Page 23 of Eclipse of the Pack

A gunshot rang out. Maria hit the ground seconds later. Ivy stood frozen, the sight of a bullet hitting her friend square in the forehead sent ice water through her veins. Jon turned towards the sound.

“What happened?”

“We need to go. NOW!”

As they jumped into the car, PEACE agents and werewolves converged on the parking lot. Ivy revved the car up and pulled out.

There wasn’t time to mourn her fallen friend. Survival was the only thing on her mind.

28

JONATHEN

“Go.” He heard Ivy’s voice through the haze of adrenaline that clouded his mind. “Go… Go – GO, FLOOR IT!” That was all it took.

Jonathen slammed on the gas. Tires squealed and screeched in protest as they peeled out of the diner and hit the freeway. She was hyperventilating. Or, maybe it was him. He couldn’t tell. One of them was. He could barely hear anything over the rush of blood in his ears.

Jon dodged and weaved through what little traffic there was. Other cars honked loudly at him, but quickly fell back when confronted by the onslaught of cars on their tail.

“Can you lose them?!” Ivy half yelled. Her voice was filled with such intense panic, her tone consumed by fear.

“I’m working on it!” He quickly said back, voice loud and just as panicked as he checked the rear and side mirrors at the same time. They were gaining on them. Fast.

He had to think of something.

He slammed the gas down to the floor. Pushing the small car they found themselves in to go even faster. The car’s engineroared and sputtered loudly, but it complied. Jonathen yanked the wheel to the right.

The car that was attempting to get alongside them was forced to fall back to avoid collision. That gave Jon just enough time to speed up and fly onto the exit ramp. He heard the sound of metal grating on metal as at least two of the vehicles collided in an effort to stop.

He did not dare to look back.

“How many more is that?” He asked quickly. Urgently.

“F-four. The fifth and sixth crashed.” Ivy said. She had been the one hyperventilating. Her breaths came in short bursts and sounded ragged and painful. She practically wheezed.

“Ok.” Jon said, glancing in the rear view. The headlights cut through the dark, blinding his view. There were still four, like Ivy had said. “Ok ok ok.” He repeated several times as they flew on to the connecting freeway.

They raced in front of a semi-truck. The long haul trucker had no idea. Oblivious as he sat in his cab and tapped his fingers on the wheel, his music blaring.

Jon let out a humorless laugh, eyes darted to the side mirror. They were gaining, always gaining. Almost close enough to hit them, but not quite.

His eyes, for a moment, darted to Ivy. She looked terrified, her nails dug into the faux leather of the console, her other set of nails dug into the doorhandle and left deep indents. Their eyes met and she nodded. He nodded, too. Unsure of what he was agreeing to.

“Do you trust me?” He asked. The words came out dry.

“… Yes.” She said. Her tone was cautious but sure. “Why? What are you going to do?”

He sped up even more, getting in front of the semi that blocked the left lane.

“Something crazy.”

He slammed on the breaks. Praying to every and any god he knew of that they would notice. And immediately, they did. And chaos erupted. The trucker broke from the trance that hours of uneventful driving had left him in.

He screamed and cursed. Jon couldn’t hear him, but could see it as he tried to stop the massive tanker. The driver slammed on the breaks and swerved hard into the other lane in an attempt to stop.

The unfortunate PEACE vehicle was hit first. It had been in the right lane, gaining, when the trucker was forced to halt. Chaos erupted on the road as more vehicles piled behind the tanker as it continued to skid.

Ivy and Jon found themselves frantic. They cackled, laughing in unison as they sped into motion. Ivy howled with laughter. Elated at the destruction of their foes as they made their get-away. It was too much. Too much stress and anxiety. They were both going mad with laughter.

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