Skylar knew it. In fact, everyone in the pack knew it. They knew that it would happen, but the couple, particularly their Luna, Skylar, requested them not to fret but go with the flow and keep moving with the pack's life. As for her, as a mother – a sinister mother, she began to act like any versatile actress in Hollywood and made sure her reaction speaks her emotions, making anyone who witnesses believe it was true, especially to capture their real target's attention, Rudolf Strange. However, to be sure, Skylar has to play her old-time favorite game that she and her brother had created before.
"Be on position, Irina." Skylar's fake panicking voice became serious, reminding her vampire daughter of her task in the game. "That's your cue, and welcome to the game of clock."
'Just make sure the risk falls in our favor.'
"Always." Amused, Skylar whispered before adding, "Keep in touch with Medina, and let's meet at the old house. Also, be sure to tell your dad about this."
'Okay…please, hurry.'
When the call had ended, Skylar pushed Joey to the passenger seat since she had to drive. Joey looked panicked because the last time Skylar drove, he almost lost his life. However, Skylar has to wear a worried mother mask once again when she feels the lurking shadow around her company's perimeter and decides to step closer, trying to hear what she is talking to Irina. However, her vampire side can mask the truth and changed it into a different scenario – her worried and panicking expression tells them that she was having an urgent problem before driving off like a maniac, ensuring they will be tailed.
"Joey, ensure they're on our tail and get ready for any attempt from them," Skylar whispered lowly, focusing on her drive.
"Affirmative." Joey firmly replied, getting his gun for any threatening attempt from the stalker behind their tail. Then, he looked on his side, studying the two fully tinted black SUVs before chuckling, "Bulletproofed cars on six-twenty-five and six-thirty."
"Aimed the tire or the headlights." She advised, and Joey nodded as he put on his gloves and mouth mask, getting ready.
However, Skylar felt bored on the road, and the silence wasn't doing her any favors; instead, she began playing something on the stereo. As she was choosing, she heard the gun case from Joey, and from there she knew when to speed up until the song that was not-so-appropriate to the car chase began blasting inside their car ride.
"Seriously, boss? Right now, you choose a love song?" With a frown, Joey asked when he heard an old love song called Close 2 Heaven by Color Me Bad playing on the stereo while their car was being chased.
"Well, I hadn't finished searching when I heard your gun case, so I changed the gear and sped up," Skylar replied sarcastically, defending herself.
"Because they were getting close." He refuted when the two SUVs boxed them. "Shit!"
"Chill. Let's change it." She replied, changing the song to something more upbeat, and perhaps something that goes with their moment. But Joey's expression was still not playing the song choice of his boss, who was driving recklessly.
"Really now? Blackpink?" He reacted, still not believing what he was hearing in their extreme car ride.
"What? It has a cool beat. And besides, How You Like That makes my driving skills fired up. So shut the fuck up and focus on them. Not my song choice." Defensive but sarcastic, Skylar replied to Joey, rolling her eyes while making a hand gesture.
"Unbelievable," Joey muttered, giving up the petty argument that might have escalated into nothing. "Tone it down then."
"NO, NEVER!" With firmness, Skylar quickly responded before adding teasingly, "Suck it up, dude."
"Argh, why do I have to deal with this mood of yours? So, annoying." Joey groaned, carefully went to the backseat to open the window, before firing two bullets at the SUV's two tires on their left. The car stumbles to the left and hits the barrier.
"I'm just fired up." Skylar laughed like a lunatic as she pressed the brakes after Joey shot, preventing them from hitting another car in front of them. But since it was a hard break, Joey lost his balance and fell back in front, accidentally changing the song on the stereo, annoying Skylar. "YAH! YOU STUPID CHANGE MY SONG!"
"Like I care." He groaned, going back to the backseat to get ready for the next car that began shooting at them. Skylar's driving started swerving as she changed lanes. The pop upbeat song from Blackpink became another old love song called Crusin' by Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis. "Oh, c'mon."
"You changed it, not me." Skylar scoffed, focusing on her drive as she kept changing lanes, making sure to shake the SUV behind them. Sadly, it was not happening.
They were still being chased, and bullets came raining down; luckily, it was not hit by the bullets. Skylar's driving skills have to be used wisely, and she decided to take a detour, heading to the airport. The road was one-way, and there were fewer cars, so both cars could easily pass each other. Since the black SUV wasn't giving up, Skylar smirked, becoming sinister as a new song played in the background. The song wasn't a love song, but it was enough to shift her mood into something dangerous, and the song was called Stutter by the Veronicas.
Someone call emergency, 911
Baby, let's get reckless like a loaded gun
Living for the night, we rocket to the sun
I still can't believe, can't believe what you do to me.
The refrain of the song echoed, and with each deep turn or maneuver that Skylar did, the SUV behind them almost lost its control. She smirked dangerously, making Joey shiver but say nothing anymore and let his boss have her fun until she lost it and began singing like a madwoman, drowned in something addictive.
"Oh my God, please help me survive this ride with my boss." Joey prayed, making Skylar laugh while singing the chorus of the song.
"You make me nervous, make me sweat
Make me st-st-stutter
You're like a drug, you're like sex
You're like n-n-no other
So come with me, my fantasy
This is my song, and I
And I don't wanna dance alone
Don't make me dance this song alone…" Skylar sang, swaying along the beat yet still driving like a drift racer.
But when Skylar changed the car's gear on a certain open road, nearing the airport, she maneuvered the car deeply and turned the wheel. In slow motion, Skylar pulled out her personalized high-intensity revolver and released two shots; one hitting the headlights and one for the tire, making the SUV stumble before crashing into the pavement and then bursting into flame. As for their car, it turned back to its right track like nothing had happened behind their tail.
"Beneath the moonlit sky
Kiss me through the night
Never say goodbye…" She kept singing until they came back to the proper track back home, leaving Joey speechless, and she noticed it. "What?"
"I'm not saying anything…" he quickly responded, trying to bury what just happened to their ride, and tucked his gun safely back to his side. "…just eyes on the road."
***
When they reached their old house, Skylar became the actress again and quickly got out of the car, running toward the front in worry, leaving Joey to handle the car. Skylar entered the house, pressing the soundproof security systme of the house, making their act drop except for one thing that was real. Skylar ran into Vincencio's arms, jumping and kissing his lips like they hadn't seen each other for years, when they saw each other early in the morning beside each other.
"Seriously, till here?" Joey reacted in disbelief, covering his face to the lovey-dovey moment of the married couple in front of them before slouching on the couch beside Irina, "You've got to be kidding me."
"Why? What's wrong with them being mushy when there's nothing different from it?" Irina teasingly asked, making Joey frown.
"Your mother is horny singing the song Stutter by the Veronicas while driving like a maniac." He replied, shaking his head as if he had witnessed something horrifying a while ago, making them laugh.
"Wifey, you drove like a maniac again?" Vincencio chuckled but still wondered, making Skylar blush.
"Well, we're being chased by those lurking eyes from Strange." She answered, trying to be cool and not affected, but her blush was giving it away.
"Glad that you survived." Vincencio teased, patting Joey's back, but it only made his frown deepen.
"Next time, drive for her," Joey said to Vincencio, making Skylar grin.
"Are you sure?" Skylar teased, making Joey think of a worse scenario a honry wife left alone with her husband in the car. With that thought alone made him sigh in defeat.
"On the second thought, don't." He said, correcting himself before adding, "I want my car to be tainted with your lust."
"Thought so." She chuckled, but Skylar quickly went serious because the clock was already ticking, "Anyway, the game of clock has started. Now, let me explain the process of the game further."
"We all know that we have to beat the clock." Medina started, making Skylar nod.
"True, but it doesn't mean exactly beating it or winning against time, since you can't beat time. But we could only beat our old records." Skylar said before explaining the game to them, "In our case, the game we created might be beating old records; however, this time we twisted it, adding riddles or questions for clues and some indirect answers that could be found in a person, area, or space for fun."
"But in this case, it's all about your family connections and Rudolf Strange's obsession with your family. Am I right?" Vincencio carefully guessed, making Skylar kiss his cheek, grinning.
"Yes, you're right, but at this moment, like we had talked before, Fredric and I must have fallen off from business, which will start from the abduction of my daughter. I must have played clueless that it's him doing it, but we have to ensure that Rudolf believes it more than we do." She briefly explained the truth of playing the game of clock. "And since he has been watching my brother, it will be easy to make the game more intense."
"Why did it sound different?" Joey wondered.
"Because it is." Skylar answered firmly but still excited for the game to happen before adding, "The game of clock that we're going to use against Rudolf is not for fun. It's a game to lure, take, and a point of no return for the players who were involved in the game. And right now, the reason why I let Trixalyn be taken away is for her safety."
"You mean?" Irina wondered since she had no idea about the abduction part. Skylar looked at her watch, smiling calmly.
"By this time, Trixalyn is already with them." Skylar muttered, but since Irina still has her puzzled expression, she continued, "Fredric and I planned this before she was even born. We both took this opportunity for my baby to meet her grandparents, safely and away from Rudolf's radar. And since the game of clock is turning dangerously, she doesn't need to be involved in this kind of life-threatening game until she's ready to inherit the game from us."
"Mom, you're making it sound like it's not even a game, but your vampire ability, am I right?" Irina guessed carefully, making Skylar chuckle amusingly but proudly.
"Hm, you're right about that, Irina. It's Fredric and my shared ability as siblings that makes us even in certain positions in the game." She briefly said, leaving them a little confused and intrigued to know more about the truth behind the game. She sighed before continuing. "The game of clock is just a name we put to the ability that we shared to make it extreme. The game is like a maze, and each tick of the clock has different layers with different levels of difficulty, which mostly depend on the vampire who prepared them. Lady Ceres has almost the same ability, but we have detailed layers that are hard to pass because Fredric is a manipulator, a game planner, or the layout artist of the game. As for me, I handled the layers of difficulties."
"So, it will be up to you who will survive the game?" Medina curiously guessed.