Goddess of Thunder (Short Novel in Progress) Chapter 6

 

Goddess of Thunder is back, sorry for the delay, with my thesis, exams and social service I haven't found the energy to write, March was a really heavy month for me but I'm sure April will be more relaxing and I'll be able to continue working on the different projects that I have going on right now, here's the sixth chapter. Also, I think that I'm going to start calling Goddess of Thunder a short story by now because I don't think that it enters in the parameters of a short story anymore. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

VI

The day was shiny and the clouds bigger and brighter than ever, she soon find out that the town looked completely different during daylight; it looked as a completely different place. She even though that maybe what happened last night was just some terrible nightmare, but this time it wasn't the case. Ailine needed to get her bike back, she didn't even know if it was still alive, and a part of her didn't expect it to be, but she still had to look for it.

The last time she saw it was at Da Speller workshop, it was parked outside, just beside where the bikers were, so that's why she didn't have much hope. If the bikers didn't destroy it, the fire probably did. Eventually, she returned to Da Speller's workshop, or better yet the remains of it. There was an immense and strong smell of fuel, so much that Ailine had to cover her mouth and nose to push forward. The place looked and smelled like a graveyard, it even look more grotesque with the contrast of the bright light. If Da Speller looked at this he was going to be even more broken, perhaps he wasn't even going to return here. And then she saw it, her bike was there, almost exactly where she had left it, but there seemed to be something strange about it.

It had a flat tire and there was something stuck in it, a small object. It was a bullet from Da Speller's revolver.

"Nice shooting" she though.

There was no way of riding it, so she had to carry on walking while pushing the bike and there was only one place where she could go.

***

It took her almost three hours of walking and pushing to get there, but she finally did it, the gas station/restaurant.

"Listen, I don't have a lot of money" she said to the mechanic of the gas station.

"And how much money you DO have?"

She showed him whatever was left on her pocket. The mechanic touched his chin.

"C'mon, there's got to be some kind of tire that I can buy with this!"

"Yes, there is but, you can't expect much of it."

"I don't care, I’ll buy it" she said without thinking twice.

"Ok, but I hope that you're not travelling too far."

Ailine left the mechanic working on his bike and entered the restaurant; she was once again looking for a favor.

***

                "No!, you're not welcomed here anymore!" said the waiter.

"Why? I did nothing!"

"I told you where Da Speller lives, and the next thing I know, he's workshop is on fire and the man is nowhere to be found."

"I wasn't responsible for that, in fact, I actually kind of save his life!"

"Oh, is that so?" said the waiter while crossing his arms.

"Yeah, he was attacked by a gang, I was the one who warned him and help him escape."

His face changed completely.

"So, you know where he is?" he asked with a really serious tone.

"Last time I saw him, he was at the woods burying his dog, he was about to call his brother because he was planning to organize a race."

The waiter's face returned to its question mode.

"Are you sure you aren't high?"

Another waiter interrupted their conversation, there was a call waiting for him so he went to pick it up.

Ailine sat on one empty table and she looked through the window. She was looking at the mechanic as he found the proper tire for the price she paid. It seemed that he had found the one, it was an ugly and rusty tire, with all kinds of damages and scratched but for some reason it was still functional. Ailine had felt so low at that point.

"Well I'll be damn!" said the waiter as he approached Ailine. "It looks like I owe you an apology".

"Probably, but my honor is not really hurt because of you" responded Ailine.

"I just talked to the boss, they found Da Speller a couple of minutes ago in the central highway. It seems that his story and you story seem to coincide. My boss even told me that you indeed kinda saved his life. So, I'm sorry, I guess you're still welcome here."

Ailine raised her hand.

"An apology is not necessary ... but something else is."

The waiter smiled.

"It's always the same thing with you, isn't it?"

"C'mon, you don't get bored with me around"

"I guess so, but then again, being bored is highly underrated. Go ahead, tell me what you need."

Ailine felt once again that he was abusing from this man's courtesy.

"Look... can you get me a job?, I really need money right now" she asked.

The waiter expected a question of that nature so he wasn't surprised.

"Do you cook?"

"No"

"Would you like to be a waitress?"

"No offense, but no"

"Do you have experience as an accounter?"

"Zero"

The waiter began to scratch his head, there was nothing she could do here and there weren't a lot of chances that she could find a job anywhere else. He looked through the window and then he found his answer.

"We have been planning a little project for a few months and... I guess your skills as a rider could be of some use."

"Really? what is it?" she said with great enthusiasm.

"You can calm yourself, it's nothing exciting."

 

***

 

There was a positive thing in all of this; she was able to travel many, many miles. She could spend a lot of time on the road and being paid, which was exactly what she wanted, but this time, she was exploring uncharted territory.

Before arriving to the small town that she was going to be attending for the next weeks, Ailine didn't stop thinking about the race, the more she thought about it, the more she concluded that it was going the be the decisive moment of her life. She needed to go to the Grey Canyon, she needed to practice but she was even afraid of doing that. All of the gangs were going to be there, it was going to be her against the world. She wanted to say to herself "Well, I will try my best", but no, there was no place for that in her mind, there was only the "I have to, I must, I will".

She returned back to the current world and she almost missed a turn. Delivering food to distant towns wasn't such a painful job, after all. It gave her the time to think and to meditate, but that time was over because she had arrived.

As she entered, she soon noticed that this town was its own world, it wasn't big, but for the people who lived there, it didn't need it to be. The town was a bright and open space surrounded by grass, the houses were made out of roble and there was probably a technological drawback of almost ten years. It was almost as she had traveled back in time to the period of her childhood, she almost became paralyze for a moment so she quickly put her glasses on and she was able to control whatever was happening to her much better.

All the people, kids and adults began to look at her as she passed the entrance; they seemed worried or better yet attentive for the arrival of another stranger.

Although it lacked a lot of technological innovation, it was hard to consider it a poor town. All of the wooden houses were in optimal conditions and, the people wore clean clothes and it seemed that they didn't struggle that much to get food or water. She was supposed to deliver this meal to an old lady who lived in the high part of the town, as she advanced more and more, she felt that the roaring sound of her bike was invading and destroy the calm and serenity that the town had.

Suddenly, an old man screamed at her.

"Young lady!"

Ailine stopped her bike and began to look around, there was an old bearded man with a weird hat approaching her, Ailine supposed that he was the sheriff of the town or something like that, for a minute she though that she was in trouble.

"Howdy, young lady" said the old man as he approached Ailine.

"Howdy yourself"

The old man smiled and she quickly analyzed her.

"My name is Tim Olson, I'm the sheriff of this small town, we don't get a lot of strangers or newcomers around here, so, with all the respect in the world, may I ask what's your name and what brought you here?"

Ailine, soon find out that all the town was looking at her. Incredibly and for the first time ever, she couldn't stand the sound of her own bike, she felt that it was destroying all the atmosphere of this place so she turn it off for a second.

"My name is Ailine, I work for the Motojet Restaurant, and I’m going to be coming here to deliver meals to Mrs. Pamel."

The sheriff smiled at her.

"That's all we needed to know, pleasure to meet you Ailine and we're so sorry for the inconvenience, Mrs. Pamel lives just on top of that hill over there."

The sheriff smiled at her once again and he let her go, the whole town seemed more relax by now. Ailine started the engine once again, still thinking that the sound of the bike was somewhat harmful for the place where she was.

Finally, Ailine made it to the top of the hill, it was a little bit colder up here but it was also a great peace and serenity in the air. Just as she reached the top, Ailine could instantly see Mrs.Pamel's house. As all of the others, it was a wooden house with a modest yet pretty and well conserved outlook, it was a little bit bigger than all the others and also a little bit more mysterious.

Ailine opened the red box that her bike was carrying and she took out the special meal that her new cooking partners had just prepared. Mrs. Pamel was a vegetarian and the Motojet restaurant was the only place around which also had vegan meals on the menu, she was too old to cook and also too old to go all the way to the restaurant.

Ailine approached the house and knock the door without trying to be too disturbing.

"Mrs. Pamel, I'm from the Motojet restaurant... I' brought you the meal you ordered."

There was no response and she could only sense the noise of the echo of her voice.

"Mrs. Pamel?" she tried once again.

"Come in, lovely, it’s open" said the soothing voice of an old woman.

Inside the house, there was a constant aroma of medical herbs and other botanical elements; as soon as she entered she realized that the house was too big for one person and that Ms. Pamel was probably a widow seeing all the pictures of a lovely couple that were hanging on the walls. The main corridor had a lot of doors and she had no idea where Mrs. Pamel was.

"Mrs. Pamel?"

"Second door, lovely, please, come in"

As she advanced towards the second door, the smell of medical herbs became much stronger. She entered the room, which was Mrs. Pamel bedroom. The old lady was lying in bed, she had obviously woken up hours before and was excitingly waiting for her visit. Mrs. Pamel greeted Ailine with a great and vivid smile; Ailine returned the smile, feeling a little bit awkward.

"Hi, sweety. What's your name?"

"My name is Ailine, I will be delivering you your meals for the following months, pleased to meet you Mrs. Pamel."

"The pleasure is all mine" said the old lady as she tried to stand up, "please, leave the plate over there." she pointed at a small wooden desk.

Ailine left the meal where Mrs. Pamel indicated.

"You arrived just in time, I find it weird for such a young lady to arrive exactly at the hour." said the old lady as she walked towards the small wooden desk.

"I'm a biker so; time is not really that much of a problem to me."

"Time is a problem to everybody my dear, doesn't matter what vehicle you drive."

The old lady was preparing everything to start her meal. The dish that she had ordered was pasta with red beans and an orange juice. It was on that moment when Ailine took of her glasses and started to observe Ms. Pamel’s entire bedroom in more detail. It was all painted in white but there were paintings all over it. The paintings all had the same recurring theme: space. Galaxies, constellations, planets and solar systems inhabited in that old lady's bedroom. It was unusual to see an old lady interested in that type of art.

"Wow, they are beautiful." Ailine said, it was the first time that she had seen so much detail on a painting, so much realism. They were like photographs of space itself.

"Oh, thank you, yes I guess they are." said Mrs. Pamel with her distinguished smile.

"How?..where did you get these things?"

Mrs. Pamel started eating and after chewing her first bit, she answered:

"Some were made by my husband, some were made by me."

Ailine still contemplated them, if she had money, she would have made an offer. But she knew that there was no point in that, she didn't even have a home of her own.

A few minutes passed, with no more tasks left to do and seeing that the Gray Canyon was awaiting, Ailine realized that her task was done for the day.

"Well, Mrs. Pamel. I hope that you enjoy your meal; I will recover the dishes tomorrow. Now, if you excuse me."

"Why are you leaving so soon, do you need to go right away?"

Ailine stopped her step.

"Huh... I have to go ... somewhere."

"C'mon my dear, stay for a little while, since we're going to see each other quiet frequently, we should know each other a little bit, I'm sure that your other business can wait for a little bit."

With no other way of contradicting the poor old lady, Ailine accepted her requested and she decided to stay. There was an empty chair behind her. She brought the chair close to the old lady and she sat down.

The old lady ate her pasta slowly and with great enjoyment, Ailine didn't know what to say or do, so she waited for her to talk.

"Where are you from, dear? And how did you become a biker? You’re the first one I see."

Ailine didn't want to talk about it, Ailine never wanted to talk about it, she hated remembering things, but she knew that a conversation with an old lady was all about remembering things.

"I'm from a small town, very much like this one. And well, one day I found a bike and... Well, I pretty much became a biker."

The old lady got the hint that Ailine wasn't comfortable talking about this, but she was still quite interested in her character.

"Do you belong to a gang?"

"No, no. I don't like gangs, I ride alone."

That was enough for the old lady to assume that Ailine was a runaway, but she just asked her to be sure.

"And, where do you live?"

Ailine didn't know how to respond, she didn't even have an answer to that question.

"Currently, I'm sleeping on a small bedroom behind the restaurant."

The old lady stopped eating.

"Oh, my god, that's terrible."

"Well, it's only temporary" she said.

"I don't care if it's temporary or not, a young lady needs a real house where she could stay. Wouldn't you like to live with me?" the old lady asked her.

She didn't expect so much hospitality from this visit; she didn't even know how to react from it.

"I...I don't think that would be convenient"

"Don't be ridiculous, just look at this house!, it's enormous, and it's all for me. It's just too much for me. Sometimes, I feel that I'm alone in a castle." said the old lady laughing.

Ailine laugh as well, not knowing how to reject her proposal.

"You're very kind, Mrs. Pamel. But I can't really accept that offer"

The old lady understood Ailine response and she stopped pushing.

"Ok, young lady, but if at any moment you need a place where to stay, you're very much welcomed here."

Ailine thanked the old lady one more time, and they both said good-bye to each other.

She was now descending the hill, trying to be as careful as possible. When she looked upfront, she realized that the entire town was watching her, which made her even more nervous while descending the hill. Finally, she was down and safe.

She instantly felt the pressure of one thousand eyes, there was only one thought escalating Ailine's mind: "Get the hell out of here!"

Ailine accelerated like a maniac to the point that she almost lost control of the bike, but there was something else, something didn't sound right. When you're a biker, you know the sound of your bike perfectly well, so when you realize that the sound is no longer the same, that means that something terrible is about to happen.

And it did.

The old and rotten tire that she bought in the gas station exploded, Ailine got catapulted from the bike and she landed almost 4 meters away. Her right arm received all of the impact of the fall. She didn't know what hurt the most, her arm, or her ears as she heard the horrible sounds that her bike made as it felt apart.

She closed her eyes for two seconds in order to swallow the pain, when she opened them; she realized that something was blocking her from the sun. The whole town was gathered around her, all of them looking at her. Ailine panicked, she tried to get up as fast as possible but the pain of her arm was still there.

Suddenly, she felt a group of hands, lifting her up slowly and with great care, as she risen, the light of the sun returned to her and she was able to see things more clearly. There was a small hand in front of her, making the sing of peace; it was the hand of a small kid.

"How many do you see, young lady?" asked the little child with a concerned yet funny voice.

"Move away Leo, let the lady breathe!" screamed an adult male voice, probably his father's.

The entire town had the same look of concern in their eyes, Ailine felt that they were overreacting, it wasn't the worst fall that she had experienced, but she was amazed of how much empathy there was in her eyes.

There were two men carrying and they brought her to the shade of a lonely tree. She sat gently under it.

"Are you alright lady? Is your head alright?" asked one of the men who were carrying her.

"I'm fine... thanks."

"Your arm doesn't look that fine" the other man said. "I think you broke it"

Ailine tried to look tougher than she was by trying to move the arm rapidly, sadly for her; the men seemed to be right.

"Is she alright?" asked Tim Olson as he was approaching.

"No, I think she broke her arm."

"The medic is on his way." said Tim.

Ailine felt so ashamed, it was the first time that she was the center of attention of a whole community and she didn't like it one bit.

"Did my bike hurt anyone?" she asked.

"No, don't worry; nothing bad happened, although you scared the crap out of some children."

The whole crowd was beginning to approach her, Tim knew that Ailine didn't like this so he quickly dismiss them.

"Alright folks, no need to worry, she is fine, her arm is the only trouble and the medic is on his way."

The crowd stopped right there but remained looking.

"It's really nothing serious, I think my bike is the one I really should be taking care of" said Ailine while trying to dissimulate the pain.

"Don't be ridiculous, Ailine" said Tim. "That was one hell of a fall, you need to be checked".

She stopped trying to act all tough and for the first time since she was a child, she let others to take care of her.

 

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Goddess of Thunder (Short Story in Progress) Chapter 5

V

She was on the road once again, the storm had just begun, the winds were becoming more and more hostile but they were nothing that she couldn't handle, the journey was steady the danger was being ignored. But then everything changed with the appearance of the tornado at the end of the road. There was no way of her to change directions by know, so she had no option but to be consumed by it.

Ailine opened her eyes from the terrible yet predictable nightmare, all of her thoughts of last night returned as instantly as she saw the trees that surrounded her. It was already morning and she quickly realized that Da Speller wasn't longer there, but the remaining pieces of the bike were still under the tree, so she knew that he could not be too far away. She stood up and began to look for him.

"Da Speller? are you still here?"

She walked a few meters and she quickly found him. He nailed down facing the ground, she didn't understand what he was doing but as she approached he could saw. He had buried Oly with his bare hands. He spent all the night digging the hole with his hands and he had finally buried his friend.

"Da Speller?"

All covered in dirt, he stood up tired as hell, his task was over. He looked exhausted, but with a great calm and serenity.

"You had a good night sleep?" he asked her.

"Heh... not exactly, but... forget about me, are you okay?"

Da Speller smiled; it was a tired but sincere smile.

"I'm just fine"

He began to walk away from the site of the grave.

"I suppose that they won't be looking for us by now" he said.

"I... I don't think so, they must have concluded that we died in the fire" responded Ailine as she followed him.

They returned to the same site where Ailine spent the night, Da Speller returned to the same tree where he had left the remaining pieces of the flying bike, he picked them up and began to observe them closely.

"What are you ... planning to do now?" she asked him, thinking it was a bad idea to say that so soon.

"I have a plan, I thought about it all night" Da Speller responded without looking at her. “I can't do, what you told me."

Ailine didn't know what he was talking about, suddenly she remember, the flying bike.

"You... you can't reconstruct the bike?

Da Speller laughed a little bit.

"Of course I can reconstruct it. In fact, I'm going to upgrade, the old design will look as a damn chance compare to this new one. But I cannot give it to you just like that, you must earn it in some way." Da Speller responded.

Ailine didn't understand what he was trying to said.

"Earn it? What do you mean by that?"

Da Speller was still analyzing the pieces; he was already sketching in his mind the way that he was going to reconstruct the bike.

"Do you want the same thing that happened to that biker happen to you?" He asked her.

"No, but... that happened to him because he didn't earn that bike?"

"Of course!" screamed Da Speller "The goddess only grants an opportunity at those she seem worthy, how the hell does someone expect to be worthy by climbing that mountain with a stolen bike? The Gods hate stealers."

The Gods were more conscious and present than Ailine previously though. She though that they were just mighty and invisible beings that just appeared or acted at random times, but soon she found out that there was nothing random about them.

"So, what do I have to do? How can I become worthy?" she was dying to know.

Finally, Da Speller looked at her with a penetrating view.

"Ailine!, I didn't want to give you this chance, but it seems that I have no other choice. In two months, I'm going to organize a big and mortal race; the one who wins the race will get my bike".

It seemed like a good challenge but there were so many details absent.

"If you want to, you can participate in the race, the entrance cost is $200,000" he said.

"But why are you organizing a race at this precise mom..." when she finally heard the number, she didn't need to ask further.

Da Speller began to look at the sky.

"There's a big part in me that is craving for a change, a great change. I think is time to say good bye to this part of my life, move on. And I need the money to move on."

Ailine was completely amazed as for how he took his own tragedy. He had no idea how he had done it, a great part of her wanted to know. But then she concluded that they were extremely different after all.

"But... how are you planning on organizing that race and how many bikers are going to compete?"

"I just have to leave that to my brother, he will market the hell out of this idea; after all, everybody will want this bike. He will probably contact all the gangs in the region, since they are a lot, only one member of each gang will be allowed to be a racer. Independent bikers can also join in, if they have the money."

The idea was becoming more and more frightening for Ailine and that was exactly what Da Speller was trying to do. All of the gangs were going to be there, so there was no question that it was going to be a big and violent race and she didn't even know where it was going to be.

"Where is it going to be held?"

Da Speller smiled and said:

"The Gray Canyon"

Ailine's face turned into the color of the canyon itself. She knew where that was. She didn't think that it was possible to held a race there, the gray canyon was infested with an eternal mist, it was almost impossible to see anything ahead while driving there, you had to use all of your instincts to sense the curves and the rode itself, otherwise, you would fall into the abyss. Ailine was amazed by the challenge that this was going to be, she was scared and she felt lost for a second, but for her, there was no other option, she had to do it, there was no other way.

Da Speller felt that he had finally talked Ailine out of the idea of pursuing that bike and that mountain. But soon, he found out that he was wrong.

"How much you said it was the entrance cost?"

That question left Da Speller in shock, she couldn't believe this girl's obsession, there was nothing good in it, but he figure that there was nothing that he could do about it.

"$200,000"

"Ok" she said, her voice was full of determination.

"Are you sure that you'll get the money by that time?"

Ailine had already something in mind, but she needed to get her bike back.

"Yeah, I will"

Da Speller felt sad for Ailine's response, he was trying to scare the girl off by making the challenge even more ridiculous, but his plan didn't work at all. In fact, Ailine seemed even more focused than ever.

"This ain't gonna be pretty, Ailine. Chances are that you hadn't seen a race like this before. A lot of people tend to die, I don't really recommend..."

"I've heard enough warnings" said Ailine, interrupting her "I'm sorry but they are not going to do the trick, I'm going to be there."

And that was the end of the conversation. There was nothing left to say for the two of them, they weren't going to see each other again until the day of the race. They could only wish each other farewell. Ailine began to walk away to the exit of the woods and Da Speller returned to Oly's grave. He stood in front of it, clenching his fist, biting the pain as it remerged once again.

Ailine was already reaching the road, then he heard a scream.

"Ailine!" it was Da Speller, screaming at her without taking his sight out of the grave.

The mechanic had one final phrase for her.

"One must accept one’s losses!"

The phrase arrived as an echo to Ailine. An echo she ignored, holding tight to what she considered to be hope.

With the wind erasing the words, she continued walking, leaving behind the man who had lost everything.

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Goddess of Thunder (Short Story in Progress) Chapter 4

Fourth chapter, hope you enjoy this one. :)

IV

Whoever reaches the top of the mountain, he or she will gain an audience with the Goddess of Thunder, she will grant him or her a wish. Ailine knew the legend but she never believed it, she didn't head to the mountain with that in mind, she just did it to escape the storm that always tormented her, she just did it because it gave her the sensation that she was moving, that she was accomplishing something or at least trying to. She never believed in that fairy tale until now, or maybe she always did but she hadn't realized yet.

"Scumbags are not worthy for her!" Da Speller shouted

He hated stating obvious things.

"But, I mean. If someone reaches the summit... if someone is capable of reaching the summit... she will grant him or her a wish?"

Da Speller took a sit in one if his working tables.

"Yeah... she will, but it has never happened. But you know... when it comes to Gods..."- said Da Speller while scratching his head - "the thing that you have to know is that, they are not genies, they are more like... like teachers. In other words, they don't grant wishes, they teach lessons. You understand?"

"Yes, yes, I do. But, if someone reached the top, she would truly do what that person commands?"

Da Speller was amazed by the questions that Ailine was making.

"Yeah hunny, that's the theory, but sometimes, reality is more disappointing." once again, he hated stating the obvious.

He began to analyze her one more time.

"So let me get this straight"- he said -"you've already gone to the mountain, you've already tried to reach the summit and you didn't know about this story?"

"I did, but I never actually believed it" she responded with a weak voice.

That answer just generated more questions in Da Speller's mind.

"But wait a minute, if you didn't believe it, then, why the hell did you go there in the first place?"

Ailine had no spoken answer to that question. She had one in the back of her mind, but she wasn't willing to pull it out, so, silence was her best answer.

Even more questions generated in Da Speller's mind.

"You know, they told me about you over the phone, but they never gave me your name, or your story, who are you? where are you from?" he asked.

"My name is Ailine"

Da Speller expected way more than just that.

"But I mean, where are you from? you don't belong to a gang, do you?

"No, I don't. I'm solo and I was raised in a town a few miles from here"

Again, Da Speller expected way more than just that, but he got the hint.

"Ok, if you don't wanna talk about it , I get it. Is not of my business anyways. I just thought that, you know, you were an interesting character. You don't see a female solo rider everyday."

The conversation reached a dead-end, it was getting late and Da Speller wanted to get some sleep.

"Well, it was a pleasure meeting you Ailine, as you could see today, there aren't many costumers around so I don't really need another hand but thanks a lot for the offer. Now, if you don't mind, I would like to close and get some sleep, it has been a pretty bad day today."

Da Speller stood up and he showed Ailine the way out, although Ailine had no intentions to go.

"I want you to rebuild that bike for me" said Ailine with a firm tone.

He just laughed and ignored her. But Ailine was dead serious.

"I need that bike, that's the only thing that can get me to the top of that mountain"

Da Speller opened the exit door.

"Why don't you forget about that mountain and forget about that bike and carry on with your life?" Da Speller recommended.

"That mountain IS my life now and that bike is the only thing that can give me my old life back!" she shouted so that Da Speller couldn't ignore her anymore.

Da Speller closed the door.

"Listen to me Ailine, you're not the first person with a wish, everybody has at least twenty, sometimes they come true, sometimes they don't. But a wish meant for the Gods, it's a dangerous wish. The Gods control everything, you don't have any idea of the consequences it could bring to this world if one imbecile knocks on their door an asks for a wish, that's why is so some damn hard to reach the top of that mountain".

"But, if it's so dangerous, why do the gods even grant an opportunity?" she asked.

"Because they always like to challenge us, they always want to know how far are we willing to go to get something." - He responded with a voice full of anger-  "They're cruel scientist and you will be a lab rat if you continue to climb that mountain as all of the other idiots do. A wish meant for the Gods is never a good wish."

Once again, Da Speller opened the door.

"My wish is not evil, I don't wish to harm nobody, I don't wish to destroy anything. My wish is the exact opposite of that." said Ailine with a firm voice still, but she was actually begging deep inside.

"I don't care, pretty. It's a bad idea. Now please, get out of my property"

Both of them were facing each other, none of them were moving. The tension was building more and more and the situation was getting more complicated by the second. Da Speller had no idea what to do, he had never had this problem before so he didn't know how to react, Oly was also feeling the pressure and he was ready to intervene to protect his master, but Da Speller didn't want him to and Ailine was in no position of leaving.

Suddenly, this intense and silent confrontation came to an abrupt end. Oly sensed something wrong and he quickly went to the window. Ailine and Da Speller heard the sound of a group of motorbikes parking just outside the workshop.

Ailine took a look at them and she instantly recognize them, it was the same gang that attacked her in the mountain.

"Sorry guys, but you didn't make a late appointment and I'm about to close!" shouted Da Speller as they were getting off their bikes.

"Holy crap, they are the guys I saw back at the mountain, they're the guys who stole your bike!" screamed Ailine.

"What?! you're kidding me?" said Da Speller as he jumped scared.

"I'm not kidding!, they really are."

Da Speller shot the door and he went for his revolver. Oly barked at them with all the energy that a dog could have. The gang was standing outside the workshop like wolves surrounding their prey. Da Speller went to the shotted door and began to shout through it.

"There are no more bikes for you scumbags! You already killed my baby, now get the hell out before I kill you!" said Da Speller with the voice of an infernal demon.

"Your piece of shit bike exploded in the middle of the air while our friend was about to reach the top of the mountain, our friend is dead because of that bike, our friend is dead because of you, now is time for you to pay us back."

'Piece of shit bike', that was the only thing that Da Speller had actually paid attention to. The echo of that phrase was the only thing that occupied his mind at that moment.

"Piece of shit bike?, piece of shit bike?!" he was murmuring to himself while looking at the ground. Oly barked more and more as the bikers approached.

"Our leader is dead because of you..." said the biker, but his voice was being played down by Oly's incredible barks.

"...your bikes are a danger to humanity... we're gonna... we're gonna get rid of them... FUCKING DOG, SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

The biker took out his gun and pulled the trigger, the bullet passed through the window into Oly's eyeball, the dog instantly fell down.

Da Speller face was white as a bone, his jaw was completely open, and his body was totally frozen. Ailine was covering her mouth with her hands, petrified as well.

After staring at his fallen friend for five seconds, Da Speller began to approach the body of his pet slowly. Every small step that he took was just another strong affirmation of the nightmare that was actually unfolding. Just in the glimpse of an eye, his best friend and his only family was dead. It was only a few minutes ago, when he was patting him, exactly in the same place where he lied now, except that this time his body was there but his friend was long gone.

Without saying anything, without even dropping a tear, Da Speller's head began to turn red, his eyes turned white. He looked like a possessed and merciless alien invader. He broke the glass of the window with his elbow and he rapidly began to fire the full round of bullets back to the riders.

Two of the gang members were injured by Da Speller bullets, they quickly fired back and the scene became a big shoot out. Ailine took cover, there were bullets flying everywhere and everything indicated that Da Speller was going to die soon. Four gunmen against one, it was only a matter of time.

Da Speller was already out of bullets, he quickly started to reload while taking cover besides the window.

"Speller! I know how you  feel, but they are to many, they're going to kill you, we need to get out of here!" Ailine screamed but Da Speller completely ignored her.

Once his gun was loaded, he fire another quick round of bullets.

"Is there a way out of here?" screamed Ailine once again.

Da Speller pointed to a big gray metal door at the back of the workshop, it looked as if it hadn't been used in many years. She ran towards it and, exactly as she expected, it was lock.

"Where are the keys?"

Da Speller threw a bunch of keys that he had in his pocket at her.

"Which one is it?" she asked again.

"I don't know, I never use that door, try one by one." he said as he returned shooting.

Everytime that she tried one key, she sensed a bullet being shot closer and closer to her head. Da Speller turned out to be a pretty good shooter, the bikers were getting tired of not hitting him, so, they decided to put an end to this once and for all.

A molotov cocktail passed through the window and burned everything around it, Da Speller jump aside, he didn't get burned by a miracle, however, the whole place was starting to get on fire. The bikers threw more and more cocktails until the workshop was completed surrounded by flames.

"YOU BASTARDS!" screamed Da Speller, as his workshop was falling into pieces.

Finally, Ailine was able to find the right key, but the door wasn't opening yet, the metal was melting because of the fire and the door became extremely hot.

She kicked the door with all of her strength and the door opened.

"Quick, Da Speller, let's get out of here!"

The mechanic was on his knees, watching how everything in his life was fading away. He had an emotionless face, it was like he was trying to accept the event in his mind, trying to capture the final time that he was going to see his home.

"We need to get out, now!" she screamed and after she did this, Da Speller woke up from his melancholic trance.

He quickly stood up, took the body of Oly and the remaining pieces of the flying bike and he got out. Both of them ran as hell, away from the scramble of the workshop before the bikers realized there was a back door. Ailine had no time to get her bike because it was where the bikers where so they had no option but to run to escape. Da Speller seemed to be on an adrenaline rush, he was running even faster than her.

Running on the streets, they were starting to hear a group of bikes patrolling the streets, they knew that they weren't safe on the roads so they quickly got lost in the woods. They stayed behind the bushes and trees for a while, waiting for them to give up. But they, could clearly listened that they were still on pursue.

"They are going to be looking for us for the entire night, we better stay in the woods." said Ailine with a quiet voice.

Da Speller seemed to be still on an adrenaline rush, but the effects were starting to wear off. He was hiding behind a tree, silent and on the edge, looking carefully at the street with his eyes wide open. His head was no longer red, his anger was replaced with pain and sorrow. He had the body of his dog in the right hand and the remaining pieces of the flying bike on his left hand, the only two things that he was left with.

Ailine couldn't resist looking at him, she felt an incredible connection with him now, she knew exactly what he was going through. She had been in that place and she knew that there was nothing in the world that she could do or say to make the pain go away.

Da Speller remained in the same exact position, holding his two treasures and looking at the streets. Ailine sat under a tree, her legs were killing her. The hours passed and there was nothing but silence in the air. Ailine's eyelids grew heavier, there was no energy left in her, she began closing her eyes, the last thing that she saw before closing them was Da Speller and by doing this she could see herself.

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Goddess Of Thunder (Short Story in Progress), Chapter 2

Second chapter of this little short story of mine, hope you'll enjoy it.

II

Back where she belonged, the storm was rising again. The sound of the engine became her meditation mantra, perhaps she was ready to do it one more time. She knew which direction she had taken, moving ahead and pushing forward, she was meeting a recurring dead-end. As the mist unfolded in the horizon, there she was, the mountain, approaching at 200 miles per hour. She was ready to relive the same old story all over again, but this time, it was going to be different.

Her mantra was broken, as she started to hear other engines behind her. She took a quick look back and there was a gang of five bikers, following her. The lead biker of the gang accelerated until he was besides Ailine, he drove closer and closer to her.

"Where are you going?" He screamed. "This is no place for little bitches!"

The biker accelerated and he surpassed Ailine. Suddenly all the gang did the same, and now Ailine was the one behind them.

"Your husband is waiting for his dinner" one of them yelled while laughing.

Their bikes were far more superior in any sense, but Ailine was filled with anger, so she decided to take her bike into the maximum level, completely overcharging the capacity of the engine.

They arrived to the mountain, the mountain had a spiral path which bikers took in order to ascend it. It was a perpetual curve with and infinite amount of natural obstacles coming from everywhere: rocks appearing and falling out of nowhere, bones of both human and animals carefully placed so that they could break the tires, ivy on the floor that made you slow down and lose balance, occasional waterfalls that made slip and fall, and people also said that there were even supernatural forces ready to block your path.

It didn't matter what sort of great biker you were, you needed to slow down at the moment that you started to ascend the great mountain. All of the bikers did that, so Ailine accelerated even more to catch up with them.

Ailine started her ascendency, the last biker wasn't to far ahead of her. It was the moment to slow down, the path was starting to get dangerous but she only needed to focus, suddenly everything was slow and she could perfectly view everything up ahead. The biker in front of her made his first and last mistake, the ivy made him lose his balance and he fell. Ailine smiled but soon regain focus.

Despite having amazing bikes, the bikers couldn't handle the wrath of the mountain, one by one they fell, prey of the mountain's surprises, but Ailine remained. There was one biker left, the leader of the gang. Ailine was catching up on him, and she was ready to play dirty if he initiated.

The biker was very focus, but as Ailine began to approach, he started to realize that he wasn't alone. He took a quick look back and there he saw her. The adrenaline was starting to become greater and greater for both of them. They were reaching the peak of the mountain, it was the first time that Ailine reached this far but realizing this distracted her for a few seconds,when she regain focus, he saw the biker pointing at her with a gun.

"Don't disturb my concentration!" He said while pointing the gun and driving.

He began to shoot, Ailine tried everything to dodge the bullets but one of them hit her frontal tire. She lost all control, her bike was gonna go down. She knew the race was over for her, the last that she could do was to crash her bike with his so that he would also lose balance, after doing this, she fell.

For a second, Ailine thought that she was going to die, she had never reached so high, so the fall was going to be ten times harder, and so it was. But she didn't fell all the way, she was able to stop the fall in one of the lower levels of the mountain. She was injured but not so badly and she would had continued if the tire of her bike wasn't pumped.

She still wanted to make sure if that bastard actually fell when she crashed into him.

The answer was no, he was still up there but he was losing balance, it was only a matter of time before he suffered the same fate as hers. Ailine just wanted to see him fall. He lost all control of the bike and there was a closed curve lying ahead, it was going to be his end. He didn't manage to make that curve and his bike was suddenly in the air.

She was waiting for him to fall right away but... it didn't happen. He began to fall slowly, like if his bike was slowing down the effect of gravity for him.

"Why don't you fall?" was all that she was thinking about.

But the biker and his bike refused to fall quickly. While falling, the biker was trying everything the restart the engine with his pedal, but the engine was already on. It was in that moment were Ailine realized the he was trying to activate another pedal, his bike had a secondary pedal but she didn't know why it was there for.

The biker finally managed to activate the pedal and suddenly a small and thin platform made out of light appeared beneath his tires, it was literally as if he was riding a lightning, that lightning platform stopped the fall completely. The bike was standing on top of that luminous platform and it was no longer falling, it was as if the biker was suspended in the air, with nothing pulling him down.

Ailine knew in that moment that he was possibly an ordinary biker but that was no ordinary bike. Once that he realized that his situation was under control, the biker started his main engine and he began to ride was again, but this time, in the middle of the air and that luminous platform followed his bike through the air while leaving a path of light behind it.

Ailine couldn't believe what was going on, she had never seen anything like it, and she had seen a lot of other extraordinary events, but this one seemed like a miracle to her.

The biker was riding the sky, he was flying around the mountain, he was quickly ascending, flying in a circular manner. He was going to do it, he was going to reach the summit of the mountain and Ailine couldn't do anything but to stand there and witness.

The mountain was suddenly surrounded by a path of lightning, a spiral of light that was about to conquer the summit of the mountain. The biker was riding through clouds and dust. Ailine was still looking far away, she knew that he was going to be the one destined to complete this millennial challenge, but soon, she realized that she was wrong. He was a few meters away of reaching the final destination, but his triumphant march was going to last no longer.

Ailine, watching the epic scene, saw the biker being stroke by a real and powerful lightning that descended from the heavens. The strike was harsh and brutal, the bike exploded in the middle of the air and the biker was blown away. The smoke remained there, as a sign of a great failure, the biker and the remaining pieces of the bike were slowly falling away, the distance was too high and the biker was completely unconscious.

He fell close to a river near the mountain, she wanted to see who he was, although he was probably dead by now. She descended the mountain on foot and she realize there was nobody else, all of the other bikers were gone. Ailine began to run to the site of the fall. There were pieces of the bike still falling from the sky. As she was running, she didn't even know what had happened yet, she couldn't believe what she had just witnessed.

Before reaching the place of the fall, Ailine stumble upon the frontal half of the bike, she tried to touch it but it was burning. She rolled it over with her feet to examine it more carefully, it was almost impossible to distinguish anything special about it because it was almost completely burned down. However, she was able to distinguish a peculiar insignia at the front of the bike. It was a strange logo that she wasn't able to figure out, but around this strange logo it read "Da Speller Original".

She arrived at the river, and there he was. Lying on the ground, facing up and gazing to the sky, his clothes were completely burned out, his helmet was melting but his eyes were wide open, as if he was seeing the answer of all of his questions written down in the surface of those gray clouds. Ailine stood beside him, she thought that he was dead until she looked at him blink. Somehow, he was still alive. His eyes moved, and now he was looking at Ailine, she took her glasses off, and for the first time, the real world was as dark and cloudy as the way that the glasses represented it.

"Did... did you see her?" The biker asked Ailine.

She was shocked to see him still alive.

"Wh... what?" The rhythm of her heart began to increase.

"Did you... see her?" The biker asked once again.

"Who?" she asked back.

The biker began to look at the sky once again.

"The Goddess" he responded.

She had never believed those stories, but concerning the events that she witnessed that day, everything changed for her. The biker began to laugh with his final breath. When he reached the final second of his life, he just inhale and with that air he whispered:

"If I'm not worthy then no one is"

His eyes closed and his life was no more. Ailine looked at the mountain behind her and then she looked at the sky above her, realizing that the legend was true.

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Goddess of Thunder (Short Story in Progress), Chapter 1

This is the short story that I've been working on for almost a month, I wanted to posted as a single post but it got to long that I think I'm going to divide it in chapters. The story is not over yet but I hope to finish it soon.This story is about bikers and its a little bit surreal, hope you enjoy the first chapter.

I

The smell of the highway was starting to become the personal aura that followed Ailine everywhere she went. Rolling and rolling, there was no ending to her race. The mountain defeated her, but she was willing to come back, but now it was not the time.

The days were always dominated by white and enormous clouds in the skies, but for her, it was always stormy because she never took those sun glasses off. A permanent storm with only one way out: The road. She only had to focus in going forward; otherwise the storm would sweep her away.

Fuel was running low, the journey had to stop for a few minutes, there was always a gas station/restaurant at her disposition, and she only had to take her glasses off.

“That’s a fine bike” said the waiter as he delivered her cup of coffee.

“It is” she replied, blowing the hot smoke of the cup.

“I used to have one of them until some god-damned bastards stole it from me when I wasn’t looking at my backyard…”

The man expected some kind of signal of sympathy or even a “That sucks” but nothing came from the girl.

“… Those are great for recovering long distance; may I ask where are you going?”

Ailine drank a little bit of coffee and replied.

“Going north for the moment, it doesn’t seem that my destination is changing any time soon.”

The man just began to look at her with eyes of speculation.

“North? ...are you heading to the mountain?”

She nodded while watching the wooden table.

The man laughed a little bit.

“Are you one of those bikers who are trying to reach the top of the mountain?”

“Take a guess” she said.

The waiter had a wide open smile.

“Oh man, I knew there was something special about you.”

The other customers were starting to yell at the waiter, impatiens for their lack of customer attention. The waiter went away for a few minutes, and then he returned back.

“Let me tell you something, beautiful. Your bike is fine, I mean is goddamn fine, no question about it. But you will never reach the top of that mountain with it, I’m sorry but it can’t be done. You know how to ride, but there’s only one way for reaching that summit, baby, and that’s flying.”

Smiling she responded.

“I know that well old fella, I’ve fallen many times and I’ve seen many more fall, but thanks for reminding me.”

“Then why the hell are you going back there, are you waiting a miracle or something?”

Ailine heard that word and something awoke inside her. The mountain was the only thing that she lived for, if something like that ever happened she would have no idea of how to react. That would defeat the entire meaning of riding and she knew that at the moment that she stopped riding, the storm would sweep her away into oblivion. Perhaps a miracle was the last thing that she wanted.

“I just like to try and fail.” she answered.

“God, you DO need a miracle” said the waiter as he went to recover some plates of other customers.

Ailine’s cup was empty and there was nothing for her left to do there, so, it was moment to return to the road.

“But maybe, I’ll be your miracle man today” said the waiter when Ailine was just about to ask for the bill.

“What do you mean?” she asked, just as a reflex.

The waiter’s face started to evoke a great mystery.

“Do you know who Teller da Speller is?”

Ailine had heard the myth before and she didn’t want to lose any more time talking about it.

“Yes, the mechanic from another planet, I’ve heard about it, could you please bring me the bill?”

“You said it as if it were some kind of folk story” The waiter said.

“I don’t know a lot of people from other planets, but the ones I do know, are not mechanics.”

“Well, this one is, I know that I’m demanding skepticism here but he’s the greatest and most legendary mechanic of this generation, he could take whatever piece of shit and transform it into a magical and unstoppable rocket that could travel galaxies!” the waiter didn’t regulate his volume and the entire restaurant was looking at him.

“You talk about him as if he was real.”

The waiter began to laugh.

“Oh, my young lady, he IS real. I know him personally, in fact…” he came closer to the girl as if he was about to whisper a big secret “he’s the step brother of the owner of this chain of restaurants”.

Ailine had lost enough time chatting, the road was waiting for her.

“I can contact him if you want, you would be amazed of what he can do. Lokie Santana… I mean, he was an excellent rider but he would have gotten nowhere if it wasn’t for the bike that Mr. da Speller prepared for him. Oh man, with a bike like that, the summit of that mountain would kiss your tires.”

Ailine didn’t know how much she owned and she wasn’t going to wait for the bill, so she just left 10 bucks on the table and she stood up.

“Not interested right now but thanks for the offer.” she said while leaving.

Thanks for reading :)

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