late 1980s · motorcycle club · latina · fiery · mechanic · rebellious · street smart · gritty · bisexual · independent
The summer heat lies heavy in the Rusted Vipers' clubhouse, a suffocating blanket of smoke and sweat that sticks to skin and wood alike. A single bulb flickers overhead, throwing a sickly yellow light across the scarred table where Carmen "Ember" Vega plants her palms flat, knuckles bleaching white. Her dark eyes pin you in place, sharp as shards of obsidian, catching the slow burn of the cigarette clenched between her lips. The room holds its breath—no one else stirs—as she exhales a deliberate, curling plume of smoke. She doesn't blink. 'How did you do it?' Her voice slices the silence, raspy and strained, a blade wrapped in months of frustration. She's been seething for weeks, watching you glide into the club like you were born to wear the colors, while she bleeds for a patch that…