Lyan
The car was freezing. As soon as the engine roared to life the AC turned itself on and froze the whole thing. I was shivering, hugging myself, until Orus started giving off heat. Thank God, I wasn't freezing anymore.
It hadn't been even one hour before Orus stopped at a gas station near the road.
" Why are we stopping?"
" Didn't you want to go to the bathroom? Now's your chance. The engine has to rest for five minutes. You have enough time to do what you want" Mark said from my left side, already opening the door.
I looked at the rope that had just fallen. Our security measure had been destroyed, and went out without saying anything else.
Once outside I could see exactly how bad it all was. Black goo was sticking to the back of the car and the stuff on the top was bended to one side and one strong breeze away from being blown into the road.
I spun around and entered the bathroom. It was disgusting, but no surprises there, and after having to go to the academy bathrooms these didn't seem as bad. At least now I was entering the woman's bathroom and there wasn't pee all over the seat, which was a big relief and a pleasant surprise from everyday life at the academy.
When I came back the car was already moving away slowly. I ran to it and got in through Mark's opened door.
" What the fuck guys?" I looked at Orus, pissed that he had tried to leave me behind.
" If the car stops moving it stops working"
Oh, yeah. I forgot we were in a walking piece of garbage. I laid back, resting my head on the nothingness instead of the headrest that had crumbled under the weight of a single hair strand, and took out my snacks from my bag in the trunk. It wasn't closed, as everything else in this car the lock didn't work.
Jack put his hand in my snacks and took half of them in one swoop.
" Hey, that's my food!!"
" I can't hear you" He placed his hands in his ears and shook his head, while a smug smile flourished in his face.
" Don't you dare steal my snacks too" I smacked Mark's hand away and he looked away with a guilty expression.
I had defended my food. I felt proud, but just in case I started goblin up my snacks, inhaling more than tasting them.
I was shoving another mouthful of Cheetos into my mouth when the whole car tilted slightly to the left and then stopped moving.
" What's going on?"
" Don't worry. It's just one of the wheels that went off to live its life. Orus will fix it" Jack said nonchalantly, still eyeing my snacks.
As he had just said Orus crawled through the window and changed the tire. When the tire was changed he crawled back inside.
" Now we only have six left" Orus muttered, fear patent in his voice.
" Just how many do you usually pack?"
" Ten, but since we had so many bags we had to cut down on the tires"
" It'll be fine" Mark tried to reassure me, but his tone was uncertain.
I, on the other hand remained unfazed. I had already come to terms with the fact that this car was a walking piece of junk and that chances were it'd be our coffin.
When Orus started the car again the cars behind us were honking, screaming at us to move already.
A little while later we were going through a quaint little town when Orus almost crushed all of us into a cafe. Thankfully we were going very slowly and he reacted on time to stop it, but what the fuck?
I looked at Orus with a killer look and I saw him shudder.
" The wheel short-circuited" Orus said in a deep, husky voice.
" You saw that? He's afraid of my scary murder gaze" I whispered into Jack's ear.
He looked at Orus and chuckled.
" I highly doubt that's what's happening"
" Then what's going on with him?"
Jack just chuckled harder.
I crossed my arms and didn't speak to them anymore.
" Orus, what do you have in your hand?"
The car was now swaying from left to right, almost crashing into road signs and nearby cars. Meanwhile Orus was just holding something and giving us orders like a pirate, telling us to lean right or left to move the car.
" The steering wheel" He said without looking at me.
" Whaaaat?!!!!!"
" Don't worry. Duct tape!" He screamed at Mark.
Mark took the duct tape and passed it over to Orus, who stuck the steering wheel back into its place. We stopped swaying and Orus got control of the car again.
A while later we stopped at a cafe and ate some muffins while the car tried to heal its internal damage and find the courage inside itself to work again, but by now I wasn't worried about that. I was more worried about the fact that we were already four extra tires out now. At the pace things were going we might've packed too few.
" Do you think the tires will last?" I asked Mark as Orus took back his place behind the steering wheel.
" Let's hope so. I wouldn't want to have to call for a towing truck again"
Orus drove for one more hour and then it was Mark's turn behind the wheel.
Orus and Mark changed places in one of the stops the car required every hour to work and Orus sat beside me.
" Your driving skills suck. You can't even keep it straight " I gave him my death glare and he looked away, his breath staggering.
" What's wrong with him?" I asked Jack, pointing at Orus, whose hands were shaking up and down.
" Nothing " Jack chuckled.
The next trek of the road was uneventful. Mark and Jack changed places and we kept stopping every now and then to let the car rest and fill the gas tank.
" It's my turn now!!" I shouted when Jack crawled out of the window and took my seat. I crawled through the window, bruising my arms with the edges and taking the steering wheel. I was excited. Sure this was a piece of junk, but it was still a car, and on the bright side, since the car was already trashed they wouldn't complain too much when I crashed it, or so I hoped.
I stared at the pedals, wondering which one was which.
" Guys, if I want to move forward what pedal should I step on?"
I saw their faces in the mirror and they were contorted with fear.
" You know how to drive, right?" Mark asked from his seat at the left door. I looked forward.
" You know how to drive, right?!!" Mark was almost shouting now.
" Of course. It was just a trick question" They all breathed a sigh of relief." I'm going to step on the gas pedal. On the lef..." I watched their faces as they looked at me as if I was a threat to their lives" right!" I said, stepping on the right pedal. The whole thing moved forward. I got it. I gently moved the steering wheel strapped with tape to the car and took us out of the gas station. The guys relaxed little by little as they saw I wasn't going to kill them yet.
I managed not to crash the car into any of the nearby cars or signs and made it to the highway. The road was like hell on earth. It was fully packed with cars, everyone moving faster than the rest. The cars cut off each other at the last second and changed lanes in a split second.
" I can do this" I murmured.
Orus tilted his head and looked at me weird but thankfully he let it go.
I had finally gotten the hang of it. The key was to turn like a maniac and drive like there was no tomorrow. My feet never left the gas pedal and the car showed that I was going 100 miles above the limit, but I didn't see any police lights, so whatever.
By now I was feeling pretty confident and there were only two hours left. Even though we had stopped for gas every two hours and even stopped to have a meal at a restaurant Mark's maniac driving had turned four hours into seven. He had covered seven hours of road in just four. Guy had a knack for going at incredible speeds and not crashing.
I was humming, cutting in front of people just as they turned when the steering wheel came off.
" Hmmm, guys? I think the steering wheel came off"
Without looking up from his phone Jack handed me over duct tape. I patched the steering wheel as well as I could and kept driving.
The excitement of driving a car was now gone and I was just tired, but I could smell the salt in the air and from the left side I could see the blue expanse of the sea.
I followed the GPS and went into a deserted road in the middle of a forest.
" Are you sure this is the right way?"
" Yeah. Just keep going. Our mansion is right ahead"
" You have a mansion and still drive this car?" I was so shocked that I almost let go of the steering wheel and crashed the car into a nearby tree. I was surprised I hadn't hit anything besides another car and scratched the whole car and then proceeded to run over what I hoped was a small bouncing screaming ball near a neighborhood. I was worried about the second one, but Orus had gotten off to check and told me that it was just a big ball. I was pretty sure balls didn't scream like that, but I chose to believe him. I was proud of myself. The car was still standing and I hadn't murdered anyone, or at least that's what I hoped.
" Yes, we have money. We could buy another car, but this one's special" The gleam in Mark's eyes told me he was telling the truth. He seemed to remember something every time he looked at the car, and I could understand that. The not wanting to let go of the memories, so I shut up and followed the old path.
In front of me the forest suddenly opened up and a big mansion appeared. It was painted green, the same tone as the surrounding forest and behind it I could see the sea. It was a sprawling mansion, probably from centuries ago. It exuded an air of formality and importance. The moment I saw it I gasped.
" Pretty, right?" Orus whispered into my ear, holding the front seat to get to me.
" That's an understatement" I muttered and he chuckled as he went back to his seat.
" Park over there" Jack pointed to our left, where an expanse of forest was cleaned out, replaced by gravel.
I turned that way and lifted my feet from the gas pedal. The whole car launched forward before reluctantly stopping.
I crawled through the window and got outside. The guys were already picking our belongings and carrying them to the mansion. I opened the back door, the only ones in the car capable of such high function, and picked up Fluffy from where he was still hiding under the front seat.
I decided to let the guys carry my stuff and entered the mansion through the open main door. Behind it was a gigantic lobby, with doors on each side and a staircase that led to the second level. I started snooping around and discovered the kitchen, living room, bathroom and a small courtyard on the first floor, but there were no rooms. I looked at the staircase and got to the second floor.
The second floor only had rooms. I was deciding which one to pick, they were all almost identical, when Jack crept up to me.
" That's yours" I jumped in the air. I hadn't heard him coming. He laughed and guided me to my room.
It had a king sized bed and a walk in wardrobe. It also had a desk and some chairs and a walk in bathroom. At that point it was more of a suite than a room.
" Thanks" I yawned. It was already late and I was tired. Mark's driving had shortened the journey, but it had still been a very long one.
" Get some sleep. Orus will carry all of your stuff into my room, and you can pick it up whenever you want, or you can sleep in my room with me" He said, hands roaming my upper body, but I was too tired to care.
" Goodnight Jack" I took his hands off of me and closed the door in his face. Not caring enough to change into my pajamas, they were in my bags and they weren't here, I laid in bed. It was so soft and firm. It was the perfect bed.
" I want it" I whined while hugging the pillow firmly. That was it. One day it'd have this bed. It was a promise.