The Causeway to Baltimore, Thursday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy had been doing some thinking recently, going over the activities that helped her cut through the noise in her brain. All of the ones she'd found so far involved the participation of other people and she needed to find something she could do by herself so she didn't have to keep bothering folks. And that had gotten her to thinking about the almost-reverie she'd slipped into on Dante's motorcycle. That was something she could potentially do for herself...except she'd need a bike of her own.

Or Dante could share his, but ahahahahano.

It wouldn't hurt to start looking for something like that, though, would it? Even if she didn't buy something right away, having an idea in her mind wouldn't hurt. She made her way towards the Causeway and sent a text at the same time. If she were going shopping, she should consult an expert, right?

Hey. U busy?

[For the motorcycle guru and SP]

Comments

[spin_kick_snap]

But Kathy was still accelerating, too. The upper speed of a Maserati was 188 miles per hour and Kathy was going to hit that or...

Okay, not die trying but be really sulky if she didn't.

Still, her car was significantly heavier than Dante's bike, and that wasn't even counting the fact that she had another bike tucked in the back. So even with race mode, steadily clicking her speed upwards, she couldn't match his sudden jump. The car hit 145 and then 150, the landscape a blur out the windshield.

[rebelseekspizza]

And Dante kept speeding up, keeping up with her, a blip about fifty feet ahead, never further away, but never slowing down, either.

Wasn't that far to the lot, right?

[spin_kick_snap]

Not really, but that was okay. Kathy had given up on the race entirely; Dante was keeping his lead too perfectly for her to catch up. She just wanted to top out the car's speed. This was the only time she'd ever be able to, especially if when she gave up the car afterwards.

She saw the parking lot in the distance, but getting closer. She also saw her needle peg at 165. Still over 20 miles an hour to go. New plan: blow past the parking lot until she hit 188.

[rebelseekspizza]

Top speed on the bike was 186 mph. This would be interesting.

Though the design of the bike definitely gave Dante an edge. He smirked over his shoulder again, gently speeding up. "You're gonna miss the lot!"

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy just laughed. "Going to the lot means stopping!" she yelled back. "Can't stop won't stop!"

They were flying down the road now, road hugging the coast with the restless Atlantic ocean gray and frothy to the side. The turnoff to the parking lot was almost on them; they'd need to slow to take it at all safely.

Or they could ignore it completely and keep racing down the asphalt.

170 and there was no question what Kathy was doing.

[rebelseekspizza]

There was still an easy grin on Dante's face, but his eyes were darting to her more often now, his bike slowing incrimentally.

Not enough to make it obvious, but enough to make sure he could do... something... if this went wrong.

He wasn't worried about his own safety. He coul take it.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy didn't pause, blowing right past the turnoff and rocketing down the road. She knew this was dangerous and that she'd blown past breakneck speed about 80 miles an hour ago, but she wasn't going to stop.

The road ahead, at least, still seemed featureless and so she sped up more, now at 180. Just a little more to go. The pedal was now mashed to the floor.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante finally gave in, taking back just enough speed to find himself driving alongside her.

He didn't say anything. Didn't motion for her to stop.

He kept his eyes on the road.

[spin_kick_snap]

Those last eight miles felt like they took forever to hit. 181. 182. 183. The parking lot was well in the distance now and getting smaller and ahead of them were increasing signs of civilization. If this took much longer, Kathy would have to start to slow down anyway just for safety reasons.

184. 185. 186.

Well, more safety reasons. Going this fast wasn't safe for any non-Nephilim, not really. Kathy would worry about that later, though, and what it said about her. Right now, though, it was just her and the car, aware of Dante but not really paying attention to him.

187.

188 and the needle was flush with the rightmost edge of the speedometer. Kathy cheered and lifted her foot entirely off the gas, but didn't start braking yet. At this speed, that would be a disaster. Out the window, she flashed Dante a quick V-sign.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Yeah, watch the road, Kathy," Dante called.

It was the only thing he was gonna say about it. He'd feel more relaxed when she slowed down below 150 or so.

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Because she'd be any less a colorful smear on the road hitting something at 150 than she would at 188. She hit the top of a small hill and all four wheels of the car left the ground. She was terrified--but also exhilarated.

The car hit the ground again with a thump and she was jolted around a bit, her seatbelt keeping her in place. She tapped the brakes, letting the car bleed off speed naturally. The numbers ticked down again, much faster than they'd climbed--though likely not fast enough for Dante's liking.

[rebelseekspizza]

Not less, but at least he'd be able to believe she could get the car under control.

"Kathy," Dante called, more forceful this time, "Take it down a few more notches!"

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"Doing that!" Kathy called to him, not taking her eyes off the road. "Just trying not to burn out the clutch or flip the car by braking too fast!" She depressed the brakes again, this time not tapping but slowly pushing it down to the mat. She had to pry her hand off of the steering wheel and brought it over to the emergency brake. The car was slowing down further, but she wanted to know that if she had to stop on a dime, she could.

The car broke 150. Then 125. And when did 115 feel like crawling?

[rebelseekspizza]

Because she'd been going way too fast with only a bit of supernatural reflexes to save her. "Good," Dante called. "We should turn around already."

[spin_kick_snap]

Hey now, these cars were built for normal humans! Granted, Kathy had significantly less training than those other people, but between Driver's Ed here and Nick's lessons back in LA, she'd at least had some?

It was possible Dante wouldn't see it that way.

"That's the plan!" Kathy called, the car finally dropping below one hundred. "Are we waiting for a place to turn around or am I doing a u-turn here in the middle of the road?" She was willing to take his suggestions on this.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Let's do a U-turn when you hit sixty," Dante said, squinting at the road. "It's quiet out there!"

[spin_kick_snap]

Quiet out there, maybe, but not in here. Kathy turned off the radio and continued to press on the brake, the car shedding speed like water. It was now almost at eighty and Kathy deliberately shifted into fourth gear. The car shuddered and slowed abruptly, dropping down to fifty-five in less than a second as the engine itself contributed to the braking.

She let the car drop down a bit more and then spun into the u-turn Dante had suggested. It wasn't the cleanest or smoothest turn--her right wheels hit the rumble strip a few times and the rear fishtailed a bit--but she kept control of the car and got it going in the right direction. And have even remembered to use her blinker to let Dante know she was about to turn so they didn't accidentally run into one another.

Good enough!

[rebelseekspizza]

It wasn't her winding up a pretty smear anywhere. Dante'd take it.

He'd turned the bike already, enhanced reflexes not enough to make the fast turn perfect - the enhanced strength took care of that instead. "Better," he said, more to himself than anyone else. "Now let's go back to chugging along."

[spin_kick_snap]

The car settled at around fifty--still far above the limit for this stretch of road, but hardly the hurtling speed of even the motorcycle ride from the island. It was just a few minutes to get back to the parking lot and this time Kathy turned down it, parking neatly in one of the painted rows.

It took her a few seconds to get out of the car once it was off and the door open. She had to pry her hand off the wheel and pull herself up out of the seat. Her whole body was tense with the strain of keeping the Maserati under control and her neck cracked when she rolled it.

Probably not anything she'd ever do again, but damn if she wasn't glad she'd done it once.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Well, that was a trip," Dante said casually, kicking out the brake stand and shutting down the engine.

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"Yup," Kathy agreed, leaning against the side of the car until her knees stopped wobbling. "Pretty sure you won the race, though."

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante paced over to her, picking a spot against the car right beside her to lean against too. Still casual. "Yep," he agreed. "How're you feeling? You really went for the ride back there."

[spin_kick_snap]

"It's gonna take a bit for my heart to stop thudding and my breathing to slow," Kathy said, mirroring his posture. Just two, super-casual people right here. "But that's the adrenaline. I'll be fine in a few."

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante threw a quick glance over his shoulder. "So what are we doing with the car?"

Lecturing her about how stupid that'd been wasn't his style. Anders could do that, if he ever found out.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kiiiiiiiinda felt like he wanted to, though.

"I dunno," she said, turning to examine it. "If we leave it here, someone will probably call the cops eventually. It'll get returned to the owner once they run the VIN. Or someone else might steal it if they know how to hotwire the car."

That reminded her. She slid over the hood to the passenger side, wincing a bit at how hot the metal over the engine was, and pulled off her shirt and proceeded to rub down every part of the car she'd touched. Her prints were in the system, after all. Well, if such things crossed realities. Or if there were a Kathy Li in this world, living the life she should have.

Oooh, yeah. That was a mental path she didn't need to follow.

"Any ideas from your end?"