Author's note: The last part of  "A Smooth Escape." The plot starts back up in the next chapter.

Hope you enjoy!

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Haeyeon burst through the front doors of the school; breathing heavily as ran through the courtyard.  She looked back as if scared that someone was chasing her. Essentially running backward; she ran into the crowd of people who had finished eating, and were trying to get back into school. Haeyeon was able to bump her way through the crowd, but not without causing a scene.

The man across the street took notice of the small body pushing its way through the group of students, and got closer to get a better look.

Haeyeon was exhausted after making it through the crowd and stopped at the edge of the sidewalk.

The man saw this as an opportunity and crossed the street to where she was.

Haeyeon put her hands on her knees as she stopped for a second to get some air. As she heaved in one last time, Haeyeon noticed the man walking towards her. She tried to compose herself and make a run for it, but she was still tired so her movements were slow. The man was easily able to catch up to her and grabbed her by the arms. Haeyeon attempted to break free, but the man’s grip was too strong.

The man picked Haeyeon up and covered so she couldn’t yell. The courtyard was clear of people because all of the students went back to class and the adults went back to work: His ideal situation. He knew that his partner was taking care of the other girl: The cunning girl that had somehow managed to evade them in that restaurant. She was a hassle and he was going to make sure that she regretted it.

The man crossed the street; making his way to the car. Haeyeon still struggled, but the man effortlessly held on. As he walked in between two buildings, he heard a noise behind him. Then-Darkness...

Haeyeon was able to rip herself free of the man’s grip after I hit him with the of the gun-ish weapon. The man fell unconscious; giving me and my sister an opening to run to our car. I decided to drop the weapon in a trashcan between the buildings because I felt it best to not carry a weapon on me.

We were able to make it the car without being spotted; adrenaline rushing through both of us.

“That was so cool!” my sister shouted as she put on her seatbelt. “What?!” I responded without taking into consideration that she didn’t know the full extent of their situation.

“We just tag teamed that guy! I say we become professional wrestlers.”

I couldn’t help but smile at my sister’s innocence; which I didn’t want to interfere with.

As I locked the car, I noticed the man that I had just knocked out in my rearview. He was stumbling and yelling something into a phone.

It looks like he’s calling for back up.

 I started the car and slammed on the pedal; attempting to gain as much distance from the man as possible…

We were out of view from the man, but I still didn’t feel safe. It would take us getting out of the town before I calmed down, and even then I knew I would be on edge.

It was nearing afternoon and the streets were almost empty. My decision was to take an unorthodox route out of town: they were sure to be covering the main streets. There was an old hunting route that ran through the woods that I was sure they weren’t aware of.

There were a few problems with going through the woods though: Getting to the woods would require driving the car on a rocky field, and I wasn’t sure the car could handle that. Plus I wasn’t sure if the route, once we got into the woods, was still clear. Even if it was, the woods were a hassle to navigate especially in an old car like this one.

How my idea would work out was a toss up, and that was considering we weren’t seen. As we drove up to a red light, an eerie feeling crept over me. I continued my ritual of ducking at the light, but this time my sister was included.

The light turned green and we continued down the road. I looked in my side mirror and noticed a car someway behind us. It wasn’t directly behind us, but I had seen this car a few turns ago and was growing suspicious.

After making a few u-turns and going the opposite way of my turning signal I came to the conclusion that this car was following us. The drivers in the car must have realized the same thing because they averted from trying to be inconspicuous. The car pulled up next to us almost without me knowing: its engine was basically silent, and its dark color was hard to spot.

“Look out!” my sister yelled pointing to the car that was now trying to ram us. I swerved off the road onto the sidewalk; thankfully there were no people there. The change in terrain caused our car to slow down so our pursuers pulled ahead by a few feet: This helped us because I was then able to get behind them and turn out from an intersection.

I wasn’t much of a driver in the first place, but it didn’t help that there was a car riding my tail. It wasn’t a good idea for either car to be driving around recklessly, but there seemed no other option at this point. Then a thought dawned on me:

If they’re being reckless, they must be desperate.

I tried to think of a memory that could pertain to my problem, but none came to mind. As I was thinking the dark shaded car was able to ram into our side.

“Aishh”

Our car served off the road and went into the tall grass that I had run through earlier that day. The momentum from the hit carried the car deep into the grass until we eventually stopped. The stop wasn’t sudden, but it still caused our seatbelts to tighten which made things extremely uncomfortable. I turned to the passenger side and was concerned when I saw my sister’s head jerk forward from the stop.

“Hae… Are you ok?”

“I’m fine Unnie” she responded with a thumbs up as she lifted her head. “You just focus on driving right now.”

I looked around and saw no one: Being hit into the grass was a blessing in disguise. They wouldn’t be able to see which way we were taking due to the tall grass so we would be able to lose them.

I turned off my headlights and drove straight. The problem with tall grass is that you can never really know where you are until you see something relative to your position. My idea was to just drive until we ended up out of the tall grass.

It took some time, but our car finally made it through the tall grass. We ended up on a dirt road that somehow looked familiar to me…

It’s the road to the woods!

Assuming that I lost our followers, I turned my headlights back on and drove along the dark road. The chase had gone on longer than I thought: It was nearly night time. It was hard to see, but my headlights were able to catch the field of rocks to our right…

Trying to drive through the rocks was as difficult as trying to keep steady in a bounce house. Every time I thought we were on steady ground, the car would bounce, causing me to lose my grip on the wheel. It also didn’t help that I could see our pursuer’s car pull up to the dirt road.

We were now locked in a race on of field of rocks: It wasn’t the ideal situation, but neither was the entire day. Our pursuer’s car was going slow over the rocks in attempt to be cautious: They wanted to wait for me to make a mistake so it would be that much easier to catch us.

The impact of a large drop sounded like it broke something on our car; luckily the drop indicated us passing through the field of rocks. It took me a second after the fall to get myself together and make sure my sister was ok, after that I drove straight for about half a mile until I could see the woods.

It was obvious that the hunting route hadn’t been used in some time, but it was still there. The good thing about driving this old car is that it was made when paved roads weren’t very good so it was able to drive on rough terrain better than new cars.

I drove onto the route faster than I should have: It was covered with random rocks and branches. Moving at the speed I was meant that any wrong move and things would be very bad.  The route also had many turns and was vey narrow making it even more hazardous.

Slowing down for a moment, I looked in my side mirror to see our chasers following close behind. The path was difficult enough for me to drive on with my better suited car; which made me think that they too were having a tough time.

With my sharp eyesight I decided to better focus on my side mirror and was able to catch a glimpse of the man in the driver seat. He was the same one that I had knocked out earlier while using my sister as bait. There were a few emotions on his face: It was clear that he was angry because our little bait tactic, but he was also distressed. From what I could tell, he was having a hard time controlling the car as his hands were jittery and the wheel was unsteady.

I think we can lose them.

I focused back on the route and sped up.

As we went along the route it became less of a route and more of a walking path. This day was full of risky moves and this on was no different, but it’s not like I had any other choice.

In my headlights, I could see what appeared to be a sharp turn in the path: I knew it was going to be my best shot to lose these guys. Pushing the pedal farther into the floor caused Haeyeon to stare at me. She didn’t say anything; her eyes said it all “I trust you Unnie, but don’t screw up.”

I took in a deep breath, started pulling on the emergency brake and began turning the steering wheel.

Time seemed to slow down as I was attempting to drift around the narrow turn. The car started turning, but there was a problem: The brakes on the car were old and didn’t hold out very well because of how fast I was going.

The car swerved right: the way it was supposed to go; but then swerved to the left as I started losing control. My mind racing (pun intended lol); I thought of an idea to try and save Haeyeon’s and my life.

I pushed the emergency brake back down and pressed my foot on the normal brake. In a strange maneuver I forced the steering wheel to the left as to balance out the car’s movements. The second I felt that the car was balance; I turned the wheel back to the right in an attempt to make the turn.  

The car skid: It made an unpleasant sound as the noise from the screeching brakes combined with the tires scraping against gravel and wood. Our car was drifting in the right direction, but it wasn’t turning as sharp as it should have since I was using the regular brake instead of the emergency one.

My sister started to scream, not from being scared, but because of all the adrenaline that was rushing through her body.

We were making our way around the turn: My maneuver saved our lives… But the car ended up going too wide. The back of our car slid through the terrain and rammed into one of the trees that surrounded the path.

The force of the collision made the car recoil off of the tree causing my sister and me to be yanked by our seatbelts. Luckily, neither off us was too shaken by the impact although Haeyeon gained a bruise around her sternum from where the seatbelt held her. I wanted to sit and analyze the situation better, but we still weren’t in the clear yet.

Without looking back; I grabbed the steering wheel and stomped on the car pedal. The car was slow to start, but eventually started moving: It was obvious that something was wrong it because I could hear the strain on the vehicle. We finished making it around the corner and began looking back as I drove along a straightaway.

There was no car behind us.

What?

Haeyeon must have noticed the same thing as she turned to me and said “Where are they?”

“I… don’t… know…” I responded without taking my eyes off of the turn. I scanned the area for another moment and noticed something new: There were a set of tire tracks, in the dirt, that didn’t turn. The tracks went straight towards a bundle of trees. Through the trees, I could see what looked to be mangled pieces of metal: some on the floor; others were a part of a whole object.

They didn’t make it.

A flurry of emotions flooded over me as I came to the realization. There was a feeling of sadness, which surprised me, but I mostly felt a sense of relief. I knew that my sister and I still weren’t safe, but I felt like we were ok for the time being. I could feel some of the tension leaving my body.

We’re ok.

Haeyeon stared at me, confused, as my face changed from confused to a mixture of easiness and determination. I turned forwards to look at the path in front of us: It was dark, but I could see the main road off in the distance. I rolled down the window to feel the cool nighttime air hit my face.

“They’re gone, Hae.”

That wasn’t much of a smooth escape though…