Blind Man's Bluff

PROLOGUE

 PROLOGUE

The tires screamed, and traction to the road was lost, for a brief second, before gripping the asphalt and hurdling on. Yellow stripes were a blur as they disappeared; halogen lights expanded out from them to the forestry and brush along the edges of the roadway. The engine smoothly hummed as gears shifted, and the stereo blared.

The chilling wind whipping at his helmet should have been sobering, but he was a few shots past the point of outside influences influencing body alcohol content. Why had he remained straight; sober from alcohol and drugs until now? It felt GOOD to tie one on; dulled his brain enough to forget his problems, specifically the one who had been front and foremost in his mind for years now.

Some would have said he was an idiot to take his brand new Ducati at this speed down this stretch of road, but that was what was great about a bike, it discouraged most passengers.

Alaine wasn't most though.

Unwillingly, his thoughts turned to her; the very person he hoped to forget this night with booze and insane speeds. Always, she had begged for rides; clasped her arms around him; her excited breath tickling his ear and trusting his skills. Even when her parents had threatened, and grounded her, over him and his bike, she had still found a way to see him; to ride with him to some secret spot.

Another rev of the engine. A few kilometers faster.

At these speeds on this road, he could easily forget the before.

Before grueling studio hours and an endless tour. Before this brand new Ducati. Before some other guy crowded her Facebook profile. Before a viral Youtube video changed his life.

Beneath the moonlight the deer became a black statue, even before the lights on the bike reflected in its eyes. As he beheld the yellow glowing eyes that held his fate, he knew the moment was crucial, as it always was. Whether the animal would leap back into the vegetation, or attempt to race the motorcycle across the road....Now this was sobering.