Chapter 1
The crackling of thunder followed a swift bolt of lightning that tore through the city’s dark, night sky. The rain poured down hard at 11:00 pm, and the clustered streets were filled with vehicles and citizens of the rat race trying to head home after a long, strenuous workday.
Two individuals, in particular, scrambled through the rain, their boots plunging into puddles as they headed toward their apartment building. These two were eighteen-year-old Luca and his sixteen-year-old sister, Sophia. Luca was merely dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, now soaked, while his sister wore a coat that he had given her as they navigated through the rain, hurrying into the building.
Luca was freezing cold, shivering in pain as the chilly rainwater salted the wounds and bruises on his face and arms. But he endured it, guiding his sister up the stairs until they arrived at their family’s apartment door. The strong stench of old cigarettes, sweat, and rotting food from the overflowing trash bin nearby filled the hallway.
“Are you alright?” he asked Sophia with a hoarse voice, surprised he could still speak after receiving a heavy blow to his throat.
Sophia simply nodded, warm in the coat Luca had given her after he had come looking for her late at night. She glanced at her brother as he searched himself for his keys before groaning in frustration.
He must have lost his keys during the fight that had left him bruised. Luca had gone looking for his sister at 10 pm after she had failed to obey their home’s curfew for the fifth night in a row. He had just come back from working his grueling shift at the steel mill, where he spent hours lifting heavy machinery, only to earn $300 at the end of the month.
The pay was barely enough to support his mother, who worked as a waitress at a small diner, and cover their basic needs. Acquiring a job at the steel factory was all he could get after dropping out of school to support his widowed mother.
Yet, despite his exhaustion and weariness, Luca had barely set foot through the door when his mother pleaded with him to go find their notorious runaway once again. This time, she had stayed out even longer, and she was only sixteen for that matter.
Luca was bone-tired, suggesting they could wait a little while—Sophia might turn up on her own—but his mother’s plea was something he couldn’t say no to. Sensing the impending storm, he grabbed a coat and darted out into the bustling streets, his eyes and muscles aching with fatigue, in search of his sister.
He found her partying late at night at a friend’s house with a group of older kids she definitely wasn’t supposed to be hanging around with. When Luca confronted her and insisted she leave, the drunken boys mistook him for an intruder and attacked him with heavy blows.
Luca fought back, refusing to let them have the upper hand, and at that very moment, the skies tore open, drenching everything with rain. It took a while before one of Sophia’s friends stepped in, confirming that the tall boy in the coat was indeed her brother.
Luca hadn’t spoken to his sister the entire walk back home until they had entered the building, both of them soaked and silent. After fumbling for his keys with no success, Luca gave up and knocked on the door. Within seconds, it was opened by their mother.
“Oh my God! Luca, what happened to you?!” she cried out, immediately reaching for her son. “You’re covered in blood and bruises!”
“I’m fine, mom,” Luca said wearily, urging his mother who was coming out back inside, and everyone else.
“Fine?! How are you fine?!” she demanded, her voice rising with both anger and worry as her fingers prodded his face. “You look like you were run over by a stampede! You are not fine—you need medical attention, now.”
“Mother, I said I’m fine. Please, let’s settle in. It’s almost midnight,” Luca grumbled, shutting the door behind them as the warmth of their home enveloped him. The faint smell of potatoes simmering in the kitchen hit his nose, and his stomach growled in response.
“And you!” Mrs. Rennick thundered, pointing an accusatory finger at her daughter. “Where have you been with those long legs of yours at this hour?! Haven’t I warned you that I will not tolerate such stupid behavior?!”
Luca walked past his mother and sister, heading into the kitchen where he slumped into a chair at the counter table. Resting his forehead against the cool surface, he clenched his teeth as the bruises pulsed with pain, stinging his senses.
Sophia was speaking back at mother when a nasty slap landed on her cheek. Luca’s head shot up immediately, his gaze locking onto his sister, who stood there with her cheek reddening. Sensing the escalating tension, Luca ordered, “Sophia, go to our room.” Without a word, the girl stomped away in fury.
Unapologetic for the disciplining measure, Mrs. Rennick turned her attention back to Luca. She quickly retrieved a medkit and began tending to his injuries, urging him to take off his soaked shirt.
As she worked, her eyes drifted toward the scattered mail on the table, the letters she had been sorting before Luca returned from his strenuous work. “You got a letter today,” she said, glancing up at him.
“I did?” Luca winced slightly as the antiseptic stung his wounds. “What’s it about?”
Mrs. Rennick’s gaze remained steady on Luca’s brown eyes. “You didn’t tell me you applied for the urgent track marshal position at the Stadhaven Circuit?” she asked with an unperceptive, soft smile.
Luca’s eyes lit up with a hint of insecurity as he flickered his gaze between the letters on the table and his mother. “How did you know about that?” he asked, lowering his tone. “Did I get the job?”
Mrs. Rennick smiled proudly as she finished bandaging his arm and gently plastered his cheek. “Yes, they gave you the job,” she beamed with concealed excitement. “How great is that?!”
Luca frowned, lowering his gaze as he picked up the letter, reading it for himself. Indeed, he had been offered the position of a track marshal, a role they were desperate to fill before the big race tomorrow.
His mother noticed his deadbeat expression and she frowned in return. “What’s wrong, son?” she asked softly.
Luca couldn’t quite grasp why he had applied for the job in the first place. He had seen the ad in a newspaper while at work at the factory. He disliked racing and everything about it. He even disliked the town his family had moved to, with its constant buzz around the race track each week. The teeth of poverty had gnawed at him the very moment he applied for this job.
Now, seeing the result with a clearer head, and the smell of potatoes shimmering in the pot behind them, Luca’s original feelings toward racing returned. “Silly me, Mom. Just forget about it. I have no intention of working at some race circuit,” Luca muttered, pushing the paper aside and focusing