we need to leave

ominous

"what the fuck"

my eyes widen, blood and other bodily fluids r splattered on the dirt floor. my horrid smell rushes to my nose and i slightly cringe. run down little houses surround the path, most likely where other people r being held. the man who opened the door flashes his ugly crooked smile at me. his rusty voice telling me to beat it.

ray starts to walk away, my body quickly follows after, no longer frozen in place. i step in a puddle of blood. the liquid splashes above my ankles. the unsettling feeling of red droplets trickling down my leg and into my socks. i try to ignore what is going on from my knees down, and try to focus on catching up with ray. which shouldnt be so hard, besides he like walks if hes in those slow-mo edits on instagram. pretty slow if u ask me.

i run up to ray, tugging on his arm. he hums in response, turning around to look at me with his chocolate brown eyes. his emotionless demeanor from earlier fades away with a simple turn of his lips. i hook my left arm with his right, walking with a bounce in our steps. silence in the air, no words being said, instead choosing to communicate with glances and looks.

we r never going to get anywhere like this... i unhook my arm from his and grab his hand. i start speed up a little and, not long after, begin to run. i pick up a decently fast speed, the wind blowing my hair and the sun shining down on my face. my legs feel smooth and solid, it feels good.

"what.. ru d-doing?" ray says, already out of breath.

i look back to see ray with a confused look on his face. a soft tint of pink is dusted over his cheeks, although it was probably because of the running. my heartbeat seems to play a familiar melody, a melody that has been playing ever since i woke up.

i look back forward, a smile forming on my face. "it seems we have reached our destination~" i say, slowing down and letting ray catch his breath.

beautiful tennis courts r in front of us, baskets of new balls and cubbies at the gate. i curiously walk over to the cubbies with names on them. i find my name, and pull out the things inside.

inside is my old tennis bag that ive always used. the giant words "yonex" printed on the red and black sack. i pick up the heavy bag, putting it on like a backpack. i look over to ray who is looking inside his cubby. his long fingers brush over a white material, before taking out a yonex racket bag.

"what happened to ur old beat up bag?" i laugh slightly.

ray puts on his bag and walks past me, a clear smile on his face, "i upgraded."

we walk over to the other side of the court, a bench and some shade ready for our heavy equipment. ray takes out his signature red and black racket, a trusty pro staff. i look back over to my bag and unzip one of the pockets. i settle on my red and blue vcore out of the many others. i take off the black hoodie, placing it down on the bench.

"do u wanna play points or warm up first?" ray asks picking at his strings.

"warm up, i prolly suck rn dont laugh at me." i point at him and starting walking back to the end of the court.

ray runs over to the baseline, a fresh new ball in his hand. he feeds a soft ball towards my direction. i load up to rip the ball. i hit the ball hard... and it goes behind me, hitting a couple trees. a wave of embarrassment hits me harder than i hit those trees. ray drops down to the floor, dying of laughter.

"hey! u said u wouldnt laugh," i start to laugh as well.

"ok but i didnt know u were actually serious!" ray says with a hand over his mouth, "u gotta warm up fs."

he takes another ball out of his pocket and feeds it again. we warm up for a while, passing a few jokes here and there, and laugh when one of us messes up big time.