5 The Call Before Impact

Riya's Pov 

My grip tightened on the throttle. With a grunt that tore through my chest, I yanked both handlebars and quickly slammed a palm and a foot down to force the bike back upright. Pain shot through me, but it was worth it.

The tires screamed as I twisted the accelerator, causing the rubber to violently bite on the cobblestones. 

The bike roared, jerking sideways in a wild drift. My back tire clipped the bumper of the car, sending flaring sparks. 

My knee scraped asphalt, peeling off the fabric, and my skin raw, but I held steady. Barely.

Breath tore out of me. My body shook, and my muscles screamed.

That said… I hadn’t actually accomplished anything. Not when the estate’s massive black gates loomed ahead, having completely shut down the steel tight.

And behind me? Boots pounded and suits in black were already storming after me.

I ignored them. darting my eyes left and right. Think. Think! I shoved my bleeding hand into the belt’s pockets, fumbling, ransacking, praying for something… an explosive, a charge, anything to blast through the gate. My fingers scraped plastic, metal, smooth edges I didn’t recognize…

And then…

A low groan.

The gate.

The massive black slabs shuddered, then began to slowly slide open.

I didn’t waste time wondering who or why. Whoever opened it had just saved my life, or set me up for something worse. Either way, it was my only shot.

I revved hard, as blood continued to roam slick on the throttle, and launched forward. 

The bike burst through the opening with a shriek of tires, spitting dust as I skidded onto the asphalt. 

The wide road opened my eyes, and a wild, ragged, and shaky laugh bubbled out. 

Relief washed over me, but it didn’t last.

Because the screech followed.

Not mine.

Theirs.

I risked a glance at the cracked side mirror, and I caught a glimpse of headlights swarming just behind me. One car. Two. No… three. All black. All fast. And all speeding right at me.

Of course. Kelvin wasn’t about to let me go that easily.

“Persistent bastard,” I muttered, muffling my voice under the helmet. 

My hands tightened on the bars, and my veins continued to pulse with adrenaline.

“BAMBOLINA!”

The shout tore through the night so loud it made me flinch inside the helmet.

My brows furrowed. “What the…”

A glance at the other mirror gave me my answer. Kelvin. 

Hanging halfway out of the passenger window of the lead car, gripping the roof with one hand, and clenching a microphone using the other. 

His voice screeched through an external speaker, booming across the ever-empty highway until it rang in my skull.

I rolled my eyes so hard it almost hurt. “Seriously?” I hissed. “What is this, a confession?”

Kelvin leaned out further, as his hair continued to whip in the wind, with a twisted expression on his face.

Honestly, if I didn’t hate him so much, I’d almost think he loved me.

Almost.

“Don’t you want to know how your mother disappeared!…? Eh, Bambolina!?”

His voice slithered out of the loudspeaker, and even over the roar of the bike and the rush of night wind, it crawled under my skin.

“I can tell you everything…” His words were jagged, almost gleeful. “I can even tell you things about your father you wouldn’t believe… I can…”

I didn’t let him finish. My fingers dove into the belt, finding the last six round canisters. With a flick and a press, they hissed awake in my palms, as I hurled them back over my shoulder.

Pop-pop.

The little bombs cracked open, belching thick smoke across the asphalt. The headlights behind me became vague, predatory shapes, lost in a swirling gray cloud. 

I yanked the throttle hard, making the bike leap forward, as the engine continued to scream really hard.

But my vision blurred. His words had cut deep, making those hot and heavy tears sting my eyes inside the helmet. How can one be so cruel?

I clenched my jaw and bit down on my lower lip until I tasted blood, forcing my trembling hands to tighten around the grips until they creaked as my fingers locked harder.

And then… A soft crackle buzzed from inside my helmet, followed by his voice.

“Riya… Riya… are you there?”

The voice was softer. Familiar.

“Mateo?” My eyes flew wide. The world around me blurred in and out. “Heavens… is that you? Is…”

“Where are you?”

A shaky laugh tumbled out of me, equal parts relief and disbelief. “It’s really you…” My lips tugged into a smile under the visor.

“Where are you right now?”

“I’m on my way to… uh…” My voice cracked with exhaustion. “What was it again…? I’m going to the place you asked me to meet you.”

Silence.

“Mateo?” I blinked, forcing my eyes back to the road. “Are… you still there?”

“I never asked you to meet me anywhere, Riya.”

I blinked again and the world tilted a little. “Sorry… come again?” 

My smirk faltered. “That’s… a joke, right?” 

My voice cracked. “You said to meet you somewhere in Ampang City…”

“I never asked you to meet me anywhere... If I did…, I wouldn’t be calling right now.”

My heart lurched. “But you did arrange the gadgets, the bike, and the key… didn’t you?”

“That was all me, yes.”

My breath stuttered, and I swallowed hard, trying to steady it. “So then… if you weren’t the one who left that note…” My eyes narrowed against the dark highway rushing toward me. “…who did?”

“Riya… that should be the least of your worries right now.”

“I know, I know,” I whispered, biting back the panic clawing its way up my throat. “So… where do I meet you?”

A pause. Just a thick and heavy static.

“Come to the—”

The rest was obliterated.

A violent metallic screech ripped through my ears. It made me wince so hard my eyes shut for half a heartbeat. 

My teeth clamped down until pain shot through my jaw, and I bit my lip raw, tasting coppery and hot blood on my tongue.

Instinctively, I unlatched the buckle beneath my chin with one shaking hand, ripping the helmet strap loose. 

The air slammed against my face as I flung the helmet aside, gasping, blinking against the sting in my eyes.

The bike swerved. My other hand flew to the opposite handlebar, jerking it hard to steady the wobbling beast. My pulse was a hammer against my ribs as I was about to speed my way past a T-junction on a red traffic light.

I turned harder on the throttle, hoping to shoot through…

And then the night exploded.

A blinding white light flooded my vision from the right, so bright it seared through my skull with a deafening and bellowing horn. It was close…, too close.

My eyes went wide, and everything turned white and soundless for a heartbeat.