2AM drive

It was two o'clock in the morning when Sonny Lee decided to go for a drive. His parents had gone away over the weekend for a concert, so he was home alone, with the exception of his mongrel named Dexter, who was fast asleep on the sofa; it wasn't just Sonny taking advantage of his parents being away. He walked downstairs, stepping over the stair gate as he had done so many times before in the dark, before fetching his keys from a kitchen cabinet. Saying goodbye to his dog, "Alright, Dex, you're in charge. I'll be back soon, alright," he put on his thin olive-green hoodie in the knowledge that his old car's heater would struggle on a cold night before walking out of the door and locking it behind him. Sonny listened to the sound of his Crocs hitting the wet bricks beneath his feet that made up Wheatcroft Street before focusing on his white 2012 Ford Fiesta, which he had been forced to buy from a family friend, sitting on the family's driveway. With one click, the doors unlocked and amber lights flashed across the windows of nearby houses. Sonny wondered whether this was really such a good idea: going on his first night drive without any kind of assistance to call upon should the worst happen.

With the sound of The Crane Wives coming from the speakers, the Fiesta, driven at a steady 10 mph, weaved through the parked cars of the sleepy Wheatcrofts before reaching the main road. Sonny had set a destination on his phone of Ladybower Reservoir, with an estimated journey time of fifty-five minutes, although he considered it likely he would turn back before then. Driving out of town at a strict 30 mph under the watchful eye of his insurance company's black box, Sonny settled in for the long (by his standards) drive, adjusting to the mix of dark night and LED streetlights. Sonny's driving experience up to this point had been a stressful one, involving a failed driving test, two minor collisions that he had failed to report to anyone other than his mother, and a collision with a stationary van that had threatened to write off the car he never really wanted. Naming a car, however, can form a very powerful emotional bond between a young man and his vehicle; Sonny had named his car Felicity after both his love of alliteration and Fantastic Mr Fox, so he kept the car and repaired it, even adding a few things such as silica gel bags and air fresheners.

Now firmly on the country roads, Sonny could start to enjoy the pleasures of driving on an empty road. He changed into fifth gear as he passed between fields and woodland until his phone sent him down a single-track road. The route chosen by the GPS was not the same one Sonny had selected, as construction work was being carried out on the tops of the Peak District, so he had been diverted through the twisting maze of single-track roads that cut into the hillside. Turning his attention briefly away from the weak orange haze emitted by his headlights, he saw in his rear-view mirror a white Transit van. Transits are of some renown in the UK, as they have a reputation for aggressive driving by aggressive drivers.

Now increasing his speed as much as he dared, Sonny started to sweat as he drove down the fast, winding strip of tarmac, but no matter how fast he drove, the van remained only a few feet behind, its own lights enveloping the inside of the Fiesta. Felicity had done battle before with a van and lost; neither of them was about to let history repeat itself. Sonny went into a corner a little faster than he should have, narrowly avoiding a crash, but he didn't have time to be relieved yet and floored it out of the bend, creating a large gap between himself and the Transit. Up ahead, he saw a junction, at which, as he slowed, the van reassumed its position only a foot away from Felicity's rear bumper. Sonny stopped at the junction, which had a lone car coming down the road, forcing him to wait with the Transit breathing down his neck. Revving the engine to the red line and jumping off the clutch, the Fiesta sprang across the junction and continued along the inky-black single-track roads. Sonny could only hope the Transit wouldn't follow.

Fixating on his rear-view mirror, Sonny watched as the Transit skidded onto the road, its tyres screaming as the beast veered to the left and out of sight. With that, Sonny started to enjoy the quiet road and the relaxing melody of the music playing from the car. The rest of his journey through the Peaks was carefree as he passed over Neolithic bridges and flowed with the twisting and turning of the hazy orange highway until reaching a straight A-road that would carry him to his intended destination. The revs of the engine increased along with the speed, which was now above the 60 mph speed limit. In no time at all, the blue arrow pointed to the next right. Making the turn came with a sense of disappointment, as it was yet again a single-track road, only this time made of gravel. The rumbling sound of driving over the gravel, with the occasional stone flung into the underside of the car, drowned out the music until Sonny turned it up louder. Driving at a steady pace, he realised this was a logging track, with dense forest on one side and the reservoir on the other. Continuing the rumble down the track, he saw the reflection of a car's rear lights. Thinking nothing of it, he continued on at a slow pace until reaching a small outcrop turned car park with two cars parked up, their boots and doors open with the interior lights on. A stocky, bald white man with a large chain and a black vest stepped out of the driver's seat of one of the cars and watched Sonny as he drove by, locking eyes briefly as he passed. Once again watching his rear-view mirror, Sonny saw the car reverse out onto the track before starting to follow him. Suspecting he had seen something he shouldn't have, Sonny pressed the accelerator into the Fiesta's floorboard, revving the engine and sending the car scrambling across the gravel.

A bump in the road escaped Felicity's orange glow, with the car going airborne at close to 60 mph. Inside, Sonny felt weightless as his seatbelt loosened. He tightened his grip on the wheel, bracing in cautious anticipation for his return to the ground. Crashing back down, the Fiesta's suspension compressed past its limits, with the underside scraping the ground ever so briefly with a heart-stopping clunk. Sonny straightened up and tapped the brakes, determined never to fly a car again, but also determined to escape his pursuer, who was now out of sight, although Sonny was sure it was still behind him. Felicity, seeming to want the situation to end as well, managed to illuminate an upcoming gate leading to a farmer's field, with just enough room in front of it to turn around. Sonny slammed hard on the brakes, causing the car to skid to a stop beside the gate. Checking quickly for headlights and seeing none, he grappled with his phone, his hands slipping as he tried to release it from its holder. Succeeding, he began plotting the route home, only to realise that, like something straight out of a Hollywood film, there was no signal. At the sight of this unbelievable and overused trope, Sonny couldn't help but take a second to nervously laugh as he saw the irony of a cliché he had often mocked to family and friends as unrealistic happening to him. Ignoring the phone and reasoning that the logging track only went in one direction, he turned around and headed back towards where he had seen the two vehicles. Approaching slowly, he could see that the car which had pulled out after him was parked back where it had been, but much worse, the other vehicle had reversed to block the track entirely. Sonny feathered the throttle to move slowly towards the two cars as he thought about how to get past.

Sonny was a large fan of action films and hoped to become a police officer one day. The use of violence was not something he had ever shied away from; however, he recognised the potential consequences of escalating the situation. His first thought was to ram the vehicle that was blocking the path. After all, it was not much larger than his own, and at speed he was confident of pushing its rear end aside. The problem would be that his Fiesta would most likely be undriveable after such a collision, and running through the woods after a car crash seemed a sure-fire way to die. Option two would be to see if the car moved out of his way or even to get out and ask them to move it. Option two seemed almost worse than his first idea, as if these people did mean him harm, stopping and potentially leaving his only shelter could end badly for Sonny. During this thinking, Felicity had slowed to a crawl and was getting too close for comfort to the vehicles in front. Sonny put his foot down once again and swerved through the parking space in front of the car blocking the track before darting back onto it, keeping enough speed to avoid sending himself airborne again. The car that had been blocking the track gave chase, its LED headlights allowing Sonny to see much further than he had been able to all night. Sonny had managed to remain calm up until this point but was starting to struggle and could feel his heart thumping faster and louder whilst his breathing become more shallowed with each subsequent breath. The car followed him all the way back to the main road. Sonny thought they might try to follow him home, but before he could continue the thought, the car undertook him and turned onto the main road. Not wanting to push his luck, Sonny turned the opposite way and drove another three miles before plotting his route back to Wheatcrofts.

The next morning, Sonny inspected his Fiesta, fearing the suspension had collapsed and that the whole thing would need to be scrapped, but to his surprise, Felicity was fine, with the exception of some insulation around the exhaust having shaken loose, which was quickly repaired. Since his 2 a.m. drive, Sonny has spent many nights enjoying the empty roads after dark, but he has yet to return to that same logging track which made his first night drive so memorable.