“That’s the last of ‘em.” The old guy had been cautiously watching Hayden as he loaded the suitcases into the trunk of his car.
Hayden wiped the sweat off his brow, before taking one last look at the four cases sitting inside the trunk. “This is… a lot more than I expected…” he said, amid heavy breaths.
“Yeah, well, I’d rather sell it all before the dang government finds out about my mine,” the old guy said.
He was a strange fellow, surprisingly well dressed for someone who spent most of his time mining for ore. He had a scraggly white beard, and his eyes were hidden beneath a pair of goggles. He smiled, revealing a few of his missing teeth.
“You know, this plot of land has always belonged to my family, but no one ever did anything with it,” he continued to ramble unprompted. “And then I found a mine in here! In my own lands!”
Hayden barely paid attention to the man as he was too busy swatting mosquitoes away from his face. It was truly a wonder how much of the so-called wilderness was in fact owned by people. He scoffed at the thought, before opening one of the cases to make sure everything was in order. Inside, several crystals glittered in the sunlight. They almost looked like metal, but Hayden knew they weren’t. These were the crystals needed in order to synthesize nitriodyn.
He closed the case again before slamming the trunk shut, and began walking towards the car’s door.
“It’s been a pleasure, Mr. Elra,” Hayden said as he opened the door.
Mr. Elra looked at him, and then approached Hayden far too quickly for someone his age. “You better not tell anyone where you got those crystals, you hear me?” he said, and his tone almost sounded like a threat. “If anybody finds out, they’ll be all over my property like a pack of vultures!”
Hayden nodded. “The only ones who know about this place are my boss and myself,” he tried to reassure the old man. “You don’t have to worry.”
“Good. And uh, speaking of your boss…” Mr Elra began, trying to carefully pick his next words but giving up halfway. “Where is the money you owe me? For the crystals?”
Hayden smiled. “I was just about to get to that.” He reached inside the car, and there on the passenger seat was another suitcase.
It was smaller and a bit more elegant in design. He grabbed it, and handed it over to Mr. Elra. The man cautiously opened it, and his eyes widened when he saw the contents.
“Why, I believe it’s all here,” he said with a smile. And then he held out his hand towards Hayden. “Pleasure doing business with you!”
Hayden tried not to roll his eyes as he shook the man’s hand. He never liked formalities like these, but who was he to complain? At least the job was done.
He didn’t say another word as he climbed into the car and turned the ignition key. The car rumbled to life, and soon it was on its way along the dirt road, which would lead him away from the woods and back on the highway to Nekroi City. It would be a few hours on the road, so he decided to turn on the radio for some distraction. Maybe some music would be nice.
Or it would be, if the signal had been strong enough to give him anything other than garbled noise.
He turned off the radio as he figured it would be better to be alone with his thoughts. At some point, he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket, and so he picked it up.
One eye on the road and the other on his phone, Hayden barely paid attention to the message on the phone’s screen. He could tell it was from the same number that had asked for the ten vials of oxycodipine.
That was strange enough to make him swerve into the breakdown lane and stop the car. As he read the message, he couldn’t help but feel a chill down his spine.
“Greetings. Your services are required once again. Bring ten vials of oxycodipine tomorrow, at the same place, same time.”
Hayden stared at the screen for a while, as if he was having trouble deciphering the text. He swallowed. It seemed like his contact really was running a big operation, and it wasn’t a drug based one.
The death race.
He tried not to think about it. He had spent the night having weird dreams about the mangled bodies left to bleed out on the track, the fire from the explosions. And the racer he had been rooting for... he felt bad for the guy.
Here in the car, alone, he allowed himself to admit that it had been a waste of one good-looking man, to go out like that. But he pushed the thought away as quickly as it had come.
Should he accept this, knowing that it would probably go to another masacre? It was a silly question, and he knew it. It didn’t matter how he felt about it, not when there was a lot of money to gain from this. He hesitantly typed out a confirmation message.
He stared at his phone for a few more seconds, before putting it back in his pocket and starting the car again.
There was an odd feeling deep down in his gut, and he tried to ignore it as he drove away back to Nekroi City.
An uncomfortable dream, visions of car crashes, blood dripping from the wreckage. Hayden opened his eyes, not surprised to find himself waking up before sunrise.
It was something he was used to, considering that for years, his sleep schedule had been fucked up beyond all recognition. But still, the restless nights had been too frequent as of late.
It was almost laughable, just how much this whole death race thing had affected him. He didn’t like the idea of selling more juice to that same client, something about it seemed… suspicious. There was a feeling in his gut telling him there was something much darker going on.
Still, he shouldn’t be awake at this hour. He would need to stay alert during the exchange, so it was no use losing sleep now. But no matter how much he tried, he was unable to lull himself back to sleep.
With a sigh, Hayden sat up and reached for his nightstand, opening the drawer. It was a mess, and he rummaged through it until his fingers wrapped around a small vial containing a blue liquid. He brought it closer to his eyes to examine it. His personal stash.
Half a vial should be enough if he just wanted to relax and fall asleep back again. He looked for a syringe and a rubber band.
He had done this a million times, both by himself and with company. He knew that there were no risks. And yet, this time he couldn’t help but to hesitate.
“Just half…” he muttered to himself, trying to calm himself as he carefully filled the syringe with the blue liquid.
After making sure there were no air bubbles in the liquid, he wrapped the rubber band around his arm. He took a few deep breaths, forcing his shaky hand to pierce the vein with the needle.
The oxycodipine felt cool as it flowed inside his veins, even if for just a moment. A little bit of blood came out as Hayden removed the needle, and he ignored it. In fact, he found it increasingly difficult to care about anything in the real world.
Soon, the familiar haziness took over his mind, and he smiled. In here, he knew that nothing mattered. He was free to dream again, even if it was about things that would normally make him hold his breath to convince himself his heart wasn’t aflutter. There wasn’t shame nor fear anymore, and his mind welcomed all sorts of thoughts into it.
The machines, the blood, the mangled body of the pilot he’d met on that dark night. He wondered what that body would have looked like when he was alive.
“I don’t understand how you can stomach that,” said a young woman with short black hair, almost the same color as her jacket.
Mist looked up from the book he was reading. He had been so distracted that he didn’t notice Ayani approaching until she addressed him. He closed the book.
“Good afternoon to you too,” he said, with a smile.
Ayani rolled her eyes and pulled a chair for herself. The coffee shop was quiet at this time, and the few people that were around did not seem to recognize Mist. It was something he could grow fond of, the salary of a top athlete without any of the notoriety. He supposed that the average coffee shop goer was not the typical target audience for the death races.
And that included the woman in front of him.
“Seriously, you seem too calm about this,” Ayani continued. “Makes me fucking sick to my stomach, if I’m being honest.”
Mist brought a steaming cup to his lips, gently blowing on the coffee in an attempt to lower its temperature. He took a sip, and placed it back on the table.
“Why should I not be calm?” he said. “No one got hurt, really.”
Ayani huffed. “I’m not talking about that.” She leaned back on the chair, arms crossed. “The guy you exploded, you said you knew him!”
There was an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach as she mentioned Zack, but the soft smile remained on his face.
“I know him, yes,” he said. “I even feel a little bad about it. But he’ll be fine.”
“What even is your deal with him?” Ayani asked.
Mist took his time on another sip from the coffee. It was still too hot for his liking.
“We used to… work together,” he said. He calmly put the cup down, and stared deeply into Ayani’s eyes. His smile was gone.
“Hm, gotcha,” Ayani replied with a nod. “I guess that’s as much clarification as I’m gonna get from ya.” She shrugged. “Anyway, we’re not here to discuss that.”
“Right, of course,” Mist agreed.
“So… were you able to find anything out?”
Mist sighed. “Not as of yet, I’m afraid,” he said. “These things take time. I can’t risk being found out, you understand.”
Ayani scoffed. “I know…” She fell silent as she stared a hole through the table.
“I need them to trust me first, which is proving itself to be… harder than I expected,” Mist continued. He looked at Ayani, and it was impossible not to notice her disappointment. “Not all is lost, though.”
Ayani perked up at this, cautiously interested, like a dog being offered a treat from a stranger.
Mist smiled. “As of my last victory, I believe I am on track to be hired by the Eranis Motorsports Company.”
“Eranis…?” Ayani replied by raising one of her eyebrows. “That’s the top death race company, isn’t it?”
“Indeed,” Mist nodded. “Not only that, but they have strong ties with the main organizer of the death races. If I can get into their good graces, I’ll have access to the entire history of the death race sport.”
Ayani had a cautious smile on her face, that grew wider as Mist spoke. “And with it, all of its secrets,” she said. “This is huge…”
Silence settled between the two, as they both realized that such matters should not be discussed in public. Ayani stayed still, quietly observing Mist as he drank from his cup of coffee.
“Say… about your friend, Zack…” She began, trying to avoid his eyes. “He was the top racer for a while. Do you think he ever got invited to join Eranis?”
Mist smiled at the question, and Ayani didn’t know if she should be relieved by it or not.
“He most certainly has,” he said. “But he still hasn’t left Makkaris for some reason. It could be out of loyalty, or it could be because something is keeping him there.”
“And I reckon he is not the loyal type,” Ayani said.
The glare Mist gave in return was enough to make her recoil. He then sighed.
“If there’s something forcing him to race for Makkaris against his will, I want to know what it is,” he said. “As much as it pains me to admit it, I worry about him sometimes.”
“And that’s why you’re doing this?” Ayani said. “So you can… reach out to him?”
“Yes.”
Ayani put her hands up defensively. “I’m sure you know what you’re doing, so I’m not complaining,” she said. “I see it as a win for both of us.”
There was the slightest hint of sorrow in her eyes, even though she tried to hide it. She placed her hands back on the table, and Mist placed his hand on top of hers. She didn’t recoil from his touch, as it was a gentle one this time.
He didn’t say anything, but it was comforting all the same.