Within The Bonds

65: Improvise

In silent suspense the car ride prolonged, none of my brothers said another word, which did nothing but cause my mind to churn in intrigue and suspicion.

But when I notice Noah make yet another consecutive left turn for the fourth time, trepidation begins to bubble in the pit of my stomach. The others do a remarkable job at masking their emotions, but I haven't mastered that skill set quite yet.

"Everything's fine," Liam reassures me in a whisper.

I want to believe him, I truly do. But my mind and heart mutually beg to defer. Catching Jason fixing his peripheral vision on the review mirror, it doesn't take me long to assess our situation.

"We are being followed, aren't we?" I mumble to Liam, who has busied himself on his phone furiously tapping his phone screen.

"Just relax, okay. We have this under control." That is all he says sparing me a brief glance before shifting his gaze back to his phone.

Relaxing is the last thing on my mind right now, so taking it upon myself to find evidence to support my suspicion, I try to take a peek out the rear windshield.

"Don't turn around Astoria," Jason instructs before I can so much as, shift in my seat.

"Can someone please tell me what the heck is going on!" I voice out, the tension in the car growing by the second.

"Someone's tailing us," Noah lays it out for me.

"Oh boy," I mumble to myself, sinking into my seat.

"Now what?" I ask as we continue our way on the unfamiliar route.

"We confirm our suspicion," Liam replies monotonously.

"How do we do that?" I wonder aloud.

"We just did. Four consecutive turns in the same direction, we have been driving in a circle," Noah adds.

"So now what do we do?" I enquire further as anxiety takes shelter in my mind.

"Improvise," Jason remarks.

"This is crazy," I mumble under my breath, enervation getting to me.

"This is our life, kid," Liam remarks plainly.

"I know," I confirm in realization.

The revving sound of engines surrounds us, and soon enough two motorbikes appear on either side of us. As the speed of our car increases so does my heartbeat.

"Damn it!" Noah grits out slamming his palm against the steering wheel. "Get Xavier on the phone," he instructs Jason authoritatively taking full charge of the situation.

The sound of screeching tires and the sicking smell of burning rubber permeates the air. But none of this stops Noah from driving, dodging the halted motorbikes standing ghastly on either side of the road skilfully.

"The call isn't going through," Jason spits out causing the car to only accelerate further.

But shit hits the fan causing my heart to sink and hit rock bottom when the deafening sound of a bullet rings through the air. The swaying of the car brought the immediate conclusion that the bullet indeed did hit one of our tiers.

It isn't long before our car comes to an unwanted halt and just as it does, bullets start flying leaving not a moment in silence. Clamping my mouth shut in horror, I refuse to let my terrified screams leave my larynx.

Pull out the car by Liam, we use its body as a shield from the rain of bullets being bestowed upon us. Momentarily guns are drawn by each of my brothers and soon after the assailants start to receive return fire.