I D K

Hero

 I make my way to the platform, I act like I'm handing them the camera and picture, but then I bend in a little & I whisper, "Are one of you named "Maren Rose"?" 

The words hang still in the air. 

"Um, ahem, yeah me, but how did you know...?" she asks, her face contorts with suspicion. 

My words sound muffled due to my mask, but I say, "I'm Lonerforever." 

 She looks puzzled. 

Sigh. 

"I'm LOVERforever." I finally say. 

Her face lights up with recognition and fear. 

"S-so the rumors are true. I'm the next victim." her bold demeanor falters, her voice a small rasp. Drummer puts her hand on Maren's shoulder. While bassist hands her a water bottle. Next, the bassist says, "For the past week Maren never left her house, but when nothing out of the ordinary happened..." 

"We finally decided to still do the gig." drummer finishes. 

So that was the plan. 

The Headlocks knew they'd do the gig no matter what, they were desperate starving artists. 

"But, why?" I ask a little agitated. 

"You knew about the danger." 

Tears start trickling down Maren's face, "It was our first gig, I-I didn't want to ruin it for the band." 

The three start getting into a mini group hug, which I have to cut short. "Okay, we still have time, we could leave from the back door or something," I say, trying to calm everyone down. 

They nod their heads in compliance. 

Bassist quickly grabs her bass, and we're set, sadly drummer will have to say farewell to her drums. 

As stealthily as possible, we reach the kitchen. We pour out the door. 

"Thank you so much Lover," Maren says. I bring my finger to my lips, motioning her to keep quiet. But, I really wanna say not to call me "Lover". 

Thankfully, I manage to hold my tongue back.

 We're steps away from the front of the house when one of the girls scream. 

The sound is stifled and I a feel huge hand twist my hands behind my back,

 "HEY-" the big hand flies to my mouth. Making all my shouts into a mere muffled mess. 

"Oh, so you must be Lover." an obnoxious voice croons in my head. 

The Headlocks are all covered in black from head to toe. 

I bite my captor's hand and snarl, "Let us go!" "

Hmm, feisty aren't we." the voice purrs. 

It's clearly not the real voice of the... thing talking, it's some voice-altering device. 

"You know, you really gave us a scare. When people started talking about Maren online, we were sure she wouldn't show up at the party. Luckily she did." the person says menacingly while shooting their gaze at Maren. 

Someone has her by the hands and is covering her mouth, but you can see the regret and shame in her eyes. 

"Maren, don't worry, we'll get out of here!" I yell. To shut me up the person pinning my arms pushes me to the floor and shoves my face into the dirt. At the sight of my downfall, I can hear Maren's muffled sobs.