trying to climb their way in through the car. One almost gets in, but Damon repeatedly kicks at him until he finally gives up. An older woman tightly grabs onto Damon's foot, stopping him from hurting anyone else.

We are so going to die because of my lack of driving skills, I think glumly as I take a chance and press down hard on one of the pedals by my feet. We shoot forward, and we're all thrown back in our seats.

"Holy fuck!" Damon yells out as  the car speeds away, the shouts of the Scarlet Guard members following us. I let go of the pedal in a panic, and the car slows down.

"Keep on going!" Lucas yells at me as he looks behind us. I press down on the pedal again, making sure to not press down as hard as last time.

"Where do I go?!" I shout in panic as I steer around the buildings shakily. The fence was coming up.

"Just get out of here!" Damon yells. I press down a bit harder on the pedal as I gain speed on the fence surrounding the base.

"I regret agreeing to this!" Lucas shouts fearfully as he holds onto the seat for dear life as the car speeds towards the fence. I can't help but agree with his statement.

The car breaks through the fence. My hand instinctively tightens on the steering wheel as I drive on. So far, there were no obstacles like trees to make me slow down. I keep up my speed, only slowing down when I feel like we are far enough from the base.

We're all silent. Lucas is still clinging onto his chair, and I can only imagine Damon is in the same position from my crazy driving. I decide to break the silence.

"That," I start, "was awesome!" Now that I was successfully out of the stressful situation, I felt exhilarated. I laugh loudly, and see Lucas look at me like I'm mentally insane.

"You are absolutely crazy," Lucas tells me.

"I am never going to get into a car you are driving ever again," Damon states from behind. Lucas voices his agreement.

♕✿~♕✿~♕✿~♕✿~♕✿~

Wow, I think this was my longest chapter written so far in this book!

I was thinking about splitting this chapter into two, but I decided against it. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Madison's driving "skills" are totally based on my driving. Even after 6 months of driving, I still have a LOT to learn haha. I'm pretty sure I give my parents heart attacks every time I drive on the road. I remember when I first got my permit, I had driven my parents to the nearest Lowe's and was trying to park. My dad got out of the car to direct me and told me to stop, but instead of pressing the brake, I pressed the gas xD Ah, memories. Are any of you guys driving yet? If so, do you guys have any bad driving experiences?

Hope you all have a great week!

Glass_Sword