Baby

Mr. Puckett

The sound of purring engines permeated the air as the cars all chattered excitedly over lunch the next day. Apparently, Mr. Puckett would be coming to sit in on their training that evening. He was evaluating them to see if any were ready to proceed with their 'assignment', whatever that meant.

"Oh, I can hardly wait," a red Ferrari named Scarlet swooned.

In addition to the tight red dress and heels she wore, Scarlet also had fiery curls and bright red lips. Even her eyeshadow was red. It was obvious to Baby that like some of the other high-end cars, Scarlet thought she was better than the rest of them.

'I'd beat you in a beauty contest any day, sweet cheeks,' Baby rolled her eyes.

"How many of us do you think he'll okay?" the other Ferrari, a male in deep blue named Grover, inquired.

"Ooh, I hope he picks me," the Tesla, a woman in a white dress named Bianca, sighed.

"Seriously, what's the big deal about this Mr. Puckett?" Baby hissed at Elliot, who sat to her right.

"He's the mastermind behind this, the one who turned us," Elliot whispered back. "Whatever they're training us to do, it's all his idea."

"So?"

"So, he's the one who decides when we're ready or not."

"We can't leave without his say-so?"

"Mm-hm," Elliot nodded.

Baby remained silent then, picking at the food on her plate. Everything in the place was so fancy and sophisticated. She would kill to be able to try a burger or even the pie that Dean seemed to love so much. As the other cars continued to chatter and eat their lunch, Luke came in with a wide smile on his face.

"Afternoon training will begin now. Mr. Puckett should be arriving soon."

There was a loud revving of engines as the cars all cleared their places and hurried off to the training room. Baby and Elliot were the last two to get up.

"Elliot, why don't you go on ahead. I have to speak with Miss Paula alone," Luke informed the Jaguar.

Elliot glanced at Baby, who gave him a reassuring smile, before hurrying out of the room with a soft purr of his engine. Once he had left, Luke closed the door, providing the two an extra bit of privacy.

"You're resisting, Paula," Luke tsked, glaring at her.

"I don't know what you mean," Baby responded, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Give me the amulet."

"No."

"Paula-"

"That's enough!" a different voice spoke.

Baby turned around slowly, dropping her hands as she did so. Standing there was a fairly tall man with handsome features. His dark hair was cropped short and styled neatly. He had dark chocolate colored eyes in a round, pale face and wore a tailored three-piece suit. This, Baby guessed, must be the Mr. Puckett all the cars were so excited about.

"Sir, I was only trying to-"

"Quiet, Foster. I never asked you to explain," Mr. Puckett scolded the other man, fixing the links on his cuffs.

Luke immediately quieted, waiting for his boss's next instructions.

"Why don't you go start the video for the others. We'll join in a bit."

Nodding, Luke left through the door the others had gone through, leaving the pair alone. Baby's silver-grey eyes studied the man as he walked over to a cart containing different bottles of alcohol and poured himself a glass.

"Whiskey?" he offered.

"No, thank you," Baby declined.

"Very well."

After placing the bottle back on the cart, he picked up the cup of alcohol and turned to study Baby as he took a slow sip.

"1967 Chevrolet Impala. Rolled off the assembly line on April 24th of that year. 327 engine, four barrel carburetor. You've had quite an interesting history, haven't you?"

"What do you want from me?"

"The truth. See, I know you, and I know who owns you. And, uh," he walked over to her, playing with a lock of her black curls as he lowered his voice to a whisper, "last I checked, they didn't call you Paula."

Baby swallowed, unable to move away from him as her silver-grey eyes met his chocolate ones.

"Yes, they do," she said, voice not much louder than his.

His eyes hardened at her words traveling over her face and down further to fall on the amulet still around her neck.

"Is that his?"

"H-his?"

Mr. Puckett's hand left her hair and moved to touch the necklace, twisting the amulet in his fingers. A strange sensation went through Baby, a jolt similar to when getting hotwired going down her spine.

"Let's try again, shall we? What is your name?"