Chapter 33: Playing dirty

When I opened my eyes, it took some time for the memory to come back. Ivy was standing right above me, looking tense. The pain was gone now. Suddenly, the nerves of my body jarred alive, and in a trice, I was standing.

"Um...are you okay?" Ivy asked.

"The pain is gone, so yeah, probably, " I said casually. "Did you win?"

Silence.

"No," Ivy blurted out. Fear and anxiety wrapped around me. That couldn't be, it couldn't... it shouldn't be....

"Um, I was winning-for the time being, but then, I-I heard gunshots, and uh I looked back and then she shot me too so um..."

"She cheated, that's what," I said. I had never seen Ivy look so stressed before. The air felt thick. We were standing on the soil, right next to the racing road. Everything felt messed up. Catherine won. To be honest, I didn't expect that to happen. On the bright side, that's only one badge she took. I didn't want to think any further on this.

"Where's Jorge?" I asked to change the subject.

"He didn't tell me where, but he'll be back soon. I just got his message"

"How long have I been here?"

"Not too long. You know what? Let's go back to the HQ. There's no point simply standing here. I'll send a message ahead and also text Jorge he'll-"

What he will, I didn't get to know. But Jorge arrived on his bike. His face was flushed. He definitely looked angry.

"Where have you-" I began but Jorge interrupted.

"Tried to chase her down and duel her, but she's definitely professional. Lost her."

Ivy looked at me.

Two minutes later, we were riding on our bikes, on our way to HQ. We arrived there, ten minutes later. No one dared look directly at me. I tried to look as intimidating as possible, the most anyone could look after losing the race.

I went directly to the foyer and Ivy and Jorge followed my lead. I slumped on a couch.

"Fren, if you don't mind, I'm going to my room." Ivy said.

"Yeah yeah, you can go," I said absent-mindedly, rubbing my eyes.

"At least now we know that they'll cheat. We can cheat too," Jorge said.

"We still don't know how much pro players they have. And how much backup too."

"I was thinking, there must be some cheat codes in the game. Do you know any?" I asked.

"That's very complicated work. But Ivy knows more about all this," Jorge said.

"Any more ideas?" I asked.

"You won't like it though"

"Tell me..Come on"

"Let's run away."

"Where to? How far really? There's only this city and the forest. What else after that?"

"There are places beyond that too. I think we should take refuge in the city for now and maybe steal information or stalk his people."

That wouldn't really be as effective as it seemed. I knew whom he referred to by "his people".

After some time, I spoke.

"We won't be able to hide long. He found out when exactly had we arrived at Audra's. It won't take time for him to track us down then too. The best we can hope for is to practise, win the badges, and get the hell out."

Jorge looked at me with disbelief. But he didn't comment anyway.

After that, he departed too. I sat there for almost an hour, scheming.

After that, I was called for dinner. Two hours later, I made it to my room. I wasn't able to sleep for a long time. I probably got tired and slept without knowing when.