Nevada was a dry area with the scorching sun up in the air, laughing at our tanned skin. Most of the valleys in Nevada was utilized for racing since they set up a natural death trap if we afforded a misstep. Even the people were used to such environments and circumstances the races held.

But ever since we had scheduled a race in the region, it had become festive.

"Ready?" Robert asked, coming into the tent that was placed for the racers. Though it was giving some shadow from the sun, it didn't help to keep my already sweaty palms, calm. Robert who once looked like a guy in need of a good bath, now was like a model. Tom Cruise would shy away if he saw how Rob looked.

He had worn a light blue button up shirt, full arms but it was folded till his elbows. His signature goggles hung proudly on his eyes, as his messy hair took the space on his forehead. He looked casual for someone who was supposed to be my coach. It was as if he had come for vacation, too cool to even drop a sweat.

He removed his goggles away and stuck it on his shirt. Moving towards me, he sat on the stool, letting a small smirk play on his lips.

"Are you home sick or were you just missing me a little too much?" He asked, squinting his eyes to look at me.

I wasn't homesick though. Sure, I worried about Dad back home, since Dan was here with us, but my friends had made sure to take care of him for me. They told me not to worry about anything and I should be concentrating on my work.

I heard Robert sigh. "Babe, come on, you are going to be fine."

He placed his hand on mine, making me look at him. Though there were jitters all over, there was some feeling I couldn't point my finger at. He smiled affectionately at me, making me forget all the reasons to be nervy.

I saw a lopsided smile on his face and I knew I was going to be fine. He drew involuntary circles on my palm looking at me. There was some expression on his face that I couldn't read, but it seemed close to a calmness that I had never seen before.

"You just don't have to worry, okay?" Robert said, running his hands over his curly hairs with his other hand. "I'll be there with you."

His assurance was enough to pull me in. Into the safe zones that Rob created just for me. His words were the killer guns that I had to own to face the races and he was lenient in giving them promptly to me. When I stared back at him, my questions ready to be put out, he tucked one of my hair strands behind my ear.

"What is it, baby?"

"Do you promise to take care of me... in the tracks?" I asked, in a small voice. I had seen a few Nevada races and I knew how deadly they could be. All the scenes from my mother's race was coming back and I didn't know if I could hold it in. "Do you?" I repeated, eager to have the lost sureness.

"Always." He pulled me into his embrace, answering all my uncertainties. All our previous fights forgotten, we stood together as one, ready to face anyone who were against us. "I will take care of you, all the time."

We heard a flutter outside the tent and we jumped and stood afar from each other, not wanting to get caught in the intimate moment that we were in.

"Kids!" Calvin came by, with a big smile on his face.

Though it had been only three hours since we landed, Calvin had already caught the sun. The more redder he looked, the more funnier it became.

"Are you ready?" Calvin asked, rubbing his hands together. "It's all getting set up there. Give another hour or so, it should be fine."

"No problem." I said. Even though I felt like I would be crumpling in another second, my voice was steady and filled with confidence that I didn't know I had it in me. "I'll just gear up by then."

"This outfit doesn't make you look like a racer, you know?" Calvin said, eyeing me top to toe. "You should dress more classy or in track suits if that's what you prefer. And your hair, what's it with the bun? Are you a grandma?"

"Calvin, come on." Robert said, coming to my rescue as soon as Calvin had commented on my dressing sense. "Babe, it's you who is racing. Wear whatever you want as long as you are comfortable."

"Thank you." I told him, giving a sheepish smile to him.

"Fine, but you also need to keep in mind that you are building a brand now." Calvin stressed. "You should be more trending, maybe get a hair cut or something. You know what I mean."

"Calvin, one second." I said, ignoring his harsh comments. "Here are my cards."

"Cards?" One of Calvin's eyes shrunk in wonder. He took the cards from my hand and looked at them. Though the seriousness the visiting cards were giving him were true, he did his best to mask it. "Edward works in wonder."

I gave out a nervous laugh. "It's good to start early, right?"

"It sure is!" Robert supported me.

"Okay, it'll work." Calvin shook one of the cards, like he was getting some air. "I'll spread it around when people ask for you. I actually wanted you to get one. Seemed like Edward bet me, eh?"

"He's still trying to be faster." I shrugged. Just then there was a beep in Calvin's phone and the moment he looked at it, he seemed alarmed. He gave a look to Robert and I felt Robert straighten up. "What's going on?"

"Ashley's on her way here." Calvin said and it seemed forced. "Scarlet, you don't have to worry anything about it, we will take care of it."

"Why is she coming here?" I asked, moving towards Robert for support. "Is she participating too?"

"No, her team is." Calvin corrected. "Seems like she wants to cheer you before the race."

"Sure she does." I heard Robert mutter.

Everything seemed to roll off faster and I didn't know where I should be looking to make myself more ready to face the situation. A smiling Ashley came into the tent with a two men behind her, standing next to her with their hands crossed like they were her bodyguards.

Her face was shining as she had caught the sun. The lighter areas were glittering while the darker one's reflected them. If she didn't have that crocked smile on her face, I would have mistaken her for a Goddess.

Her energy was something I was mesmerized with. There was something light with how she carried herself while she could also give someone a death statement.

"Scarlet Stone." Ashley said, pulling away her glassy blue goggles out of her eyes. Her smile was infectious, but I held my ground and stared at her, scared about the things that she had for me. "I heard that you are racing and I thought, why don't I come and watch you."

She shrugged with a smile on her face, as if she genuinely wanted to share the up and downs of the race with me.

"Great." I said. It was shocking to me that my voice wasn't trembling like I felt inside me. "I hope you enjoy it, if you will, I should be getting ready for it."

I walked around the tent, trying to reach for something so that it would make me busy.

"Just like your Dad." I heard her say and I stopped short. I turned around to see her shaking her head sideways, her colored hair waving along with her head. "Trying to avoid the best thing that ever happened."

My whole body turned into attention mode, trying to work out what it was all about. I knew that both of them were racers and had raced together, but what I didn't know was if they knew each other.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked.

Instead of answering the questions that was thrown at her, she walked around the tent, searching and touching the brown material of the tent on her way. Her bell bottom pants hid her heels as she motioned for her body guards to stand where they were as she sauntered around.

"You race well." She said, ignoring my questions. I looked at Calvin and Robert, silently asking them if they knew what she was talking about. "Your parent's were racers, right? It must have been in your blood."

"What do you want, Ashley?" I asked, my patience wearing out.

There was a deadly laugh, not too loud, not too light. "I want to have my wins, Scarlet. I always have."

"Yes," I said. "I'm racing you after three months. I remember."

"Smart mouth, isn't she, Calvin?" Ashley looked at him with a smile. Calvin looked away, not wanting to answer her. "Anyway, I don't want to talk about the other races and get your spirits down."

"Good to know." I muttered looking away.

I was angry with the whole setup of her wanting to talk to me. What was left to talk anyway? She had snatched up the tiny ray of sunshine that was left with me. After all that, she was here taunting me and wanting to talk to me before the match to spoil all my race energy on her.

A cunning person hid behind that beautiful and positive smile and it made me wonder if she was wicked underneath all that glamour and concern.

"Well, good luck out there, little Stone." She said, her voice was dripping with menace and I wished she had never come here to tell me to give my best. "You don't want to follow your father's foot steps, now."

At that, I jumped up on her, but Robert caught me before I could get my hands on her. At my attempt, she laughed. "Oh, Scarlet. Why are you so angry? It's supposed to be me." She flipped her hair for more effect. "Did you say hi for your Dad for me last time? I bet he had wonderful stories to tell about me."

All my struggles to hit her resumed and I started pondering about her statements over in my head.

"Anyway, you should be doing your best out there." She smiled, putting back her goggles. "You don't want to lose thinking that you'll be showing all your moves to me now."

---

I was mad, but more than that I was confused. Things that Ashley said had certainly dug up a hole in my brain and I was digging deeper and deeper thinking about the things she told me. There was something she wanted to tell me and she was talking in puzzles, not giving me all the information to fry about.

She confirmed that she and Dad knew each other from before the race. If I thought about the way she spoke, I could tell that they were close. If they were close, how had I not heard about her before? She had come into the picture only a few months before this whole fiasco started.

"What are you seeing, Scarlet?" Robert asked through the microphone we had stuck upon our ears.

After Ashley's speech I had buckled up with fire resistant and water resistant jacket, one on top of another making me look fatter than what I already was. With a helmet and a darker shaded aviators, I was made to sit in a trendy sports car for the race.

The race now didn't intimidate me. All my focus was on the talks I had with Ashley. She had successfully made her way into the depths of my brain, searching for the answers that I didn't know. She had created layers of doubts and had questioned my beliefs that I wanted nothing but to get to the bottom of them all.

"Scarlet, are you there?" Robert's voice was louder this time.

The race was simple, except the fact that the earpieces couldn't see where we were going through. Unlike all the previous races I had been to, circling in the same tracks, this one asked for the racers to move about the whole of the valley, take in the scenery and get back to the finish line in one piece.

Robert had sat with me giving me instructions to keep talking to him all time since he couldn't reach me any other way. I had to tell him what I see and we would discuss what to do within the next five seconds and decide on my move.

"Scarlet Stone!" Robert shouted again.

"There's a cliff in front of me." I answered, ignoring his questions. There were a lot of stuff in my mind to think straight, let alone converse about the things I saw in front of me. "It's very narrow."

"What the fuck are you thinking about?" Robert scolded me. "Be in the game and fry your brains later."

There were cameras placed for every mile or so and I was sure that I looked as clueless as a headless chicken.

"Reduce your goddamned speed and veer it through." Robert instructed. I could tell that he was very mad, considering he didn't like it when I put my personal monologue in the game. "I swear I'm going to tear you up, if you ever mess this."

I nodded subconsciously, trying my best to make sure that I was being okay. Every contestant had to pass through this cliff to make it to the end, which was way too narrow to make a pass. The other side of the cliff was pretty deep to find a body if it ever fell through.

"There's another car in front of me." I said, looking at another one.

Robert had told me that I had an upper hand since I was still a beginner. All I had to do was perform differently in each race I raced and make sure that the opponent whoever was watching would blow their mind up, just figuring me out.

Pretty simple.

I had rolled my eyes at him. Simple, my ass.

"Let it pass, slow down." Robert said. "No matter what happens you just keep talking to me, okay?"

"Okay." I agreed. I wondered if Robert was doubtful of me making it through. "I'm just going to follow him."

The car in front of me, had gone fast and I knew I needed to go slow. I followed him slowly, making sure that all my four tyres were on the ground.

"Slow, babe." Robert murmured. "I can see you on the cam, you are doing great."

There were a number of cameras at this junction and I knew why. The guy in front of me had his third wheel out in the air and the car wobbled a bit. To get the wheel back on the ground, he accelerated while he had held the clutch. The smoke puffed up and before I knew it, the car toppled on a small rock and it tumbled right in front of me at the other side of the bottomless valley.

"Oh, God!" I almost screamed. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit..."

"Scarlet, babe." Robert was on his edge. "Breathe, deep ones. With me, in... okay? And now, out."

"Oh, my God." I screamed, the vision still clearly etched in my brain. If that terrific racer died, then how was I going to survive? "I'm going to die."

"No, Stone." Robert said authoritatively. "Get your fucking head in the game! What's happened to you today?"

"I'm scared." I said. "I don't think I'm going to make it."

"Scarlet, listen to me." Robert said. "I'm going to tell you exactly what to do and you do it. Simple. Just do that and you'll be fine. Understood?"

"I'm going in." I said.

All my previous distractions were thrown out of the window. It was a matter of life and death now, and I wanted to be alive just to know what Ashley had meant. I followed Rob's instruction with much dedication and went in as slow as possible. There was no one behind me, so I took my sweet time to save my ass.

"If you do the same thing again, I'm sure you'll be able to make it out without much resistance." Robert said, bringing some hope to my future.

I kept my pace very slow running on neutral alone. Throughout the whole section, I had never once put my foot on the gas, scared that I might see myself in heaven soon.

"Just one more." I muttered. I literally closed my eyes as I passed those death traps, trying to get away. After getting out successfully, I breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm out."

"Scarlet, babe?" Robert's voice was grave. "The winner was announced when you were in the death trap."

"Um, what?" I said, still wondering if all that was a joke being played on me.

"Yeah," I could almost see Robert run his hands over his head. "But that's okay, you are still running the second and I'm sure you should be fine."

Fuck!

I had lost today. My first loss and with Ashley's words taunting me, I knew I had to prepare for more losses than just a game.