Before The Shadow: White Chrysanthemum Flowers

Chapter 10: Get Away

The sky is dark as we drive wildly across the wet tarmac of the road, we're on the highway now and rain is spitting across our helmets and leathers. I kept my eyes closed when we dashed through the drive and the only thing I heard were several gunshots and some yelling.

My eyes are wide open now as I hold onto Yoongi for dear life, the speed he's going in between the cars I'm terrified I'm going to fall off. Is he going to keep driving madly like this the entire time? Aren't we far away from everyone now? I turn my head and peer behind us but I'm horrified at what I see. Two guys on motorbikes and several people in a car closing in on us. It's Yeong's men, they have to be, they're dressed the same as the guys that were outside the house. "They're behind us!" I say desperately over the rain to Yoongi.

Yoongi quickly glances behind us and then looks back at the road, "Shit. Hold on." He revs the engine and proceeds to drive even faster than we were already going.

BANG. BANG. BANG. They're firing at us? Are they fucking nuts!? I cling to Yoongi as my life depends on it and it really does at this moment. The two motorcyclists creep up on our sides and attempt to block us in and one of them pulls out a knife.

I need to help somehow. I can't just let Yoongi deal with all of this, especially since he's the one driving! I lean close to Yoongi's ear, "Get closer to them."

"What!?"

"Trust me!"

Yoongi hesitates for a second and then drives closer to the motorcyclists on our left, the rider seems confused by our actions but I don't give him much time to react. I loosen my grip on Yoongi and kick the rider hard in the stomach and he instantly falls off the bike and crashes into the ground. I whip my head back around, afraid to see if the rider is a mangled corpse now or not.

Yoongi leans to the right towards the other rider who is holding a knife. I ready myself again and attempt to kick this guy off his bike too but before I'm given the chance the car that is following us rams us from behind making the bike jerk harshly forward.

My grip on Yoongi is loose and I begin to fall off the bike. SHIT! I'm going to turn into mush on the tarmac! Yoongi catches my arm and I hang inches away from the road, he lugs me back onto the bike and I secure myself tightly around him. My breathing is heavy. I really...nearly...died.

The motorcyclist swings his knife at us and we barely avoid his attack. This isn't getting any better. Yoongi reaches inside his leathers and pulls out a gun and in one swift motion, he raises it towards the rider and shoots him in the face. I see the rider's eyes fade over and blood covers his face as his body slumps forward over the bike, causing it to crash into the barrier on the side of the road.

The car chasing us pulls up to the side of us and attempts to ram us again which causes the bike to swerve uncontrollably and Yoongi tries to regain its balance. Yoongi drives the bike past several road signs that read 'ROAD CLOSURE'. We're going to get stuck soon! BANG. BANG.

They're still firing at us!? We drive past various construction workers, all yelling at us to stop and turn around and the car behind us drives through all the signs on the road. We turn the corner and there's a large loading truck right smack bang in the middle of the road we have no time to stop, the bike leans on its side and we skid underneath the truck. The car behind us comes to a screeching halt, we got away.

I can't think of that for long though as the bike gives way to the wet tarmac beneath us and Yoongi and I both fall off. Moving too fast we continue to skid against the road and Yoongi stretches his arms out for me. I grab his hand and he pulls me close to him and we wait to stop.

We come to a halt up against one of the barriers on the road. I can't breathe. Yoongi jumps up and pulls me up to my feet with him and leads me over the barrier and into the direction of the woods nearby. He grips my hand tightly as we sprint into the trees, our only goal now is to get the hell away from the road as fast as we can.

Even though we're running for our life right now all I can think about and see in front of my eyes is the image of Yoongi killing that rider, pulling his gun out and shooting him square in the head. His eyes glazed over, his blood splattered across his face and his body slumped over before crashing into the side of the road. I-I can't breathe I can't-

I stop and frantically try to pull my helmet off my head but it won't come off it just won't! I scream and scream, pushing my hands under the helmet in a desperate attempt to just get it off my head!

"Hailey wait, calm down!" Yoongi pries my hands away.

"I can't breathe!" I say panicked. Yoongi pulls my helmet off and I fall down to my knees and start to hyperventilate. Am I dying? I'm dying, right? Just...why can't I...catch my breath? It's like someone is pushing down hard on my chest.

Yoongi takes his helmet off and kneels down next to me and presses his palm against my cheek. "Hailey look at me, just breathe okay? In and out. That's it just in and out, follow me." Yoongi says soothingly.

I follow Yoongi's words and gradually slow my breathing down, "I'm...sorry." I say breathlessly and hold his hand against my cheek.

"It's okay, you're having a panic attack but you're alright we're alright." He says in a calming tone and I nod my head at him.

"Do you think you can stand?" Yoongi asks, I nod my head and he helps me to my feet. He looks around before looking back at me, "I think we should be far enough now, let's ditch the helmets and leathers here."

We leave our gear and keep walking through the woods, our hands tightly intertwined together. Ten minutes pass and the trees begin to thin out to reveal a road and a petrol station next to it. We cross the road and Yoongi spots a payphone, he inserts some coins and holds me close and begins calling someone. "Agust D...Honsool." He hangs up and I look at him in confusion, what kind of phone call was that?

He presses a small kiss into my hair, "There's a diner over there, let's go in and warm up," he whispers into my ear. We're soaked from the rain and it's just now that I realise how numb my fingers actually are.

We walk into the eerily quiet diner and sit in one of the booths at the back next to the window. I curl into Yoongi's side as I try to keep warm and I rest my head against his chest. He wraps his arms around me and rubs circles into my skin.

"Anything to drink, honey?" The waitress asks in a bubbly tone and I jump out of my skin.

"Just two coffees," Yoongi replies. The waitress looks at us weirdly before leaving to get us our drinks, she returns and places them on the table and leaves us to it. Yoongi offers me mine but I don't think I can stomach anything right now so I decline.

Yoongi drinks his coffee slowly and his eyes scan everything he can see around us, ready to run again at any sign of trouble. My gaze shifts from Yoongi's chest to outside the window and I spot a man not too far away leaning up against the side of a car staring right at us. Is it one of Yeong's guys again? Will Yoongi have to kill this one too? I grab Yoongi's shirt. "There's a man looking at us," I whisper.

I feel Yoongi tense and he whips his head around to look outside but once he catches sight of the man I feel him relax. "That's our ride," he whispers back.

"Then that call from earlier?"

"Yeah," he nodded. That must've been a code word earlier, so he can just have a car delivered anywhere. How much power does Yoongi actually have?

Yoongi converses with the man outside with various hand signals and the guy stands to his feet and disappears. "Let's go then," he says gently and pulls me out of the booth and throws a bunch of notes onto the table. "Keep the change," he says to the waitress on the way out who looks surprised by the amount of money we leave behind.

We walk over to the car and get in, the keys have been left in the ignition. Yoongi cranks the heat up and puts the car into drive and pulls onto the road. Where are we going? I don't know but I know that as we're together we're going to be okay and get through this.