Page 1 of Rough Ride

Kye watched Eliana out of the corner of his eye. She was staring open-mouthed at the buildings as they passed through downtown Pine Hill.

“A lot has changed,” Kye said, echoing her thoughts. It was dark now, but the town was lit up. Whereas when she’d left there was a single stoplight town, they now boasted nearly twenty and the former mom-and-pop shops were either sporting an upgraded vintage look or had been overtaken by local franchises.

While Pine Hill would never be a booming metropolis, they had certainly seen more advancement than Eliana was anticipating. The streets were freshly paved, they now had localized apartment buildings with quaint balconies. Considering it was nearly ten at night, the streets were busy with people walking, riding bicycles, or motorcycles. A movie theater was just letting out, and when Kye stopped at a red light, Eliana saw there was an outdoor patio in front of a new bowling alley.

“I don’t even recognize the place,” she said with a sense of nostalgia. Kye drove directly through downtown, and Eliana noted the only two places that were still untouched by time were the diner and the bar her dad spent most of his time at.

The town fell behind them as they moved through the city and to the outskirts where Kye took a sharp left. Less than a mile down the road, a large metal beam crossed overhead, and the sign read ‘Hell Hollow Road’ with the Screaming Demon logo. Eliana felt a wave of fear overtake her. All around her was blackness, and pine trees loomed like sentries in the night.

Every so many feet, another metal sign would read something like ‘Keep Out’, ‘Enter at your own risk,’ ‘Private Property’, ‘Turn back or die’ with a skull and bones spray-painted on it. Every reasonable bone in her body knew it was for dramatic effect, but at the present, it was entirely convincing. Eliana had read Dante’s Inferno for school, and at the moment she couldn’t help but make the correlation that she was entering the first circle of hell.

In the back of her mind, she knew she was headed toward the abandoned steel mill, but the transformation of the property was anything but vacant. The tree line opened, and in the distance she saw the large metal compound encircled by a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. Several new additions had been built, two of which looked like housing, and the others were lit up like an onsite bar.

As they drew near, Eliana could hear the commotion of dozens of people who were flocked to the center of the hub that was built like a courtyard. Tables and chairs were placed outside the bar, and nearly sixty motorcycles were parked outside. Music was blasting and even from inside the car, Eliana could feel the vibrations of the ground.

Kye pulled the car to a stop in the makeshift parking lot behind the bar and quickly exited. He stretched his arms high over his head, clearly eager to be out of the car they’d been in the last eight hours, but as the back of his shirt lifted, Eliana caught sight of the holster and gun he had on his left hip. From his seated position in the car, she’d missed it.

Frank and Bruce were right behind them, and they pulled their bikes up to the left side of the car. Kye said something to them that she couldn’t hear over the raucous noise, and all three laughed. They dismounted their bikes and moved toward the building where several people were standing outside smoking and drinking. In fact, if Eliana had seen correctly, one man was peeing into a beer bottle while two other men egged him on.

Frozen to her seat, Eliana refused to get out when Kye waved to her. He frowned and moved around to her side of the door.

“Get out of the car, Eli,” he instructed, and she shook her head. He reached for the handle, but this time she was faster than him and locked it. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re being ridiculous; I still have the keys,” he said and pressed the unlock button.

Eliana locked it again.

“Stop it,” Kye said and pressed the button once again. Eliana hit the lock. Kye pounded his fist on the window, and she jumped. “Unlock the door!”

“No.”

“You’re being childish.”

“I’m not getting out.”

“I’ll break the window.”

“It’s your car, what do I care?”

“Eliana,” Kye warned. His tone was far more serious than she’d ever heard him use before. She stared hard into his eyes and let out a shaky breath before unlocking the door. Kye opened it for her and took her by the arm to help her out. “Thank you,” he said, leading her away from the door.

“Wait,” she said and pulled her arm away. Kye could see she was shaking in fear. The culmination of the last ten years of always looking over her shoulder, trying to stay under the radar, always worrying that someone was coming for them, had clearly taken its toll. The overwhelming surroundings likely weren’t helping her. While Kye had long-since gotten used to the rowdy gang and hordes of Wall Kats, Hell Kats, Groupies and Gear Nuts that kept the headquarters hopping, Eliana looked entirely freaked out.

“Come here,” Kye said, reaching for her hand. She took it and stepped toward him. “You’ll be fine,” he said and began unbuttoning his shirt. “Just stay close to me, and you’ll be fine.” He popped the trunk of the car and tossed his white shirt in the back and took out his leather cut that was folded in the back. He then pulled it on over the wife-beater undershirt he’d been wearing under his dress shirt. Eliana’s observation of his toned chest was confirmed when she saw the way his pectorals stood out under the thin fabric. How many pushups did this guy do in a day?

“Where have you been all day?” a familiar-looking, blond man asked as he approached from the opposite side of the car. Kye closed the trunk, and the curly-haired man looked from Kye to Eliana, and his eyes widened. “No shit.”

“Grier,” Kye said in a reprimanding tone and glared at him. “It’s not what you think.”

“Doesn’t matter what I think,” Grier said, but he still looked vastly amused. “I never thought you’d actually go after her. Dude, it’s been like a decade. You’re still hung up on her?”

“Believe it or not, this isn’t personal— it’s business,” Kye said, turning his back to Eliana to face Grier. Eliana vaguely remembered the boy who had come to her rescue in the diner and walked her home afterward. He’d spent the entire walk trying to explain Kye’s fragile position in the gang and some of the more tedious and dangerous semantics of being a Demon. At the time, it had abated her temper at Kye’s perceived apathy, but now as the two spoke about her as though she wasn’t standing there, she felt anger welling up in her.

“Business? As in old business?” Grier asked with raised eyebrows. “Damn, Max sure can hold a grudge.”

“I have a feeling this has more to do with me, than her,” Kye said in a lowered tone, but Eliana heard.

“You need backup?”

“Probably better not. I don’t want Max losing his shit when I walk in with an entourage. I think he wants to ensure he’s got the upper hand, but thanks.”