Hayley, Vulpin, Sparky.

Ever wondered what it was like to see your two best friends held at gunpoint? Don’t. It isn’t a pleasant experience. Especially when you have to decide which one gets saved and which one dies. Trust me, it’s not fun. I would know, seeing as that’s the position I’m in currently. Is there enough time for me to start from the beginning? No. But I’ll try as best I can.

It all started this morning, when Vulpin Rouge, Hayley Skirmish and myself were watching scary movies. Well, we’d been watching them from last night, but that’s beside the point. We were watching and it was fun, and then my stomach rumbled really, really loudly. So, I got up to get snack. Vulpin was hungry too, so she got up as well. And because we were at Hayley’s house, she needed to guide us to the kitchen. We were laughing about something that had just happened in the movie when we heard tires screech on the street outside the house. Well, being mages and adventurous and all of those other things, the three of us went to check it out. We walked outside and saw blood everywhere. Now, when I say everywhere, I mean EVERYWHERE. The street, the trees, the walls. It was like someone had come and painted it all. The only spot that wasn’t drenched in the red gunk was a line of tire marks. We stood in silence, a bit shocked by it. Vulpin was the first to speak.

‘Holy shit.’

‘Uh…’ I say. Hayley walked back into her house. She then came back out and looked at us, hands on her hips.

‘Are you guys coming, or not?’ She then walked back in, murmuring something about us needing to get used to this kind of thing. I followed her and Vulpin followed me. I pulled my jacket on and searched for my Makhaira. I found it and slid it into my belt. Hayley was making sure that she had bullets and Vulpin was throwing her daggers around.

‘Cut that out.’ Hayley said, not even needing to look at Vulpin. Vulpin scowled and tucked her daggers into their slots at her ankles. Hayley walked out of the room. Vulpin and I looked at each other, not knowing where she went.

‘Are you going to stay there?’ Hayley’s voice called. Vulpin and I both jumped and ran after Hayley. She was standing next to a door, waiting for us. She opened it and ushered us in. I recognised the silhouette of Hayley’s Suzuki Hayabusa in the darkness. Hayley flicked a switch on the wall and the room was flooded in light. The small corner of the garage that was filled by the motorcycle was in the shadow of a black 2007 Jaguar XK. Vulpin’s jaw had dropped.

‘Hayley, since when did you have a car!?’ I asked, dumbfounded.

‘Since always. I just never needed to take you anywhere together. Get in.’ she said, unlocking the car.

‘Shotgun!’ I shouted. I then ran around to the passenger side of the car and dived in.

‘Hey!’ Vulpin scowled. Hayley laughed and got into the drivers seat. Vulpin hopped into the backseat begrudgingly. She then folded her arms and scowled determinedly. Hayley rolled her eyes and drove out of the garage, following the tracks in the blood.

At this point I would like to take a moment to tell anyone who may read this, do not ever let Hayley Skirmish drive you anywhere. Especially in a convertible. Just don’t. I thought it was scary riding on the bike with her driving, but I was wrong. Never, ever let that happen. So, as you can probably tell, my knuckles were gripping the side of the car so tightly they had turned white. Hayley was swerving left and right, following the tracks on the ground. My stomach was performing backflips every time we turned a corner, and my sigh was that of relief when we ran out of tire marks to follow. Hayley's was one of annoyance.

'I don't feel to good...' Vulpin mumbled from the back. I got up slowly and helped her out, and shot Hayley a glare when she flipped out of the car, laughing. Her face then settled back into its regular scowl.

'There's gotta be more signs.' she said looking through the bushes on the side of the road.

'Alfred, are you okay?' I asked. Vulpin nodded weakly.

'Just remind me to put on a seatbelt next time.'

'Aha! Guys, come check this out!' Hayley called. Vulpin and I crossed the road to where Hayley was and looked. There were some footprints. Because it was dark we couldn't see which way we were going. Vulpine was about to turn back when I made electricity crackle around my right fist.

'I know it isn't the best light, but it'll have to do.'

Um... This was, okay. I started it, and it was a spur of the moment thing and... I wrote, and I forced myself to write and it just stopped. I don't think it was that good, anyway.

Not to be continued.