Ineffable ? Joost Klein ?

27.

'I'm sorry. It was stupid of me to say that.'

Elke was pulled from her daydream at Joost's dull mumble. He looked out the windshield, hiding his disappointment well. Elke's silence that followed his vulnerable truth was telling and Joost wished he had been more careful. It was too soon to think about any of that, especially with everything going on in his life. Elke was healing from Roan's passing and they had only just established that they were boyfriend and girlfriend.

But that wasn't what Elke thought at all.

'No, it wasn't stupid at all, Joost. I would-' she paused, catching the beam of headlights in her side mirror '-is that Enzo?'

Pushing down the ache in his chest, Joost's eyes flickered to his trusted rearview. At first glance, he also thought that Enzo had caught up to them in his Porsche. The car sat a few yards behind them in the otherwise empty street.

When Joost looked again, he thought it could be Apson, Alanis and Donnie, who had found a ride from the carpark, after all. He continued down the street, his eyes constantly being drawn to the rearview. They were only five minutes from their building and the condensed familiarity of Amsterdam's city surrounded them. Joost should be at ease, but as he turned a corner, he slowed the car to a stop in the middle of the road.

The dread in his stomach was enough to make him feel sick. Elke's uncharacteristic silence told Joost that she was seeing the same car as he did. It sat waiting for them on the same side of the street, it's headlights joining the beam that shown through the Impreza's back windshield.

'That's Roan's car,' Elke said just above a whisper. The number plate was different but Elke knew it was the same WRX she had been in countless times. Her heartbeat was in her ears and she struggled to look away from the car that stared at them. It's angled lights and front grill, unsmiling and grimaced, made Elke hope that Joost would put the gear into first. She wanted to leave and forget that Roan's car had been in the street.

Joost hated that it had come to this. The Mitsubishi Lancer waited behind them, leaving the same distance the WRX did in front. They were stuck in-between like hostages in a robbery. He was aware of Elke's unease next to him and their lighthearted talk had faded, leaving him no choice but to slip into the person he desperately didn't want Elke to see.

With a final look to his rearview, Joost yanked the gear into reverse. The tires spun for a second before Elke's head flew forward as the car shot backwards. He would have put a hand against her chest to reinforce her seatbelt's effort but his mind was elsewhere. The WRX's acceleration roared and the Impreza came increasingly close to the Lancer's bonnet.

He pulled the wheel to the left to steer to the right. The taillight's narrow miss of the Lancer was a hair's length and the WRX barely had the time to slam on the brakes. As Joost reversed into a side street with immaculate precision, the WRX and Lancer came nose to nose in front of them.

Putting a hand on the back of Elke's chair, Joost reversed down the unlit stretch while looking through the back windshield. He corrected the wheel in minimal steers without looking. From the quick glance to the girl in his passenger's seat, Joost knew that the two cars had turned down the same street.

'Joost-' her panicked warning was cut off as he slammed on the brake. He didn't take the time nor did he need to see what gear he was putting the stick in. Finding the biting point of the clutch, Joost yanked the wheel to the left and shot down the next street.

Elke couldn't catch her breath. She was thrown from side to side as Joost drove the car in a way she had never seen. She knew he raced but this was no friendly sport. They were being chased, Joost's speed and skillful turns saving them from fatal collisions.

Her eyes were glued to her side mirror where Roan's car slinked in and out of view. Joost drove them further away from the built-up streets of the city and Elke saw the motorway signage shoot by.

As they slinked through multiple lanes, Elke tugged at her seatbelt across her chest. The tightness was suffocating and the shine of headlights blinded her. She wanted to throw her head into her hands and bring her knees up to her chest. She wanted to shrink into a ball and pretend there were no cars and no chase.

'Elke!' her name was called. Heaving exhales from her nose, she turned from the side mirror and saw Joost's jaw set and concentrating. Had she imagined his voice?

'Calm down. I need you to trust me,' she saw his lips move this time and in a series of jerks to the right, Joost looked at her through his glasses. 'Do you trust me?'

Elke didn't know what to think. They were pushing 120km/hr on the motorway with a Lancer and a dead man's Suburu on their tail. If Joost hesitated, they could be sent flying across lanes or split in half by the barriers lining the hard shoulder. She had no options and no suggestions for how they could escape the situation.

'Y-Yes. I trust you.'

Joost would have been relieved if the Lancer hadn't pulled up next to them. He looked past Elke to see the window roll down and he grabbed Elke's shoulder.

'Get down!'

Letting out a shriek, Elke ducked. The sound of bullets hiting metal and glass made her hands fly to cover her head. Joost put his hand back on the wheel as he slammed on the brakes. The car dropped a few kilometres and joined the WRX that sat in the left lane. When Joost accelerated, the other driver did the same, blocking him from exiting the motorway.

Cursing to himself, Joost's gaze shifted from the WRX to see Elke still hunched over. His passenger window was in shards and speckled throughout Elke's hair. Her fingers were lined with tiny cuts and were threaded throughout her curls to protect her head. If the wind wasn't rushing through the glassless window and the WRX wasn't in the next lane, Joost would have pulled over in an instant.

He despised seeing the blood rush to the fine cuts on Elke's fingers. Her shriek rang in his ears, fueling his desire to write-off the Lancer that had dropped to sit next to them. He wanted to see the car flipped on its roof, the metal dented and the driver an unrecognisable mangle of flesh.

In-between the two cars, Joost had no where to go. He looked left to see the WRX's windows rolled up and hiding the driver behind an illegal tinted. He then looked right, where the window of the Lancer was down. Ignoring the gun that he knew sat out of view, Joost locked eyes with Nathan.

The Belgian sat in the passenger's seat with a half-formed smirk. The driver focused on the road, matching Joost's speed in an infuriating accuracy. It gave Nathan the perfect opportunity to reveal the pistol once more and stick his arm out into the rushing wind. He waited for Joost's inevitable reaction to brake, which the WRX driver copied. Still travelling at 100km/hr, Joost's knuckles were white as Nathan's arm remained out the window, the gun's barrel aimed at him.

Elke couldn't hold her head down forever. Joost had to do something. Surpressing the logical voice in his head, Joost clenched his jaw and yanked the wheel to the left. His headlight rammed into the WRX's side, causing the driver to swerve into the next lane. Before they could retake their position, Joost put his foot to the floor and accelerated into the space.

Another bullet pinged against the metal panel of his bumper. He ignored it, his eyes set on the exit that was fast approaching. Joost saw the Lancer and WRX change lanes to follow but their speed didn't leave them enough time to make it. Crossing over the dotted lines, Joost made it off the motorway and went through the traffic lights that blared red.