Chapter One

Windmill Windmill For The Land

A barren ghost town, in the middle of what seemed to be an American state, filled the racers' lungs with thick dust. Cars from different makes and models lined the track, grunting and howling in anticipation. The cars resembled manic buffalo, eager to make their move onwards past the others, to reach their watering hole. A drought was in season, and there was only space for one of the mammals to drink. The beginning of the race was only a breath away and all the racers were climbing into their vehicles. Different styles of vehicle such as trucks, dune buggies, buses and sports cars littered the track. The weather was blisteringly hot, and any type of headgear would have made anyone sweat dramatically. Some were bold enough as to not wear any type of protective clothing at all, those were the daredevils and frequent winners. The only buildings surrounding this event were derelict structures which avoided demolition many years ago. All of the racers were of an assortment of backgrounds and ages, and one particular racer stood out from the crowd. An attractive twenty-year-old female sitting atop her bright red Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R sports bike. Her foot on the floor balanced her frame as she tied her mid-length, blonde hair into a bun. She clipped it down using several bobby pins and glanced around at the other racers as she did so. They were all young men laughing amongst each other, punching the air and smoking final cigarettes. The female rolled her eyes and kicked some dirt off her heavy biker boots before she rested her foot gently on the kick-start.

'Hey Persephone.' Another girl chuckled, slapping the blonde female hard on the back.

'Oh…hi Lia'' Persephone murmured, knowing full well that Lia, her friend, bored her to death, 'What do you want? I'm about to race now, so could you just…go to your car?'

'Oh…' Lia's face dropped, but it suddenly lit up again as if she had forgotten what had just been said, 'I hate these races you know, they are so dangerous, but you know, if you want to, you know, just do it to put food on the table I'm sure there are better ways to do it…'

A bellowing voice out of nowhere signalled the start of the race,

'START YOUR ENGINES.' Lia stopped for a few seconds and took in a deep breath and started to cough.

'All of this cigarette smoke and, you know, exhaust fumes are going to kill me one day…'

'This is the first time you've been he-'

'…oh it doesn't matter, I'll take a shower once I'm done, you know, maybe I'll need to go to therapy, you know, I might develop a nicotine addiction and, you know, start sucking exhaust pipes.'

Persephone had heard enough. Her irritated expression shown it. This woman could've run her ear off all day. A few moments later, a tall male walked past the two women and sniggered to his fellow male racers.

'Hey! I didn't realise this was a gossiping competition!' The racers high-fived each other, grinning like wild hyenas.

Persephone glared at them with exasperated eyes as the comment wasn't the least bit insulting, it was actually quite comical. He was one of the regulars which Persephone didn't get along with. She curled one side of her mouth into a sinister smile and cackled.

'Best cha got ya bastards?' The men soon retreated to their vehicles silently.

No messing around now, the race was imminent. Lia bottled up and proceeded to mount her bike which lay adjacent to Persephone's. The sound of revving engines shook the plain and bounced off every racers' skull. Whoops and cheers filled Persephone's ears as she seen a scantily clad model walk in front of the racers with two chequered flags. The woman slightly struggled to strut on the sandy ground, and she almost toppled over at one point. She realised that heels wasn't the best option she chose that morning.

Persephone clipped on her helmet and grabbed her bike's handlebars. She revved once. Twice. Three times. Before you could think of a last minute prayer, the flags were thrown down to the model's sides and the breath was knocked out of Persephone as her bike reached 0 to 60 in 3 seconds. The speed she reached was immense, and it made her eyes water slightly. The rhythmic humming of the bike cradled her around most of the other racers and darted past avoidable obstacles whilst the blonde woman focused on getting to that first place.

A few miles down the track and turns had started to set in. Most vehicles couldn't withstand the curves and crashed against the side of the track, and some into each other. The noise was catastrophic and terrifying. It was the sound of people losing their chance of winning, and in most cases, almost dying. This 'street race' in the middle of a desolate American town was unlike any other, and Persephone was about to find out why. Lia had caught up with her and she even waved to her, but Persephone ignored this. It wasn't child's play, it was a matter of life and death. She knew that if she took her eyes off the road, 'it' would happen again.

Then suddenly, it arose from the horizon. The biggest obstacle that a racer had ever laid eyes on. It was a giant loop in the track. Massive, monstrous and murderous. Persephone gasped at such a sight and thought to herself that it looked even bigger than last time. Instantly, racers who owned buses and trucks immediately hit the brakes and unfortunatley blocked the path of 60% of the other competitors. Their vehicles were much to heavy for the unexpected loop. However, bikes, cars and a dune buggy carried on. The participants in the race was whittled down from 200 to only 20. This was the final hurdle. The finish line was on the other side of the loop. Persephone noticed Lia slowly gaining speed and creeping ahead of her. Lia was being too hardy for her own good. Persephone tried to warn her.

'Lmmpha-mmph-mmmph-mmm!' The helmet, plus the sound of the ear-splitting engines reduced her voice to a tiny hum. Lia was travelling too fast for her bike to handle it, plus the speed she was gaining was unstable for the succession of the loop. Too fast, and she would almost certainly lose her balance and fall. But, Persephone had an epiphany of thought. If she was to gain enough speed to level herself with Lia and overtake her, she could risk her own life to slow Lia down. That idea seemed the best, seeing as lives were at stake.

Seconds after Persephone accelerated towards Lia, a humungous dune buggy pulled up beside her. It honked its huge horn and frightened the blonde woman enough to make her jump and swerve towards the buggy out of shock. The bike hit against the buggy and the man driving held Persephone's arm in order to keep the bike steady. In panic, she looked over at the driver. Her eyes widened when she noticed he looked repulsive with his sickly green skin and pointy teeth. His piercing black and pink eyes locked onto hers as he licked his teeth in enjoyment.

'Wanna race eh love? I'll give ya a race' He let go of her arm and sent her bike swerving manically left and right before she regained her balance again. The man wasn't wearing a helmet, in fact, he wasn't wearing anything besides jeans and a necklace. If Persephone could scream at him and call him a bastard she would, however, her helmet restricted her. The loop was only a mile away and the buggy sped ahead and overtook the blonde rider.

Lia looked behind her and she could see the buggy fast approaching her. She gasped and stepped on it, trying to escape.

The loop was very close now, only half a mile and Persephone was shaking through anger, how dare he grab her like that? He could have killed her!

Was it too late? Could Persephone save Lia?

Persephone gave up trying to catch up to the swift couple and slammed the brakes on her vehicle, making her skid very near to the floor. Her bike made several 360 degree turns before halting violently. Persephone threw her helmet on the floor and jumped out of the way of other passing racers.

'Lia!' She screamed, waving her arms in the air helplessly. It seemed like everything was going in slow motion. The billowing dust from the creepy man's dune buggy slammed itself into her face and made her fall over backwards. The vomit-coloured dirt caked Persephone's hair and blinded her. She raised her hands towards her face to wipe her eyes, but her dirty hands just made it worse. Blind, and now afraid, Persephone punched the ground with her bare hands. Her nails gathered muck and filth, turning them black. The slow-motion cars sped past her and Lia was barely visible to the naked eye.

It was like a dream. No matter how hard she screamed, no-one could hear her, no-one will answer her calls. She was inevitably going to go down the path that was written out for her no matter how hard she held on to hope. A small rumble underneath Persephone chilled her to the bone. She didn't dare look up from the floor, but a painful knot in her stomach made her do otherwise. Then she saw it. Lia's bike was at least 20ft in the air, turning and twisting until it came crashing down to earth. It barely missed the passing racers who tried their hardest to swerve past the deadly obstacle.

Firstly, the only thought in Persephone's mind was, where was Lia? Her bike was present but not the rider. The dune buggy kept on riding, speeding up through the loop, and eventually taking the first place prize.

Silence. It was the creepiest thing you could ever imagine. No more engines revved, no cheers, no cussing, just silence. It was as if the vehicles were giving Lia a minutes peace.

'Lia!' Persephone cried, running towards her friend's battered bike and crouching down beside it. There was no trace of Lia at all.

'Where the hell is she? Lia? Lia?' Persephone looked all around that section of the track. Had her body dissolved into thin air? Other racers heard Persephone's distress and came to see what was wrong.

'Are you okay?' The man from earlier asked, placing a concerned hand on the girl's shoulder.

'Do I bloody look okay?' She snarled, her eyes wild with white rage.

A green-tinted man leant against his dune buggy and lit up another cigarette. His face was emotionless, but his eyes told a different story. The man looked on, curious, but also not wanting to interfere. His topless body smelt of burnt skin, exhaust fumes and cigarettes. A single guttural cough cleared his chest as he flicked the cigarette out in front of him with his long, jagged fingers. In the man's jeans pocket was a wad of cash - his prize - which he will then spend on alcohol and more cigarettes. Uncaring? No, he just knew what he wanted.

His black and pink eyes scanned the area for this 'Lia', but nothing. He smirked demonically, had she really pulled a Houdini? The man's upside-down crucifix pendant dangled from his lean neck as he continued to watch the upsetting scene. He watched as the shaking blonde girl was led over towards the edge of the track to sit down. Her whole body collapsed as she was exhausted from running questions in her mind. Her painful cries could be heard clear as crystal and it made the man cringe slightly.

'Holy shi',' He grumbled with his gravelly tone of voice. Wanting to light up the tenth cigarette that hour seemed to fly out of the window. He had seen enough. However, before he even contemplated stepping into his dune buggy and setting off, he noticed the blonde girl staring straight at him. The man stood there and moved his body side to side to see if she was focusing on somebody behind him. As he realised her eyes were focused on him - and only him seeing as the other racers were gathered around her - he knew he was in one sticky dilemma he could not charm his way out of.

The scary-looking man's eyes widened as the woman came storming over to him with her feet pounding like thunder. Moments later, he was pinned to the side of his vehicle.

'Did you do this?' Persephone yelled, holding the man's wrists against the buggy to stop him from moving, but he was too strong. The man yanked his wrists free.

'I didn' see nothin'.' He spoke, shooing her away with limp hands.

'Then where is she? You must have seen something!'

'Nope,' He replied in a monotone voice and averting his gaze.

Persephone didn't believe him, she thought he was a complete utter liar. A second man emerged from the buggy. This one was tall, slender with azure coloured hair which spiked on the top of his head.

'Wot's goin' on?' He gawped, scratching his head.

'Nothin' dullard.' The dark man knocked on the back the taller man's head with his bony knuckles.

'Nuffink? Then why is that girl yellin' at ya?'

Persephone raised an eyebrow and for a moment focused her thoughts on something else.

'Dullard? Is that cha name?' She asked through puffy, red eyes.

'Nah love, it's what this 'ere geezer calls me,' he pointed at the pointy-toothed man, 'Ma real name is Stu Pot, jus' call me2D.' The azure haired man held out a hand for the blonde to shake. She shook it hesitantly as her eyes flickered between the men.

'This 'ere is Murdoc, he's a right tosser most of the time.'

'Oi, faceache! I'll knock ya eyes out jus' to knock em back again!' 2D ignored this threat, it seemed he was used to that kind of talk from that certain individual. The relationship between the two looked as if they had been through a lot together, however much they conveyed their hatred for each other.

They were both leaning against their buggy, one smoking a cigarette, the other had his arms folded.

'So what brings you 'ere?' 2D chirped, also lighting a cigarette and fondling with a lighter.

'My racing partner Lia is missing from the race. I seen her bike in the air and then…' Persephone's face was stained with shock, terror and pain. She couldn't lose Lia, there were so many things in Persephone's life that would change if she had. 2D on the other hand scratched his neck and contorted his tobacco stained lips into an uneasy smile.

'Oh…I fink I know who you mean…urm…'

Suddenly, a shuffle came from the dune buggy, and out appeared Lia from under the driver's seat. Her hair was messed up and her make up was smudged. It was a mystery to Persephone as to how the hell she arrived there.

'Sorry Pip!' She giggled, 'I got caught up in some business!'

Persephone glanced at the smiling girl, then at 2D with his sheepish grin, and then at Murdoc with his wide expressive smirk. It continued for a couple of minutes, switching back and forth between Lia and Murdoc until the penny dropped.

'Lia!' Persephone grimaced, her face turning the same colour as Murdoc's skin.

'Wha' can I say? I was bored!' Murdoc chuckled darkly, winking at her.

Seeing as Lia was safe, everything was almost back to normal. Other racers were dumbfounded on how the 'magic trick' actually happened and the rest were thinking of buying a dune buggy. Racing meant the world to Persephone. It had to, otherwise she would be living on the streets. Unfortunately, this race was her last chance to pay her overdue rent on her small flat she shared with her cat Athena. Seeing as Murdoc and 2D won the race, her hopes on keeping a roof over her head seemed slimmer than 2Ds's legs.

'Eh, what's been stuck up your arse, love?' Murdoc grumbled into Persephone's ear from behind, his hot breath made her want to curl up into a ball.

'Nothing much, besides me losing the bloody race.' Murdoc noticed her clenched fists by her sides and that made him overflow with the giggles. He grabbed her shoulders and placed her in front of 2D, who by now was sitting in his seat in the buggy.

'Look!' Murdoc sniggered, looking up at the lanky man, 'We have a sore loser 'ere!' Persephone shook off Murdoc and turned to meet his ugly face.

'I'm not a sore loser you creepy bastard, I needed that money to pay my rent!' Silence ensued. Persephone had always been a 'tough cookie' but there were some times where things were just not going the way she had planned and there were also the times which broke her down into a million pieces. The solemn look on her face made Murdoc step back a little and return to his buggy. Her life had never been easy.

'Can't she come with us?' Lia piped up, her big brown eyes scanning the blonde woman's face.

'Us?' Persephone cried as she gave a sharp look to her friend.

'Yeah, Murdoc wannid 'er wiv us. You can come if ya want?' 2D interrupted his big black eyes wanting to get a move on.

Persephone's muddy biker boots kicked the ground sending a small rock skipping over the flat burnt surface. It came to a stop as it knocked against the back wheel of the buggy.

'I…guess so? I don't really have a choice, I'll be kicked out of my flat by tomorrow morning.'

'Well I guess it's sorted then, love. Alley oop!' Murdoc grabbed Persephone roughly around the waist and easily lifted her into the buggy, it was almost a throw. The blonde woman fell into the back in a crumpled heap at Lia's feet. Only a few seconds later, the engine was turned on and they were chugging along an unfamiliar route at an immense pace.

'Do you know where we're going Persy?' Lia tweeted from behind her friend.

'I guess…it's gonna have to be called home for a while.' Persephone replied smiling sympathetically to Lia. Persephone was sat behind 2D and his azure hair blowing in the wind made her fall into a trance-like state. Lia was busy picking her toenails and flicking them out of the vehicle.

'Not 'ome, love, 'ell.' Murdoc overheard the two girls, and flashed a toothy grin at Persephone making her shift her position away from him.

If this was going to be an easy ride at all, Persephone would have to brace herself, or at least have the number of a specialised orthodontist…