The Black Lion

Red Rain

I woke up to the sound of parrots screeching. When I blinked open my eyes, I saw that we were still at the campsite. The bundle of sticks used previously for the fire was covered with ashes. Stormy, Natalie, Maya, and Chase were already up and talking, their faces serious.

"What's wrong?" I yawned, standing up to stretch. Chase and Maya exchanged worried glances as Alie got up to walk to me. "Ruby, we might be facing a really big problem here," she said in a calmed tone with hints of panic.

"What is it?" my blood rushed cold at the sudden serious mood. Alie waited until Stormy and Chase woke up everybody else. I was tense, waiting for the bad news.

"We used the last of our data and I'm glad we did," Natalie held up her phone.

"You did what?" Liam screeched in fake anger. "Haha but seriously, why?"

"We checked the radio. The police are after us," Stormy announced. "They're calling us the Black Lions. They know what we have stolen."

"Stolen?" I gasp. "What do you mean stolen? What did you steal?"

T put a hand on my shoulder in comfort. "We had to, Ruby. If we didn't steal the van, the house, the food, we wouldn't have been able to make you happy. This whole trip wouldn't be happening."

"Yeah," Chase held Maya's hand. "It was all for you. Besides, the house owners said they would be out of town for five months, so nobody was going to use it at that time except us."

I backed away from them, my trust for them wavering. "The police are after us," I whispered. I looked down to see my hands tremble violently. "Oh. My. God." I breathed heavily.

I buried my head in my arms, unable to process what was going on. T hugged me from behind, but I shrugged him off. He was part of this too.

"There should be a tracker in the car that the police could catch us with," Syrah's voice sounded from far away. "We either ditch the van and escape by foot or drive fast into the city and exchange the van."

What is she talking about? We need to turn ourselves in!  I thought, angry about the fact that they didn't tell me they stole earlier. They don't even feel guilty for stealing...... they have no regrets.

Alie grabbed my arm, screaming loud enough to disturb my thoughts. "Sirens! Get in the car, Ruby! Now!"

 I stood there frozen. "We need to turn ourselves in," I mumbled, looking right through Alie. "We can't run from the police."

"Are you insane!? Turn ourselves in? What would happen to you then, Ruby? Will you be happy to serve time in jail then go back to your neglective parents? What happiness will you have then?" Natalie shook me violently. "Get in the car, Ruby. We need a driver."

I looked right into her eyes and sighed loudly. I ran to the driver's side and got in. The sound of sirens was getting closer; however, they were still about thirty yards away from them.

I started the van and pressed the petal, sending the van forward with as much force as I could. We sped down the empty freeway and felt the van nearly bouncing down the road.

"My camera! My camera's back at the campsite!" Syrah screeched.

"We have no time to get it back, Syrah," I said as I looked at the rear-view mirror. Two police cars were coming into view. I pressed the brakes harder.

"Stop the vehicle at once!" One officer demanded through his megaphone. I had never felt so scared in my life. What if we got caught? I would have to return back to my boring, tasteless life and receive no love or happiness for the rest of my life.

"Then don't get caught," Stormy hissed, as if she was reading my mind. "Take the next exit on the right. It'll appear in three minutes."

The speed-o-meter on the van was at the maximum speed it could be at without the car flipping out of control. "STOP THE VEHICLE!" the officer demanded once again.

"Ruby, slow down the car," Liam said in a hushed voice. "Ruby please, trust me."

"Liam, I can't slow down now," I looked back at the police cars nearly closing in on us.

Liam climbed into the trunk. "Ruby, I have an idea. Just slow down, please."

Reluctantly, I did as he said, putting less force on the petal. I looked back at Liam, seeing something in his hands.

Then he launched a firecracker at a police car. I screamed in terror, nearly losing control of the wheel. I regained my control and breathed heavily as I tried my best to look ahead.

Liam launched another firecracker at the other police car and shut the trunk. I looked back and saw that the cars had stopped. Before I could let out a sigh of relief, I felt my head jerk forward when I felt somebody shooting at the van. There was an immense amount of screaming at the back, but my fear prevented me from turning around and looking back at my friends.

I heard Liam fire more firecrackers before I couldn't take it anymore and I looked behind me.

Other than T and Maya, I couldn't recognize the other faces. They were all covered completely with their blood. One person was staggering on the floor with blood spurting out of his or her mouth. There were horrible cries and moans of pain. I felt sick and I lost control of the wheel.

The speed was too fast and the tires hit something that caused the car to flip. For a split second, we were in the air, completely gravity-free. Then the car crashed, flipping a couple painful times. I heard glass shatter and pain pierced my neck and front.

I was completely unaware which way was up nor which way was down when the car stopped flipping. I was frozen with pain from my head down to my legs.

I looked down at my bloody self and everything went dark.