Grafiti For Good (0n Hold)

Running

When Myer woke up the next morning, his jaw was aching like crazy. Slowly getting out of bed, he went to the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face and take some ibuprofen. When he looked in the mirror, he saw his jaw had a massive purple bruise on it.

Although Myer had successfully made it back to school unnoticed, and had stayed out of trouble with any teachers, he was sure he was going to face some serious interrogation from his mother.

Not wanting to face her yet, Myer threw on some running clothes and slipped his feet into his sneakers, heading out the back door and winding around the house to go for a morning jog. It was Saturday, and so he didn't have to worry about getting back home in time for anything.

He decided to take a more scenic route. His house was on the outskirts of town, and so there were several forests and empty fields surrounding the area he was in.

The temperature was slightly chilly, but as Myer ran, his body warmed up until he broke a light sweat. As he jogged, he gazed over at one of the fields- the only one that wasn't full of crops or just resting in preparation for a future season.

It was so out of place in the surrounding nature, but standing tall in the middle of one of the largest lots was a closed-down banking corporate office. Myer could remember when it was open when he was much younger. He had always followed his mom when she said she would be going there, in hopes of her letting him eat one of the colorful lollipops next to each teller's window.

The building itself looked fairly well kept, except for one side that was largely covered in graffiti. Even from a distance, he could read the some of the words: Biothin- abusing children to make you skinny.

He'd heard of Biothin before. It was a huge corporate weight loss company that was based out of the same town he lived in. The amount of jobs it brought to Riverside was monumental, and it was hands-down the basis of the entire town's economy. Clearly, someone didn't like it at all, but that didn't seem to effect the company too much, as the graffiti had been there for over a year, and Biothin was running just as strong as ever.

Myer slowed down until he was stopped for a moment, pausing to remove the cap off from his water bottle and take a long drink. Mid-drink, he heard footsteps right behind him, and a confident girl's voice say his name.

Myer turned around, saw Sara, and then choked on the water he was drinking.

"Um, hi." He said, thoroughly embarrassed and surprised to see her.

"I was just going for a jog myself." She told him. "Do you mind if I join you?"

Myer couldn't imagine what he looked like. Sweaty, bruised and definitely not the best smelling person in the world. The idea of Sara seeing him jogging looking like that didn't sound too great, but he liked seeing her too much to say no, so he shook his head in response.

"No, I don't mind." Myer said, then, realizing she'd come out of nowhere, asked "Where did you come from?"

Sara smiled. "I live close." She said, winking.

If it was a joke, Myer certainly didn't get it.

"There aren't any houses close by here." He said, still confused.

"I never said I lived in a house." Sara replied evenly.

Myer, double checking to make sure there weren't any other buildings beside the bank, looked at Sara incredulously.

"Do you live in that?" He asked, pointing to the bank.

Sara nodded. "I do. And so does Carlos, who, by the looks of your jaw, you need to go see."

Sara reached out and gently turned Myer's face towards her, gently probing his jaw.

"I don't think anything's broken," She said, "But we should go anyway."

"Okay." Myer said. Maybe Carlos could help him hide the bruise before he got home. He really didn't want to face his mother. Then, realizing that Sara had actually just said she lived in the abandoned corporate bank, he stopped and stared at her inquisitively.

"Why do you live there?" He asked her. "Isn't that illegal?"

Sara smiled again. "Slightly." She told him, nodding. "But I don't feel too bad about it."

"Slightly?"

"Well, you see, I own own it... slightly." She said.

"Slightly?" Myer repeated.

"Come on, let's get going." Sara said, turning around and walking into the tall jungle of overgrown weeds, ignoring Myer's question.

Myer followed her, surprised that there was a small path where the weeds were cut down that wasn't visible from the road. Myer walked behind her through several twists and turns, noting that there were occasionally other pathways that cut off to other sections. There didn't seem to be any reason for there to be other pathways, because there was only the bank... but then again, the path hadn't been visible from the road, so maybe there were some other things. He noted that the other pathways hadn't been cut, but trampled on.

"Sara?" Myer asked, intending to find out where the other pathways went, but Sara either didn't hear him or didn't want to answer. Myer felt too timid to ask again, so he just continued following her in silence.

The trek seemed much longer than it had looked from the road, but a sudden scream ringing out in the silence halted their steps.

"No." Sara said, looking all at once concerned and frantic. She grabbed Myer's hand and pulled him roughly along, breaking into a run. As soon as they reached the doors to the bank, Sara spun around and stared Myer down.

"Remember what I told you about me trusting you and what will happen if you violate that trust?" Sara asked him.

Myer swallowed hard, then nodded.

"That still applies." She said, and then opened the door of the bank to reveal a group of three children lying on the floor, screaming, moaning, and drenched in blood.