Crescent Bound (9 page)

“
Okay,
you are
in.
”
D
ad pencils
Dawson
’s name on the sheet.

“
L
et
’
s
get the cars in the garages and check them out
to
make sure we don
’
t have any problems
before we ra
ce.
”
I announce to
Dawson
as I stand to leave.

My father built ten garage stalls with every tool you would ever need so that many of the street racing witches that show can check things out, swap to racing tires, which is pretty much what the stalls ar
e mainly used for.  Everyone mak
e
s
their way to their cars and then into the stalls, I have to switch tires and ex
haust.  The
garage bays are run like the races, in stages so everyone has access to them before hitting the track.  Tonight is a true battle of witches and machines. 
             

Dad always helps me check out my
Shelby
and we
both agree
it
’
s good to go.  So I pull my car out and park it closer to the strip and start wiping it down.  It
’
s already clean
,
but a girl can never be too picky about her car. 

Megan and Lisa are already sitting in the stands.  I
walk up and
sit down next to them.  Lisa and Megan don
’
t race
,
they just love to watch and since
Dawson
is racing too, it makes it that much more exciting. 

“
Have you seen
him yet?
”
Lisa asks quietly. 

“
Seen who
?
”
O
ddly, I was thinking of Marc, but then it hit me
…
David. 
“
No, I haven
’
t
,
thanks for reminding me.
”
 

Megan speaks up,
“
Well, he is here, isn
’
t that his car over by the office?
”
  I look back and yeah
, that
’
s his Chevelle, I
’
d know that car anywhere.  My father and David worke
d together making that car run
11.5 in the quarter mile.  I watch silently as my father walks
out of the office with David right behind him.  They d
o
the coven handshake an
d David gets
in his car.  I feel my heart sink deep inside.  I turn my head to watch
a couple of cars head towards the staging area
. 

I suddenly feel a light touch.  Lisa places her hand on mine, leans over to me and whispers,
“
It
i
s going to be
okay
.
”
I look back at her and Megan
,
giving them one of my well known reassuring smiles.  I know they know better, tonight is going to be interesting. 

I catch myself glancing over
at
David park
ing
his car down from the main office and
then
walk
ing
over to the garage
that
Dawson
is
in
. From a distance he still looks just like the first day I met him.  He is extremely attractive, dark brown hair
, kind
of th
at
messy
style,
like he just got out of bed.
He has
deep clover hazel eyes
and if he wears
just the right
shade
of green
it
enhance
s
the jade color of his eyes even more.  Seeing him makes me miss hearing his
rich
lau
ghter and the great times we once had together
.

Lisa rampantly asks
,
“
Are you ready to race?
”
I think she is just trying to distract me
,
and I
simply
nod.

I tell her and Megan
as I
sigh in relief,
“
It
’
s going to feel so good to rac
e
the
Shelby
again.
”
  With D
ad working on getting this track built I haven
’
t raced in a long time.  I get up smiling at them
.
“
Keep an eye on me, I
’
m going beat my record time tonight, I can feel it.
”
  They see the gleam in
my eye
s
and that puts them both at ease. 

I walk to my car
and
get my racing gear.
  Cars are already starting to line up and the stands are filling up quickly.  I absolutely love the fact that my father tries to make a place like this for our kind. 

Here we can shift to just about anywhere and use our powers without the worry of humans seeing us.  The Worthington Raceways
’
are open to witches only, the invited and uninvited alike.  The only rule here that my father strictly enforces is no magick of any kind on the cars. 
It
’
s
entertaining to see witches from all over the world using their own intellectualness and not rely on their elements or other powers.

My father sees me walking up to the office and waits for me. 
“
We are ready to start in just a minute.
”
  It is just before
seven o
’
clock
and the cars are lining up in the staging ar
ea.  He hands me my helmet, hugging me
. 
“
Good luck Alyss, I know,
you
’
re
going to break your personal best tonight, right?
”
   
             

How does he always know stuff like
that?
  I wonder if he can read minds or something, he says he can
’
t and he wouldn
’
t lie, but how does he do that, I will never know.

I didn
’
t ask him who I am racing or even what kind of car I
’
m going up against.  Over the years I think my
father knows I
’
m up for anything he throws at me
.

I shift to my car
,
hop in and push my
“
Go Baby Go
”
button
.  I
sit there listening to the sound of the motor.  To me, my motor has a certain musical sound and if I hear that rhythm then I know all is running right.

I buckle myself in, placing my helmet on and drive over to find out which lane I
’
m
racing in. While I wait, I adjust
my black leather gloves and begin to check my nitrous
oxide system, lines, and gauges, and it
all looks perfect.   I see David and Dawson talking with the driver ahead of me.  I keep my head down and hope he will walk on past.  What am I thinking?  This is David and nope, here he comes, oh,
Dawson
cut him
off, how funny.
I laugh inside as
Dawson
leans in and
asks
,
“
You all set, need anything?
”

“
No
,
I
’
m good.
”
I answer quickly
,
“
Thanks for checking.
”
 

The line moves forward
,
placing the first two racers directly on the line.  Each one
backs up several feet and begins
burning out.  There is so much smoke I can no longer see the blazing red Camaro that
’
s right in front of me. 
Dawson
moves back and David, who was standing right besi
de him, moves in like a shark.

“
Hey,
”
h
e says grin
ning.

“
Hey,
”
i
s all he gets back from
me.

The cars are at a stop now waiting.  I don
’
t want to talk to him with my helmet on and my headset plugged into my ear so that I can talk to my father if there
’
s a problem.  So, I just slide my visor down over my eyes.  He gets the hint and walks on.

Breath, you got a race to run, no time for him, just focu
s
.  My mental pep talk done, I start to feel the adrenaline flow. When I race
,
it
’
s
just me, my car, and the track.  Everything else just disappears the second I hit the gas.

A b
lack 1996 F
irebird and another M
ustang C
obra GT
,
I believe, are up next, the smell of burning rubber soon fills the air again.  I have my racing tunes already on
, but
with the sound of screaming tires and the revving engines it
’
s hard to hear over them.  I look in my rearview mirror and see a fierce red
‘
71
’
Plymouth
‘
C
uda, against a black Lamborghini Aventador
.
“
Nice
.
”
I think. 

Now looking to my left I see my competition.  A 2009 Nissan Skyline
GT-
R customed out and gorgeous.  The aquamarine paint glitters brightly under the lights, what a sweet car.  This should be interesting.

Dawson and David are handling the staging area. 
Dawson
signals us up after the last two cars finish their run.  I move my
Shelby
forward, and David waves his hand at me to tell me to move my car
behind
the starting line, I do. 

Each track is so different and once you race a few times on the same track you get used to it.  The Nissan starts burning tires and I join in too.  I can feel the back of my car swaying from side to side as my tires heat up.  I let off the gas as my windshield fills up with smoke.  I definitely feel the intoxication of racing.  We back up and I inch my car forward waiting for the lights to signal I
’
m on the line properly.

I get set first which is the way I like it because as soon as the second one is set we are gone.  The Nissan keeps inching up.  He is set and time seems to stop right now as everything slows down. 
I have o
ne foot on the clutch, one on the gas, a hand on the wheel and o
ne on the shifter.  My eyes
feel the lights
more
than see them.  I hear the lights as they illuminate, boom, first yellow, boom second yellow, boom third yellow. Boom, the green hits.  I launch off the l
ine at the exact same time the S
kyline does.  Flying through first and second gears, then third and I
’
m at 115mph. 

The Nissan is out of my peripheral vision so I
’
m guessing
it
’
s
a car length behind me.  I hit fourth and the rush is awesome.  Wishing it was a mile track instead of just a quarter.  I hit the finish line first and let off everything allowing the engine
to
wind itself down in gear as I gently tap the brakes.

The digital board lights
up and I try to look, but I can
’
t really tell.  I know its going to be close.  I start checking my gauges making sure nothings wrong.  Slowing down, my car and I come to the end of the road.  The Nissan drives next to me, and waves a hand to me and I wave back.  He yells
out,
“
Good race,
”
and we both drive back to the main area.