Destiny

There’s no traffic on the road. It feels like I’ve slipped into a different world without noticing.

By the time I realise where I am, I’ve already pulled into the Waterfall Station car park. The gate is still open, but I don’t think there are any trains running. I roll to a stop and kill the engine. The road just in front of me plummets into the Nasho, but it’s not the route I took when I was with Natalie.

I rest my hand on the shifter. The engine ticks as it cools, a steady sound. The night presses in all around, quiet enough that I can hear the cicadas starting up again. Louder than they are back home.

It feels easier to breathe here, and I don’t know why.

The cicadas cut off all at once.

A low rumble rolls along the highway, distant, but familiar.

Headlights sweep across the trees at the far end of the road. Then another pair.

I’m already dumping the clutch.

The cars dash in front of the car park entrance.

I ease forward, the nose of my car dipping as I roll out behind them.

Their taillights settle ahead of me, bloody red and all over the road. They pull me into them, and I fall into the space behind them without thinking.

The sound of their engine carries strangely here, stretched and earthly, like it’s filtering through the trees.

The bend comes up faster than I expect.

Their taillights smear across my windscreen as the road curves.

I lift my foot too late.

The car goes light beneath me. I touch the brakes, just enough to control it, and then the road drops away.

I follow them through it, too close now to see anything but the back one’s bumper.

The rear car hesitates.

Just a fraction.

His taillights stutter, the car drifts slightly. Holographic stickers slapped over the driver door catch in my headlights.

It’s Jared.

My hands stay where they are, knuckles tight on the wheel, eyes fixed forward.

I press my tongue to the roof of my mouth and shift into 3rd.

The car ahead of Jared pulls away slightly, its taillights dipping as the road tightens again. Jared follows, later than he should.

The road kinks left, then right. Jared drifts wide on entry, his car twitches hard before it settles. I stay trapped behind him, no room to pass.

I nudge closer to Jared, waiting for a mistake I know will come.

He hogs the middle of the road, late on the brakes again, but not late enough for an overtake.

The road straightens briefly. I lean into the accelerator, but have to lift off it. His car is just too slow.

Frustration tightens in my chest as the lead car vanishes around the corner.

There’s a line here. There has to be.

The bend spits us out onto another short straightaway. The lead car is already braking for what comes next.

Jared’s car drifts a little too far right, the line opening for half a second—

I don’t dare to think about it.

I floor the accelerator and get even with him instantly.

His headlights flare in my mirrors. The space is tight, he flinches outwards, giving me more room.

The bend rushes up. I’m already back on the brakes, cutting in ahead of him before the road can take the choice away.

Jared drops back, his lights falling behind me as the corner devours us both.

The faster car is just ahead. Its taillights, bright and steady, pull me even deeper into the dark.

The lead car shifts as soon as I’m on him. It moves across the road, blocking the inside before the bend even arrives.

Defensive.

But there’s no room to challenge him yet. I get close enough to read CELICA across the back of the car.

We dive in together, the silver Celica pinches hard against the inside, tyres protesting against the brakes.

Jared's car tries to put on the pressure, but by the time we hit the apex, he's a whole car length behind me.

Barelling out of the bend, the Celica drifts back toward the middle, guarding space that isn’t there.

The move costs it speed.

The next bend opens wider than the last. The Celica hugs the inside like it’s afraid to let go. Tighter than it needs to, and slower than it should.

I’m already on the outside as the turn arrives, the road opening under my headlights.

For a moment, we’re side by side. He’s pinned low, and there’s nowhere left for it to go.

Its brakes squeal at the apex. The Celica falls back, wimpering down to the speed limit.

The road straightens and takes me forward, alone.

The turns thin, then disappear altogether, leaving only darkness and the stretch of my headlights. I stay on the accelerator longer than I should, letting the distance build between me and the two I just overtook.

With nothing in my mirrors, I ease off the accelerator.

The relief barely settles before a sound reaches me.

A high, pitchy whine. Thin and sharp, slices straight through the night.

My mirrors flare white. Light floods the cabin, blinding me.

It’s already on me? What the fuck?

The road is about to snake. I might be able to lose whatever that is there.

I hit the brakes and turn in hard. My tyres bellow as I force the car into the bend.

The light vanishes.

But the whine doesn’t.

It’s even louder than before.

A dark shape slips into view on the outside, impossibly smooth, taking space in the turn I didn't know existed.

It charges past me before I can even think to defend.

Throwing itself in front of me, its taillights flare, steady and controlled. The road straightens, and the car eases off the accelerator.

So do I.

It slows until it’s right in front of me, close enough that there’s nowhere to go around it on the narrow stretch of road. Its large wing fills my windscreen, and its sky-blue paint catches what little moonlight there is.

It feels familiar.

Its left indicator blinks amber, signalling a turn into the trees.

I shouldn’t be following a stranger like this, but my foot stays light on the accelerator and I don’t feel like turning away.

The road crunches to gravel beneath my tyres as we leave the asphalt.

The blue car rolls into a small car park carved into the treeline, logs neatly placed to mark the spaces. I pull in at the far end and leave the engine running. It does the same.

The windows are too dark to see through. I can’t make out what the driver looks like.

Their door creaks open. A figure steps out, half-lost to shadow.

They take a step forward, into the moonlight.

Her silky black hair, tied back in a ponytail, shines briefly. A blue one-piece dress with sailor-like striping frames her collar. White buttons run perfectly straight down the front, and a narrow white belt cinched at the waist sits neatly.

“I was wondering when I’d see you again.” Keiko says.