The roads in the hills were more winding than downtown, so neither vehicle could accelerate past a certain speed just yet. Even a ghost car took the curves only so fast. But once the hills were behind them and they were heading into Avalon proper, the streets became straighter. Here they could apply greater speed - and this is where it would be even more dangerous. Though they had lucked out and found no cars on the roads in the hills, they would be much more likely to find people driving at three in the morning in the heart of the city. Parked cars would also add more obstacles. Pedestrians could be crossing the street, unaware of the race. And much of central Avalon's streets were grids, so the likelihood of cross traffic was high. Neither one of their vehicles would be stopping for traffic lights.
It was once they made a curving left onto Victory Drive that Dane engaged the first stage of the experimental booster engines. Stage One was just them powered up and venting. Jaya said the increase in speed would be minimal. The reason to pause before the second stage was that any failure of the equipment or explosion in Stage One would be minimal and "safe". If the equipment still operated at high speed during Stage One, then Dane could risk Stage Two. Jaya had also admitted that she knew Dane would try Stage Two even if she didn't recommend it, as only equipment failure would stop him. So less than thirty seconds after Stage One, Dane yelled that he was engaging Stage Two.
They increased in speed and overtook the Greaser. Things were starting to go according to plan. Dane needed to be ahead of the Greaser to catch him. Since just one experimental gadget wouldn't be enough for Dane, he also carried with him a second for purposes of catching the ghost. Though partially technological, it wasn't from Jaya. Dane's occult associate Alastair had procured a Carnacki Pentacle Catcher for Dane. Essentially an occult tool, it made use of technology to augment its mystic action. Using vacuum tubes channeling electricity into a Pentacle shape, it was powered by a charged crystal and covered with sigils. The Catcher was the Frankenstein mismatch of a number of occult ideas jammed together. But according to Alastair's sources, it supposedly worked. Its efficiency was only supposed because neither Dane nor Alastair had any chance to try it on a non-corporeal entity before now. That Dane was going to be using it at high speed in a situation where it would be easy for the device to break was just a mere detail that Dane shrugged off and Alastair rolled his eyes at.
The Carnacki Catcher was on a long cord that doubled as both power source and the only way to keep hold of it. The plan was for the El Camino to get ahead of the Ghost Greaser, then Dane would activate the Catcher and throw it off the side of the El Camino, right in front of the Greaser. Dane would press the button to activate it, it would do whatever it would do, and then Dane could reel in the device, the ghost successfully captured. That was the plan. He hadn't thought what he was going to do with the ghost after that, but that was an adventure for another day.
Unfortunately, Stage Two wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Oh yes, it got the El Camino moving at an impossibly dangerous speed so that the car was less a transportation device and more of a high velocity weapon, but it hadn't truly helped them against the Ghost Greaser. While they had initially overtaken the Chevelle, seconds later it had caught back up to them. The Greaser seemed to be thrilled with this new set of events, but he was not letting this race be won so easily. With the cars parallel again, Dane didn't have a lead to throw out the Carnacki Catcher. It would never get in front of the Greaser. They needed more speed.
Dane looked at the scenery that was flashing by. They had merged onto MLK and they were running out of time. They were in the heart of the city. The danger was even higher and the race couldn't go on any longer. Abby already had to swerve past cars, slowing down for a moment, the experimental booster engines allowing her to catch back up to the Greaser easily.
"Engaging Stage Three!" shouted Dane.
"What? Not Stage Three!" shouted Abby. She had heard about Stage Three.
Dane had been explicitly and forcefully warned about Stage Three. The exact warning from Jaya was, "Don't use Stage Three," followed by, "Stage Three isn't ready. You're going to ignore me and try to use it anyway. That assumes you're listening to me right now instead of dreaming up the perfect cup of coffee. Don't use Stage Three. EVER. "
As he looked at the button for Stage Three, Dane admitted he really could go for a good cup of joe at that moment. Maybe after this was all done. Without further thought, he engaged Stage Three.
Stages One and Two had both been loud, much louder than a simple car engine. Stage One was a growl, Stage Two was thunder. Stage Three was like growling thunder was erupting out of the car at one hundred and twenty five decibels. Stage Three was waking up New Avalon for the quickest and loudest heavy metal concert they had ever heard.
Stage Three also erupted large flames out of the back of the experimental booster engines. Dane thought that was pretty cool.
The El Camino surged forward, almost against the will of the shaking mass of metal and bolts that it was made of. The entire car vibrated and every piece of fatigued metal and stressed structure did not want to go this fast. Prolonged use of this speed would probably eventually destroy the El Camino. Dane also conceded that maybe, just maybe, the erupting flames were in fact a sign of something bad happening and not just a sign of awesome.
But for at least a short time, the heavily modified El Camino overtook the Ghost Greaser. Currently out of sight, Dane imagined that the Ghost Greaser was looking on with frustration but also even more excitement. It had been decades since someone had beat him. Maybe he was looking forward to the challenge.
"Dane!" called Abby.
"Not now," said Dane, clicking the on switch on the Carnacki Catcher, getting it ready to toss out.
"Dane!" called Abby.
"Not now!" insisted Dane, pulling his arm back to throw the Catcher.
The brakes of the El Camino screeched, the sound a banshee wail heard even over the Stage Three engines. Simultaneously, those experimental booster engines died. Dane would wonder what happened, but part of Jaya's design included a kill switch in the driver's seat. Even she correctly realized that having engines that even the driver couldn't shut off was very bad.
Dane lurched forward, dropping the Catcher in a mad attempt to grab onto the roof of the El Camino. His bare hands managed to clutch some of the metal trim to hold him, just barely keeping him from flying forward onto the asphalt in front of the braking El Camino.
Abby continued braking sharply, the car still skidding forward. She finally wrenched the wheel to the right, the front of the car turning away from the road. But the car kept moving forward with its momentum, now skidding sideways. Through some great miracle it didn't flip or start tumbling end over end. Even more miraculously, it came to a stop only two feet behind the car in front of it.
The Houghton Bridge was in front of them and luck had not been with them. There had been an accident on the bridge in the middle of the night, and it had been closed down to just a single lane. That single lane even in the middle of the night was clogged with traffic. The residents of the Ville were trying to get home after a late night at the clubs and bars. Abby had just barely stopped their speeding El Camino before crashing into the end of that line of cars.
Dane struggled to right himself now that the car was not moving. He was in an awkward position, and when he let go of the car's trim he spilled forward down the windshield onto the hood. He realized he was dizzy and took a moment to lay there. Abby pulled off her seatbelt, which had heavily bruised her and probably saved her life.
There was a flash of white smoke as the Ghost Greaser raced past them. The Chevelle lacked the constraints they had, the transparent vehicle travelling through the barriers and stopped traffic as if they didn't exist. A moment later, the Chevelle reached the beginning of the bridge itself. It vanished into a cloud of white mist which quickly disappeared.
Dane pulled himself off the hood, awkwardly finding his footing as Abby got out of the car.
"I guess we know the bridge part of the legend is true," said Dane.
Abby brushed hair out of her face. "Is that all you have to say? Do you know how close to death we were? And you wouldn't even listen to me when I tried to stop you!"
"I'm sorry," said Dane. "But we almost had him! We were so close and I didn't want to give up!"
"We almost gave up our lives," said Abby.
"Okay, I guess that is true too," said Dane. "But on the plus side, we now know that Stage Three is really awesome!"
Continued in Burning Monday available 2/22/16!
Table of Contents
Death Ray
Jeopardy
Abby
Doors and Windows
Donuts
Wong
Warehouse of Doom
Time for a Break
Alastair
Prometheus
Frying Pan and Fire
Robot Death Car
Garage
History lesson
Resurrection
The Terminus Hotel
Control Room
Demon
Destruction
The Conqueror and the Destroyer
The Silver Path
Epilogue
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About the Author
Excerpt from Burning Monday
Manic Monday: (Dane Monday 1) Page 29