Chapter 15: Midnight Meeting

  Wheeler stared at the P.S. part of the message in disbelief. “Sorry, am I reading this right, Eve wants to meet up?”

  Abeona’s miniature charm stroked its chin, “It certainly seems that way. I’ve got to admit it’s quite the unexpected development.”

  “What do you think she wants?” Wheeler asked “I mean, assuming it is from her.”

  Abeona’s charm tilted its tiny head. “What do you mean ‘assuming it is her’? Who else would it be?”

  “I don’t know,” Wheeler admitted. “But look at the handwriting of the P.S compared to the rest of the note. It’s completely different.”

  Abeona muttered “Zoom in” as she looked closer at the note. As she did her figure’s eyes actually extended out of their sockets like a telescopic lens.

  Abeona closely examined the note comparing the elegant tidy writing of the main body of the letter, to the chaotic scrawl of the final section. “Oh, you’re right, according to my tablet’s handwriting comparison software, there are substantial differences.”

  “You don’t need special software, anyone can tell that at a glance.” Wheeler chided, “But, what do you think it means?”

  “Only one way to find out.” Abeona suggested cheerfully.

  Wheeler’s slowly repairing suspension shuddered with nervous anticipation. “Are you suggesting we actually go?”

  “Why not? Your self-repair system should have you all fixed up by then.” The goddess reasoned.

  Wheeler was still being rocked by a creeping unease. “What if it’s a trap?”

  Hmmm...” Abeona thought for a minute. “You might be right. Imagine this. We roll up to the construction site and see what we believe to be Eve at the rendezvous.” The goddess’s voice became a gravelly whisper. “We race towards her but then...”

  If Wheeler could sit, he would have been on the edge of his seat. “But then?”

  “We’ve been bamboozled.” Abeona yelled out dramatically. “It was just a shop window dummy, perfectly placed to lead us into a giant pitfall trap! We tumble in and so ends the legend of Truck-Kun.” Her figure lay down in a tragic, yet exaggerated death pose.

  Wheeler sighed. “You’re not taking this remotely seriously are you?”

  “Look, I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about.” Abeona reassured as her figure retracted its eyes back into its sockets. “You should be mostly repaired by about eleven. So that gives us an hour to scout out the meeting point beforehand.”

  Wheeler’s wipers twitched. “How are the repairs coming along anyway?” he asked.

  Abeona read the diagnostic report displayed on her tablet. “About twenty-five percent complete, we should be able to move normally again at about eighty-five percent.” The goddess explained helpfully.

  For now there was nothing Wheeler could do, other than wait for the self-repair system to work its magic and mentally prepare for the upcoming encounter.

  Wheeler was not the only one making preparations. After an uneventful walk back home, followed by an equally quiet evening, Eve was also preparing for the midnight rendezvous with the mysterious truck.

  Eve quietly opened Lily’s bedroom door a little bit to ensure her friend was asleep. She watched closely, seeing Lily’s blankets gently rise and fall as the sleeping girl breathed lightly, a faint snoring emanating from her.

  Content her roommate was indeed asleep, Eve pulled on her tracksuit and trainers. She then proceeded to silently slip out of the front door and into the night. Eve took care navigating the giant crater the truck’s prior attempt had left outside her doorstep. The last thing she wanted to do was twist her ankle or something stupid like that. She’d need to be at full fitness for what was to come.

  She checked her phone, eleven thirty, that gave her half an hour to get to the meeting place she had proposed.

  Meanwhile, while the construction site may have currently appeared empty to an observer, her invitee had in fact, already arrived. Wheeler was waiting in his miniature mode, concealed behind some steel oil drums, casing the location prior to their meeting.

  From his vantage point behind the barrels, Wheeler had a clear view of the rusted gate that led into the abandoned construction site. In miniature mode it had been simple to drive in unnoticed through a hole in the chain-link fence

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  “Can’t see anyone around yet. I would have thought if it was a trap, we’d have seen someone setting things up.” Wheeler commented. He’d actually arrived fifteen minutes before this and had been staking out the location. Scouting it for any potential sign of an ambush.

  “Are you feeling more at ease now?” Abeona asked impatiently. “We’ve driven around this place three times already.”

  “Better safe than sorry.” Wheeler insisted. “Especially after how much damage I took in our last encounter with Eve...”

  “To be fair, that was self-inflicted.” Abeona remarked.

  “Remind me, whose plan was I following when I took that self inflicted damage?” Wheeler’s question had been rhetorical. He knew full well the last disastrous attempt had been the goddess’s idea.

  Abeona didn’t respond. Instead she just whistled innocently yet awkwardly. A few minutes later, she finally piped up. “Five past twelve, she’s late.”

  As Abeona said this, the pair saw a figure in the shadows climb over the locked gate.

  Eve checked her watch. “Damn... took me longer than expected, well better late than never.” She mumbled to herself.

  Looking around the abandoned construction site, Eve saw no sign of life. Not her mysterious assailant, or their truck.

  She sighed and shook her head, feeling the sting of bitter disappointment in her chest. “They’re not here.” She thought.

  Eve felt the ground beneath her feet rumble. Sensing something behind her. Eve instinctively threw herself to the side, narrowly avoiding the truck that unexpectedly came exploding out of the darkness.

  Eve performed a handspring off the dirt and landed on her feet. The truck that had nearly run her down suddenly whipped around for another attempt. She cupped her hands and called out. “So you did show up after all.”

  Wheeler drove at her again full speed, but Eve evaded his charge effortlessly. “Hold up, time out.” Eve yelled, making a T- motion with her arms.

  Wheeler broke sharply, stopping mere feet in front of Eve.

  “What are you doing?!” Abeona exclaimed. “She’s wide open, run her down.”

  Wheeler refused, while he had already tried to take her out multiple times, this was the first time he was truly aware of Eve. He saw this young woman stood before him. She wasn’t just a target, but a person. One with hopes and dreams. Yet, he also knew he also had a job to do.

  Meanwhile Abeona’s voice rang in his consciousness. “What are you waiting for, transport her.”

  Wheeler made a decision. “Let’s hear what she has to say, we owe her that much.”

  “Owe her? How? We are just trying to give her the deluxe Isekai experience!” Abeona spat in disbelief.

  “We are hearing her out” Wheeler insisted firmly.

  Eve of course, could hear none of this ongoing debate. As the truck sat silent and motionless, she cautiously approached the side if the truck. “So are you going to get out?”

  Her request was met with more silence.

  “Guessing that’s a no huh?” Eve reasoned, “You’re the quiet type aren’t you?”

  She once more received no response.

  “Ok, I don’t know why you’re trying to run me down, frankly I don’t particularly care.” Eve said.

  Eve was unable to see Abeona’s charm, which was hidden by Wheeler’s tinted windows roll its eyes. “Oh here it comes, the please stop trying to run me over speech.”

  “Shhh” Wheeler shushed Abeona.

  Unable to hear the pair, Eve continued talking uninterrupted. “The thing is would you mind not attacking me...”

  “Yep, it’s just as I thought.” Complained Abeona.

  Oblivious to Eve’s words, Eve continued what she was saying. “At least during the day. You see my friend Lily, what you’re doing is really scaring her.”

  A shockwave of guilt echoed through Wheeler’s soul. Lily must be the girl that Eve was always walking home with. They’d been careful not to hit her, but in retrospect it was not surprising Wheeler’s attempts on her best friend would have Lily rattled too.

  “In fact, Lily was actually the one who wrote most of that letter.” Eve explained.

  Abeona’s charm punched the air at the revelation. “AHA! So that’s why there were two different types of handwriting!”

  “So here’s the deal. If you leave me alone during the day, when Lily is around. I’ll meet you here every night and you can take as many shots as you want.”

  “WAIT WHAT?” Abeona and Wheeler shouted simultaneously in shock.

  Once the initial surprise had subsided, Wheeler began to analyse the situation. “I guess Eve’s so worried about the chance of her friend getting caught in the crossfire, she’s willing to risk her to keep her friend safe.

  He was touched, Wheeler had never seen such a pure and selfless act of friendship in either of his lives.

  Eve clutched her hand to her chest and smiled. She even appeared to be blushing. “Your truck has come closer to hitting me than any dodgeball ever has.” She admitted. “Whenever you charge at me, I feel the adrenaline surging though my veins at every near miss.”

  Wheeler was unsure how to take this unexpected turn of events. “Scratch that, this isn’t about friendship. She’s just a total adrenaline junkie.” He realised in horror.

  “Training by dodging a speeding truck, this will be my ultimate ascent to dodging nirvana. Our battles will be legendary.” Eve’s eyes shone with excitement. She almost seemed to be salivating at the prospect of indulging in such a challenge. “If you accept my offer, then try to hit me right now! Don’t you dare hold back, come at me full speed.”

  Eve ran a few yards in front of Wheeler and began making a beckoning motion. “Bring it on!”

  Instead of driving forward, Wheeler slowly attempted to back away, but Abeona hijacked his controls and threw on his handbrake. “Where do you think you’re going?” the goddess demanded.

  Wheeler desperately tried to disengage his handbrake as Abeona kept it locked in place. “She’s absolutely insane.”

  “Maybe,” Abeona shrugged. “But we can’t pass down an opportunity like this. She’s practically gift wrapping herself on a silver platter.”

  “She’s still going to keep dodging us.” Wheeler pointed out. “Plus, we have to leave her alone during the day though, are you sure you’re ok with that?”

  “Sure, but think about it.” Abeona explained “Before we were getting what? Two, maybe three attempts a day? This way, every night becomes open season on Eve. It’ll only be a matter of time before she slips up!”

  “I guess...” muttered Wheeler reluctantly.

  “HEY!” Eve shouted, breaking what to her sounded like total silence while tapping her foot impatiently. “So what’s it gonna be?”