Chapter 36 Things escalated

Chapter 36 Things escalated

Kendrix

“What the fuck just happened?” JJ was the first to recover as we watched five motorcycles race down the lane.

Five.

Stephanie was competing against Sebastian's entire squad, the four members against just her. My heart leapt with fear. I was moving before I fully realized it, ignoring the calls of my friends.

It didn't take long before I found Ronnie, the owner of the Vault, mostly because he was a big and terrifying man. The man was tall and bulky, the bulkiest person I've ever seen, and he's covered head to toe in tattoos. There isn't a single part of him that isn't inked.

I've never been scared of the man—I've never been scared of anyone really—but I try my best to stay out of his way. As much as I was a magnet for trouble, courtesy of being JJ's friend, everyone knew to stay out of Ronnie's way.

But not tonight. Tonight, I was extremely pissed and I had the insistent urge to punch someone in the face. Not just anyone, Ronnie.

“How could you let him use his entire squad against her? That was not part of the rules. It was a challenge, not a contest. It's supposed to be one-on-one.” I was visibly shaking with anger as I spoke. I didn't raise my voice but I didn't need to for him to realize how angry I was.

Ronnie simply shrugged. “There are no rules except the ones I make. He told me she challenged his squad, so she races against all of them, that's how challenges are won.”

“You know he's lying, she did no such thing.” I snapped at him, taking a step forward. I didn't know what I was going to do, but thankfully, someone came and placed a hand on my shoulder. Cisco gave me a slight shake off his head.

Ronnie grinned at me and my anger intensified. “It seems to me that your girl is holding her own well against Seb's squad.” The crime lord mused and gestured to the large screen behind me.

I couldn't bring myself to watch it, I hadn't been able to watch since the five of them took off. I didn't trust myself not to hop on Cisco's bike and go after her.

“She's doing great, Ken. Look.” Cisco said miss forcefully. I finally let myself look.

Sebastian was in the lead while Stephanie was stuck between two motorcycles. The two of them seem inclined to sandwich her between them. She would get ahead of them and they would catch up with her to continue study that had in mind. It was a never-ending cycle.

One of them must have said something to her because her head snapped towards him too quickly. Then the other person, the one she had her back on, stretched out a hand to probably throw her off the moving bike.

But Stephanie seem to have already predicted that and she easily dodged despite not looking at the person.

“Oh, she's good.” Brooklyn clapped. I didn't realize when I had walked back to them. My eyes was fixed on the screen. I couldn't help but feel like something bad would happen if I looked away, so I didn't.

Stephanie was again a few paces ahead of the two, but that obviously weren't willing to let her go so easily. A third motorcycle which had been following them steadily from behind soon joined in the chase.

The three motorcycles rotated around her, blocking her from moving forward. The other spectators and I soon realized what this was really about.

It wasn't a race, it was annihilation.

The other members of Sebastien's squad weren't interested in the race, they just wanted to distract Stephanie enough for their leader to win.

The stupid coward.

I clenched my fist and watched as Stephanie struggled to break free of them. I glanced at Cisco's motorcycle again and wondered if I should just help her. Fuck the rules. Sebastian had obviously not cared about it when he ganged up on her.

Cisco seem to catch my trail of thoughts. He gave me a subtle nod and dipped his hand into his pockets to probably fetch the keys when the crowd suddenly cheered. My head snapped up just in time to see Stephanie decrease her speed, causing the three motorcycles ambushing her to crash into each other.

She removed a hand from the handlebar and flipped them off. She sped towards Sebastian who was almost at the finish line. There were several miles between them, but she cut through the distance like it was nothing. She had to be going at a very high speed because even the drone struggled to keep up with her.

But despite how fast she was going, it wasn't fast enough. She caught up with Sebastian a second before he crossed the finish line and won the race.

The cheers from the other side was loud as Sebastian spread his arms wide opened, his motorcycle slowly coming to a halt. I was already moving towards them before Stephanie came to a full halt. She swung her leg off the motorcycle, removing the helmet as she marched towards Sebastian. And she was livid.

“You cheated!” She growled when she got to him.

Sebastian removed his helmet and hung it on the handlebar. He grinned at Stephanie who seems ready to bash his head on his motorcycle. Her entire body shook with rage.

I was pissed by the stunt he pulled but I wanted her to handle this by herself. Also, I didn't want that death glare directed at me. So we stood beside her instead.

“It's not cheating if there's no rule against it, is it?” He cocked his head to the side. “It doesn't matter anyway. I won.”

“Yeah, because you cheated. You're not confident you can beat her on your own so you decided to gang up against her instead. Cowards.” JJ scoffed.

Sebastian's head snapped up and he glared at JJ beside me. “I beat you just fine the last time. Do you want a rematch, James?”

“How about you and I have a rematch instead?” Stephanie said, taking a step towards him. “If you're so confident that you can beat me again, then let's have one right here, right now. I dare you.”

Sebastian leaned forward, his gloved hands bracing the handlebars. “Why would I want to do that when I already beat you and proved that you lots will always be second to us?”

“Oh, this motherfucker!” JJ muttered as he moved forward probably to punch him, but Cisco stopped him before he could do that. He was left seething silently.

“Let's just go. He's not worth it.” Brooklyn said. She grabbed Stephanie's hand and began to drag her away. The rest of us start to follow.

“Maybe we should go on that date after all, Mi amor. I promise I'll treat you better then these golden boys. Might even let you suck my dick to make up for this…uh…evening.” Sebastian's voice somehow seem to echo despite the crowd. His minions burst into laughter.

I was moving before I realized it, ready to punch the slimy smile off his face. But I wasn't fast enough.

My steps came to an abrupt halt as I watched Stephanie rush towards Sebastian and punch him in the face.