FIGHTER ; Robin Arellano

10

Song: My Heart Will Go on- Celine Dion

THE FACES OF THE MISSING POSTERS SURROUNDED JADE. It was horrible, seeing all their ghosts.

Griffin Stagg, the youngest. He wore a baggy gray tee shirt, which was dirtied with soil and blood. Same with his black shorts and high knee socks. His wound— which most likely was the cause of his death, was a slit to the throat.

Jade knew Griffin, she used to babysit for extra cash and he was one of the boys she watched.

Vance Hopper stood on his right, hands crossed. Jade didn't really know the boy, but they weren't very fond of each other while they were alive.

Jade beat him in a game of pinball once, and he kicked her in the leg with his boot as she cheered. She had a huge bruise on her ankle for a while.

His eyes darted away from her when she made eye contact with him. Fists tightened, he tried not to appear weak.

Billy Showalter.. or paperboy, which was what Jade used to call him. She knew him, and he knew her. But they weren't necessarily close.

He came by to drop off the mail, and would say good morning to her since no one else would. And she would say good morning back, little to her knowledge, it was one of the nicest encounters the boy ever had. After he went missing, she would say good morning to his dog every morning until she was captured.

Billy came up to her and hugged her.

"Bella loved you." Bella was his golden retriever.

Before she could look Bruce in the eyes, he came up to her and hugged her, slightly picking her up with a tight squeeze.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you, Jay."

Bruce was Jade's first crush, but he was now like another brother to her. Finney would say the same thing.

And Robin.. he blinked, a tear running down his face. Jade walked towards him, grabbing his hands.

"Hola mi amor," he said with a smile, crying now.

She pulled him in with her hands, hugging him. "Bonjour, mon amour."

It was roughly ten minutes later when he returned. The Grabber carried Finney over his shoulder, frightening Jade. She stood up quickly, rushing over.

But when she went to grab Finney's hand, she couldn't. She wasn't used to this, dead thing.

He threw Finney onto the mattress, and left.

"Finney!" Jade gasped, sitting on the mattress. She cried as he laid there, unconscious.

"Is.. is he alive?" Bruce whispered.

"He is." Robin told them, after peering closer by his sleeping body.

"Son of a bitch." Jade flipped her head around from the corner of the basement as Finney woke up. The phone rang, and Jade seen Vance Hopper holding it.

He stared at Jade as it rang, over and over. Finney didn't answer it right away though.

"No." Finney said.

"No. Fuck you."

"Damn it!" He stood up and answered it.

It stopped ringing. "What?" He asked. "You gonna say something?"

"Do you even know who you are?" He yelled at the phone.

Vance rolled his eyes up, and tightened his fist. "What the shit kind of question is that." He called into the reciever.

"Do you even know who you are?" Vance walked around to the other side of the bed, leaving the phone there as he spoke to Finney.

He sat down on the mattress, opposite side from Finney. "I'm Finney Blake," he told Vance.

"Well. Nice to fucking meet you Finney Blake.."

Vance pointed forward, as if talking to him. "Right here. This is it."

"This is what?"

"The horrible nightmare end of your pathetic little life."

Finney's eyes softened for a moment, realizing who he was talking too. "Holy shit! You're Vance Hopper.. I remember you. You used to scare me."

"Trust me Finney Blake, if you knew what you had coming, you'd be fucking terrified."

"Todays the day motherfucker!" Vance stood up. He nicked the wall, which brought Jade memories to when he kicked her in the leg, on the day he went missing.

Jade entered the Grab n' Go, a bell ringing above her head as she did so. To her right, she seen Vance Hopper playing a game of Pinball. His friend stood next to him watching.

After Jade bought her Heath bar, she approached the two boys.

"I betcha twenty bucks I can get a higher score than that." She laughed, pointing to the score Vance got.

His head turned slowly as her, squinting at the sight of a younger girl.

"The fuck?" He grinded his teeth. "I'd like to see you try."

And so Jade did so. She passed his highscore, by ten points. She grinned, turning to face Vance with a cocky expression.

"Motherfucker!" He yelled, shoving her into the machine and kicking her. Jade laughed at him, flipping him off as he left the gas station in a fit of rage.

What they both didn't know, was that Jade was the last person to ever see Vance alive..

"Have you tried stacking the carpets to reach the window?" He asks Finney in a raspy, annoyed manner.

"I've tried everything!"

"No. Not everything." Vance tells him. "When the Grabber saw what I had done that was it. And he took his time with me too.."

"What did you do?" Finney questioned.

"Oh that fucker had to spend a fortune on the damages.." Finney's interrupting him, yelling, "what did you do!"

"I'm getting to that, cunt wad!"

Jade was standing next to him, smacking him in the arm and whispering, "don't talk to him like that you bitch."

Finney heard her, and clutched the phone closer. "Jade?? Is that you!"

Vance glared at her, keeping her silent as he continued.

"Do you have some other important shit you have to do right now?"

"No no no.." Finney says, shocked.

Maybe he thought he was just hearing things.

1038 words
sorry I haven't updated, in like, forever.
I started a new school so I've been pretty occupied. Oh, and a writers block for the past month. I hope this is okay, I'll try to make the next chapter either later today or tomorrow.