Daynight Racer (Completed)

Chapter 31

Tonight is the last ever street race.

These words hit Lyst harder than any ever did.

No wonder Lindsay was so upset. She failed. She needed help. And Lyst wasn't there for her.

She sucked in a breath. "I'm really sorry to hear that, Lindsay. I didn't know about any of this."

"It's not your fault," muttered Lindsay. "It was bound to happen."

Lyst jerked up on her seat. "How could you say that?"

"It's true," retorted Lindsay. "Throughout the year, the police were upping their game. They were catching up with all the stuff going on during the street races, and we experienced way more interruptions than we have ever had in the history of street races." She pointed a finger to the opposite direction they were headed to. "What happened today, it's normal now. But I just didn't want the last street race to end this way. The people there, they've all created wonderful memories racing or watching people race, and it all ends on a low note."

Hearing this, Lyst couldn't help but frown in pity for the fate of the street races. But more crucially, she felt horrible for Lindsay. Despite all her best efforts, Lindsay only drove the already dying street racing scene to its demise through no fault of her own.

And the worst part was that she blamed herself for it.

"I guess I deserved it," continued Lindsay. "This job of managing the street races couldn't have been a professional career anyways. I might as well pull myself out of it now."

"What? No Lindsay! You don't know what you're talking about."

"That's the problem, Lyst. I do." said LIndsay. "Look where you are after you quit street racing. Maybe it's my turn to do the same." She turned to look out a window as a house came into view. "Drop me off here."

Lyst obliged. Slowing Obsidian down to a halt, Lindsay immediately opened the door and lifted herself out of the car. "Bye, Lyst." She pulled a bitter smile. "It's nice knowing you."

"Bye."

And the door slammed shut.

***

Days came and days went. Lyst went on with her work like nothing had happened, though to be fair, nothing really changed. But she found her workload multiplied as pre-season testing neared. There were components that were not ready yet, and she had to rush to make them ready in time for the cars to hit the track. She was practically living on coffee now, and yet her exhaustion was killing her spirits from the inside out.

"Lyst, are you feeling alright?"

She jerked up straight to face one of her coworkers. "Oh uh... Yes, I'm perfectly fine. Why do you ask?"

He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head, clearly doubtful of what Lyst had just told him. "You seem very distracted recently, like something is bothering you."

"Thanks for your concern, but I really am fine," she lied.

"Well then, see you tomorrow then."

"You too."

Tomorrow? Lyst whirled around once the coworker was gone to face the clock on the wall. Her eyes widened when she found a giant '6:32' written on it.

"Holy cow," she muttered to herself as she packed her belongings. She had been so immersed in her work that she didn't notice that it was well past work hours. "It's late. I better hit the road."

Swinging her bag over her shoulder, she trotted out of the office and towards the already empty parking lot. Seeing the dark purple paint of Obsidian gleaming under the lights, she couldn't help but admire its beauty as she started the engine and cruised home.

Of course, after leaving the Powers headquarters slightly later than she would've liked, Lyst had to deal with some congestion, which added to her exhaustion. It wasn't too serious though, and not long after she descended from the highway, she pulled up in front of her house and shut everything off as usual.

Stepping up to the front door however, she was surprised to see the front door partially open, with lights coming from within. Hovering her knuckles over the wooden material and giving two gentle knocks, she received no reply. Then, she pushed open the door only to meet face to face with three people.

The first was Ashley. Lyst wasn't too surprised by her presence. Although her work as Jaymes's new manager involved travelling around and working on various duties, she always found time to return home as much as possible.

And then there was her dad, which was weird. He had a place with mom, which Lyst frequently visited. Thus he never had the need to come see Lyst, giving her the privacy she desired.

But Lindsay was there too.

"Ah great!" announced Andrew as he noticed Lyst at the doorway. "Lyst, you're here." He stood up and ushered Lyst to sit on the sofa. "We were talking about some matters you should be concerned about."

Lyst looked visibly confused. "What?"

This time it was Ashley who spoke. "Your dad ran into Lindsay today, and discovered the street racing situation. Let's just say... he has some opinions about it."

"Dad!"

He raised his hands. "I didn't do anything," he blurted. Heaving a sigh, he continued. "But I have to confess, it does pain me to discover the demise of street racing here. But to be realistic, I can't really do anything, can I?"

"But you love street racing. Wouldn't you want to bring it back or something?"

"There's no point, Lyst," Lindsay chimed in.

"There must be a way—"

Lyst was interrupted when Andrew patted her shoulders and let out a small chuckle. "I haven't raced in so many years, and I've grown detached to the community. If there's anyone who can bring it back, it's you."

"Me?"

"You have the qualities of a leader in you, dear," said Andrew. "I saw it. Richard saw it. And I think it's time the world sees it too."

Doubt filled Lyst's mind. But she looked at Ashley, who gave a nod of encouragement; and then at Lindsay, who gave a reluctant, but genuine smile. Her eyes met her dad's once more, hazel to hazel, and suddenly her doubt fled like they weren't even there in the first place.

A newfound confidence hit her, and she was ready to contribute to what she loved, what she believed in.

She sucked in a deep breath.

"Fine," she declared. "Whatever it takes, I'm ready to revive the street races."

*Hits the montage of Lyst doing random stuff to make street racing a reality again* lol

I've never truly realised this before, but my chapters have kinda gotten longer and longer the deeper I got into the story. Looking back, the first few chapters were less than 1000 words, and now I'm churning out 2000+ worded chapters. And in comparison, this one chapter feels short, at 1000+ words only (idk if I should even be using the word only here)...

Anyways, roll the questions!

1. How do you think Lyst is going to revive the street races?

2. It's nearing the end of the story... so do you have any questions you wanna ask? I might do a bonus QnA chapter at the end :)

See ya!