City of Pickering

City of Pickering Part 4: Dark Sun

"So?" Sunshine was beginning to appear impatient now, tapping her foot quickly against the concrete and peering through narrowed green eyes at Eddie. "Have you got anything to say?"

Eddie opened his mouth to reply, but a thick lump had risen in his throat, threatening to gag him. Swallowing it down, he poked his head out the driver's side window of the Kia Soul and called, "You might be standing in the middle of the road, Sunshine, but don't think that means I won't be able to get past you! I need to speak to the Great One. Now, out of my way!" Eddie ducked back inside the car and laid hard on the gas. The car lurched forward and proceeded to rip down Bayly Street. As the car bore down on her, Sunshine shook her head irritably and leaped nimbly aside, allowing the car to speed past. Eddie, however, did not let go of his held breath. Shakily, he shot a glance into the front mirror in time to see a green Jeep hurtle out from behind the small wooden shed that Sunshine had been hiding behind, with Sunshine herself squinting out the windshield and at the road ahead of her. She flung a hostile glare at him that screamed, "I'm going to get you!", and instantly Eddie gasped and fixed his attention on the narrow strip of concrete just a few meters in front of him now that was Liverpool Road. He just barely paused to check for any other cars coming before he let the Kia Soul swerve to the left, and before he knew it he was streaking down Liverpool Road, with the beeps of Sunshine's Jeep's horn blasting the air behind him like gunshots. All of his instincts screamed at him to look behind him and see how close behind him Sunshine was, but, at the same time, he did not dare. If, by chance, he looked around, and found that Sunshine was gaining on him, that would just send him into a panic. Cool air blasted his face from the open window as the world blurred around Eddie, the car streaking down the road at a speed that was likely well over the speed limit. Eddie could only hope that he wouldn't get caught speeding, or worse, be identified as an underage driver.

With a crack of thunder, the rain began to pelt harder than ever against the windshield, and Eddie found himself groping for the button that would allow him to turn the windshield wipers on. He didn't find it, so instead he just drove on as fast as he could possibly go, with his view of the road quickly blurring and distorting with the whirl of cold, heavy droplets.

This time, Eddie had to force himself to look back over his shoulder, because he had to get some kind of an idea of how close Sunshine was. He immediately heaved a great gasp of shock when he caught sight of her dark green Jeep roaring along just a couple of meters behind the Kia Soul. Her face in the windshield twisted into a smirk of mocking amusement, and instantly Eddie slammed his foot right down on the gas, the car responding with a growl of the motor that propelled it quickly ahead at a speed that Eddie was almost certain now might get him in trouble sometime in the future.

Soon, the elegant white buildings of downtown Pickering came into view, their frames standing out sharply against a gloomy background of turbulent dark gray sky. The usual bustling, busy neighbourhood, however, seemed ironically calm, as if everyone who was usually there to do whatever they did there daily had been driven away by some force, whether it was because of the weather or not, Eddie couldn't tell. The view of the buildings rushed past Eddie in a white blur, and he felt a thrill of anticipation as he caught sight of a flash of blue lake between the oak trees that crowded closely around the Beachfront Park parking lot.

Closer and closer Eddie got by the moment, yet each second seemed to stretch out and slow down until Eddie could imagine Sunshine swerving out in front of him, blocking his way with her Jeep while hurling sharp insults. But he didn't dare think about that, fearing that if he pictured it too much, his worries would become reality, and the mission placed upon Eddie by Flint to warn the Great One would fail. He could just faintly hear the roar of Sunshine's Jeep's motor not far behind him, and he forced himself not to look back.