POV Narrator:
Wednesday, 21 November 2018, Luna Nova
The days were going by and Maril's disguise was being convincing enough, nobody got to suspect, not even the differences in relation to the body, believing that it was really Brooke that was slowly gaining more trust from the girls, specially Diana, that from time to time the friendship was being built between them, as it was planned and also exactly as Daryl was wanting it to be.
In the middle of these days Mirage was preparing something new to do in Luna Nova, sort of positioning some flags around the courtyard for an event that she was already aiming to cause, so much that she was starting to advertise among some of the students, as a special thing, a broomstick racing competition event, using the courtyard of Luna Nova as a circuit, much for the mission of trying to show how interesting it would be a dispute like that.
POV Mirage:
Now all the plates were placed, I even got the permission from the headmaster to do this one, I hope everyone likes how this race is going to go, we will know who is the fastest of the Luna Nova students, the girls are arriving, I called practically all of them to the race, Brooke lands right in front of me, she got so hot like that, I love to see how she has been evolving.
"Wow, so that's what you've been preparing for, Mirage?" she asks looking around in surprise.
"This is just a competition I want to have, like a championship between us to see who is the fastest witch in Luna Nova, but hey, how about you and I make a bet?" I'll hint some more, I never thought Brooke would put up this much of a fight.
"What kind of bet?" I say all curious.
"You know the kind of bet, if I win you owe me a bath, if you win you decide" I say while picking up her uniform tie, already hinting a bit, I didn't even notice, but Brooke is a bit taller.
"Mirage!" she said, all embarrassed.
"Heh, what, just a shower together as friends, us washing each other's backs" I tell her who just went on denying with her head.
"If it was a kiss I'd go for it, but a bath is too much" How stubborn, she really is resisting a lot, but soon there'll be no escaping my clutches Brookie.
"Can you two act normal for once, I want to compete in this event without thinking about these things" Jeanne said coming in the middle.
I didn't even notice, but they all showed up in the middle of our conversation, and it's a lot of people, I even take a little flight on the broom counting them... There are 33 girls, we won't be able to let them all go at once, it's too many, even more for the size of the circuit, but I've already thought about the idea, before starting the race.
"Alright, since you are all here, let's start with our pre-qualification, Wangari Kimberly and Joanna and a few others will measure the times of all of us, the 13 worst will be eliminated, you have 1 hour to take your best lap times and adjust, now please leave the track and go to the pit, I have to start the countdown for this phase" I tell them and they nod their heads in agreement.
All of them are leaving the track, then we are doing the preparation, each broom received a number, it was chosen randomly a number from 1 to 99, I ended up taking the 14, Brooke took the 61, we look at each other and soon it was signaled the beginning of this phase, each one was leaving the box and starting to do some laps, I was still watching Brooke who was waiting for the others to leave.
"So what's up? Does the bet stand? I can change it to something less then, how about just one kiss then" I tell her who nods in agreement.
"Less bad" She said and can't wait to see what kind of kiss it will be, heh, Brooke, Brooke, you'll be mine one day.
"Let's do this then, if I win overall you owe me a bath, since it's almost impossible to beat Hellene" I tell her with a mischievous smile
"All right then, since you say so" Brooke said half blushing and I can only imagine what's to come.
She then went flying around the track, I think I have to start too, I take a deep breath I lower my hat, I fasten it on my face, with my numbering, now is the time, I even put on running glasses to help my vision, so I don't get hit in the eyes and I can keep my focus. I
start to give a boost with the broom and go flying around the circuit I made myself, for sure I will get a good time, today will be interesting to see one more broom competition in Luna Nova, like a small championship, even more in this late afternoon, even teacher Nelson is enjoying watching.
POV Narrator:
The pre qualification was starting, the girls that signed up, were doing their laps, being drawn with different numbers, many were simply showing a total domination, like Hellene, who dominated the session and no one passed her, managing to adapt well to the circuit, the more it was a good fun especially the girls that decided to fly around the circuit, already the others were just watching.
After one hour passed it was determined what would be the classified witches, still for the next classification phase without being the main one, this while the day was about to finish and the night was approaching in Luna Nova.
After this pre-qualifying session a smaller qualifying session was starting with only 30 minutes to determine the times, and the pre-qualifying times also counted, so much so that Hellene simply stayed the whole qualifying session resting and watching the times slowly going down getting closer to the time she had done before.
The others were in a very close race, even getting in the same second, with very close times on the track that has a considerable size and good curves that challenge the girls with everything.
Mirage was getting closer, but she was still one second away from McLaren's time. Surprisingly, she was improving and getting used to the circuit she had built herself, but the others were getting closer.
Classification
1st Hellene McLaren 1:13:981 (12)/ 2nd Mirage Du Sud 1:15:204 (14)/ 3rd Diana Cavendish 1:15:333 (2)/ 4th Amanda O'Neill 1:15:378 (13)/ 5th Atsuko Kagari 1:15:400 (8)/ 6th Brooke Hunter 1:15: 404 (61)/ 7th Aira Maina 1:15:471 (55)/ 8th Chloé Deppailer 1:15:599 (80)/ 9th Hannah England 1:15:671 (10)/ 10th Marianne Leclerc 1:15:709 (59)/ 11th Mary Brooks 1:15:881 (11)/ 12th Sucy Manbavaran 1:15:993 (60)/ 13th Jasminka Antonenko 1:16:001 (87)/ 14th Constanze Amalie Von Braunschbank Albrechtsberger 1:16:002 (27)/ 15th Lotte Yanson 1:16:123 (57)/ 16th Jeanne Dupont 1:16:206 (94)/ 17th Annabel Crème 1:16:294 (68)/ 18th Rita Campos 1:16:314 (99)/ 19th: Barbara Parker 1:16:350 (41)/ 20th Sóla Fjord 1:16:444 (9)
The starting grid was determined with the small qualifying session, amidst a track that has 17 curves, 6 of them being very tight hairpins that require a lot of precision, amidst the sunset that is appearing to the autumn sky almost signaling the arrival of winter with a look even half purple, which was leaving the beauty of the place even more exalted.
In the midst of this also the girls were warming up, prepared for a race that will take 25 laps, until very fast, as a way to entertain the girls who were practically watching that dispute about to happen.
The twenty teams were gathering in rows prepared for the race start, the crowd was anxious looking at the several brooms, with the numbers on display, the diversity of the colours of the team stripes, which showed a good differentiation between each of them, but this time it would be an individual race, with only one winner, the lights were being lit by Joanna, while Wangari was positioned on the roof of Luna Nova, having the view of the whole race, practically being the commentator. The start is given and everyone starts to leave with their brooms, with the exception of Hellene who simply stands still waiting.
"And It's lights out! And away we go! What is that? Hellene McLaren simply did not go out, she just kept standing in the same place, what a crazy thing, what happened to her? She started from the pole position" Wangari said, commenting the race.
Hellene continued to stand still in the greatest tranquility of the world, waiting for everyone to have passed her, where she stopped for almost 10 seconds, until she started to give impulse with the broom and it was at this time that the fun of McLaren began, while who was in front just got in the greatest confusion.
POV Mirage:
Does she really think she's going to win like that? This is already joking a lot, our times were very close, how does she intend to improve after this? I don't know, but the good thing is that I am in the front, leading the race, only Diana is close to me, this is good to keep a calmness, she still tries to attack, but I protect the lines, now I want to see her getting close
"I'm going to win! I'm going to run as if my life depended on it" I tell myself, still with the strong wind hitting my face,
I better focus, I'm going to go with everything, today is guaranteed to take a bath with Brooke, I even imagine the many things that go through my head thinking about it... Hmmmm, Brooke, okay Mirage, motivate yourself a little more, but not to the point of losing concentration.
POV Hellene:
I love when dere is an extra challenge, dey are goin really fast, but let's see if from now on it will be like dis, I will not spare my broom, I 'ave to accelerate more, Hellene concentration, I can already 'ave a vision of dose who are in front, still well lined up, heh... The track all free like dis is very good, I'm going drough de curves showing dat today I win, I even pass almost scraping drough de curve dat 'as one of the bleachers dat dey can see me getting close.
"Today I will show a bit of my passion for broomstick flying by doing an extreme recovery run" I tell myself.
De first lap is already over, I keep goin on de first 'airpin, still going very deep, without 'esitating, I want to take this broom to the limit, I want to impress, everyone even gets agitated as I pass, I already get de eye contact of de first one, gee, I'm really getting down the 10 seconds I waited too fast, or maybe she's just really slow, de black hair, it must be Barbara, I'm sure.
POV Narrator:
Lap 1 of 25, Mirage leads, with Hellene starting her recovery race, where she already drops about 4 seconds in relation to who was in front, leaving the whole grid to pass, managing to maintain a high speed that is shocking the audience and impressing mainly Wangari, in the same way that she was narrating the events.
"This is one crazy thing after another, even though she was in last position, the machine behind this broom called Hellene McLaren was recovering and she seems to be on rails! That is impressive, how can someone take corners like that!" comments the Kenyan woman.
Lap 2 of 25, Hellene is already much closer to Barbara who was in nineteenth place, not getting a good start and little by little falling behind, after giving her all in the classification. While Mirage was getting a speed that she didn't even imagine she had, Diana was falling behind, and noticing that the brooms of Amanda and Akko were getting closer, wanting Cavendish's second position.
"Mirage is gaining distance and Woah! She really wants to win this race with everything and it looks like we have Hellene closing in on Parker!" Narrates the African.
Lap 3 of 25, there was no way, the Irish made little case, passing with sparks flying everywhere, she was showing the speed to pass in a high-speed curve, on the outside and still leaving almost scraping the broom on the wall, what everyone in the stands was jumping for excitement.
In the front the dispute was increasing for the second position, suddenly Chloé Deppailer is
also making her appearance, the third year girl is showing that she does not want to make it easy for the girls ahead of her.
"Hellene goes on climbing and climbing, she will not leave it easy for anyone, she climbs to nineteenth position and passes Barbara Parker, that's racing!" Wangari comments.
Lap 4 of 25, two more in front of McLaren, both try to block the line for the redhead who simply passes in the middle of both on the arrival to one of the hairpins, showing that she has speed to spare, so much that she makes the turn, with much more speed, climbing to the seventeenth position and slowly building her lead.
In front of the first attempt, Akko comes from the inside line and tries to overtake Diana, but the broom ends up giving a skid and this confuses Cavendish that spreads more and opens the way for Amanda to pass by them taking the second position and almost Chloé Deppailer also does not take it.
"Woah! What was that! Wonderful overtaking, a race of champions really! Hellene McLaren passing two, and also Amanda O'Neill herself does the same thing and it makes the race more exciting! What a pleasure to be narrating such an event!" Said the Kenyan witch.
Lap 5 of 25, Hellene climbs to the fifteenth position, overtaking the first one in the main straight of the circuit and the other in the same corner where she overtook Barbara, showing that she is not afraid, while in front, Mirage was leading comfortably, as if her life depended on it, which even Maril was in shock, knowing that McLaren was left behind.
Diana, on the other hand, is getting closer to Amanda, in an overtaking on the inside that she could not notice and that she simply did not care, passing in
a discreet way and thus taking the lead of the race.
Lap 6 of 25, Hellene continues her climb and reaches the fourteenth position. Maril is getting worried and remembers some things and starts to think that it could be a huge trap made by McLaren and Du Sud.
POV Maril:
This looks like a huge set up, I don't know why, but it's weird how Hellene let herself be passed by everyone, now Mirage is in the front, damn, my cover could be blown if I end up going to the shower with Mirage, the tense thing is that I can't pass the damn Marianne, this girl keeps blocking the lines too well and this track is too closed, damn it.
"Let's make room! Let me through!" Talking doesn't do much good since I can hardly hear anything on this broom.
POV Narrator:
Lap 7 of 25, Hellene spent a lap without overtaking but she managed to reduce the time a lot, doing record laps, doing much better than in pre-qualifying, which made the crowd jump even more with the excellent performance of McLaren and Du Sud leading.
In the middle of this lap, confusion starts with Chloé's
unexpected crash into Diana's broomstick during the braking, causing the Scot to scrape a bit of her body against a barrier and lose a few positions. Deppailer, on the other hand, had more bad luck and her speed pushed her out of the track, crashing into a barrier and hitting the hay, seeing that her broomstick was in tatters.
"And woah! Our first crash, Chloé Deppailer is out! What a shame though, soon her chance to get a shot, but she wasted it with a dirty hit on Cavendish!" Wangari comments.
Lap 8 of 25, thanks to Chloé's DNF, this helps Hellene to move up to thirteenth position, but the most intense was still at the end of the lap, amidst three brooms, Hellene arrives at the corner and passes them with a skid on the inside at the Hairpin that reaches the main straight, making the crowd go crazy, simply the McLaren was being the main attraction of the event.
"Woah! This is wonderful and incredible! The most wonderful overtaking I have seen and now it seems Hellene in less than 10 laps is already in the top 10, she is already in the top 10 I repeat, soon she might have a chance to win at this pace, this is wonderful" said the Kenyan.
Lap 10 of 25, Hellene climbs to the ninth position, amidst the damaged broom Diana, goes trying to keep the second position, but Akko notices that her pace is not enough and neither Amanda's, passing the two on the outside and thus taking a chance to step on the podium, which the girls will love to see the dispute.
Lap 12 of 25, halfway through the race, McLaren moves up to eighth, and it was only a matter of time before she would be in the race for the win, now that the frontrunners are getting further apart.
On the same lap, Maril overtook Marianne, getting the gap she wanted and thus going to fifth position in an attempt to try to win, after her bad start, followed by the great start that Leclerc had by jumping straight to fifth position, she could see herself free to go after a probable victory.
Lap 15 of 25, seventh position for the redhead, managing to move up the grid, Akko was managing to open in relation to Diana and Amanda who were fighting for third position, as Maril was getting closer wanting to avoid as much as possible the moment with Mirage who was leading comfortably.
Lap 17 of 25, sixth position and Hellene was going up, Maril was going on the limit of what she could handle, even getting a tunnel vision of what she saw ahead, just trying to win the race by all means, she was accelerating as much as she could.
Lap 20 of 25, Hellene was still in sixth position, with only 5 laps to go, the four that were in front of her were competing for second position, with Akko being the furthest ahead.
In the middle of this dispute, simply Maril passing by Brooke is getting so pressed that she accidentally hits her broom in Amanda's broomstick, which is going like a bowling ball towards Diana in the front and luckily Akko was almost hit in this jam.
"Woah! And another accident! How about that! Brooke Hunter lost control under braking and took two more girls with her! This is a major disaster for their race" said the African and everyone was jumping with excitement to see the accident and the three damaged brooms.
POV Maril:
Damn, I was too fast on this one, I lost the braking sense and took both of them, now I don't have a chance, well at least I hit Diana, that's an extra point, a pity I won't be able to escape taking a bath with the Mirage... I see Hellene's broom passing by and she is my only hope, the way will be to hope she wins.
I see Amanda getting up from the hay, she came to me, grabbing me by the collar of my dress furiously, until Diana came to separate us and prevent the worst.
"Don't get in the way Cavendish! Look how stupid she's been! You don't know how to brake properly Hunter!" Said O'Neill angrily.
"Hey O'Neill it was just a racing accident, ye're taking a race like that too seriously, stay calm" Said my cousin and I was just getting a little bit dull, at the same time this might have given Diana more confidence.
"It was really bad, I lost focus, I was trying so hard to beat Mirage that I forgot the braking point, I thought about it so much that I couldn't see anything, just blurs" I tell them trying to explain.
"The only blur you saw was my broom hitting her and causing us to lose control," said O'neill quite irritated.
"Woah O'Neill calm down, it wasn't her fault, it was a racing accident, it's just a way fae us tae have fun, nae need to take it seriously" said my cousin breaking up the fight and then she stormed off, even giving us the middle finger.
What a hot girl, who does she think she is to keep coming at us like that? Anyway, now we just have to hope it won't be bad, I even sit down in the middle of one of the haystacks, a bit crouched, to try to pretend a feeling of sadness and regret, so Diana feels sorry for me and I gain her trust. It worked, she is even caressing me, what a good thing.
"Look Brooke, dinnae be like that with O'Neill's words, she's just hot headed, I was also a bit mad tae miss the chance, but it's a race, now let's see if Hellene will crush everyone as usual" She said patting me on the back.
POV Narrator:
Lap 22 of 25, Hellene's pursuit reaches Akko, the two start the lap side by side, but Kagari does not let herself be defeated so easily, she is making some smart defences that leave the McLaren without much option to pass, but in the middle of a slight mistake of the Japanese girl, the Irish girl capitalised an opening and passed her on the inside, coming out in front and it was then that there was no chance for the girl with crimson eyes that was left behind.
"And what an overtake and defence! Akko has held on as long as she can, but it looks like Hellene is in another league!" Wangari said.
Lap 23 of 25, 3 seconds separate Mirage from Hellene, it would be a miracle for McLaren, already pulling the broom at maximum, to get closer, in one lap she took 1.8 seconds off the French girl, already showing that she can have a chance to win, but to arrive is one thing, to overtake is totally another that requires a lot of skill and precision to get through the barrier that Du Sud prepared.
Lap 24 of 25, Hellene arrives in Mirage right at the end of the lap, the two stay close to each other, the red haired girl is doing everything to defend herself from the orange haired girl, trying to close the line and she manages to do it very well, the crowd is jumping with emotion, the two brooms practically exchanging sparks, colliding going to the limit of the line.
"Woah! Woah! Woah! Look what's come down to a last lap lead! Who's gonna win this one? Mirage? Hellene? The two are neck and neck, I've never seen a broom fight as intense as this! This is splendid!" said the African woman commenting on the race.
Last lap, Hellene is doing well, she is pushing hard the Mirage, but she did not make any mistake in any part of the track, not even when McLaren threatened to overtake, she simply saw more track to try to hold on, that was a whole lap, the brooms almost scraping the wall, both of them almost scraping their knees on the grass, but still not overtaking each other.
Until arriving at the final hairpin, at this time the two are even, but the better line is for Du Sud, even so Hellene spread what she could, the broom passed millimeters from the protective barrier, which even generated a wind current.
Side by side the two brooms were coming on the straight and the Irish came out the best with more speed and momentum, as she can accelerate more than Mirage, it was the chance she needed, conquering the lead of the race and winning the race with a miraculous overtake at the end.
"Woah! Woah! Woah! And Woah! This here is the pure race! That was the juice of the contest! Hellene at the last moment wins with a fantastic overtake, that's wonderful, that's jaw-dropping racing! That was beautiful to see! And Hellene McLaren wins the unofficial Luna Nova broomstick race!" Wangari comments.
POV Mirage:
This girl is a monster indeed, but I could hold her back and I think I might even have a chance if I practice more, Brooke's motivation helped me a lot, but unfortunately it's not today that I'll shower with her, but don't think that I won't tease Brooke, oh if I will, I just want to see her getting crazy with me, heh, I just hope Jeanne doesn't get in the way, heh, I brake the broom and go to where the podium stage was there too, kinda tired, I could tell she gave it her all, but looking at me she smiles, even then she gives her hand and I shake it.
"Dat was a very interesting race, it reminded me of de first time I beat my mother, I 'ad to use de whole track to pass 'er and I did it de same way as against you, it was a very exciting race, danks fae de race Mirage" she said smiling.
"I am impressed by your calmness and how you did everything on purpose to win in the end".
"I dink it's quite boring to win just leading, I want to 'ave a challenge, try to go all the way, I kind of show my best on the broom, well anyway, it was the best race" she said and then Akko arrives.
"I did it! I'm on the podium too" she said excitedly and it was well deserved, she competed hard and was the calmest of them, a pity I couldn't shower with Brooke, but I could have fun in this race, I even look at the sky, which was setting, it's too beautiful.
Far away in hiding...
POV Brooke:
I'm going to try to get out of here soon, I've already got a plan here, when Daryl comes I'm going to hang her, I don't care about the consequences, I want to see her dead anyway, if I get arrested or not, fuck it, I was defending myself.
I wait her coming with the food, the plate in hands, I keep sitting, kind of with the trap made, since she locked me in the ankle I know exactly what to do, she was coming very close, I was facing her with anger.
"What's up, kid? Jealous of your little friend being with my daughter? Soon they will go to bed without you" she said as she came close to me.
"And you'll have a wooden bed" I tell her pulling the chain close to her feet, which made her stumble backwards, I still managed to have a bit of strength.
"You bastard!" She said as she fell she used a spell to levitate herself, I jump right in front of her with the other chain.
I manage to fall on top of her, with my knee on her chest, I go pushing my ankle chain pressing into her neck, I swear I may regret this, but it is a necessary death.
"Now you are the one who is going to die and pay for what you did to my mother you scoundrel!" I say furiously and taking several punches by the body and the face, but I continued to force the chain, but out of nowhere she uses a spell to become a snake, to the point that bursts my chain, I go dragging myself back.
"Do you really think these little chains are going to kill me?" She said returning to normal and walking towards me, which I see the exit door, the chain snapped is my chance.
I start to run, heading for the door, it's my chance, I can't use magic properly, but I should try, only I feel something pull me on my ankle and I fall on the spot, right on my face, almost to the door, which I then go on to feel a stomp on my head with a rubbing on the floor, damn it.
"Do you really think you're going to escape? Kid, I know you'd do it at some point, this is going to be your last home, now behave yourself or you won't get any food" she said, and then I just heard the door close.
I look up, everything's closed again, all I can see is the chain on my ankle, at least it's broken, which means I can walk around more freely, but I have an idea, I can make a key out of this thing, I just need to memorize everything, from what I see there's a key hole, or even make it with a piece to use as lockpicking, the chain wires... I won't give up, Daryl will never notice my escape, I need to think better, killing her weakened like that won't work, but it gave a satisfaction, seeing her neck like that.
POV Narrator:
The race was a great success in Luna Nova, even if in an unofficial way, it served to give an extra entertainment for the students, which is also increasing the tension between Brooke and Mirage, which the French still has her desires for the English. The real Brooke is trying somehow to think of a way to escape, but she still hasn't succeeded with her first attempt and she is already going crazy from having to spend the worst in captivity, without any dignity.
See you, broom racers...