Ray of Light

Chapter 6- Twilight rush

A brief moment of stillness fell upon us. My eyes were clenched shut like oyster lips; I was shit-scared.

A second passed, and I opened my eyes slowly. I looked around... no one was hurt. But we were in danger.

'Leon... it's them.' Jason gestured at the teenagers in the distance. It was very hard to see them clearly, but one of them definitely had a gun.

'We have to leave- fast.' I spilled out my thoughts, and with that, I ran. I ran so fast my feet violently pushed against the dirt and flicked dirt clumps behind me. I could hear everyone else doing the same as I was. I was leading them, and I had no idea where I was going. I just ran, basking in the moonlight, hoping, clawing for life. I had seen myself how stoned the teenagers had been. Who knows what they might do? Nothing was stopping them; this turf was theirs during midnight. No one dared to challenge that.

+++

That's how we ended up at Dusky Bridge, panting. Jason and me. Anita. And the other woman. We all had one thing in common. We didn't really know why we were here. At least, I assumed the woman didn't know. I realised I didn't even know her name. I glanced at her and was filled with awe yet again. I opened my mouth, and said, 'My name's Leon. That's Jason, and Anita.'

'Ah. Sorry that I couldn't introduce my self earlier. The name's Dahlia. Actually, I think we're all here for the same reason. I'm guessing, at least.' With that, she exposed her little scrap of paper and threw it at me. It glided perfectly...

...And hit me in the face. Idiot. She giggled as I went to pick it up. I read out its contents, 'Cherry Park. This Friday, 11:30pm. Of Scath Street.'

Well, that made even less sense than our message. I decided it didn't really matter. As Jason had pointed out a while ago, there was no way we were expected to understand what the stupid message meant. Still, it intrigued me. It had to have a purpose. Everything has a purpose, right? Even flies. Their purpose is to satisfy the grumbling stomachs of spiders. If something as annoyingly insignificant as flies had a purpose, this had to as well.

'So why were we called to the park? It didn't seem like anything much happened,' Dahlia piqued up. That was a very good point. Concentrating on the message at the end, I had totally forgotten that nothing had happened at all. The skinny man hadn't reappeared. I checked my phone briefly; it was already 12:17am. If something was meant to happen, it was way too late.

As I was reasoning this, I felt someone's gaze burning into my skull. It was Dahlia. She was probably just studying my feautures, but I couldn't help but flinch a little. She was... smiling. Hm.

'You know what, guys?' Anita spoke up, breaking the tension. 'This is too dark and awkward. You should all come to my flat; we can talk there. It's freezing cold anyway.' She gestured at Jason, who was really shivering his ass off. He hadn't said much for a while. But at this proposal he nodded enthusiastically.

'It isn't far at all. But we should hurry. We don't want to be exposed here any longer than we need to. You saw that loitering crowd.' And with that, Anita ran.

So we ran some more, with our hot footsteps thudding loudly in the night. It had been an interesting night, but it had been dangerous. We could've been kidnapped. Heck, we could have been killed. A misfire from that pistol was all it would've taken. I glanced ahead at Anita, who was still grasping her knife with all her might. I reminded myself that trouble might just be leading us into her home; the danger was far from over.