Page 1 of Sweet Anarchy

Prologue

Rylee

I remember the first time I drove a car after the accident. It took months of pep talks and sitting in my bedroom with a dinner plate, pretending it was a steering wheel. The worst part was even though I was staring at my wall, all I could see was the ground, covered in shattered glass and blood.

I woke up one morning after a restless sleep, full of nightmares and thought 'fuck it'. The sun had barely risen but the roads were quiet, so I grabbed Mom's keys and snuck downstairs to her small sedan. Oh, how the times have changed. Mom wouldn't be caught dead in a sedan now. The irony.

I knew I couldn't stay living in fear forever. I needed the freedom of driving to escape, to get away from Mom's grief. I couldn't handle seeing her broken anymore, it was like she had completely forgotten I existed in those moments. If I'm being honest, I'm fairly certain a few times she looked at me with such anguish that she no longer saw me as her daughter - just part of the reason her husband and high school sweetheart was no longer alive.

When I pulled out of the driveway, my vision was so obstructed by blurry tears and my body was shaking so violently that I hit the gas too hard. The wheels screeched on the road, making my heart race. The sound sent me into a panic, and for a second, I forgot where I was again. I was teleported back to the crash, the echoes of warping, crumpling metal bouncing around my brain.

A horn blasted from somewhere and I hit the brakes too soon, the car jolting to a stop just over the line of a give way intersection. An angry driver in some piece of shit green car, gave me the finger, his mouth silently cursing me.

I had flung forward from the sudden stop, my chest bashing the steering column. I couldn't even manage to move the car off the side of the road. I just sat inside the car, bawling my eyes out.

That was when a leather cladded angel came to my rescue.

I never heard the roar of the bike pulling up behind me, or the faint footsteps outside the car of steel-toe boots hitting the asphalt. It was the tiny tap of knuckles on my window that finally pulled me back to reality.

My neck turned so quickly that it cracked, but through tears and sobs, I found a face staring back at me.

"You alright there, love?" he asked, opening the door slowly.

Wiping my tears away aggressively, I nodded. "Fine, thanks. Sorry, I'll move the car."

A tattooed hand slammed onto the top of my door, stopping me. "Here - let me, kiddo. You're in no state to drive."

I paused, looking at him gingerly. Despite being warned of stranger danger - particularly from random bikers - I never once felt afraid of him.

"Here, you can even hold my keys as collateral," he offered, holding the silver bundle out towards me.

Shaking my head, I hopped out of the car. "I trust you," I said honestly. "Thank you."

He gave me a curt nod, before slipping into the driver's seat, steering Mom's car off the road. A few passing motorists gave me weird looks but I ignored them.

"There you go," he said, handing me back the keys. "Are you doing okay?"

"No," I murmured. "Not really."

He nodded in understanding. "Look, I have to get to a... business meeting, but you're welcome to tag along. It's just at a quiet, closed bar down the road. Then, I'll help get your car home. Or if you need a cell to call a friend, you can use mine."

"A bar?" I asked. "It's 6am."

He laughed deeply. "Best time for mischief. There's no booze, just have to drop something off to a friend."

"On your bike?" I look at the quiet beast still in the middle of the road.

"Well, I'm sure as fuck not walking there."

Nodding, I turned and locked the car. "I'll come. My name's Rylee, by the way."

He holds out his large ink-covered hand for me to shake. "Nice to meet you, Rylee. I'm Butch."

Chapter 1

Rylee

My heart stops, my body frozen as my eyes follow the pool of blood.

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