Getting inside the car, he felt an unusual rush getting inside his body.

The engine came to life, with an angry roar, that worked to soothe the frustration that Ian had built.

He stepped on the accelerator twice and sped up on his way to get out of the city of angels.

‘All I’ve fucking trying to do was to have a little bit of fun with this life! And you had to fuck it up!’ Ian blamed the previous owner and sped up by 10 more than the speed he was going.

‘First, they accused me of racism, now they're going to paint me as abusive?!’

His mindless driving suited every thought that he was having and was going through.

‘I feel like everything in the world is against me reaching wherever I want to go!’

He drifted to the left and sped up again.

‘No fucking matter how hard I try, there’s something in the middle! That Jeff-!’

Ian thought and pulled his car to the highway.

‘Fucking son of a bi- Saying a nice thing to my face and doing one hundred back stabbing’

As he was speeding up with all the thoughts chanting their preaches in his mind, he finally got off the highway and shifted to the normal road.

“Urgh!” He yelled as he saw how there were cars in mild traffic.

‘THIS. GOT. TO. END!’

Ian said and escaped his way through the cars going left and right, ignoring the cars and other vehicles who were going at snail speed compared to Ian’s.

‘Finally, a road of peace!’ he thought and got into the road where there were no vehicles to be seen in any distance.

The sky was plain blue, and after all the speeding up, he felt a deep feeling down his heart, and he felt heavy all of a sudden.

While driving, he kept looking at the plain sky. His big black eyes swiftly looked at the big moon which was visible through his way.

With a loud screech, his car stopped as he pulled the break as harder as possible.

“What the fuck?” He asked loudly, as he saw the roadblocks.

“Isn’t this supposed to be some sort of a-”

*knock knock knock~*

His window was knocked by a strange man who had tattoos on his neck that was visible to the streetlights that reflected.

“Huh?” Ian asked as he rolled down the shutter and looked at the bald man.

“Are you here to race? What are you going to bet?” The man asked with a deep American accent, and his rough voice sounded as if he has been doing the same thing for hours.

-

*BEEEEEP!*

The sign went off, and Ian hit the acceleration at a speed that he never had.

Adrenaline rushed towards his veins, and his neck veins, forehead, and arms including every possible inch of the body were excited and thrilled by the sudden experience.

Ian’s Pagani Huayra sped among the few other little cars who accelerated equally if not more.

Ian couldn’t feel his limbs anymore, but he kept speeding more and more with every passing second.

His eyes were not able to keep up with the speed, but he felt a good rush taking over his body.

Within one minute and two seconds, he slowed down after the end line and hit the break.

“FUCKKKKKK!”

“YESS! THIS IS W-” *coughs!* “WHAT I WANTED!”

Ian screamed in his coarse voice as he looked side to side.

“He got out of the car and waved his hand towards the shouting crowd. There were men and women equally excited and thrilled.

“Man, you were dope. One more? I’d bet that this time you’d be first,” A man with shades walked down to him.

“Why not?!” Ian said and smirked.

He handed Ian a bottle of water and walked back to where he was.

[...] “3…… 2…….. 1……. GO!” The black and white flag waved through with a bleep sound, making Ian press the accelerator harder than ever.

His eyebrows were frowned upon the road, as his heartbeat stopped for a few brief seconds.

There was anger, frustration, and clear annoyance written on his face with every turn he took.

His emotions were changing quickly, but it gave him more pump to push forward.

As he was closer to the end signal, he felt as if he had been holding up so many emotions and thoughts while he was busy with work.

And as he slowed down the car, with how his heart kept thumping loudly in his ears, Ian felt a sudden feeling of release gushing over him.

He stopped the car after slowing down, and walking out of it, people were cheering and looking at Ian.

“My man! You did it! So fucking great!” The same guy from the first round walked toward him.

Ian breathed out heavily and then gulped water.

“Fuck, I was the second and was 7 seconds behind before, how’d you even know dude? Are you a psychic?” Ian said and chuckled along with the man while walking off the road.

“Your emotions dude, you looked angry by how you rode through the cars. And fuck, this is your first time isn’t it?” The man said and stopped in his tracks.

“Yeah, man. Felt so good, and so-”

“Powerful, as if you own the goddamn world?” The man laughed along with Ian and shared the bottle of beer he was holding.

“Exactly, and who knew this is this much fun! I think I’ll participate in the next one too,”

“Go for it, take your price from that stop,” the guy pointed towards a bunch of men who were wearing suits.

“Alright, give me your helmet,” Ian borrowed the helmet that was being held by the guy and walked towards the fat men who were seated while looking at the road.

“Max Payton, the red car, won first place,”

“Ah yes, here’s your money.” Another bold man said while writing him off a check and dismissing him.

“Thanks,” Ian muttered and walked down where he started to go on his third race.

[...] After two complete rounds of pure adrenaline playing the field, this round of race was comparatively less competitive.

Ian exited as the fourth from the front, and he was feeling pretty content.

Slowing down the car, he finally pulled the brakes.

“That was a good man!” The guy came down running again.

In a split second, there were loud siren noises that were heard from far away in the distance.

Both the men widened their eyes, and Ian visibly panicked.

“RUN RUN RUN RUN! CAR CAR! GET YOUR CAR, MAN! GET IN!” the guy got in with Ian, and both of them sped to the road.

“OH FUCK, ARE THEY STILL BEHIND?” Ian yelled through the sound of the car’s engine.

“YES, A CAR! THE SOUND IS FROM IT! TAKE THE LEFT ROUTE!”

“VEGAS?!” Ian shouted and took the left turn without thinking too much.

His hands were numb from the last car race yet he had to keep going unless he wanted to end up in jail.

“THEY ARE SOMEWHAT FAR AWAY!” the guy yelled at top of his lungs.

“I DON’T EVEN KNOW THE ROADS, TURN THE GPS ON, SOON.”

“Copied!”

They both crossed Vegas within the next thirty minutes, and the sound of sirens was still able to hear far in the distance.

“What’s your name?” Ian asked.

“Felix, what about you?”

“Max Payton,” Ian lied through his white teeth. “How long have you been associated with illegal street racing?”

“Eh, not long,” Felix said and looked outside the window. It was almost midnight. “My girlfriend died last month, and this is one way to cope with it,” he muttered.

“I’m sorry man.”

“It’s alright. Nice car you got here, is this yours?” Felix asked.

“Yeah it-”

“OH FUCK! THE CAR!” Felix yelled seeing the car coming towards them at high speed and that too from his side of the vehicle.

Ian who saw this later than Felix hit the break and turned to the left at the same time.

It all happened swiftly, yet Ian felt as if things were happening too slowly for him to figure out.

The car crashed into the tree that was on the side of the street, and the next thing to be heard was the siren noises getting closer to them.

“We are doomed! Fuck, I don’t even have money!” Felix gritted, and Ian saw his busted lip from how fast the car stopped.

“You’re bleeding-”

“So are you, are you okay?”

Ian wasn’t able to reply to Felix as five cops took both of them out.

-

[Las Vegas, Police Department]

The clock at the police station struck 1.10 am, and for the right of the main office, Ian and Felix were sitting on the little bench, behind the bars.

“We deserve to talk to one person, officer!” Ian said and stood up, trying his luck.

“Come out! Get him out!” The officer who sat shouted as another officer opened the bars for Ian to get out.

“I’ll take you with me,” Ian mumbled and got out of the room, still cuffed.

The officer harshly uncuffed him and handed him the phone.

His first choice was Mason.

*Treeeen* *Treeeeen* *Treeeen*

The rings kept going, and no reply was heard from the other end.

After thinking a lot, he called one person who he thought would be able to help him.

Christopher Grey.