The entire room had fallen into silence, as everyone’s attention was solely on the TV. No one dared utter a word.
Hayden leaned forward when the camera panned over to the two pilots battling for first place. Every other car had been eliminated, and those two were the only survivors.
One of them was his guy. Sure, it was a silly notion. Hayden knew that he didn’t actually have any stake in this race, it didn’t matter who won or who lost. But for some reason, he found himself rooting for Zack.
It wasn’t a rational thought, after all it was likely that every pilot had used oxycodipine. And the product he supplied wasn’t all that different from any other. In fact, it was pretty much the exact same formula as the regular version anyone could buy with a prescription.
But still, Hayden wanted his guy to win.
He noticed that there was some sort of altercation on the track, the two pilots were driving side by side as if one wanted to ram into the other. And then in the next second, it was like everything happened at once.
Zack’s car - the purple one - accelerated out of nowhere, probably an attempt to reach the finish line. But then the silver car also accelerated, which Hayden reckoned was the so-called speed boost that the announcers kept raving on about.
The driver of the silver car had distanced himself from his opponent, but he suddenly came back, using his boost to ram into the purple car from the side.
The collision sent Zack’s car flying to the edge of the track, where it presumably crashed against the metal wall. It was hard to tell, as the camera did not stop following the silver car as it tried to stabilize itself. From then, it was an easy drive to the finish line.
It had been a short distance away, but even then it almost didn’t make it. The car stopped halfway through the finish line, and black smoke poured out of its hood. It seemed that the car had broken down right at the last second.
However, it was close enough that the announcer knew he could declare the winner.
“Absolutely amazing, ladies and gentlemen!” The announcer screamed excitedly through the TV. “Mist has won yet another death race! And what a close one that was!”
“Holy shit…” Hayden let out an incredulous sigh. He wasn’t sure of how to feel. It was like he’d been holding his breath this entire time and barely even noticed.
The camera followed the driver as he got out of the car. A drone camera briefly panned over to where the loser laid unmoving on the floor. It seemed like it had been a nasty crash, pretty much the entire car had crumpled like an accordion. It was almost comical.
As for the driver, well… it was hard to see with all the paramedics hovering around the body, but Hayden could tell that by this point the man had more blood on the outside than on the inside of his body.
He forced himself to not look away from the wreckage being shown on the screen, but it was hard to. He supposed this wouldn’t be a repeat client like he had wanted.
“Damn, that sucks,” Nero said after taking a swig of his beer. He reached over to clap Hayden on the shoulder. “I guess that’s it for your guy.”
Hayden didn’t reply. He turned his attention to the TV, where an image of the winner was being broadcast. He could see what the Mist guy looked like without his helmet.
He seemed like a young man, about Hayden’s own age. His hair was long, tied in a ponytail. It was silver, almost the same color as the car he’d been driving. And there was something about his eyes… they were weird. Unique. A pale blue that almost seemed white, sweeping over the crowd of interviewers that swarmed around him.
“A word please,” one of them said, trying the grab the attention of the young pilot. “You’re a newcomer, and yet you boast an impressive win record. Have you had any experience with races before?”
“I’ve done a lot of training,” Mist replied, and said nothing more. It seemed like he was about ready to leave the arena.
“How do you feel about dethroning Zack in yet another race?” The interviewers kept bugging him.
At first, Mist didn’t seem to care about the questions, but once Zack’s name was mentioned he shot an icy stare to whoever had asked the question.
“It feels great. Now he finally has someone to keep him in place.”
With that, Mist turned away and didn’t look back. The interviewers attempted to follow, but he was gone. Even through the fuzziness of the signal, Hayden couldn’t help but notice that there seemed to be a shadow of a smile on Mist’s face as he answered the question.
There was some more drone footage of the track, before the program switched to a shot of a leaderboard, as the announcers discussed the race’s placements. It seemed that even the racers who got eliminated still made it into the rankings. Zack’s name flashed just below Mist’s, as he had made it into 2nd place. Whatever good it had done to him.
Hayden had been watching it intently, when suddenly the TV switched off. He turned towards Nero, who was holding the remote.
“Well, that was interesting,” he said. “I’m pooped though. I need to hit the shower and go to bed.”
He stood up and left the room, leaving Hayden and the others. Seeing that Nero had left, Theia stretched as she got up from the couch. She stood still for a moment, mulling over her thoughts, and then she walked over to Hayden.
“I’ll get in touch with you about the crystal thing,” she said. “It might take a while until our contact is ready.”
Hayden nodded. “Sure.”
She gave him a tight smile, before turning away and heading towards her bedroom. Hayden’s eyes followed her for a moment, and then he got up from the armchair.
The room was now empty, as even Bulk had gone to his designated room in the dingy apartment. Hayden glanced at the door. He supposed it was time for him to head home.
He calmly walked towards it and reached for the door handle. But before he could open it, a hand was placed on his shoulder. He felt like his heart had stopped beating for a second, but when he glanced behind him he realized it was just Nero.
“Fuck’s sake Nero,” he whispered, trying to calm his racing heart.
Nero smiled at him. “Sorry about that. You got time for a smoke?”
Hayden’s face hardened. He knew that this wasn’t a question, it was an order. And so he nodded.
“Great,” Nero said, his smile growing wider. “Let’s head outside!”
The club was still practically empty, and Hayden wondered why the DJ even bothered with the music at this point. But he ignored all of that as he walked out through the back door, with Nero closely following him.
As he opened the door, a chilly wind blew past him. It was a foggy night. He walked out to lean against a wall, and reached into one of his jacket’s inner pockets. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, and made sure to offer one to Nero. His boss.
Nero took it, and Hayden lit both of their cigarettes. For a few moments, there was silence. Nero broke it by spitting on the ground.
“I don’t know how you can handle this crap,” he said, with a grimace.
Hayden remained silent as he took another drag of his cigarette. In truth, he didn’t know either. At first he wasn’t really fond of this brand, he had just forced himself to like it because no one else did. And now he couldn’t smoke anything else.
“You’re the one who wanted to borrow it,” he said finally, after exhaling the smoke.
“Sure,” Nero said, and Hayden had the suspicion that he’d rolled his eyes from under the shades. He put the cigarette out, before continuing: “Whatever, that’s not why I had you come here.”
Hayden raised an eyebrow. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t concerned, but he kept his cool, waiting for Nero to explain himself.
“What is your deal with that guy?” he said, turning to look at Hayden.
This time, it was Hayden who tossed his cigarette aside, before calmly stepping on it. “What do you mean?” he said.
“Why would you want to see him again?” Nero’s voice was as cold as stone, a far cry from his usual sleazy demeanor.
Hayden barked out a laugh, even though he did not find any of this even remotely funny. “He paid me eleven hundred silvers in cash?” he replied. “Why would I not want to see him again?”
Nero gave him a look, as if narrowing his eyes behind the shades. “All these years, and I’ve never seen you butt into the business side of things,” he said. “You’re always going out of your way to stay out of it. And now you come up with this ‘exclusive deal’ bullshit?”
After a pause, Hayden mustered up a sigh. “Listen, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you would take it so badly.” He made a show of putting his hands in his pockets, trying to hide the fact that his heart was pounding. “Can we just put this behind us? You saw what happened on the TV. It’s not like we’ll be able to sell anything to him now, either way.”
Nero suddenly shot towards him. He’d gotten so close that Hayden had to take a step back. “I don’t know what’s going on, but you better not be doing something behind my back,” he said.
Hayden stared into his boss’ sunglasses, completely useless at this time of night. He tried to peer into the eyes hidden beneath them. He wasn’t scared of Nero, so long as he wasn’t about to lose his job. In fact, he was almost relieved that this was the reason Nero was so worried.
“I’m not,” Hayden said. “It was just a suggestion, a heat of the moment thing.”
Nero stared at him in silence for several more seconds, before turning towards the club’s backdoor. “Keep doing your job as usual then,” he said as he walked through the door.
Hayden listened to the sounds of the door locking from within, and then he let out the sigh of relief he’d been holding. He scolded himself mentally for everything as he headed towards his car. The rumble of the machine when he turned the keys was enough to calm him, and he sped through the night.
He couldn’t wait to get home.
Zack struggled to open his eyes amid the bright white lights. His mind was still fuzzy, and it took him a few seconds before he could figure out where he was. The last thing he remembered was being in a car crash.
Right... the death race. He lost.
He tried to look around, but found that he was laying down on a bed. There was a slight ache spreading through his body, and he almost felt like he was hungover. The needle stuck on his arm prevented him from moving it, and so he decided to just stay still.
He could tell that his body had been heavily bandaged, but he didn’t know how badly he’d been hurt. It wasn’t his first time losing a race, so he was somewhat used to all of this. But he’d never been in such a brutal crash before.
His eyes didn’t leave the ceiling even when he heard footsteps approaching. He still didn’t move them when a familiar voice addressed him:
“You’re back.” The voice belonged to a woman. More specifically, it belong to Haniza, his manager.
Zack made an effort to turn his head and look at her, ignoring the pain flaring in his neck as he did.
“Yep. That means that dealer you got me is legit,” he said, his tone completely deadpan.
Haniza’s eyebrows furrowed, almost as if she was offended by the remark. “Of course he is,” she said. “I did my homework before sending you.”
His neck was beginning to hurt, and so Zack turned back to stare at the ceiling. He could hear Haniza take a seat in the armchair next to his bed. Truth is, he wasn’t in the mood to talk, but since she was here he might as well ask a few questions.
“How long have I been out?” he started with the obvious one.
Haniza thought for a moment. “About a day and a half, I’d say.” She adjusted her glasses. “I think you should be out in another day or two.”
Zack hummed in response, and then closed his eyes. He’d been unconscious for a full day, and yet he still felt tired. Not to mention his head was starting to ache. He supposed oxycodipine had an anesthetic effect to it, similar to how the body reacts when it’s full of adrenaline. But the healing process was always painful.
“So, about this… dealer,” Haniza said, prompted by nothing in particular. It seemed that if Zack had been looking for a nap, he wasn’t going to get it. He opened his eyes again, and waited for his manager to continue:
“What do you make of him?”
Zack thought in silence for a moment. What the hell kind of question was that? He frowned.
“I don’t know,” he started. He would’ve shrugged if not for all the IV drops stuck to his arms. “He was… a guy. Didn’t talk much. A professional, I guess.”
There was another stretch of silence, but Zack could feel Haniza’s cold stare on him.
“Good,” she said. “It seems we can continue doing business with him.”
Zack frowned again, and this time he made an effort to look at her, despite all the pain it caused him.
“You know, if you’re that interested, you should just go and meet him yourself,” he said.
Haniza simply sighed in response, as if dealing with an unruly child. “You know I can’t do that,” she said. “It’s too risky. What if I get seen?”
“You think it’s risky for you?” Zack replied. “I’m the one who shows up on TV!”
“I’m the face of the Makkaris Motor Company,” Haniza said sharply. “If people find out we are sourcing oxycodipine from these illegal dealers, they’re gonna find out we don’t have a license to use it. And if that happens…”
Zack furrowed his eyebrows, and his lips almost warped into a snarl. He knew the situation he was in. It was a scandal waiting to happen, and if it came to light his career would be over. Part of him wondered if it would be better that way, though. Money was tight, and he was the only pilot racing for Makkaris at the moment. Haniza wouldn’t tell him why the company couldn’t get a license, but Zack figured it was a money problem. And so, they had no choice but to buy it from the black market. It was risky, but it paid off.
Or at least, it would, had he won the race this time. Placing in second would earn him a hefty prize, but not nearly as much for it to be viable.
He silently cursed himself. Why did he have to end up like this? He should’ve known better, Haniza had been too desperate to hire him as a racer, back when he first began. If he knew all the secrets she’d been hiding…
“We still have to worry about the newcomer,” Haniza suddenly spoke, snapping Zack away from his thoughts.
He turned his attention to her again. “Who…?”
Haniza gave him a sharp look. “The one who got first place,” she said. “Mist?”
Zack let out a pained sigh at the mention of the name. Right, he’d almost forgotten. Mist was the reason why he would be stuck in a hospital for the next day.
“From what I understand, he isn’t very fond of you,” Haniza continued. “Do you think this poses a problem?”
“No,” Zack said, staring a hole into the ceiling. There was a part of him that wanted to get up from the bed and throw it out of the window. But he took a deep breath instead.
“Are you sure?” Haniza said, and the room stayed silent for several seconds as Zack refused to answer. She then continued: “What I want to know is if he’ll do something stupid.”
Zack's lips parted into a twisted smile. “He wouldn’t do that… the bastard is too smart.” He paused, and sighed again. “He just wants to prove he’s better than me.”
“So it’s a petty competition,” Haniza concluded, and didn’t wait for Zack to clarify. “I’ve had the liberty to look into him, and I found his criminal record. We have a leg up on him, if it comes to that.”
It was hard to stomach just how cold Haniza was in regards to all this. His personal matters, that’s how Zack viewed it. But to her it was just business. Which didn’t surprise him, after all, why would she care about what happened in his past?
“Haniza…” Zack blurted out, as he noticed her getting up from the armchair. “What else did you find out about him?”
Haniza stopped in her tracks, and stared directly into Zack’s eyes. “Nothing that you don’t already know,” she said, and then left.
Now alone in the hospital room, Zack could do little but wait for his body to heal. He cursed under his breath. Why did Mist have to get involved now of all times?
“Talk about a guy who can’t let go of the past…” Zack muttered to himself.
He then closed his eyes again, hoping sleep would take him away from all the thoughts swirling in his mind.