Darkened

Chapter 1 : Memory

Heart beats.

Loud and fast heart beats, echoing through my ears.

I hear the shouts.

The screams.

The struggle of a mother being taken away from her child.

I hear the noises, banging through my head, making the rest of my body numb.

I hear it all, all too quickly... too painfully.

I scream. Beg them to let me go!

But it is of no use.

I was a four-foot-tall, skinny young girl being forced away from her mother by a twelve-foot-tall, muscular man.

With a taser.

And a gun...

He picks me up, so high that I almost get dizzy from the height.

My breathing quickens, faster than it has already been.

The tears that have flooded my eyes begin to stray down my cheeks, staining them with their bitterness, falling and foreshadowing my future.

The guard holds a firm grip around my abdomen, making me want to hurl from the tightness around my stomach.

"Thea!" I hear a faint and distant shout, filled with pain and desperation.

"Thea!" I hear again, now clear that the voice is coming from the remnants of my mother's image, which is shouting for me.

'Mom!' I wanted to shout back, but I couldn't.

"Thea!" I hear my name again, this time a little bit more clearly.

"Thea!" I hear the shout mildly stretch into a simple call, as I suddenly zone out of the distant and painful memory, and back in to the room I am in.

"Thea!" I hear Veda shout, as I swiftly lift my body up from its bending position. But in doing so, I forcefully bang my head into the hood of the car.

I hear Veda wince as I groan at the impact, slowly bending under the hood and swirling my body out into the open.

I turn around to meet Veda's worried eyes, rubbing the back of my head.

"Are you okay?" She asks.

"Yeah, I think so." I let go of the back of my head, the pain of the impact already starting to slightly fade away.

"So?" She asks again, confusing me.

"Sorry?" I look at her questionably, wondering what she means.

"I asked you how you're going with the cars about three times now, but you wouldn't answer." She explains to me.

"Oh." I slowly understand. I was standing in front of one of the cars that I have built during the past two years. "Sorry, I was a bit distracted, I couldn't hear you." I put down my wrench on the rack, before messing around with the tools to try to organise it a bit.

"So, how are the cars going?"

"Alright." I close the hood of Ollie's car before walking over to the driver's seat. "I fixed up the weird sound Ollie's car was making."

I open the car door and sit down to turn on the car engine. Once I made sure the engine was on, I stepped on the pedal once or twice.

"Do you hear that whistle?" I shout over the sound of the engine.

"What whistle?" Veda shouts back.

"Exactly!" I turn off the engine and hop out of the car.

"So..." Veda trails on as I approach her, wiping off the grease still lubricating my hands on a piece of cloth. "You think both cars are ready to be raced today?"

"Em..." I look back at both cars, contemplating on the question. "Yeah." I say hesitantly. "But... it's just that... I find everyone's interest in the race between me and Ollie a bit weird. I mean, it's not the first-time Ollie challenges me with something, you know."

"Yes, but, can you imagine the thrill of this challenge." Veda explains in excitement. "Not only are you going to leave the compound, but you are going to leave the compound on flying cars to race around the area. Man, if Margo finds out, she'll flip!"

"If Margo finds out. Which she won't. Because if she does, we will be in a lot of trouble." I warn Veda, quite frankly nervous at all the commotion this race is creating.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry about that. Kadro and Seth already got it handled."

"That's what I am scared about." I fold my hands over my chest.

"Don't worry. It's all planned out. And if things go commando, we always have plan B." Veda reassures me.

"And what is plan B, exactly?" I ask, worried.

"Bubble accesses the compound's security system and commences an urgent lockdown, giving Margo something else to worry about which would successfully distract her from the race." Veda explains.

"I had to ask." I lift my hands up in the air.

Veda has always been the responsible one. The person who would talk us out of doing silly things. She looks out for our team, but somehow, this race has found a way to persuade even the great Veda Xaver into breaking the rules. All the more reasons to be so worried.

But, perhaps I'm just over exaggerating. After all, it's only a race... right?

And I know that I can trust Veda. It's the other two guys that I should be so concerned about. If it wasn't for Veda, I wouldn't even be thinking of leaving the base in the first place with Seth and Kadro as backup.

"Hey, Thea." I am interrupted out of my thoughts again. "Are you sure you're okay?" I look up at Veda.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I assure her.

"Good, cause I don't want anything distracting you from the race. I'm betting on you to win."

What a responsible thing to say!

"No pressure." I say sarcastically.

I look down at the cloth in my hand, fidgeting with it as I think about the race.

The race.

The race track.

Once again, I am flooded with that same anxious feeling.

It had to happen today, of all days.

Why today?

I don't think I am ready.

For once, I'm actually afraid of competing with Ollie.

I'm more afraid of what the challenge may bring back - memories, dreams... nightmares - more than losing.

Calm down Thea! I try to tell myself. With a shake of the head, I push the feeling aside, and head out towards the headquarters to get ready.