The refreshing Tolarian air felt nice enough going at a child's pace, but approaching 60 was breathing life into Chandra that her short adulthood hadn't known. For the first time since she laid eyes on Liliana, the last thing she wanted was her sister's hands grazing her sides. Were it not for the presence behind her, Chandra could easily have doubled the bike's speed, but she was firm in her resolve not to pass the speed limit.
For all the disappointment in the circumstances, Chandra was still satisfied with the time Liliana was having. Compared to the vise she felt on her hips when they first started, the grip on her now was barely a tickle and it took her back to her first time riding one of these things and the ecstasy that came with letting go of fear and enjoying the ride.
It had been dark for a while and despite not having checked the time, Chandra could tell they were much closer to sunrise than the sunset based on the high percentage of vehicles that passed them being shipping trucks. The roads had to be built around the awkward and wide shape of the manor, so what should have taken fifteen minutes was approaching twice that.
Save the rumbling of the trucks, it had been a silent lap until a blaring noise from behind them reminded Chandra of a lesson she learned from her younger years. The worst part of being somewhere empty is that it's impossible to pretend you thought the police were trying to get someone elses attention.
Fuck! She yelled to herself as she pulled over, the feeling of Liliana's helmet coming off behind her. I was so careful. What could this asshole possibly... Dread washed over her as she realized her downfall and she was furious at herself for being so dense. This thing doesn't have a plate on it.
As Chandra turned the engine off, Liliana said behind her, "This is an unexpected twist." She sounded neither excited nor panicked as if she was still assessing the situation. Either that or the euphoria is mixing with anxiety to create something bland. Chandra didn't need a pause though. She had the ability to plot out several possible avenues quickly, so she knew right away how screwed she was.
"I'm fucked." She wanted to hide the panic for Liliana's sake, but the whine in her voice gave her away.
"I doubt it could be all that bad, right? We did not steal the vehicle."
The cop wasn't out of the car yet, so Chandra took a few breaths to gain composure. If she was going down, she at least wanted to do it with dignity. "Is this bike mine?"
"Of course not."
"Is it yours?"
"I suppose not." Some apprehension had snuck it's way into Liliana's voice.
"And even if Jovi doesn't press charges against me, there's still a nice long list of laws broken here. Driving without a helmet, driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle, having a passenger on a single person bike."
"Pardon?"
"Driving without a license."
"Why do you not have your license with you?" Liliana was hissing now.
"I don't have it with me because I don't have one."
"What!?"
"Plus I'm going to end up telling the cop to eat shit or something."
There was finally a pause in the conversation, seemingly for Liliana to recompose herself too. "You could possibly try not doing that." Her tone was calmer, but still had a quiver in it.
"You and I are very different people."
"What is going to happen then?"
"Assuming your dad doesn't press charges against you, as far as I know, you haven't actually broken any laws. Nothing worth locking you up anyway." But she is still going to get arrested. How could you let this happen, you fucking idiot? Chandra finally turned to face her sister to reassure her; when there eyes met, she was impressed how well Liliana was hiding her panic when she spoke. Her eyes were failing that task though.
What is she so worried about? There were a long list of reasons to be freaking out, but Liliana had a look that Chandra recognized under the light of a lone post. Calling it fearful wouldn't do it justice. It was absolute desperation, the kind that she associated with village raids. "Really, dude. You're not going to prison."
"I know that..."
"Well then, what-" Chandra was silenced by the sound of an opening door. Is she really THAT worried about me? As much as I hate to say it, my mother is a famous political figure and my step father is one of the richest people on the plane so I'm probably going to sneak my way out of trouble too and she must know this, so why does she look like we're about to get murdered?
"There has to be something we can do."
"Other than getting arrested, there's only one way out of this."
"That is a boorish suggestion, Chandra and I hope you were joking."
Luckily, it only took Chandra a moment to realize what Liliana meant. "Uck, not that. I meant run."
"Would you be able to?
"Absolutely, absolutely not. Well, yes, I could, but I won't."Her sister was now staring off to the distance, seemingly doing the math of their ability to flee as if she were the one driving. "Liliana, look at me." When she returned to the moment, Chandra said, "There's no way I'm ever going to do anything that could hurt you ever again."
Chandra wasn't under any assumption that saying this would diffuse the situation entirely, but she expected the sappy line would at least make Liliana feel a little better. Instead, it seemed to knock the last bit of confidence out of her as tears began to swell in her terrified eyes.
The door behind them finally slammed shut. I really don't have time to get to the bottom of whatever psychological mess this is. Jovi doesn't seem like he'd have it in him to punish her anywhere close to enough to justify how hard she's freaking out, so there's something else going on here. Chandra decided the best course of action was to hope Liliana could summarize the problem in a single sentence. "You need to tell me why you're so worried."
She refused to say anything which was undeniably the worst possible response. God fucking dammit. The idea of running became more appealing, to escape whatever nightmare Liliana was having. If Chandra wasn't confident she could pull it off safely, she wouldn't consider it an option and would sooner consider pretending her sister was a hostage, or attacking the cop while she ran.
But she was confident. Turning away from her frightened sister, Chandra looked up. Josu, if you'd like to give me some kind of sign, that'd be great. When lightning refused to strike the dragster, Chandra decided that the sure thing in front of them was safer than the approaching mystery behind. "Put your helmet back on." Chandra barked her order, unhappy with the situation.
"Are you really okay doing this?" The sharp change in Liliana's voice reassured Chandra that there was at least an okay chance she was making the right choice.
"Shut up and put it on. Hold on to me as tight as you can and do not let go for anything." Once Liliana followed her instructions, Chandra said, "when we get to a point where we could turn to get back to your house..." She had to pause, unsure what a reliable signal would be and it needed to be foolproof as any kind of misinterpretation would probably lead them down a path they wouldn't be able to get out of.
She couldn't tell her to do anything verbal. Between the helmet and the intense volume of speed, it's unlikely Chandra would be able to hear it and she couldn't risk her doing something stupid like yelling, 'don't turn here.'
It couldn't be to squeeze tighter either. If Liliana followed her instructions, that wouldn't be possible and anything that required her to let go was out of the question. "When we need to turn, run your hands up to my chest, still holding on as tight as you possibly can." She was impressed in the worst kind of way by the comical perversion of that direction and hated that there was no time to come up with something better. "Do you understand?"
She felt the helmet bob up and down against her back and heard a muffled, "yes." Chandra waited a few more seconds for the cop to be about twenty steps away, brought back the dragster's power and shot off with the kind of acceleration she would expect from something the great Depala drove.
This gust searing her body wasn't refreshing as they passed 90kmh in a matter of seconds and finally had Chandra wishing she had her own helmet. She could make due without one, but it sucked whatever little fun could have been salvaged from the moment.
Between the head start and the maximum speed difference of the two vehicles, escaping the siren would have been child's play if the outdated dragster could take a turn properly, but she had to be careful and as the cop gained on them and the sparsely put street lights began to blur less, she realized she was being more careful than she needed to be and couldn't force herself to break through her hesitation.
The upcoming road was too dark for full details, but it was clear that it had too many twists and turns. Chandra knew she didn't stand a chance and was left with one option – stopping. Before Liliana had a chance to react she said, "don't take your helmet off, don't let go and trust me." If this piggy were smart, he would have called for backup, but I don't hear any other sirens and if he didn't while he was chasing us, he sure as hell isn't going to do it while we're stopped.
They waited in patient silence as nothing proceeded to happen for an eternity. Chandra knew she had to wait for them to make the first move and she couldn't believe her luck when she saw the officer step out of their car for a second time. God, you're even dumber than I am and that is a low bar right now. This time, she waited only long enough to see a weapon hadn't been drawn and could only imagine the profanities the cop was yelling as she turned her engine back on.
Chandra knew she couldn't win a race on the track they were facing, but the road behind them had been mostly straight; making an awkward u-turn, she felt secure in her plan despite the fact that no one would be stupid enough not to call this in by now.
After facing a few slight angles, Chandra was finally able to keep up a consistent 130kmh pace, for long enough to make the distance substantial. It wasn't long before she felt her chest cupped; disappointed at herself for enjoying the feeling, she was able to spot the path Liliana was alerting her to. The entrance to the manor grounds was dirt, so they had to slow dramatically, but they had been far enough ahead that it didn't matter.
Through a stroke of luck, the route lead them to the yard they had started from, and Chandra was able to pull up to the storage house. Without words, the two of them managed to cram the bike inside with haste. Chandra shut the lights while Liliana set the alarms, not removing the helmet until they were secured.
They could still hear the siren going and by the sounds of it, there was at least one more. Both of them stood still, in silence for a few minutes until it seemed the danger was in the distance when they both fell and began laughing with a glee that could only have come from escaping peril.
"Are we safe?" Liliana asked, gasping through her chortling.
Chandra had to wait until she focused the laughter away. She was already having a hard enough time breathing and had no interest in passing out. "That asshole went from just trying to fill a ticket quota, to losing us twice. He's probably not even going to report this, let alone get a warrant to search the area. We're fine."
"That is a great relief. After that, I have a hard time understanding why you were so impressed with my archery. What you just pulled off was amazing." What I just pulled off was rash and idiotic. Normally I'd say that's me in a nutshell, but even I don't usually drag other people into these things. At least now finally seems like a good time to talk to her about- "What do you suspect mom would do if she found out what we did?"
Chandra couldn't justify being mad since Liliana hadn't technically interrupted her this time. "I have no idea what she'd do to you, but she would just guilt trip me. My mother knows that works better than anything. That's the problem with idolizing someone. They can make you hate yourself more than anyone else could."
"That sounds like what my mom would do. It would be something about how I was not good enough to live up to either of my family's names and that her, or dad, or Josu would never behave so foolishly."
Fucking god. How cavalier Liliana spoke about her past sickened Chandra almost as much as the story itself. Mother never actually degrades me. That's just my interpretation. "Liliana...Where is your mother?"
"Kamigawa, I believe. Researching her heritage...She was never particularly warm, but when Josu died, she became increasingly distant. I believe she resented me for being the one that lived and hated that dad refused to view the situation the same way. She had no love left for either of us, so she moved on." During this woeful tale, she didn't seem at all upset, but when she finished speaking, Chandra, with the hint of moonlight, could see her eyes and lips sink. "Sorry. I should not be complaining about this to you."
Chandra knew what she meant. "My father may be dead, but that doesn't mean I'm the only one that gets to mourn the loss of a parent." She reached out and put her hand on Liliana's shoulder. "I'm just glad that now you have a mother that loves you, even when you do something as stupid as taking a joyride on an incredibly dangerous vehicle."
That brought the slight smile back and Chandra knew this was the perfect time to negotiate the terms for Liliana coming home, but she was, for one last time, cut off before having the chance to speak. "I need another day or two to say goodbye to this place, then I will come home."
"I'll take it."
They went on to talk for hours, mostly Liliana probing Chandra for info about their other friends, trying to make up the gap in knowledge. It wasn't until sunlight began creeping in that they finally slumped over each other
