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"It's been some time since I've been downtown." Binx inhales the air like she has never breathed before. "Man, I missed this place." Riley laughs slightly.
"What's so funny?" Binx raises an eyebrow.
"Nothing." Riley swiftly makes her way to the sidewalk. "Just glad to see you happy."
"Oh. Thanks." Binx smiles weakly.
"No problemo." Riley winks, firing a finger gun at her. "So, where do we wanna go?" She whips out her phone enthusiastically, and pulls up Google Maps.
"Uhm..." Binx scratches her head. "I don't know. You can choose. Anywhere but the forest."
"Okay..." Riley stares at her phone. "What about the arcade? You got change?"
"Yep." Binx nods. "Sounds fun."
"Great!" Riley smiles, and types 'Arcade' into the search bar with furiously fast thumbs.
"Could you text any faster?" Binx sighs, smiling. Riley pivots right, and walks down the sidewalk, Binx at her side.
"And to answer your question, no, I can't." Riley says.
"Okay!" Binx smirks. "How long until we get there again?"
"3 minutes." Riley answers, looking up from her phone and crossing the road. Not many cars are around right now. Only a few parked along the road can be spotted. The streets seem bare of people too- only Binx and Riley.

But Riley didn't feel alone. A shiver crawls down her spine like a creature hunting its prey. She glanced at Binx, who seems unbothered, unaware almost, of the same feeling. Her stomach churns- something is terribly off.
"Hey," Riley grips her phone tightly, the icky feeling of sweat starting to form under her fingertips. "Something's...off about this."
"Mhm?" Binx fixed her eyes on the road. "Like what?"
"I don't feel alone." Riley mutters.
"That's because your not. I'm here, remember?"
"No, I know your here, but it's almost as if it's not just us here." Riley sighs.
"Look." Binx stops, and stares at her. "It's been a long tiring week for you, okay? Your probably just imagining things."
"Maybe, but it doesn't-."
"Understand?" Then, silence. Riley blinks at her, then nods, her palm still sweating.
"Good. Now let's go." Binx carries on walking, Riley following behind her shakily. Why is she like this? Binx is right- she probably is just tired. Riley shakes her head and catches up with her. Binx was the older one- she knows better than her, even before she went missing.

"Okay, we're here!" Riley points at the arcade excitedly. "Thank god it isn't too busy."
"Agreed." Binx grips the handle and flings the door open aggressively, the sensational noises of enthusiastic children and stressed parents spilling outwards. "And all of a sudden I already regret coming here. It stinks."
"Ew, it does." Riley takes a moment to let her sense of smell catch up to her, then soon regrets it. The stench of sweat and greasy pizza hits her like a tonne of bricks. You know, an arcade- one of the best places for fun, not the best place for your nostril hairs.
"Ain't stopping me from nostalgia though." Binx shrugs and barges past the door. Riley shuts it behind her, sighing at her friend.
"What game first?" Riley puts a hand on her hip in thought.
"I wanted to play games that require skill, not luck." Binx scans her eyes like a robot across the arcade, searching for the perfect game. Her eyes gaze upon a corner with a basketball game, completely empty from people. "Like that."
"This is why we're friends." Riley makes her way past sweaty, crying kids triumphantly, heading towards the game.
"Correction: best friends." Binx smiles. "Unless I was replaced?"
"Oh please." Riley turns around. "The closest thing I had to a best friend whilst you vanished was some egotistical jerk who likes making people's self esteem deflate. I'll gladly take you as my bestie again."
"Aww, my heart strings." Binx laughs sarcastically.
"Want me to play a piano solo too?" Riley giggles.
"No thanks." Binx puts her hands up. They both smile at each other, then chuckle.
Riley coughs, then grumbles in an awful wizard accent: "Ready to test your skills against me, traveller?"
"Oh, you are on." Binx inserts a dollar into the machine. Orange lights flair up on the machine, a countdown blinking into view. They both pick up a ball and start to shoot into the hoops at alarming speed.

As the countdown descends from hundreds into tenths, more goals are scored into the hoops. There is minimal difference in the scores- Binx is a few points ahead of Riley. The orange basketballs roll down a slope covered in a very stretched image of Lebron James, winking at the player whilst twirling a cartoon basketball in his iconic purple and yellow NBA kit. Minutes turn into seconds, the orange blurs becoming faster and faster. The game comes to a stop, the orange blurs turn to balls. The two girls with tired arms look at the scores. Binx won but only by 9 points. Riley looks at her, then hugs her bests friend happily.
"You did well, dang." Riley smiles as Binx hugs her back.
"Thanks hun." Binx smiles weakly. "This arcade is way too greasy for my liking."
"Yeah." Riley suddenly has an idea pop into her head- she's not sure where it came from, but it seems to just appear.

Almost like a command.

"We should go get milkshakes or something?" Riley lets go of the hug.
"Hell yeah." Binx grins. "I need it after being in this greasy ass arcade."
"Average Discord mod room." Riley opens the door of the arcade, grateful for the cold touch of metal on her skin. "Not an arcade."
"Literally." Binx laughs. "It's only 5 minutes away, so no need to rush."
"Yeah." Riley starts to get the same churn in her stomach that Binx isn't the only pair of eyes on her. "No need..."

Birds sing in distorted trees far above the sidewalk below. Green grass flows along with the wind's currents like a Mexican wave. The odd car or so passes by, each unique from the people inside to the colour and make of the cars. The two girls walk down the street, chuckling at each other's jokes about life- people they've met and things they have been through.
"So is that bitch Akira still on your case?" Binx mentions to her friend, the thought of her green eyes making her blood boil.
"Mhm." Riley nods.
"I am going to kill her-."
"Oh no she isn't bullying me, just the odd joke about my parents."
"Why isn't she bullying you-."
"One time she, well tried to, make a fool out of me; she said "Oh, but Riley, you don't have parents!""
"What did you say back?"
"I told her that my parents may be dead, but at least they cared about me, unlike some people." Binx looks at Riley in shock and pride, thinking that her friend wasn't capable of such things.
"Now that's my best friend." Binx puts her arm around her laughing. "You really said: bitch, no, your the one getting embarrassed."
"Yeah." Riley grins. "Guess so." Suddenly, Binx swerves her head towards a patch of trees and smirks.
"Oh, how scary." Binx mocks. Riley stays silent. "You okay?"
"Mhm..." Riley nods. "We should get going..."
"Okay, if you insist." Binx speeds up a bit.

The thing is, Riley could have sworn that when she looked into the forest, someone, or something, stared back at her- a man in a yellow jacket and a white mask with black eyes.

Her suspicions were correct. They were never alone.

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