CHAPTER 6:The Chase Through Ravenwood
684 Words
The SUV exploded forward, tires screaming against the wet asphalt.
Another bullet tore through the rear windshield.
Glass rained over Grace as she ducked behind the seat.
"They're trying to disable the vehicle!" Adrian shouted.
Elena twisted around just long enough to see three black SUVs racing after them, their headlights cutting through the darkness like hunting beasts.
The lead vehicle gained rapidly.
A man leaned halfway out of the passenger window.
He raised an assault rifle.
"Adrian!" Elena screamed.
Without hesitation, Adrian jerked the steering wheel.
The SUV swerved sharply.
A burst of bullets ripped into the road where they had been a second earlier, sending sparks flying into the night.
"They won't stop until we're dead," Grace whispered.
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"I know."
The mountain road narrowed, twisting through Ravenwood Forest.
Steep cliffs rose on one side.
A deadly drop disappeared into darkness on the other.
There was no room for mistakes.
The speedometer climbed.
Eighty.
Ninety.
One hundred kilometers per hour.
The engine roared in protest.
Elena gripped the dashboard so tightly her knuckles turned white.
"You drive like a madman!"
"I drive like someone who wants to stay alive."
Behind them, another SUV accelerated.
It slammed into their rear bumper.
The entire vehicle lurched forward.
Grace cried out.
The brass key slipped from Elena's pocket and landed on the floor.
"No!"
She reached down just as the SUV was struck again.
The impact threw her sideways.
The key slid beneath the driver's seat.
Adrian fought to keep control.
"Everyone hold on!"
The road ahead curved sharply around the mountainside.
Instead of slowing down...
Adrian accelerated.
Elena stared at him in disbelief.
"We'll crash!"
"No."
He shifted gears.
"They will."
He yanked the steering wheel at the very last second.
The SUV drifted around the hairpin bend, its tires clinging desperately to the edge of the road.
The first pursuing SUV tried to follow.
Its driver reacted too late.
The vehicle smashed through the roadside barrier.
For one terrifying moment, it balanced on the edge.
Then gravity won.
The SUV plunged into the darkness below.
A distant explosion echoed through the valley.
One pursuer down.
Two remained.
"They're still coming!" Grace shouted.
Adrian glanced into the mirror.
"They're professionals."
"They won't panic."
As if proving his point, the second SUV accelerated.
It pulled alongside them.
The passenger lowered his window.
A handgun appeared.
Bang!
The driver's side mirror shattered.
Bang!
Another bullet pierced the front tire.
The steering wheel jerked violently.
The SUV began fishtailing across the road.
Elena's heart pounded.
"We're losing control!"
Adrian didn't answer.
His eyes remained fixed on the road.
The damaged tire flapped violently.
The vehicle skidded toward the cliff.
For a split second...
Death seemed inevitable.
Then Adrian spotted a narrow dirt trail hidden between two giant pine trees.
"There!"
He spun the wheel.
The SUV bounced off the pavement and onto the rough trail.
Branches scraped against the windows.
Tree limbs slapped across the roof.
Behind them, the pursuing SUVs missed the hidden entrance.
They sped past.
For several seconds, only silence filled the forest.
Adrian slowed the vehicle.
Everyone breathed.
"We lost them," Elena whispered.
"No."
Adrian looked into the mirror.
"They'll realize soon."
As if on cue...
Powerful headlights appeared behind them once again.
"They found the trail," Grace said.
Adrian sighed.
"They're smarter than I hoped."
The dirt road ended abruptly at an abandoned stone bridge spanning a deep river.
Half of the bridge had collapsed years ago.
Only a narrow strip remained intact.
Grace stared ahead in horror.
"The bridge won't hold."
Adrian kept driving.
"It doesn't have to."
Elena looked at him.
"What does that mean?"
He smiled faintly.
"It only has to hold once."
The SUV thundered toward the broken bridge.
Behind them, the remaining pursuers closed in, engines roaring.
The river below crashed against jagged rocks.
One wrong move...
...and none of them would survive.
Adrian tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
"Trust me."
Elena swallowed hard.
She looked at the collapsing bridge...
...then at the speeding vehicles behind them.
There was no turning back now.
- Writer
