Page 2 of Road To Runes

I snatched the packet out of my pocket and shoved a cigarette between my lips, fumbling for the lighter in my back jeans pocket. Forget quitting. I would need to smoke the whole damn packet to lower my blood pressure after tonight.

At 3am, I had plenty of time to road rage in safety. A handful of cars traversed the motorways at speeds that would have gotten them into trouble during daylight hours. Mine would have landed me in prison if I had passed any speed cameras. I weavedfrom lane to lane on my black BMW S 1000, my pride and joy since getting it five months prior after a particularly hefty paycheque. That and a broken heart had created a perfect storm for impulse buying. But I hadn't regretted it for a moment.

Motorbikes had taken my fancy since the first time I had gotten into a car. Aside from being too big and clunky, they lacked any kind of adrenaline rush. Unless you counted the anxiety from squeezing past other cars on roads designed for carriages and the odd herd of cattle. I didn't.

That and the feeling of being locked in an enclosed metal cage set my claustrophobia off something awful.

The wind beat against my leathers as I swerved this way and that, hoping the rush would burn off the adrenaline that had accumulated within. All thanks to Romilda and her dastardly tactics. But all my manoeuvres did was thrum my heart rate so fast that I could feel every pulse beating in harmony.

Experiencing weather signified freedom in its most exhilarating form. The smallest gust of wind or the beating of golden sunrays had my soul swelling with an addictive hybrid sensation of joy and escape.

By the time I pulled into the street I lived on, I desperately needed another cigarette. I slowed outside the three storey Georgian house I called home, careful to keep the engine at a low hum as I pulled up to the garage. I didn't want to wake anyone up.

White paint peeled off the walls off the house, and one of the front steps had smashed in half from when Edward had fallen on his ass after drinking too much one night. Much to Priya's annoyance. Her goal to get the entire deposit back if we ever moved on from this place had slid into the gutter along with the cheap watch Edward had lost that night.

Chichester wasn't a cheap city to live in, even if we were tucked away toward the outskirts. Money had a habit of draining away in the south of England.

I threw open the garage door and drove the bike in. Once I killed the engine, I grabbed another cigarette out of my pocket and yanked my helmet off my head. Locks of purple hair cascaded down my shoulders, my loose curls bouncing a little. I could never go back to my old mousey brown colouring. That belonged to someone who didn't exist anymore.

I lit up my cigarette and leaned on my handlebars to take a deep puff. Priya hated my smoking habit and was hypersensitive to the smell. She had relegated me to smoking outside, though I tested my luck by smoking in the garage and out of my bedroom window.

The nicotine did little to temper my dark mood, but I still smoked it down to the stub and put it out on the workshop tabletop. We weren't getting our deposit back anyway.

Someone had kicked their shoes off in the hallway and I picked my way over them before sliding my own off. I stacked them inside the shoe cubby with the two other pairs.Where they were supposed to go.According to Priya.

I hitched my shoulder back up and made my way down the corridor into a pool of light spilling through the kitchen door. Priya sat at the kitchen table, holding a steaming cup of something. She had put her silky black hair up in a bun for the night, but I didn't know how anyone could sleep in rainbow pyjamas that bright.

Her Cheshire cat grin found me over the top of her cup. "Sneaking around in the shadowsagain.What did you do this time? Steal another power?"

The truth sat on my tongue, waiting its turn. But I couldn't spit it out.

"Not tonight. Just fancied a drive," I said.

Ever since I had decided to pursue Romilda, I had kept the plans to myself. Priya, Edward, and Laura were my family, and I trusted them. But for whatever reason, I couldn't open up.

Maybe I feared they would try and talk me out of searching for my prophecy when everyone and everything associated with seemed to want to keep me in the dark. Maybe I worried they would try and help. This was my journey after all, and it felt too personal to have anyone else along with me.

"Do you have a minute?" Priya patted the tabletop.

"That sounds serious." I edged into the kitchen, unsure if I wanted to sit down with her or not. "What's up?"

Priya pumped her eyebrows at me as if to tease me, but she avoided my gaze as I pulled out a chair to sit.

"Just checking in," she said, sliding a packet of Oreos across the table to me.

I snatched one up and shovelled it into my mouth. After all the sleuthing that night, I hadn't even registered I was hungry. Nothing hit the spot quite like an Oreo.

"You've been pretty quiet lately and I wanted to make sure you're doing okay." Priya cupped her chin in her hand.

I stopped mid chomp and met her gaze. Uh oh. Was she about to talk aboutfeelings?

"Yeah," I said. "I'm fine."

"Nothing you want to talk about? Not even-?"

"No." I crammed another Oreo into my mouth, my words barely making it out. "I don't."

"Bea." Priya rubbed a hand over her face. "Iknowyou prefer to deal with your own problems, but we're all worried you're isolating yourself. Poor Laura is losing sleep over it."

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