Thank you very much for the wonderful feedback! See, my polls DO serve a purpose! If I hadn't seen the interest in Levina then I wouldn't have even thought about a sequel! Lightnesco: Nope, that's a different building. This one is literally like an abandoned motel. Kind of hard to describe though :P Claualphapainter: Of course I remember you! I'm so glad you're still following my work :) I'll PM you about that! OK, here's the next chapter everybody!
Chapter Two – Meanings
(Sally's POV)
The shaking of my chest stops and her words turn me rigid. Levina can't possibly mean what she just said. Not in the way that I think she did.
"Pardon?" I ask, barely above a whisper. I expect my voice to break but it doesn't.
"The car," she enforces, "I think it could hit the track again."
My eyes don't even dodge back to the vehicle between us. I know it's true; the car has truly been transformed to a state of condition I didn't think was conceivable. Every little detail of it is correct, and I can't imagine the hours that have been put into it. But that doesn't mean it has to come in contact with the track again…ever.
I start to reply, "Well, you don't think-."
"Mom," Levina says firmly. She studies me for a minute, although I can't tell what for. She rests her hand on the roof. "I put so much work into this. I had Doc order parts from God knows where. Do you realize that?"
"Of course, but-."
"Do you really think I did all that work for nothing?" she demands suddenly, as if I should have known all along. And maybe I should have.
I can't find anything to answer with, so she carries on, "I did so much to restore this. For you, for Dad, for me. And I did it with the intention that one day it'd be able to return to its former use."
I want to stay protectively by the side of the car, but I step back away from it, putting more distance between us. My heart has quickened with the realization that she really does mean what I thought she did. The idea of it makes me sick and my defenses immediately rise.
"Don't be ridiculous, Levina. It was unbelievable of you to restore his car but by no means does that mean it belongs on the track again, with anybody behind the wheel."
My fingers start to move nervously as my words settle into the air. I know she'll have something to say but absolutely nothing is going to change my mind.
Her face stays relatively calm and she argues back, "Is that what you would have said if he had lived? Would you have kept him off the track for the rest of his life?"
There is a stunned silence, and I feel my body completely tense. I had never once thought about such a scenario, and now I try to find an answer to her question. I know Lightning would have fought me until the end of time if I denied him back onto the track. It scares me to think about what whether he would have chosen racing or me. That wouldn't have happened though, because in the deeper parts of my heart I know that I would have let him go back, because that's what you do when you love someone as much as I loved him. You forget about your worries and insecurities because their happiness becomes one of the sources to your own.
But Levina's not Lightning. She might be as stubborn as him, but I have to protect her and not make the mistakes of my past. I can't let her get away like my mother let me, and I can't let her enter the path of dangers that Lightning did.
"This isn't about him," I say feebly. Then the blood starts pulsing through me stronger than before and I walk over towards her. "You will not race this car."
"You're so afraid," she snarls at me, "I don't know how Dad ever saw anything in you."
My gut wrenches at the stinging insult. I'm not giving in yet though.
"You didn't know me then," I respond, on the verge of yelling. "Now go home."
Her head tilts up and she looks down her nose at an angle that signifies she'll follow my order but not without having the last word. Her eyes squint at me defiantly and her lips curl as she says coldly, "If you didn't think I'd want to race that car then you've never known me."
I watch her stalk out of the garage and into the falling darkness. I put both hands on the hood of the car and hang my head, letting my hair swallow up all my peripheral vision. I can feel the tears already coating my eyes but I hold back until my throat starts making choking noises and my lips tremble. I sink to the ground, my knees against the cement floor and my arms draped onto the hood. I press my cheek to the front of the car and try to breathe as deeply as possible.
Why is this happening? Can't she for a second understand the pain she's putting me through? I've lived through it once, and to be honest, if it wasn't for her, I probably wouldn't have. But I can't let her do this, not only for my sake, but for hers. The memories are too painful and I refuse to let her make this choice, even if it is what she wants.
I place my lips softly on the front of the car, only long enough to feel the touch cool my mouth. I lift my head and look up into the empty driver's seat. When did my life turn into this?
ANGST. Haha, but it's not like you guys didn't already know there would be some if you've read 'Here After' :P Well, that's all for now. Thank you for reading and please review if you'd like more! :)
