I (Accidentally) Kissed My Best Friend's Girlfriend » l.h.

Prologue: Blood and Memories

Prologue: Blood and Memories

(a/n) there's no promise that I'll be able to update every weekend, but I'm definitely going to try. I missed you guys, and I want to make you happy :))

I never thought that it would end like this.

Well, I never thought that something like this could ever happen to me. I mean, I had been kidnapped once before, but it had turned out fine. One of them wasn't half-bad, but she kind of turned into a psycho later on. The other actually helped my friends and I escape, and she dated one of them, but she also contributed to the ruining of my life.

"Come on, we have to keep going!" a girl cried, grabbing my arm and pulling me forward.

I resisted against her and snapped my hand back to my side, trying desperately to stop the blood from pumping out of my body. My vision felt fuzzy, and there was a ringing in my ears, and my head was spinning round and round. I didn't know who I was, where I was, who these people were, or what was happening. It was just all too much.

"Come on!" the girl yelled, yanking on my arm again. "Reese can't fend her off for long, we have to go!"

Her.

HER.

That snapped me out of it, and I started sprinting as fast as I could. The earth jumped and spun and lurched beneath me, but I somehow managed to keep my balance. I let go of my side, and hot blood soaked into my shirt. Sometimes my vision winked out, and I ran into darkness. I ignored it all, I just knew that I had to get out of there, to get away from HER.

The girl next to me looked vaguely familiar. She had short, red-dyed hair and dull green eyes that looked like the planet Earth was trapped within them. There was a spray of freckles across her pale face, so faint that I could hardly see them, but I was close enough to count every single one of them. Her clothes were ragged, but not dirty or bloody or ripped like mine. She looked like she was glowing, and that's when I knew that I was dead, I was completely dead, and I was just following her into the afterlife.

"Reese, come on!" she hollered over her shoulder.

Reese. Where had I heard that name before?

I heard another gunshot, and my feet stumbled over each other in an attempt to run faster. I nearly fell, but the girl next to me was strong enough to keep me steady and push me forward. Or maybe I was just so weak that it wasn't a struggle for her.

Soon another girl was running beside me, and she looked even more familiar. She had long blue hair and bright green eyes, which really contrasted with the other girl's. For some reason, she had a pizza tattoo on her wrist. It seemed to dance and taunt me, as if to say, "I'm right here, but you can't eat me, because that would be CANNIBALISM."

At this point, I didn't really care anymore.

"Where is she?" the first girl asked.

"Back there," the second replied. "You didn't think that I could do it, but martial arts always pays off."

"Don't waste your breath," the first said sharply. "Help me with him, he's losing blood fast."

They each tried to grab my arms, but I moved away from them. I could do this on my own. I had been alone for a long time now, and I could do it. I didn't need to depend on anybody.

"We need to stop," the girl named Reese said. "We need to bandage him up before he dries out like a raisin."

"Is this a joke to you?!" the other snapped. "He could die!"

"Hey, humor is how I deal with stressful situations!"

Reese took my hand, and that felt different from the whole grabbing-and-pulling thing. I nearly fell at her warm touch, and the other girl supported me. They helped me over to the side of the road, the sun beating down on us, and sat me up against a flat rock.

"It's going to be okay," Reese said, rubbing little circles on the back of my hand. "Please take care of this, Faith."

"I'm on it," the girl named Faith said, and she literally ripped off a piece of her shirt like she was Rambo. I was going to watch her wrap up my torso when Reese took my chin in her hands and turned my face towards hers.

"Eyes on me, Luke," she said. "Concentrate on something else. Are you okay? Is everything alright?"

No, I wanted to tell her. Everything was not alright. I had a hole in my side, the earth wouldn't stop moving, my head was spinning like a top, my eyes felt like they were about to fall out, I smelled like blood and sweat, and my entire body ached.

But all I could manage to say was: "Hungry."

Well, that wasn't a complete lie. I was also starving and dying of thirst.

She actually smiled. "That's the Luke I know. That's a nasty bump on your head there. You don't have a concussion, do you? How many fingers am I holding up?"

She raised her hand and spread out her fingers.

"I'm not stupid," I scoffed. "Four."

Her smile fell.

"The thumb doesn't count because it isn't a finger. It's a thumb."

She rolled her eyes and chuckled a little. "I forgot that you're an idiot."

It occurred to me that I probably shouldn't let any strangers near me, especially what happened the last time I did. I flinched back and pushed Faith's hands away from my wound.

"S-stay away from me!" I cried. "Stranger danger!"

Reese frowned, and she looked concerned. "Don't you remember? It's me, Reese."

I shook my head. "I don't know you."

"What about me?" the other girl, Faith, said. I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye. She was still glowing. "Do you remember me?"

"I don't know either of you," I said, my shaking getting the best of me. "J-just stay away."

"How long was he down there?" Faith asked anxiously.

Reese ignored her and made me look at her again. "Luke, please, you have to remember. It's Reese, you know, the girl who helped kidnap you the first time and then fell for your best friend...."

Her voice trailed off, or maybe it was just my hearing. I found myself staring at her hand, the one that had the pizza tattoo, but this time I didn't feel like eating it. I wanted to touch it. So I reached out and took her soft, pale hand and rubbed little circles on it like she had done to me.

And that's when it all came crashing down on me, like the weight of the world was on my shoulders.

"Done," Faith declared, moving away. "All better."

I didn't feel any better. Pain shot through my belly every time I moved, and I could still feel the bullet inside of me. The thought made me want to vomit.

"W-we have to go," I rasped through gritted teeth.

Faith nodded, but Reese, who was still staring at me intently, said, "No, you have to remember first. Do you remember me yet?"

I reluctantly met her gaze and nodded. "Yeah. You're Reese. I ruined my life for you."