28 Encounters

It roughly took Sara about forty minutes to reach the city. Since it was already in the afternoon, the wind was chilly. Sara reprimanded herself on the inside for not bringing a pair of gloves with her. The W's was in the southern part of the city. When she sped past the city, she was bound to garner some attention. With her erect torso and long, willowy legs, the way she saw perched on her bike, made her look like a skilled rider. This made people anticipate the face veiled under the helmet.

Once she reached there, she opted for a rider's slot and parked her new ride there. When she removed the helmet, her perfectly long ponytail dropped on her shoulder. The other riders around were mostly males who were either messing around with their sweethearts or hanging out with their buddy gangs. However, when they saw her intricately tantalizing facial features, they were swooned and captivated. The ones with their girlfriends were mercilessly whacked on their heads because they were charmed by some random woman, making their sweethearts go green with envy.

On the other hand, the ones in gangs were holding their breaths and counting on their lady luck. If she happened to pay some attention. But, to their utter despair, she did not even glance at them, much less give any attention.

Sara walked away without a second glance, unaware of her waves on the people around. She ran upstairs after she took a quick glance at her digital wristwatch. She was late and the realization made her sigh. When she reached the third floor, the attendant on the wait, smiled at her and guided her towards the private room. She closed the door once Sara entered. She saw Ruby sitting in there, lost. She again heaved a sigh.

Ruby turned with a dull look on her face and made a 'five' gesture with her palm, "You are late by five minutes."

Sara shrugged, "I know."

When Sara was seated facing Ruby, the attendant from earlier wheeled in a trolley with their favorite dishes on tow. She smiled politely, bowed and left.

…

Finally, it was a chance for Ruby to get those appalling things off her chest while Sara patiently listened.

"I just don't know", Ruby frivolously shook her head as she chewed on her mushroom risotto, "He has been acting uncannily lately. I thought it was because of the new projects their company had received."

"Last night", Ruby continued, "First time in the past three years, he had messed up our date. I was ready to confront him at any moment only to find that he was beaten black and blue. The strange thing was that he never drove alone. He has his bodyguards tag along everywhere. I couldn't understand why he would be beaten out of the blue."

"Did you talk to him about it?" Sara asked.

"Last night, when he regained consciousness, I expected him to say something or at least try to explain himself, but he just ignored me, ate his share and drifted back to sleep. I thought he was tired. But, he kept ignoring me the entire morning. Even weirder, he was flirting, chatting and smiling with a mere nurse. I waited patiently, for him to speak, to open up, but no! Moreover, he was calling me names. He was calling me 'Baby'! It does not make any sense. How can an injury change someone within a night?"

"Did he get a concussion?" Sara asked as she gobbled up her pasta.

"No. Absolutely not", Ruby shook her head, "He fractured his right arm and has some bashes on his face. Speaking of which, the doctor said that he might have undergone surgery."

"On his face?" Sara asked with her brows raised to a perfect angle.

Ruby nodded as she drew in a sharp breath, "He says that his facial tissues are inflexible which are evident signs of surgery. Moreover, there are some scalpel welts here and there. I just don't know. I have no clue."

"He will be discharged today, right?" Sara asked as she typed something on her phone.

To which, Ruby nodded lightly. She felt like she had lost her desire for food and did not force herself to eat anymore.

"Let's go", Sara suddenly stood up and tugged Ruby's arm.

"Where?" Ruby was befuddled as she stood up.

"You will see", Sara dragged her out of the room and downstairs.

Ruby's thoughts were in disarray but she managed to keep her rate of knots along with Sara.

Once they were out, Sara guided her towards her new Bullet.

"Whoa!" Ruby gawked in bewilderment, "Holly sh*t! What have you been up to?"

"Here", Sara passed her an ink blue helmet, "Put it on."

"Are you clear in your mind?" Ruby held onto the helmet in her arms.

Without a word, Sara put on the helmet, hopped on the dirt bike and kick-started it. Then, she turned and glanced at Ruby, "Are you ready?"

"Yeah", Ruby said half-heartedly as she hopped on behind her, "You are giving me goosebumps."

"Save those for later", Ruby said as she gripped on the accelerator.

"Fine", Ruby shrugged.

With that, Sara took off in the accelerative direction.

…

Ruby was knocked for six to see the spirit of a rider in Sara. The way she handled the bike was on the same level as a pro. The way she twisted and turned made it look like she would crash on the roadside, at any given time. But she somehow cut past the passages.

"Hey! When did you awaken the spirit of a rider in you?" Ruby could not help but yell, as the wind crashed against her ears.

"It was quiescent", Sara yelled back, "It is awake at present."

"Where are we going?" Ruby glanced around as they sped past the city.

"To find your answers", Sara declared.

"Answers to what?"

"Everything that was troubling you", Saying that, Sara made a sharp turn, landing in the middle of the forest.

Ruby grasped it was the same place where she had rescued Sam last night.

"Why are we…" Ruby trailed off when she saw three pairs of headlights in the distance.

The bike came at a standstill and Sara asked Ruby to get off. Sara hopped off and dragged Ruby towards the cars parked in the distance.

Allen got out of one of the cars. Ruby quirked a brow, "Allen?"

"Yeah, it's me", Allen responded with a quick smile.

Just then, Allen hurled something at her and she seized it on impulse. It was an assault rifle. Assault rifles were Ruby's specialty. She was transitorily stunned when her palms touched the cold metal.

"What for?" Ruby hissed at Sara.

"Encounters", Sara answered back as she marched ahead to get into one of the cars. With no option left, Ruby tailed behind.