Taken and Misused.

In front of us a gathering had began.

Sleek cars of different colors, models, sizes, and shapes lined the sides of the abandoned street. There were foreign cars, American cars, and a few that had transformed so much their model was almost unrecognizable.

It was like a motorized melting pot.

I didn’t know much about cars but I could tell most of the cars on the street were pretty high in price, from their paint jobs to the sounds of their engines revving, everything screamed “I’m worth a lot of money.”

Vaughn’s car looked to be in the group of the few American model cars, the black sleek paint job of the mustang stood out against the bright and eccentric paint jobs of the other cars. The engine purred with a promise of power as he rode through the crowd of people talking, bragging, and dancing. The dim street lights cast everything into an amber glow and it reflected off of the hoods where men and woman leaned, as well as whipping around the shadows of those who were dancing to the strong beat playing from a car’s speakers.

The men were showing off their cars while the women showed off their bodies. To them I was probably horribly over dressed, I thought while playing with the hem of my dress again.

“Tell me what you’re thinking” Vaughn said, not paying attention to the stares his car was getting. It was like he was being treated as a mini celebrity.

“I’m trying to make sure I’m not dreaming, I mean, well, street racing?” I said, finally blurting out what I was really confused about, my wide blue eyes watching the cars we passed slowly.

“You’re not. You know, you shouldn’t not believe everything you see in movies” he said, emphasizing the word “not”. He glanced at me with a grin; his eyes alight with something new. It was a mischievous glint but also an extremely excited one, like he was a little kid who had just been told he could eat all the candy he wanted. It made me smile too, as if his excitement was contagious. But I pulled my smile from my face when I had the chance to process my thoughts.

“This is definitely not legal, Vaughn” I said in a disapproving voice.

“I definitely told you that, Elisabeth” he mimicked, raising his eyebrow at me.

“I thought you were bluffing!” I defended, looking out the window at a group of men staring daggers at Vaughn’s car. “Oh mon dieu” I breathed.

“You say that a lot” Vaughn cut in but I continued my thought over his words.

“They look like they want to kill you” I said in a loud whisper even though they probably couldn’t hear us at all.

“Oh, they do” Vaughn said with a chuckle, that didn’t help my worries. I was raised in a home where crime and murder were only seen on the TV, which I had never been allowed to watch much. So basically, I was raised in a non-violent, completely legal environment. “Do you want me to turn back?” he questioned, a challenge in his tone.

“No” I replied tartly, “I am just saying, those men right there do not look very friendly and I myself would not go anywhere near them” I said, looking away from his teasing stare. “Watch the road” I said, for possibly the tenth time that night.

Vaughn laughed and stopped his car in the middle of the street when a man got out of his car and held up his hand in greeting. Obviously no one had a problem with Vaughn parking his car there, he seemed to be emitting a sort of authority no one questioned.

“Who’s that?” I asked.

“A friend, you two will get along just fine” he said and it made me curious, I got out of the car and followed him to the other side where his friend awaited us. The air outside was really cold and I felt goosebumps stand up on my bare arms, I crossed them over my chest.

“Nathaniel, this is Elisabeth ” Vaughn introduced and Nathaniel grinned.

“Nice to meet you, I’d rather you call me Nathan by the way” he said, either he was something close to French or just plain French, his accent was a dead giveaway. His eyes looked dark and threatening but also warm and open, an odd mix but there was no other way to explain it. His dark hair spiked up in every direction and looked very messy except for, unlike Vaughn’s, his was gelled to look that way. Vaughn just looked like he didn’t use a comb but didn’t need to. Does that make sense?

Nathaniel held out a hand for me to shake and I grasped his, he brought it to his lips and gave it a soft kiss.

“Alright Casanova, I didn’t bring her here for you to harass” Vaughn muttered and Nathaniel grinned at him and clapped him on the back.

“Just getting to know your new friend”

“Knowing someone does not entail kissing” Vaughn shot back, not angry, a grin gave him away.

“I beg to differ” Nathaniel replied, gesturing with his hands just slightly. “Don’t you agree miss Elisabeth?” he asked me, looking down at me”

“I think I agree with Vaughn... for once” I said, earning a dirty look from Vaughn. Nathaniel chuckled, I could tell they were really good friends by the way they both messed with each other but couldn’t resist grinning at each other because they knew the joke was funny.

“J'ai parié que Vaughn deviendrait méfiante si nous avons commencé à parler dans le français et le regarder fixement (I bet Vaughn would get suspicious if we started to talk in french and stare at him)” Nathaniel muttered while Vaughn checked under his hood. He jerked his out from under the hood and narrowed his eyes at Nathaniel.

“What’d you say?” he asked but we both ignored him.

“Vous avez raison, il semble très nerveux en ce moment (You’re right, he looks pretty nervous right now)” I replied, getting comfortable in my native language.

“You know, you two think you’re funny don't you?” Vaughn said, obviously satisfied with his engine’s condition, as he closed the hood with a loud thud.

“Mais nous ne sommes pas (but we’re not?)” Nathaniel finished, but in French so Vaughn just looked at him in a I-really-want-to-hit-you-right-now way. Nathaniel just kept that innocent look on his face.

“J'ai cru que nous étions bizarres, cela ressemble au remboursement (I thought we were funny, this is payback for me)” I added.

“Nathan, I swear, if you corrupt her-“ Vaughn started but Nathaniel cut in.

“I believe you are the corrupter my friend, taking such a sweet girl to a street race, tsk tsk” he said with a joking grin, no offense intended of course.

Vaughn just grinned and came over to me, “Nathan, how about you go get Darik over here so we can start the race I came here for” he said, glancing at Nathaniel who slid off where he had been sitting on the hood of his car and just walked away grinning then was off down the row of parked cars towards a tall dark man handling a wad of money.

“Who’s that?” I ask as I see Nathan talking to him, both of them doing some kind of short hand shake.

“The man who has the guts to run these races” Vaughn replies then runs one of his hands down my arm which makes me shiver because of the sudden warmth his hand spread through me. “You’ve got goose bumps Princess” he said, while shrugging out of his black leather jacket.

“I’m fine, really” I tried to say but he was already holding it out for me to slip my arms through.

“Humor me” he said, raising an eyebrow.

I sighed, a little loudly to show I wasn’t alright with being babied. He just chuckled and adjusted the front of the jacket.

“Hey, Hart, you come to race or play dress up?” someone asked, it was a deep gruff voice, it was also pretty angry. I glanced around Vaughn to see a group of three men, all three wore black shirts but the one who had spoken wore a black and red racing jacket over his. They were the same men who had been glaring daggers at Vaughn’s car as we had got here.

“Just because women leave you before you have the chance to even wake up does not mean you should be jealous” Vaughn said, purposely fussing with the jacket collar before facing the other men, shifting in front of me slightly. It wasn’t obvious but I could tell Vaughn didn’t like these men. “And yes, I have come to win Rodrigo” he said, his voice as pleasant as ever.

“Sooner or later that ego of yours is going to get cut down” Rodrigo said, obviously annoyed with Vaughn’s attitude. This guy looked like the kid who was the bully in school and now he’s trying to stay the bully, be the guy everyone is afraid of.

“Dreams aren’t reality Rodrigo” Vaughn said with a chuckle, "you should know that" he continued.

“Save the aggression for the race you two” Darik said, Nathan was with him as well. Darik was tall and very lean, and veen though his muscles didn't bulge out you could tell he was a powerful man. He had a small afro and his skin was a shade lighter than his black hair. “You two got the bet?” he continued, holding out his hands to both Vaughn and Rodrigo.

“Right here” Vaughn said while pulling out a very thick looking wad of bills and Rodrigo did the same.

“Good, get in your cars and follow me” Darik said, Rodrigo went off to get his car, but not before giving Vaughn one hell of a glare which didn’t faze him at all. It was almost funny how composed Vaughn had stayed. Darik turned to Vaughn and glanced at me, “you’d better not be leaving her alone out here brotha” he says.

“I’ll be keeping her company, no worries” Nathaniel said, sitting on the hood of his car and patting the spot next to him while looking at me. I slid up on it and Nathan grinned back at Vaughn and Rodrigo, “see? Safe and sound” he said.

“For some reason I don’t feel so sure” Vaughn muttered and Rodrigo chuckled.

“You’ll win the race in a few minutes and we won’t have to worry after that” Darik said, giving Vaughn a pat on the back.

“I do happen to have some responsibility” Nathan said defensively but both men ignored him and I just let a soft laugh bubble from my lips at Nathan’s expression.

“I’m Darik, by the way, an old friend of these two” Darik said, shaking my hand softly.

“Elisabeth” I said, introducing myself.

“Well, we’d better head to the start before Rodrigo picks a fight with someone else” Darik said and Vaughn muttered an agreement.

“Be safe Princess” Vaughn called over his shoulder, chuckling when I frowned at him.

"Now what?" I asked, oddly comfortable in this enviornment.

"We wait for Vaughn to pass the finish line first" Nathaniel said, jerking his thumb towards the yellow spray painted line about ten feet from them.