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Chapter 4Freezing cold rain shot against his body as he ran through lush thick forest. The mud, syrupy and sticky as it clung to his running feet and the night was blacker than the darkness beneath eyelids. His thin damp limps breathed in the mist coated air heavily as he continued to run, pushing aside stray branches and trying not to trip over anything. He could hear it. No matter how far he ran it just seemed to get closer and closer.
Hunting dogs.
They barked ferociously in the distance, echoing through the night around him. He couldn't tell where they were coming from anymore. He just kept running. Chancing a look back he could see the speckled spots of lights breaking through the leaves beyond.
His eyes widened at the sight of a large barb wired fence coming up ahead. The moonlight flickered off its razor sharp edges.
His fingers were cold and numb. His body wet and cut up from somehow managing to escape over the previous fences. He winced as another stray branch scraped against the thin crimson wound stretching from his shoulder to the inside of his elbow. That was what made him not too excited about encountering another one of those gates.
His will kept him going, kept him running. This was the last fence. After this one, freedom would greet him. Hopefully, if it went as planned.
The voices approaching closer accompanied by the loud roars of the dogs made him increase speed. Nothing would stop him now.
Without another thought he jumped up and grabbed onto the silver rusted fence. Grunting with pain and determination he lifted his body up to climb, climb with every ounce of energy he had left.
Halfway up the gate, the dogs were on him, barking at his dangling feet, waiting for a wrong slip so that they could mercilessly tear his limbs apart.
"Damn!" he screamed out loud, knowing the gunmen were not that far behind and soon enough they'd catch up. That was all he needed was a couple of rifle shots aimed at him when he was so close.
Just as his fingers reached the top of the gate, a strong pair of jaws snapped onto his ankle, weighing him down. He bit his lip from the pain but continued trying to hoist himself up. His fingers grabbed onto the sharp edges, bleeding from the fresh cuts he was now receiving until a barrage of shots began firing.
Like firecrackers, one after the other as the men neared him the shots grew more deafening until he saw the sparks off the fence. He finally yelled when two rifle shots stabbed through his leg and left shoulder, releasing the gate on instinct.
He gasped as his body fell. It felt like the world had stopped at that moment to allow his body to fall ever so slowly into the clamping jaws of hunting canines.
Slamming into the ground a pair of jaws narrowed into his face. His heart stopped.
No! Get away from me you mutt! No!
"Get off!"
Razer's body sat up from his bed violently as he blinked his eyes back into the real world. Mouth wide open and inhaling heavily, he scrambled on his left side to feel for his night lamp. Finally upon feeling the small silver knob, he twisted it, spilling a dim light around the corner of his king size bed.
He let his body fall back into his black-checkered sheets, shifting briefly to get more comfortable. His hand reached for a handkerchief sitting on the nightstand next to the lamp in which he grabbed and wiped the perspiration on his forehead. Black strands of hair messily flattened to his skin.
His eyes looked over to his left, to the thin and pale line drawn from his shoulder to the inside of his elbow. Thankfully there were no other marks from bullet shots. That was all just a dream. A dream once a memory he'd rather not remember.
The bright red numbers on his alarm clock caught his attention. 10 AM, a race was scheduled for later this afternoon.
After losing himself to a brief moment of thought he managed to lift his body up again. There was no point in trying to go back to sleep now. He decided, that he wasn't very tired anymore.
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The crowd of bloodthirsty excited fans roared through the arena, cheering as the last few pairs of tires screeched past the finish line. Once again Jak had finished first, gaining him a step closer to the final race and the Championship. His friends and familiar archenemy not too far behind him.
Jak managed a quick wave as he exited his vehicle, Daxter ranting on his shoulder about how unbeatable the two of them were. With a roll of his eyes, Jak easily ignored the orange ottsel and began approaching his mechanic who was already running out to greet him.
"Tires burn off their rubber again?" Keira attempted to smile as she said it but formed a cringe from the smoky odor instead.
Jak gave her a halfhearted grin, not that he didn't want to smile but he was too tired to do so. His thumb pointed back at his red Falcon. "Yeah, sorry Keira, got a little rough with the sharp turns…not like I had much of a choice…" His words trailed off into mumbles.
Noticing that something seemed to be weighing on Jak's mind, Keira granted him another cheery smile. Nearing closer to his body she leaned in and whispered softly into his ear.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of it" Her batting eyelashes indicated that she wasn't only offering to take care of his vehicle but she would always take care of him when he needed it. This time he was able to smile at her genuinely.
"Thanks Keira. You're the best," his hand patted her shoulder and she wrinkled her nose delectably.
"No problem hero," with that she gave him a quick discreet peck on the cheek before walking away.
Daxter crossed him arms, shaking his head at his best friend.
"What?" Jak shrugged his shoulders without a clue.
"Boy that girl's got it bad for ya and you're too thick headed to really notice"
He opened his mouth to respond before a familiar voice interrupted him.
"Whaddaya say we head to the Bloody Hook? I could use some heavy intoxicating alcohol in my system right now"
Torn's hand firmly held the curvaceous tan skinned waist of Haven's governor as she nodded in agreement.
"Sounds good. Meet you there"
Torn nodded and walked past him with Ashelin. Her lips curled with disgust upon the familiar sighting of a woman with grayish violet hair heading in their direction. She seemed to be looking for Jak to congratulate him on another win.
Rayn's hand waved in the air trying to catch Jak's attention but he was already heading deeper into the crowd towards the hotels before he'd visit the bar.
"Jak! Can I speak to you for a moment? Ja-"
She was abruptly cut off by a rough shove into her shoulder. Regaining her balance she looked to her left to meet the eyes of the very woman who very often had her guns pointed at her face.
"Don't you have some sort of…business you should be attending to?"
Sounded more like a sarcastic comment than a question.
Rayn stood speechless for a moment before the anger finally flared in her. She furrowed her brows at Ashelin before straightening her clothes.
With her chin up she snapped back, "As a matter of fact I do, and it doesn't concern you"
"Wanna say that closer to my fa-" Torn's grip on her shoulders pulled the red-haired woman in the opposite direction allowing Rayn a woundless escape.
A feeling of relief washed over her as she realized Ashelin's knuckles weren't in her cheek for such a daring come back, or even her bullets. She sighed and looked up to see Razer getting into his Havoc. To her surprise he was wearing the slickest grin she had ever seen as he shook his head at her.
Angry once again from obviously being the object of Razer's amusement, she clenched her fists and stormed off to find Jak.
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Eventually Rayn was able to catch up with her prized driver in the Bloody Hook. Professionally she engaged in conversation with him although his mind seemed to be elsewhere on something that must've been worrying him. His eyes always drawing away from hers gave her that vibe. Something was wrong.
"Thank you again Jak for your help. We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you," Rayn leaned her elbow against the wooden polished bar, ignoring the threatening presence sitting not too far off. Thankfully Ashelin was too occupied with her mug of foaming beer and her equally tattooed Commander sitting across from her to act as too much of a threat.
Daxter cut into their conversation, "Uh Rayn, um, about your dad, Krew and all..."
"Rayn, there's something I need to tell you"
Before Jak could say anything more the famous danger-loving reporter came bursting through the bar entrance, loud and obnoxious as always. Flying cameras swirled around him as he seemed to be doing another live update.
"Hello race fanatics, we're coming to you live with a breaking story. Yours truly has recovered documents that prove Jak was the cause of Krew's death"
Rayn's eyes enlarged with shock, "What?"
"Jak left him to die in a terrible explosion. How heartless can you get?" He flashed the camera his signature smile.
"It wasn't like that. Rayn... I had no choice," Jak pleaded for her to listen but the damage was already done.
Daxter didn't make things better. "I told Jak he should fess up. I kept saying"
"You knew? You all knew didn't you!" Rayn looked around the bar to meet the stun marked faces of Ashelin and Torn.
"Oh ho ho, could it get any more delicious? Well, we'll leave you two to work this out. Back to you Greaser and a commercial break"
Blitz motioned for the camera to cut it as his show had come to an end.
"Sorry folks. But, that's show business. Huhhahahahaha..." Blitz exited the bar, his laughter trailing behind him even though he knew he had left the winning team in an awkward moment.
Rayn didn't know what to say. She didn't know where to start. She just let the first thing that came to mind rush out of her lips. "Who are you?"
Jak looked like a mouse trapped in a corner by a cat. "Your father wasn't such a good guy. He killed a lot of people"
Of course she knew that. That was business, but she didn't care.
"And you think Mizo's any better? If we lose this championship, the whole city will suffer! Ughh! You wouldn't understand. Leave me alone. I'll win without you if I must. I'm used to taking care of myself"
With those last words she walked away, fuming with her anger.
Jak buried his half sober head into his palms with a groan. Daxter's furry hand patted his shoulder, "Good job buddy. You really did it this time"
This earned him a backslap across his head and he yelped as slid across the bar.
"Shut up Dax!"
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The cool night air hitting her face cooled off the burn in her eyes but not the burn in her chest. Yes she knew her father was a conniving, backstabbing, lying, crooked, money greedy, black mailing criminal. She knew her father's disgusting habits and his lack of care for others besides him and his own intentions.
Yet, since he was the only person she ever had growing up, that didn't bother her. He was still, oddly enough, her father and now it was revealed that her prized driver was the one who had handed him his demise.
As she sat in her vehicle, unable to bring herself to turn the ignition, a masculine hand opened in front of her eyes. Funny, she had almost forgotten. What time was it?
"Need a drink?"
Rayn looked up at Razer leaning against the side of her vehicle. Coincidentally his was parked behind. She had almost forgotten that they were to meet again today after the race. Slightly baffled she looked around for any witnesses. Razer lit his cigarette calmly.
"Don't worry. The coast is clear"
Rayn was still speechless. She just kept her eyes on her steering wheel, hands clasped in her lap. Realizing that she wasn't planning to respond or was too dumbfounded to find the words at the moment, he walked away.
His vehicle rumbled as he started his engine and drove next to her. She finally managed to look over to his side. Razer had to contain himself from smiling as cruel as it sounded. She looked like a wounded puppy and somehow he found it amusing for her to so freely express such a thing.
"Follow me" was all he said as he drove down the street.
Pausing for some unknown reason she finally turned the key and started her car. She drove behind him. She didn't know where he was going. She didn't know why she was going. All she knew was that she didn't care.
She just needed to get away for the moment and strangely enough, Razer seemed to be the opportune person to help her do so.
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Lotsa cookies for Luv2Game for Beta. Sorry if I missed a comma or so, I lost the email and had to remember from memory.