Baylen Levine || Behind the cameras

Chapter 16

TW: BLOOD AND GORE

Baylen's POV

For hours we all reminisced, laughing together. My parents went off to bed and my dad was still steady smiling. Lilah was too. Everyone was.

"I'm not tired." Lilah said.

"Me neither. Wanna go for a drive?" I said.

"It's only 10pm. OH! Mr. Kahn's is still open!" She said.

"You read my mind."

We hopped in my Tesla and drove to Exxon. We pulled in and I turned the car off and faced Lilah.

"Okay... let's prank him." I said.

"What? Noooo Baylen I don't wanna mess with him he's so nice."

"It won't be mean! What do you take me for? That's my daddy."

She laughed. "Okay. What are we doing?"

"He probably won't remember you. It's been what, like..."

"6 months or something like that." Lilah said.

"Right exactly." I said. "So... go in there and like.. I mean RUN in and shut the door behind you and act all scared. Tell him someone is chasing you."

"Ohhh my god, that IS mean." She said.

"No it's shocking, he will laugh after I promise. Anyway so like shut the door and hold it shut and tell him they're gonna chase you into the store and you need help to barricade the door. Then I run in and scare the shit out of him." I said.

"Are you sure he won't be mad?" Lilah asked. Even thought she was concerned, I could tell she wanted to do it.

"He won't. He loves me. He will be like OK OHH IT IS BAYLEN." I said, impersonating him.

She laughed again. "Okay let's do it."

We got out and I stood against the brick wall near the doors, out of view. I mic'd her up. "Okay go." I whispered. "I'm gonna record, I have the camera in the car facing the door."

Lilah took a couple steps back in the parking lot. She took a deep breath and shook her hands, preparing. She giggled at me. I shushed her and she got serious and then ran full force through the doors, screaming.

I heard her from outside.

She shut the doors and held them closed, breathing hard like she was terrified. "Sir, please help me. Someone is chasing me!"

"Ohh vut? Chasing ju?" Khan said in his accent.

"Yes! Please help he's gonna come in through the doors.

I peered in to see Kahn rush over and locked the doors. "Okeh okeh, is locked now, yes? Come come behind uh... counter." He led Lilah back there. I heard another voice inside. A male, not Kahn.

Oh shit. Was there a customer inside?

I couldn't make out what he was saying but I started to get in position to run to the door. I was gonna bang on it since it was locked. I stood back and then ran, shouting like a crazy person, but before I reached the door the glass shattered and I felt a hot, piercing pain in my lower abdomen. I fell to my knees and a scream came out of me that I couldn't suppress. My vision got fuzzy as I clutched my abdomen and brought my hands up to see so much blood. I heard Lilah screaming saying 'it was a prank it was a prank', Mr. Kahn talking fast and panicking, and that unknown male voice frantically apologizing.

Then everything went black.

Lilah's POV

Mr. Kahn led me behind the counter and I almost snickered and blew the whole prank before I heard some guy from the back of the store. I didn't realize there was a customer.