Blood Lust

Familiarity

Atlas looked to his left and saw someone who made him go straight faced. He huffed, the person briskly walking over to him.

"Why?" Atlas thought to himself. He wanted to get on his bike and drive off as fast as he could but that would be considered rude.

"Hey!" A girl around the height of 5'6" said, hugging Atlas.

"Madison, so nice to see you again." The boy said, with a monotone voice.

"Oh my gosh! How are you Atlas!" Madison asked, her voice getting louder with every word she spoke.

"I'm good. How about we calm down yeah?" Atlas suggested.

"Oh, yeah, sorry." The girl said, loosening her grip on Atlas's torso. She stepped back and took a good, long look at the boy, "you look different."

"It's most likely the scar on my face. I didn't have it when you were around."

"Huh, possibly." Madison said, twirling a piece of dirty blonde hair in between her fingers.

"Well, I have to go Madison. So sorry I'm cutting our little reunion short."

"Oh! No, it's all good! Tell your parents that your past lover said hello!"

"I will," Atlas said, flashing the girl a faux smile, grabbing his helmet and putting it on.

Madison stood waiting for Atlas to drive off and then left when he did. Atlas drove home and parked his bike in the driveway, putting up the kickstand so it wouldn't fall. He walked inside and looked around, not seeing his parents anywhere in the house.

Atlas walked to the kitchen and found a note on the table that read:

Your father and I are out. There's money for pizza and you have the house to yourself. Please do not go into the woods like we've already asked of you.

~ Mom

Atlas set the note down and looked at the money. It was twenty bucks, enough to buy at least one medium sized pizza and give a tip to the delivery driver. Atlas took it and called the nearest pizza place. He ordered a medium pepperoni pizza and the woman on the other line said that it would be ready in around 25 minutes. He thanked her and hung up the phone. Atlas turned, the feeling of being watched fell over him and he hoped it wasn't something coming out to play. Atlas heard a creak from behind him and turned. A shadowy figure stood staring at him and then walked forward, into the light.

"Dude, you scared me." Atlas said, letting out a breath.

Rudy laughed, "it's funny how your first instinct is to turn and look at whatever's behind you and then run." He paused, apologizing to the frightened boy, "sorry for scaring you, but I heard you ordered pizza?"

"Yeah, I did. Wanna have a movie night?"

"Say no more!" Rudy said, jumping over the couch and landing on it.

Atlas grabbed the remote and turned on the television. He searched through the channels for a bit before settling on a horror movie. Rudy was hooked as soon as Atlas flipped to the channel and started mumbling about how dumb the girl on screen was for running towards the danger.

"Atlas, you guys have the same traits. You're always running towards the danger and not away from it."

Atlas rolled his eyes. "Haha, so funny." He said, a sarcastic look on his face.

====

About 30 minutes had gone by and another horror film started up. The delivery driver still hadn't gotten to Atlas's house yet and Rudy was screaming at the TV.

"How stupid can you be! Do you not know your right from left!"

Atlas shook his head at his friend's antics and heard a knock on the front door. His eyes shone with excitement and hunger and he went to open the door. Atlas put his hand on the door knob and opened it but it wasn't who he was expecting. Letting out a huff, he felt like slamming his head on the door. It was the same 5'6", dirty blonde haired girl who was talking to him earlier.

"Madison." Atlas said.

"Hey! So, you still live here."

"Yep, I've lived here since the age of 12. Don't plan on moving anytime soon."

Madison gave a laugh that was so high pitched, it sounded fake. "You're so funny Atlas! Who's that sitting on your couch? It better not be another girl."

"It's Rudy." Atlas said, "what are you doing here?"

"Um, I'm here because I just wanted to see if you still lived here, duh."

"Madison, why are you actually here?" Atlas pressed.

"Okay. I'm here because I miss you."

Atlas's eyebrows furrowed. "You miss me? We barely talked to each other when you lived here."

"I know, but I couldn't stop thinking about you."

"Madison, you called the police on me and told them that I wouldn't date you, so they needed to arrest me."

"I know, and I'm sorry for that. I was stupid, and still am. I miss you and want you back." The girl begged.

"First off, we were never dating, so there's no way you could 'want me back'. Second, I accept your apology, but I think you need to go."

"Okay, I'll leave, but thank you for accepting my apology." Madison said as she walked away from Atlas's front door.

Atlas closed the door and groaned. "Why the heck are people like this?"

"I don't know dude." Rudy said, shaking his head. "Did she ask if I was a girl?"

"Yeah, she also said that you better not be."

"Wow. She's gonna go on a rampage and you will not be seen in the next two weeks."

Atlas looked at Rudy with concern, "if you don't hear from, or see me in the next two days, you can go ahead and have everything in my room."

"Yes! I always knew you were a great friend!" Rudy said, smiling.

Atlas shook his head and laughed, flopping on the couch next to his friend. He had become fixated on the horror movie that was playing on the television screen.

====

Rudy had left and Atlas was back to being home alone. The two boys had watched four movies together before Rudy decided on going home. The dirty blonde haired boy didn't tell his parents where he was, and he was getting calls all night.

Atlas yawned, he was tired but fought against his slumber. He was up, sketching and doodling random things. He had picked up a love for drawing and painting through an art class he took once. Atlas wasn't really the type to draw much, but when he did, he made things unrecognizable to the eyes of anyone who had never seen what he had. He only drew things he had seen, everyone would ask where he found his inspiration, and every time, he would respond with, 'in my head'.