Strangers

Suspense

"Hey, now that we're here...are you guys up for a round of indoor paintball?" I ask casually. Paul and Pat stared at me with puppy dog eyes. I grinned and talked with a few employees.
"Welp, we're in." I say.
"Tom." Edd gives me a death glare.
"Yeah Edd?" I ask innocently.
"You had the ability to pay back at the diner didn't you?"
"..yeth." I simply say.
"No alcohol for two days..." I groan..better than having them thrown out like last time though.
We neared the back area and were each given a flimsy plastic helmet and paint gun. There was another kid who was waiting in line so they let him team up with me since we were and odd number of people anyway.
There were three teams. Edd and Matt were green, Patryk and Paul were blue, and me and the kid, who merely referred to himself as "Arcade Kid" were red. We were entered into a large warehouse with various obstacles. Small rectangular or triangluar shapes acting as both obstacles and barricades.
"You kids ready?!" A voice yells from the ceiling. We all nod in excitement. The lights are dimmed just a tiny bit and a countdown of  30 seconds pops up.
And the teams scatter to hide.

I pull Arcade Kid beside me to the far side of the arena and push him into a small crevice in between an obstacle and the wall. I sneak a few steps away and slide behind another obstacle to overlook the other teams. I catch a glimpse of Edd and Matt dodge behind a rectangle with holes. I see Matt's ginger hair poke through. One thing I noticed is Pat and Pauls team, they didn't run or hide. They stayed out in the open.
"Hey A.K. circle around." I catch A.K's attention and whisper over to him. He nods and ducks to the floor. I keep the plastic gun ready in my hands to cover him in case he gets noticed.
Paul whispers something I can't catch to Patryk. They both turn towards Edd and Matts hiding spot but walk the opposite direction towards me.
I spot A.K near the entrance, far from the other team's eyes.
"Ikke begynn panikk, vi må holde dem alle rolige ... kom på denne måten..." I hear Paul say to Pat. I feel a chill crawl up my back as I see Patryk's cold expression looking at Edd and Matt. He hesitantly follows Paul, not prying his eyes off of their location. I crawl closer to them and hide nearby as they're distracted.
"Jeg er pasient Paul, la oss bare fullføre dette nå." Pat growls menacingly. He quickly sneaks towards the green team.
I motion to A.K. to wait for my signal. We would wait for those two to eliminate the others before we made our move.
"Hello~Matthew...Edd..." Pat leans over and grins at the two terrified boys. Edd pulls Matt and they make a run for it.
Pof!
Pof!
The plastic guns pop out two blue orbs.
Pat hits Matt on the shoulder, gaining a shriek and a thud. Paul hits Edd in the neck.
"Ow!"
I hold a laugh and tell A.K to hide. He looks at me and gives me a puzzled look but hides anyways. I stay standing in place, waiting for the right moment to strike.
I tense up as I hear a gruff voice beside me.
"Hello Thomas." I hear the cock of the two guns on either side if me.
"A.K. NOW!!" I yell and fall to the floor. Pat shoots and misses as I slide away. Paul receives the shot as well as another from A.K. who had revealed himself from hiding. He ducked from a shot from Pat and ran in front of me.
Pof!
A.K. falls on me with blue paint splattered on his white shirt. I twist my gun around him as I break his fall and use him as a shield. I shoot. A thick and intense aura settles over the arena. Edd, Matt, and Paul stare in awe. From about 3 meters away I had given Patryk a headshot. His calm demeanor unable to hide the intensity burning inside of him.
I sit the kid beside me and ruffle his hair, he grins.
"You a'ight there Patryk?" I manage to ask stifling a laugh. Pat reaches up to his face and wipes away at his face.
I feel his eyes on me, like the gaze of an angered and feral beast. I shrug off the thought and smirk, we had won anyways. Patryks face suddenly contorts itself and he doubles over.
"Hahahaha!!" Echoes of laughter bounce off the walls. He purchased at his stomach gasping for air.
"Wow..." Paul grins at us. We just sit there and glance at each other. What is happening?
"Tom..." Edds face is strength with worry. I look away, blushing pink, and just shrug. I noticed him open his mouth to say something before Matt bursts in.
"That was amazing Tom, you too kid!!!" He turns to Patryk, "but seriously are you okay?"
"Haha...that's the first time in years someone new beats me in a duel." He giggles and smiles reassuringly.
"Yeah and in the face too, I've only known one other person who could do that!" Paul says.
"Aw stop it..." I chuckle, "Nice hustle back there kid." The kid looks up at me and beams. Why do I get the feeling that ive seen this kid somewhere?
"Th-thank you." He whispers. He hugs his plastic gun. Then hugs me out of the blue. I tense up a bit, but allow the process.
"Haha alrighty then, i'd say its time to get cleaned up now." I announce nervously. Everyone agrees.
We leave the kid back with his guardians at the arcade and return to the apartment complex. It was getting dark out and I suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, hey Edd, I need to get to the store for a bit...to buy...uh, groceries." I lied and remove myself from the group and shoo them off inside. Just a quick trip for some Smirnoff.
No biggie.