Lights glided the path igniting the dark night. The roars of engines filled the soundless arena which was barren just before the setting.

It was like a festival. My safe heaven.

With a smile on my face and light steps on my feet, I juggled popcorn with coke on one hand, while I held my phone on the other, calling the only person for whom I had come all this way. I made my way through the crowd, snaking my way to the spot that I usually took.

The call went straight to voice mail and I cursed under my breath. Why was he not picking my call? I climbed up the stairs, making my way towards the seat that was reserved for me. It wasn't exactly a seat, just a railing to lean on, but it gave a great view.

Dan was in position, his hands on the Bluetooth that was connected to his ear. He was looking at the big screen in front of him, the hi-fi stuff, as he called it and looked very well at ease. When he heard my footsteps, his face spilled into a smile and his hands lifted up in air for a small wave.

"He's already out there, Scar." He said pointing at my hand which held the phone. "It's about to start in minutes now."

"Oh, thanks Dan." I said, walking towards my usual spot. I picked up my jacket that I had hung on the railing before I left to get popcorn. I proudly put on the cap which read ES and munched on the snacks that I had bought for me.

I liked it here - this spot. Along with giving me the good view, the spot gave me the privilege to get along with the guys. It was almost like a family outside family.

The arena, now looked posh, well almost. If it weren't for the dirty unkempt hair and torn clothes, I would have thought that I was in the Oscar award show. I could see a few girls flirting with the men while the other few had managed to get a make-out session. Two well-built men were quarreling amid themselves, never once forgetting to pour down their beer that lay stubbornly in their hands.

"Ladies and Gentleman!" The voice came. I knew it was Jake, the announcer, who was often at the tracks. I had met him a few times when I had been there and he seemed very kind to me, unlike the others who always tried to flirt and get my attention. "I hope you are sitting on the edges tonight! Because tonight it's going to be a spectacular night!"

I smiled and shook my head, taking a sip from the coke. He always said that almost all nights. There was something in his voice that made even a cat pissing in its cage seem wonderful. It was the sole reason why he was hired to do the announcements every freaking time.

"The racers have put a bet on all their belongings for this one tonight!" The crowd, on hearing this went crazy with a lot of hoots. My breathing almost stopped with the new information.

"What?" I screamed, turning around at the guys who did the internal job before a race. "What the hell?"

"Relax love, it doesn't include humans." Dan spoke back, holding his Bluetooth in place. "Trust me, if that was the case, I would have been behind the wheels right now."

My Dad was one of the racers tonight and hearing Jake say the bet, made me go nuts. If my Dad, may God forbade, lost the race, then would we lose everything? The house, the garage and our self esteem?

"Why didn't Dad tell me this?" I wondered out loud.

"Don't worry I won't let ES fail." Dan said, showing me his Bluetooth.

I smiled. "Thanks." And just like that, I believed him, comforted by his words.

Dan was one of the best racers one could ever have. But he was forbidden from the tracks since he had some history, as everyone said. But in reality, no one actually knew what had really happened. Dad, when he met Dan, saw his potential and now, they worked together for every race with my Dad behind the wheel and Dan on the Bluetooth as my Dad's eyes and ears.

I took a deep breath before I turned to face the tracks again. It was not the first race that Dad was driving for, and I was sure that he would win this one too.

"... so keep them till the race ends." Jake was saying, probably about the bets the crowds made. "The race will begin in five, folks."

My phone buzzed. I threw the empty popcorn packet to the nearest dustbin and checked the phone. It was my Dad.

"You there yet?" He asked as soon as I received the call. I rolled my eyes, how typical. "I've been trying your cell for like hours now."

"I had an extra class, Dad." I said, looking at his car from where I stood. "I'm at my usual place." From the car, he put his head out and looked at me. I waved as my eyes landed on him.

"Good." He said, with a smile of his own. "How was school?"

"Dad, I want to talk to you." I said, not answering his questions. "Why didn't I know about the bets? Do you understand what's at risk here?"

"Honey, this is like a jackpot for you. I can get all the money for your college in this. Trust me. Listen, I got to go." He said in a hurry. "I'll talk with you after the race. Love you."

"I love you. Win it." I said, as I cut the call heaving a sigh. My Dad always had ways to escape from reality.

"Are you ready?" It was Jake on the mic now. "We have about ten well known racers tonight riding for their belongings." I looked at the car which my Dad drove. It was blue and white in color. "Are the racers ready?"

All the cars that stood in line as the maintenance guys checked the tire and the suspension of the vehicles. The racers honked loudly indicating that they were ready.

"Let the race begin in three, two, one and go!" Jake screamed at the mic , his voice echoing through the whole area. There were whistles and hoots and shouting as the cars zoomed one after the other.

My lips curved upwards as soon as I heard the roar of the engines. There was something in the sound that made my adrenaline rush to my brain keeping me excited.

My Dad never let me drive, not even to my school. When all my friends got their cars, showing off their new possession, I took the bus every day. Dad always said that it was better to keep the expenses at bay with my bus travelling.

Though I knew he was scared that I might become a racer, just like him, I only wanted a car of my own so that I didn't have to depend on anyone if I had to go somewhere.

"Supporting ES, huh?" Came a voice behind me. I twirled around to see who it was but I couldn't recognize the face. "Edward Stone looks too old for you, doesn't he?"

"What?" I said, my blood already boiling. Who was he to pass a judgemental comment without knowing who was I? "Who the fuck are you?"

"Someone who knows a little better than you." He said, walking towards me. Through the years I had been in the tracks, I had come across a lot of jerks and my Dad had thought me a few ninja moves to help me in cases like these. I turned towards him, ready to fight if he was to make any funny moves.

"But you look like a dim wit who doesn't even know about his team." I said, noting his jacket which supported ES too. If he continued with this attitude, I was sure I would be using those moves on him the very next second.

"You are good at observing." He mused, looking at me. The lights fell on his face and it was the first time I took his features in.

He had a crooked smile, mischievous even when he squint his eyes at the light. His forehead had a deep scar which ran till his eyebrows. It wasn't that noticeable but with the light falling on it, it was hard not to miss. He needed a good haircut and a shower, but then again everyone in the track stunk.

"So what are you doing out here alone?" He asked when I was giving him a dirty glare.

"I didn't know I needed permission." I said without missing a beat.

He pulled his hair back and gave me a toothy grin. "Anyway, why are you supporting Edward Stone? We all know there are others who are better off than him."

"What the hell?" I shouted, not able to contain my anger any longer. "Who do you think you are? Looking at you, I can tell you are new here. Being new, you still have a lot of manners to learn at the track. But before anything, you first have to learn to at least respect the driver of your own fucking team."

I was breathing heavily as I ranted, telling him to mind his own business in words of my own.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there." He said, putting his hands up in the air. "I didn't know those things worked anymore. I didn't mean any harm."

The crowd went up with a big cheer and I looked at the track, ignoring the jerk, who stood next to me. The racers had completed their two laps and they still had three more to go. ES, my Dad drove second. At that moment no one could be more delighted than me.

"See, he's driving way too fast to reach to the second spot." The shit bag commented pointing towards my Dad's car.

"That's the way you try to get to the first place." I said, my blood pounding in my ears hearing him make a comment.

I had been going to these races since a very long time. The co-workers were always busy with their own schedules to keep me company, not that it bothered, but it made me enjoy the race on my own, just the way I liked it. But this guy, whom I hadn't even see once in all the times I had been here making unwanted comments, got to my nerve.

My Dad was hit at the bumper by the second person who was driving and he had to slow down a bit. "See, that's what I was talking about."

A nanosecond later, Dad steered the wheel, hitting the gas to his full swing. I heard Dan shout into his Bluetooth at the farther end of the hall where I stood. Within seconds, my Dad raced his way through and made it to the second position.

"Look idiot, ES is in the second position." I said, proud evident in my voice.

"Looks like it." He said. "I'm Bert, by the way." He extended his hand towards me. The guy who called himself Bert was the one who insulted my Dad; I was not ready to befriend him. I stared right ahead of me, looking at the cars that zoomed.

The car which was in the first position was of Ashley's, the only woman racer. My Dad was trying to get her behind him, using the oldest trick. He was trying to rub her car to one end, making her reduce her speed. And Ashley was not bulging a bit, creating sparks throughout the way.

"He's making a mistake." Bert spoke, to which I refused to listen. "I'm correct, right?"

"What?" I said, clearly irritated. "I think you are mistaken here."

"See," He pointed at my Dad's car, leaning towards me as he explained. "Edward is trying to rub her off."

"No shit, Sherlock." I commented with my eye roll.

"But, Ashley is trying to win it." He shrugged.

"How do you know?" I asked mainly because I knew Dad was going to win it either way. I had seen his trick for years now and I just knew it. There was a glint in my eyes that waited to see this Bert go speechless when my Dad would make it to the finish line as the winner.

But Bert, being the jerk he was, was proud that I had asked him and started explaining about the tiniest of the mistakes Dad was making.

I just couldn't stop myself from rolling my eyes at him.

"If Ed goes on like that for another five minutes max, Ashley will take that as an advantage, if she has the brains that is." I smiled. "Ashley can slow down her car for not more than two seconds when Ed is at it."

"Okay." I said, unsure of what he was saying. I took a sip from the coke that I had brought along with me.

"Because of the force, you see, Ed might end up in Ashley's position while she in his." He said, leaning against the railing. "It will become the other way round."

"But then, Ed can do the same to her right?" I asked, trying to prove him wrong. "Won't it become a cycle?"

"You are smart." He complimented and I felt like hitting my head to the same railing I was leaning on. I couldn't believe this guy. He was so full of himself and I felt like an idiot for making a conversation with the guy who had insulted my Dad. "You are right though. But since Ashley has thought about it first, she will not let that happen."

I rolled my eyes at his stupid comeback. "How is that possible?" I asked. "Won't the inertia be more?"

"Yes, Ashley will use the same force to make her win." Bert said, looking at me. "She will again slow down a bit, and let Ed come get her. At one point, when Ed has almost reached her, she will hit on the gas, colliding a little at his bumper."

"Will she go down?" I asked, not able to hide my curiosity.

"No," He laughed and I knew he was only boasting. "Ed, instead of driving parallel to the track, goes sideways. The other riders behind him might not anticipate this. Then the shows over."

"Wow, you are good at this." I said sarcastically. But he took it as a compliment, pulling his hair to one side, grinning like an idiot that he was.

"Well you could say that." He said, raising one eyebrow at me, bragging about himself.

I shook my head unable to believe him. He was impossible. I wonder how he was given a job here—he was neither muscular nor was he modest.

I turned back at the track to see the cars race past one another. I saw my Dad was still trying to rub Ashley off. The words that Bert had just mentioned, was coming back to me and a layer of thick tension clouded my brain.

This was the exact reason why I never mingled with the crew. I wanted to enjoy the race, not fret about it. I understand that there are winners and losers, and one would get into a greater accident during these things, but as Dad always said that it didn't matter what others said as long as one loved it.

And he loved racing.

But now, seeing him trying to win, keeping almost everything at stake, gave me goosebumps, keeping me in the edge. May be this was what Jake was talking about earlier.

"Hey, don't worry." Bert said, sensing my silence. "Edward has been driving for almost a decade and he knows what he's doing. Besides, Dan will help him through."

"Yeah" I said, letting out a breath I didn't know I held.

I had started blaming everything on Bert for planting this idea in my head, taking way the leisure I held when I was watching the races.

Just as I kept my eyes on the track, at the fourth lap, I saw Ashley slow down her pace. "Bert, what is she doing?" I asked, tension evident in my voice.

I did not hear him say anything and I knew Dad was in trouble. "I think I need to go check on Dan." He said instead.

"I'm coming with you." I said walking along with him.

Dan and the other crew people stood there watching the scene unfold in front of them. Dan was giving instructions as to what has to be done on his Bluetooth. Though his voice seemed calm, his face gave everything away.

"Dan, tell him to slow his pace." Bert said.

"I know." He said, not keeping his eyes away from the track. "But he's not able to."

"What do you mean?" I asked, hardly able to concentrate on the words that fumbled around me. There was strain around us, as they spoke to one another, asking why Dad was not racing well this time.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Dan asked, as soon as he heard my voice. "No, Ed just focus. Keep your head clear, alright?"

What was happening? The way Dan was looking at the manager was giving me creeps because I knew something was wrong.

The only person who could analyse this shit was Bert, I decided.

"Bert," I said. The moment he locked eyes with me, I knew he had already analyzed. The questions I wanted to ask died in my mouth, scared to know what the answers held in store for me.

"Get out." Was the only thing he said after pushing me to the railings I stood earlier.

I knew I had to be strong. I knew I had to keep it together. But it was my Dad, the only person who still held the meaning of home for me.

The only thing that bothered me was no one told me that everything was going to be okay when I desperately wanted to hear it. I took a deep breath and slowly made my way towards the railings, holding my tears at bay.

I saw Ashley slow down her pace for a second, just as Bert had mentioned. I started to wonder if Bert was some black magician from the opposite team throwing tantrums at my Dad.

Within seconds, their spots were interchanged and it was Ashley who was rubbing my Dad off now. She pressed on the gas and hit my Dad at the other end of the car. My Dad's car twirled in a circular fashion unable to control the vehicle with such speed. The car spun around as the smoke rose making it unable to see the car.

I held my breath as the other vehicles zoomed past the smoke. The third vehicle which tried to get through, hit the whirling car and it tumbled over.

"NO!" I shrieked. As some smoke cleared, I saw that the car was still spinning. It made its way into the infield. The bumper and the other side of the car had jammed. The hood had come out lose and suddenly, I had forgotten how to breathe.

My Dad was visible from where I stood and I saw that he was bleeding. He was waving at the crew and seemed to shout, probably asking for help. The scene that unraveled in front of me was so disturbing and involuntarily my tears had made their way to my cheeks.

I ran along with the crew, but Dan pushed me away saying something that I didn't understand. "Who the hell do you think you are to push me away?" I demanded, wiping my face. "He's my Dad for heaven's sake!"

"Scarlet Stone." Dan said in a calm voice, holding my shaking shoulders in place. "I won't let anything happen to Ed. Trust me on that."

"But..." I started to reason, my tears starting fresh.

"But, you have to stay here till we get Ed out of here, okay?" He asked, still with his irritatingly calm voice. "It's dangerous out there and you know it."

"Dan—"

"Please Scar."

The very next moment everything seemed to blur. Though people were running and dashing me, but I felt nothing. I knew this was a night that was changing my life, taking me into unknown paths with no one by my side.