Prologue

This is the beginning to the story I'm currently working on. I probably won't keep this by the time I get into the editing stage of the story, but that's months and months from now. Anyway, here it is... tell me what you think? :)

Distant shouting floated through the warm night air, breaking the stillness and the silence. The trees rustled as a few nightingales burst from the brush and soared away in the darkness.

A horse’s hooves clattered along the cobblestone path, ringing harsh and loud in the quiet. A lone rider, bent low, his hooded form pressed against the neck of his steed, charged through the sleeping village. The huts squeezed side by side against the narrow street were awoken and wan faces appeared at the window.

The rider carried a bright lantern thrust forward by one arm, and the rays of yellow light swung back and forth across the path. The curious villagers shied from their windows and retreated back into the darkness of their huts, but the village was waking. Somewhere in the distance shouts arose, and the man and horse hurtled down the road, swinging around a sharp bend, the black hooves slicing the air and pounding the stones beneath.

The man rounded another twist in the road and suddenly the huts gave way to open grass and a worn dirt path running up a gentle slope to meet a stone shrine, with a wooden hall standing next to it.

Ahead of him, a thin, shadowy form stumbled along the path, crying out hoarsely, his hands stretched out before him in the blackness. “Jena!” he cried, and there was no answer but the pounding of the horse’s hooves on the dirt and grass as the rider put on a burst of speed. “Jena!” he called again, and suddenly he looked over his shoulder and blanched in terror.

The man closed the distance between them, easily overtaking the man’s blind, stumbling steps, and circling around he cut off his escape toward the shrine.

“No,” the man groaned, swaying away from the horse and its cloaked rider. “No…”

“Where is she?” the hooded man said, his whisper low and urgent. “Jena of Fir. Is she not here?”

“No – away with you… you won’t take another of us!” The rider shoved the lantern forward into the man’s face, and he recoiled from the light as it flashed over his lined, weary features. “Go back where you belong!” the old man cried. “Keep away from this village! You’ve already taken what you want. She’s gone.”

The rider suddenly felt cold in the humid night air. “What do you mean, she’s gone?” he said. “Did another come before me?”

The old man whimpered and tried to hide his face with his arms, shying away from the stamping horse.

“Answer me!” the rider cried.

“Yes,” the old man said, his voice barely audible. “They killed Takeo. Jena is gone.”

The rider muttered a curse and wheeled the horse away, galloping toward the shrine. The old man dropped to his knees in the dirt and covered his face with his hands.

Hostage

ok so this is like just a little day dream of mine. I don't think i will finish it, but its just a cool little short story

Across the parking lot, behind a car.

I’m panting and I hurt all over. There’s a bullet hole in my leg but I have to ignore it and all my other wounds. If I could just make it to his office then I could get rid of them. But first I have to cross the soccer field full of people who don’t know about me.

I’m left with running across. A couple of gunshots tell me that I’ve got to get moving. Slowly I look around the car to check where they are. With out hesitation I run to the fence and hop it in less than a second. Bullets bounce of the chain link fence. I hid into a little dug out.

If that noise didn’t get people’s attention then a girl bleeding from the head, stomach, and leg diffidently would. Most of the people on the field recognized me and start to walk over to me. With out think I call out to them to get back.

In a second I hear the clink of a grenade being thrown. Abandoning my little cover, I sprint my way to a group of bleachers.

Right before I am able to take cover, the grenade explodes. I am thrown in the air. I land on my side where I was stabbed a let out a deep grown of pain. I crawl my way to the bleachers and look back.

Luckily the people had dropped to the ground but now they were getting back up. Cursing I slowly moved to a crouching position. The group had hopped the fence and was now looking for me.

If wasn’t for the people on the field I would have been safe by now but NO! They just had to start walking towards me. Now I realized that I had an advantage.

They would never kill someone that wasn’t their target. And of course it was they one person who I could never hurt.

Quickly I took the knife out of the sheath on my inner thigh and grabbed my “hostage” by the neck.

I stood behind him and held the knife to his throught. Calling out to the group I made them a deal.

Dead Town

I.

            The world ended in my backyard. I was there when it imploded in the messiest, most horrifying way possible and with enough force to shock me and the rest of the human population, to the point our brains probably resembled Jell-o.

            But wait; I’m getting ahead of myself here. There’s more to the story and here is how it began.

            Vrrrrrr. Chink. Chink. Chink. I gritted my teeth through the complaints of the engine as my old pickup truck rumbled down the dusty, rock-studded road, if you could call it that when it was more of a beaten path. The uncomfortable ride I could handle, but the sound- I cranked the radio up another five notches until the band I was listening to screamed in my ears- I’d been meaning to get a mechanic to check on the car but hadn’t found the time, or the necessary auto shop. Now, almost back in town from my latest job, there was nothing to do besides hope Mr. Gyles, the resident handyman, was available.

            The thing is, I was smack dab in the middle of the country, or, as I liked to say, the middle of nowhere. There wasn’t a godforsaken house for miles and pit stops to refill the greedy tank were few and far between. About all you could see in every direction was flat, barren land dotted with the occasional scraggly tree or jackrabbit. The dust was sometimes so thick you’d find it in your underwear days after the wind picked it up and threw it at you.

            It was the Midwest, it was Nebraska, it was a pain in the ass, but it was home.

            At least, it was home when I had last left it.

            A low ring brought me back from my wandering thoughts. I tried to ignore it, glaring out the windshield at the unchanging landscape, but it continued to ring persistently, a dull, bright jingle in my ears. Why had I chosen that for my ringtone in the first place?

            Sighing, I kept one hand on the wheel and dug around in my pocket for the offending phone. I came up with two gum wrappers, some loose change and an old concert ticket before I finally found the damn thing.

            I flipped it open; silencing the ring, didn’t bother to check the caller ID, and launched into my tirade, “Cory, you idiot! What did I tell you? I’m on my way, just wait to get your stupid money until then-!“

            “Zach? That you? Thank God! Listen closely. I don’t have much time…” the voice on the other end of my good, if often misled, friend Cory crackled with static and I had to strain to hear. But what I did hear made my heart clutch painfully, if only for a second. I didn’t know why because I wanted to bash Cory for calling and proceeding to order me around more than anything before the tone of his voice struck a chord.

            It was tense, as strung out as a rope at the end of its tether, and underlain with a relief so clear and out of place for him the angry reply died in my throat. Cory wasn’t talking either.

            I swallowed my apprehension. “Hey, Cory.” Silence. “Cory?” Only static. “Cory! Son of a bitch! If this is a prank call I’ll-!”

            “Zach? You still there?”

            I paused, and then sighed. “Yes.”

            “I need help.”

            “What do you mean? Did you get in trouble again?”

            “No!” Frustration leaked through his strained voice. “I mean no. I would apologize but there’s no time.” Again with that phrase, sending a shiver up my very spine. “It’s not just me. We- the entire town needs help before-“

            The failing connection cut off Cory and I slammed the phone on the dashboard. Come on! I needed to hear what he said! Inside, I knew it was important; important enough to make Cory sound like that.

            Suddenly, the crackle returned and with it- screams.

            It sounded like it was in the background, but close enough to the mouthpiece on the other end it made me wince.

            Then, what I’d been hoping for, “Zach!”

            “What is it, Cory? Tell me!” I felt the need to shout over the cascade of horrific sounds that were coming from where he was, and apparently he did too, his desperation and terror tainting everything.

            “It’s… unbelievable!” Crack! Snap! Cory’s exclamation was punctuated by a gruesome noise and I swore that one of those screams ended in a gurgle. “No! No! Agh! Get away!”

            For several heartbeats all I could hear was Cory yelling and crunching, like some animal was indulging itself in a bloody meal and I couldn’t stop myself from screaming into the phone.

            “Cory! Cory!”

            I clenched the phone in my fist so hard it might’ve broke if his, much fainter, voice came through the dying call. “ No…. I can’t explain everything Zach… there’s no way. Just…”

            No way was I settling for that! My longtime buddy had gotten himself into more than a shoplifting incident, and if I heard right the entire town was in chaos as well. “Cory, I don’t care if you can’t tell me now, because you can tell me to my face! I’m almost there-“

            My pickup groaned as it hit a large bump in the road with an excuse to whine about the last few miles.

            “NO!”

            The undiluted horror scared me, no, terrified me and I wasn’t even there to witness what was making those god awful sounds, those shrieks and growls that were in no way human.

            “I’m still going into town,” I grit my teeth. A need to know dominated my instincts on red alert; you know… those ones that are supposed to keep you alive, with the knowledge that something big was going down.

            If I was right about anything during the course of my misfortune-plagued life it was that.

            “… If you can hear me, Zach…” A frown dragged my face down. He hadn’t heard me? Damn. I opened my mouth to try again when his next words stopped me cold.

            They were barely more than a whisper, but each syllable felt like an icy punch to the gut.

            “If you can hear me… don’t come into town. Take that rusty truck of yours, slam on the accelerator and get away from here as fast as you can.” His breath seemed to rattle over the phone and my heart skipped a beat. “Don’t look back. Don’t you ever look back! Just keep driving.”

            I stared at the phone, unable to speak, move, or feel… nothing. And, somehow I knew that, if I could, Cory couldn’t hear me. Later, I would look back and wonder, if I had tried, would things have been any better? Would that one-sided conversation be more than a warning? Maybe I would’ve talked some sense, or he would realize that I cared, that I had from the very beginning, and that, if I’d done more than listen, maybe I wouldn’t have to watch him die.

            But at that moment, I could afford to pay attention to the broken words through the screaming. That phone of mine was nearly dead, even without the terrible connection. If I hadn’t been so shell-shocked, as impossible as it sounds, I may have not caught the final ones, but the fact I was in a suspended state actually increased their impact.

            “It was great knowing you, Z-man.”

            “Oh god no… Cory…” I muttered helplessly as the connection finally gave out in a terminal crackle while my cell bleeped its own funeral dirge.

            Stuck in my pickup without any way to contact the outside world, not that I was aware that there wasn’t going to be much of one any longer, sure that my friend had said his farewells and lacking any anchor, I was tempted to just break down and cry.

            And I would have. It was practically guaranteed… if I didn’t still have Cory’s plea resounding in my head.

            To say I had a penchant for disobeying direct orders and doing the exact opposite of what I was told would be an understatement. Of course, Cory knew me well enough to realize even on pain of death, or his, that would never change. The mere fact he had attempted to sway me was evidence of how bad the situation had to be.

            The situation I had no real idea of as I gunned the engine I had left idle when my foot had unconsciously slid to the brake, and roared down the dusty path. Blurry buildings- the kind of effect that is often induced when someone is dehydrated underneath the blazing sun for hours and understandably delusional and mistakes a sand dune for an oasis of water in an elaborate mirage- were rapidly becoming more solid, more real and I forced the truck to go even faster.

            As far as I could tell, there was either very little time left or, the unthinkable option, none at all. What I would do with it was another matter altogether. However, any doubts that a high school education country boy like myself couldn’t be of any help were dissuaded by my stubborn determination.

            That stubbornness led me further down the road and into the maw of something big and hungry.

            Out of nowhere, a tall, human figure appeared in the middle of the narrow, rutted path. I couldn’t see who it was exactly, but you wouldn’t need to check to see it was Mr. Rogers to avoid hitting him would you?

            I swerved to avoid him best I could with the limited space, my truck skidding onto the dust and rocks. Then, the craziest thing happened.

            The dude, whoever it was, actually leaped in front of the moving vehicle before I had a chance to drive into the sunset and I slammed on the brakes unthinkingly. A body flew across the windshield and I jolted in my seat, turning the steering wheel to the right sharply. Tires squealed and the truck spun almost full circle before coming to a screeching halt.

            I bounced forward in my seat belt before my body likewise slid into a stop. I stayed there, slumped over until my brain began to catch up to recent events. For starters, I wasn’t dead.

dont be a sore loser (its not done)

“Hey, I think that car is following us.” My friend said.

I turn around and look. The same car that I checked on about five minutes ago was still there. Ever since we left school it has been following us.

“Maybe… turn down this street.” I said, pulling him to the right.

“Wait, where are we going?” He asked.

“Don’t know yet. I just want to test something.” I answer.

After walking for a bit I turned and checked if the car was there; it was.

“So what now?” He asked, looking at the car, and then to me.

“I’m still thinking. Give me a sec.” I said, looking around.

As we started walking down the street, I looked for a spot to hide, but couldn’t find one. Then I had an idea. I stopped and sat down on the sidewalk.

“Hey Charles, sit down” I tell him.

“Why? I think we should keep walking.”

“Scared?” I asked.

“You wish. I’ll take on whoever’s in that car.” He said, turning towards the car.

“Sit down before you hurt yourself.” I said, while watching the car.

After he sat down, we waited for the car to pass. Once it had passed and kept driving, I got up and walked the way we had come.

“Hey, wait!” Charles said getting up and following me.

“Where are we going now?” He asked.

“Well I’m going home.”

“Guess I’ll go to the park.”

“Even after that car was following us?” I asked him

“Maybe I should go home.” He said, looking around.

“See you tomorrow.” I said and kept walking.

“Later.” Charles said as he walked off.

After walking for a bit I heard my phone go off. I look at who’s calling me and see Charles’ name.

“Hello?” I said.

No one answered, all I could hear was breathing. Then I heard a car speeding in the background.

“Hello?! Charles?! Dude, can you hear me?” I yell into the phone.

“Damn!” I said and took off running towards Charles’ house.

As I ran, I still tried to call Charles.

“Dude you there?!”

As I ran, I heard a car down the street then suddenly, Charles came into my sight.

“Charles!” I yelled at him.

He looked at me and started towards me.

I grabbed his arm and said. “You ok?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“No prob. Now lets get out of here.” I said and started to turn.

That’s when the car sped up and cut us off. I push Charles out of the way and got side swiped. I fell hard and looked at my leg which I couldn’t really feel. I saw the blood and flesh of my leg because of the tear in my thigh pant leg. I looked for Charles and saw him lying on the ground.

“Charles!” I yelled in pain.

He raised his head a little and turned towards me. Je shook his head and got up.

“You ok?” He asked walking over to me.

“Do I look ok?” I answered trying to get up.

He was about to help me up when the car came back and stopped. We both looked at it, then the door opened. A tall man stepped put of the car and waited by the door. I tried looking into the car but it was too dark. Then a shorter man got out of the car and stood there. He was a suit like jacket and jeans. He looked at Charles, me and back to Charles. He then pulled out a gun and shot Charles. He did it with such ease. It was like he just didn’t care at all. He had no emotion at all as he shot Charles again.

“Charles!” I yelled getting up and running to his fallen body.

I kneel at his body and just watch him. I touched his chest and then pulled back, blood all over my hands.

“Charles…” I say, watching him cough up blood.

“Why me?” Charles whispered.

“What the hell is your problem?!” I yell at the man with the gun.

“He didn’t play.” He said, and started walking towards us.

“Play? What the hell are you talking about?” I said standing up and stepping over Charles blocking the man from him.

“Move.” He said in a lazy, non-caring way.

“No. Back off.” I said watching him.

He just looked at me, then shot me in the leg. I fell, grabbing my leg.

“Shit! Why’d you shoot me?” I yelled in pain.

“You’re in the way.” He said kicking me to the side.

He walked over to Charles who just laid there staring at him. The man stared down at him, then raised his gun again.

“Fuck you.” Charles managed to say before he was shot three more times in the chest.

I watched him cough blood and twitch until he froze.

“Charles! Dude answer me!” I yell crawling towards him.

No answer. He didn’t look towards me or even move. I got up the best I could with all the rage building up inside of me. Then I fell on my knees next to Charles body. I look into his face and noticed the peacefulness in his eyes which also had a disturbing blankness to them. I then closed his eyes and touched his chest. I left up my hand and saw more blood then last time.

That’s when I realized that it had begun to rain. I don’t know when it really started, but it happened. I watch the blood wash off my hand, then look up at the man with the gun.

“Why? Why would you do something like this?” I asked.

He didn’t say anything he just looked at me with cold eyes.

“Why! Why the fuck would you do this?” I yell getting up trying to ignore the pain running in my leg.

“Tell me!” I yelled at him, taking a step towards him.

He looked away then turned towards me and said. “He wouldn’t play.”

“You said that! What the hell are you talking about?” I said, taking one step closer.

Then I heard a voice coming from inside the car parked to the side of us. “Just tell him.”

“My name is Kyle and we conducted a game that you must kill or be killed.” The man with the gun said.

“What?” I said, not understanding.

“We give you a phone which will give you updates on info that you might need. Also, the phone comes with a special gift, each one is random. Then you find people with the other phones and kill them. If you don’t, they’ll come for you.” He told me

“Your crazy and this makes no sense. Then why did you kill Charles, you dick!” I yelled at him

“Because, if you don’t play we kill you and most of the time your family. Weird I know but who cares.” He said with a smile that creeped me out.

“Wait your going to kill his family?” I asked.

“Yes, of course.” He said with no emotion like before

“No. Don’t.” I said

I just wanted to protect Charles’ family that I’ve known since 2^nd grade. We were now 11^th graders. I just didn’t want to see them hurt.

“Too bad.” He said and raised his gun at me.

“What? Did you think I’d let you live?” he asked

“Wait!” I said and raised my hands

“What?”

“I’ll play your game. Only if you don’t kill his family.” I said trying to keep my cool.

“Why would I let you?” he asked

“Because you’re out a person.” I say looking at Charles.

“How are you going to play? You kinda need me.” I said, turning back to him

Then Kyle slowly lowered his gun, then brought it back up pointed at me. He was ready I saw the smile that sent shivers down my spine on his face the coldness in his eyes.

“Wait.” We heard from the car.

With his gun in my face he turned towards the car.

“What?”

“Let him. I want to see how it plays out.”

“Fine.” He said looking angry.

He turned to walk away but then turned and hit me with his gun and I blacked out.

It felt weird being unconscious. Well to me it was, plus I could feel everything happening to me. Like the screaming of other people, somebody picking me up, I could see blur of red flashing lights and then bright white lights. I could hear people yelling and people touching me. I got tired of it so I opened my eyes, which was very hard. They felt so heavy. Then I slowly sat up and looked around.

“What’s up?” I said

Everyone froze for a second, then they all kind of jumped and were back to doing their jobs.

One guy told me to lie down. Another asked how I felt and what hurt. I tried telling them I was ok and the pain was gone but they wouldn’t listen to me. So I did what they said and laid there. I looked around and thought I saw some guy watching me but then again it was a hospital, people like to stare. Then I saw him staring again and I thought “Hey he could work for Kyle.”

“Oh shit!” I said sitting up

“I remember now.” I whispered

“What was that?” one of the doctors asked

“It’s nothing.” I say looking around some more

Before I could finish looking around they put me in a room and just left. I thought it was weird that they would leave a kid who was just shot, all alone. It seemed a little odd to me. That’s when the door opened and Kyle walked in.
“Oh shit!” I yelled and jumped out of my bed. Then I felt the pain in my leg and fell to the ground.

He just stood there looking at me and then turned away then looked back again.

“Dumbass.” Was all he said.

“Bastard! You killed my friend!” I said pointing at him

“Yeah, and your lucky I didn’t kill you.” He said reaching for his gun

“Stop.” A voice behind him said

He froze like he was scared or something which made me laugh a little. He slowly moved his hand away from his gun and he moved to the side. An older man walked into the room and stood there looking at me.

“Can I help you?” I asked him

“No but I can help you.” He said pulling out a cell phone.

“Here, take this. You’re going to need it.” He said holding it out.

“Thanks?” I said taking the phone.

“I’m sure they told you about the game?” he asked

I just nod, messing with the phone he handed me.

“Good. Now you will take your friend’s spot. I’ll tell you the rules of the game. There are no rules besides win. There are six or seven others with phones like that.” He said pointing at it.

“We want you to kill them, or be killed by them. It’s very simple. Also each phone has a special program in it to help you and when you kill someone, you sync your phones together and you get theirs too.”

“Special program?” I said flipping open the phone

“Yes yours has a scanner which can tell you where the other phones are.” He told me

“Really? So I can go get them right now?” I asked

“No, they have to be in range of the radar.”

“This is so confusing.” I thought

“Any questions?”

“I don’t think so. Just kill the other people?”

“Yes that’s it. Well, have a nice day.” He said and turned away.

“Yeah, have a nice day. I just have to kill people now. Ha. Great day.” I say now sitting on my bed.

“Kids these days. They don’t respect anything.” Was all he said before leaving.

“What the hell?” I said

“Good luck.” Kyle said with a sarcastic tone.

“Thanks and go fuck yourself.” I said to him

All he did was look at me, and then left. So I sat back in the bed and flipped open the phone again and started to go through it. First I went to the contacts and noticed seven phone numbers already in it. The weird part was that instead of names, they were listed 1-7.

Then it said “New text message, read now?” under it was a yes and no. I clicked yes. The text was from number 3.

“How did he get my number? I asked myself”

I opened it and it said. “Number 3 is in the building.”

“Number three is in the building?” I said. It was at that moment I understood. The radar was sent in text mode and tells me where the other phones are at.

“That’s cool.” I told myself. Then realized what just happened.

“Shit number 3 is trying to kill me.” I said jumping out of bed and falling to the floor. The pain in my leg was still pretty bad.

Then my phone went off again. The text read: “number 3 is in the elevator.”

“Is that all you can tell me? What elevator is he on?” I yelled at the phone.

Nothing happened.

“I got to do something.” I said to myself.

I look around the room to see if anything can help me. At first, I couldn’t find anything, and then I realized the perfect thing to do. I climbed back on to my bed and turn towards the wall. I look at the little buttons on the wall and saw the “nee-help” button so I pushed it. At first I thought that doctors were going to bust in to the room as soon as I pushed it like in the movies, but I had to wait.

Then the phone went off. It read: “number 3 is off the elevator.”

So I pushed the button again and waited.

Another text: “number 3 is down the hall.”

“How long does it take?” I said, still waiting.

Another text: “number 3 walked past your room.

I looked at the text and smiled. I was safe for now. As I began to relax, the door opened and I almost jumped out my bed. I waited as one of the doctors that had left me in here walked in.

“What’s wrong?” Are you ok?” he asked

At that moment I received a text that read: “number 3 is in the room.”

As I read those words I didn’t understand. I sat there for a second then I looked up at the doctor. He stared at me with a blank expression. It felt like everything paused.

“Yes Stephon…?” he asked

“It’s nothing. False alarm.” I told him putting the phone down.

“False alarm huh?”

“Yeah sorry.” I said

I felt like everything paused again. Then he took a step forward.

“Yeah so I’m going to sleep now.” I told him.

“Ok just let me check your charts.” He said

“Could it wait I’ve been through a lot.” I asked

We just stared at each other again.

“Ok I’ll be back.” He said and left

“Come on! My doctor? This is bullshit!” I yell

“What to do, what to do? I thought.

As I sat there deep in thought I didn’t notice the door opening. When I looked up it was too late, my doctor ran in and jumped at me. He pulled out a scalpel and slashed it at me. I laid down and his swing missed, so I grabbed his arm and punched him in the face with my free arm. As he fell over I pushed the “need-help” button without him noticing. As he came at me again I rolled over off my bed so he missed. Trying to forget the pain in my leg I sat up and swung my arm and, ending up back handing him. Then I made a fist and swung hitting him again.

Then he sat up and jumped over the bed and was standing over me. I sat there staring up at him.

“I’m sorry.” He said

“Save it.” I told him

As he took a step forward the door opened and a doctor walked in. everything paused and that’s when I took my chance.

“Help! Help me!” I yelled

That’s when more people rushed in the room. My doctor didn’t know what to do. He looked around for a way out but the door was the only thing and it was blocked. He took a step back then turned his head a little. He stared out the window then looked at the other doctors and took a step forward but then turned and jumped out the window.

“What the hell?” I said watching him

“I’ll get you!” he yelled as he fell.

Everyone in the room froze but then it clicked what happened. Some ran to the window others ran out the door but the other doctor helped me onto my bed.
“What was that all about?” the doctor asked.

“I don’t know.” I said in my scared voice.

“He just attacked me.” I told him.

“It’ll be ok. We won’t let him come back and or touch you.” He told me like I was a little kid.

“Ok.” I said and lied back.

That same day I switched rooms and I even got a guard. For the rest of the time I was there; two weeks, it was very peaceful.

“Well take it easy.” My new doctor told me

“I will thanks for everything.” I said walking out the door waving.

“No problem be careful.” He said

“I will!” I yell back.

On my way home (because my mom signed me out the day before) I stopped at the plaza near my house. I sat down at one of the open tables. I sat there for a couple of minutes when a man took a seat across from me.

“Can I help you?” I asked looking up then realizing who it was.

“Well doctor it’s been awhile.” I told him.

“You got lucky last time.” He said.

“Really? I was just smarter.” I said

“Smarter? You…” he started

“Wish? I know. The way I played you the whole time. I also know more about you now.” I said then waited.

“I will kill you, don’t think I won’t.”

“Yeah I believe you but you can’t do anything right now.” I said nodding to the police officers eating their lunch.

“For now I can’t. I’ll get u later.” He said getting up.

“Will you? I’m, pretty sure I’ll win.” I told him also standing.

“Can you even kill someone? I don’t think you can.”

“You can’t be too sure huh? Don’t judge a book by its cover.” I said and started walking away.

I didn’t look back I just walked down the way towards my house but then turned down this back way and with some trouble hopped the fence and went home.

Going to school the next day wasn’t the best thing for me to do. First when I walked in the school, most people were staring then other came up and hugged me. I wasn’t trying to be mean but I hate hugs so I kind of pushed them away. I didn’t know why everyone was crying or acting like they cared, they didn’t even know him. Acting like they knew my best friend when they probably just found out his name. That’s another reason I don’t like people here or anywhere. I do have other friends here but Charles was my best friend. I will kill Kyle for what he did. Yes I will be ok killing him and no remorse. I couldn’t care less; as long as I’m alive I don’t care. Some think it’s selfish but I don’t care its human nature. So I walk away from people and went to my class.

After dealing with that for about a week I went off on the kids for acting like they knew him. They didn’t and I didn’t like half of these kids. All I heard was people talking about me or saying I had something to do with Charles death, saying I have no emotion. I told them to back off and I deal with it my own way. People don’t understand, they only think of themselves. That Friday at school I was getting ready to go home but I was followed by a group of kids.

“Can I help you?” I asked them

“Hi, we were wondering if you wanted to go to the mall this weekend with us?” this girl asked me.

“No I’m fine.” I answered her.

“You sure? I think it might be fun.”

“Yeah I believe you so you have some fun.” I said and started to walk away.

“Wait are you sure?”

“Yes I’m sure.” Then I walked away

Then as I walked farther I stopped. I thought about it and then a plan popped in my head. I turn around and walk towards the group of kids.

“Hey what day?” I asked.

As we walk around the mall together I realized these kids are annoying. We walked and they talked, I just listened. They tried to bring up Charles talking to me about I said a random response here and there so I wasn’t rude. At one point while we ate one kid tried to bring Charles up but I shot the convo down. They didn’t even know him, so why are they talking about him? Even though it was a little awkward I guess I had some fun. Then when we were walking down the stairs I saw my doctor.

“Shit.” Then I started walking backwards.

“Hello.”

Even though people were walking between us and the group I could hear him perfectly.

Then as I stood there waiting for something to happen but it felt like time froze. It took a minute but my hand was at my hip on the knife in my pocket which was giving to me from Charles. I remember the guy handing me a package wrapped up like a birthday gift. It had a little card with it, when I opened it; it said “open alone”. When I got home I went into my room and closed my door. I sat in my desk chair and put the small box on my desk. I stared at it for a minute then unwrapped it and opened the box. I pick it up and looked inside, inside was a knife. I remember seeing this knife before, Charles showed it to me before. It belonged to his brother who passed away. I sat there staring at it for god knows how long.

As I stood there waiting for my doctor to do something but he just stood there watching my every move.

“Hey what’s wrong?” one of the kids in the group asked

I paused not saying anything. “It’s nothing.” I said but didn’t move.

“We’ll are you coming?” he asked

“Yeah give me a minute I just saw a old friend of mine.” I told him

“Oh ok well when your done come find us.”

“Yeah ok.” I said and they left

“Well how you been Stephon?” he asked

“I’m doing good. How about you? I saw you on the news” I told him

“It’s your fault!”

“Not really, you tried killing me.” I said now walking forward.

“Your name was on my list so you have to die.” He told me

“What list?” I asked

“The list in my phone.” He answered but then paused. It seemed like he didn’t want me to know anymore.

Then I thought about it and it most be is phone program. Then I stopped. Why didn’t mine go off?

“What phone not working?” he said with a smile.

“I found a way to get past your phone.”

“What how?” I asked

“Like I would tell you. Now would you please come with me or do you want to die here?” he asked raising his hand like I would take it.

“Fine let’s go.” I said walking forward and reaching into my jacket for my phone.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to win this.” I told him walking past him.

We walk to an exit then went out side. As soon as the door closed he swung at me. I kept backing up so his hits wouldn’t make contact. Then he pulled out his scalpel and waited.

“Scared?” I asked

Without a sound he lunged at me so I jumped to the side. I pulled out my knife and waited for him to do something. His blade was like an inch and mine was a little longer then my palm of my hand. I stabbed at him but he grabbed my arm and kneed me in the gut. I dropped my knife and tumbled then he punched me and I fell. Then I ran and tackled him in his waist into the wall. Then I kept punching him till he cut my arm with his scalpel. I pulled back and picked up my knife. He got up so I ran at him. He stabbed at me but I put up my hand and blocked his arm pulled my other arm back and stabbed into his chest. I tried pulling it out but it was stuck and I moved it around then yanked it out.

“Damn.” Was all he said and slide down the wall

I just watched him bleed stunned and shocked. I didn’t know what to do after that. I did stab him but what next? He was just quiet, I couldn’t even tell if he was breathing. I stepped forward and knelt next to him.

“Hey.” I said watching him

He opened his eyes then looked at his hand covered in blood. I waited but he just put his hand back on his wound. He glared at me then looked at the sky. That’s when I thought he was dead but I was wrong.

“Well looks like you did beat me.” He finally said now looking at me

“Looks like it.” I said

“Damn got passed your phone and everything. How did I lose?” he questioned his actions

“How did you get pass my phone? Why didn’t it go off?” I asked him

He stared at me then took his phone out of his pocket. He flipped it open then turned it to me. The screen was black. Then it clicked to me.

“Your phone is off?”

“Yes.” He said smiling

“Well not to be rude but give me your phone.”

“You did win, so I guess.” He said tossing me the phone.

I caught the phone and waited but the doctor didn’t say anything. So I turned on the phone and went through it. After going in the notes and that’s when I found his program. His was a list of the player’s names. So it made sense how he found me in the hospital. So I read the names then stopped at the fourth name. I read the first name then the last and I did it again. It couldn’t be right, it couldn’t be him.

“Will I lose another friend?” I asked myself.

I spent the next week first haunted after my doctor’s death and worrying about the upcoming events. Some how I got through the death pretty fast which I was a little worried about. You think someone would be more torn up about that but I wasn’t. Besides that I watched my next opponent. I even talked to him but I don’t think he knows about me. So I kept up my surveillance on him. I just kept wondered when the day would come that we’d have to fight this out. I really didn’t want to either. Thinking about it all I didn’t want to fight anyone besides Kyle. The people I have to get rid of might have a family or someone who cares about them. Who was I to take them away… well unless they attacked me first. Then I would have to do what I had to do.

“Hey Francisco what’s up?” I asked seeing him

“Nothing much. What are you doing over here?”

“Just chilling like usual.” I told him

“Ok. So how have you been? Like with the Charles thing?”

“Oh I’m fine I guess. He wouldn’t want me to be hung up about it. Well that’s what we told each other at least.”

“What ever helps you get through it.”

“Thanks what you doing after school?” I asked

“I have practice remember? Something you should go to.” He said punching my arm.

“Yeah… Maybe when I’m not feeling lazy.”

“Then you’ll never get to practice.” He said and laughed

“True I guess.” I said looking at him. “I have to go.” And I started to walk away.

“See you around.” He said.

“Later.” Was all I said and turned a corner and just stood there.

Why did this have to happen? I had a pretty good life before all this. We all had pretty good lives, well I hope the others did too. Charles did. I know he was really happy besides for his brothers death. That hit his whole family pretty hard also. His poor mom must be in so much pain now with both of them gone. I still visited her which I think helps her.

“Why are you just standing there?”

I look straight in front of me and see Kyle in a door way. I just stare at him not sure what to do.

“Really what’s wrong with you?” he asked

“Nothing really, just see a dead man.” I said reaching for my knife

“Not the smartest place to this is it?” he said walking into the hall

I look around and saw no one but then again didn’t know if there was people in that open class he was in. Then again someone could walk by. No cameras in this hall way and I have my knife, I know for a fact his weapon is a gun which is a little louder then my knife. So I just kept my hand on my hip so it would be faster to get it.

“What do you want?” I asked glaring at him

“Just wanted to say hi and good job with the doctor. I was going to do it but shit happens huh?” he told me

“Well should have been faster. Now I’m going to take care of the rest and then come for you got it?” I said pointing at him

“You don’t have the balls.”

“That’s what the doctor said too.” I told him smiling

Kyle smiled back and then his grin got more sinister and cold. His eyes were on me and nothing else. I could see the death in them. I waited for him to do something which I thought he would but he stopped and looked away.

“You’re boring. I’m out of here.” He told me and turned around and started walking

“You should never turn your back to the enemy.” I said

“Yeah only if their a threat, which you aren’t.” he said and walked out the hall way

I didn’t move, I froze up and wondered if I could really win this. If I could beat him and still be sane at the end of this.