chapter 2

After dinner we were doing our own things. Fred was in his room doing God knows what, Betty was watching the news, and I was on my phone. "Hey, you guys want to see this?" Betty shouted from the couch.

" See what?" I asked as I walked into the living room.

"This." Betty pointed at the tv. On it was the news of a girl found dead just south of where we went to college. This was a bit worrisome because this was the third death this week and no one has any leads.

 "Damn this looks like it's getting bad." I said uneasily. 

"You think they'll put up a curfew?" I turned to Betty who had a worried expression on her face. 

"Maybe." Betty said changing the channel. I sat down on the couch as I tried not to think about the recent deaths. It was already strange because no one knew how these girls died but what they did tell us is just the fact that these girls had been murdered. It made me worry about my girlfriend Sylvia and I hope she was safe.

" I'm going to call Syl." I said pulling out my phone.

`

"Don't do that, you'll just chase her away like that.'' Betty said with a sigh as she grabbed my hand.

" What?! When have I ever done that?" I said pulling my hand away. Betty gave me a look. 

"Remember Jessica?" She said as if that made any sense and the worst part? It kind of did. 

"You do remember she was already cheating on me, right?" I said incredulously. Betty Shrugged.

" I just remember you calling her all the time and then she got back with her ex-boyfriend so yeah." 

She said looking at me before continuing 

"And there was also that time Rebecca tried to get you to fight HER ex-boyfriend and wuss out of that one too." I was beginning to get embarrassed by this. Fred suddenly came down from his room looking incredibly tired. 

"What is going on here?" Fred said, looking at us tiredly. 

"We were discussing girlfriends." Betty said before I got a chance to answer. Fred made a sound as if that confirmed everything. I groan as I put my face in my hands. 

"Most of my relationships weren't that bad." I said muffled by my own hands. Fred and Betty looked as if I grew a second head. 

"Dude, you ran from most of the girls you dated and those you didn't leave you for someone cooler." Fred said, looking directly at me. 

"He's got a point you know." Bett said, patting my back. 

"I'm going for a walk." I said as I got up from the couch. 

"Are you sure about that?" Betty said, looking at me as I walked to my coat. 

"Yeah, wouldn't it be safer to stay inside? Things are kind of crazy." Fred continued for her. 

"I'll just be going to the store and back. I won't be long." I said going out the front door.

Not long into the walk I was starting to regret it. It was already chilly this morning, however I didn't think it would get this cold. Even with my jacket I still felt cold. The street was fairly empty with only a few people out and about this late at night. While waiting to cross the street I saw some posters about a neighborhood patrol. Apparently, they were all volunteers trying to keep people safe. Seems like a noble thing to do but the police still hadn't found any lead so I don't know what this would do about the recent murders. My thoughts turn to Sylvia and how she is doing.

 'I hope she is doing alright.' I thought to myself. Even though we have only been dating for three months I would feel bad if anything happened to her. 

'Now that I think about it, aren't I coming near her house?' I thought to myself as I recognized the street on which she showed me. So, it wouldn't be out of the question to visit her and make sure she is okay. Maybe buy a few things along the way. As I was coming up an alleyway I heard some commotion. I snuck over to get a look. What I saw were two big burly guys cornering a small young woman, a familiar silver-haired young woman.

 'Sylvia!' I mentally screamed in my head as I watched these two huge guys harassing her.

 "Hey sweetheart." said the bigger guy with a white sleeveless shirt.

" What are you doing this late at night? "The other guy in the hoodie then pipes up. 

"Don't you know it's getting a bit dangerous?" Sylvia looked pained and scared from the two guys blocking her pathway. What should I do? There's no way I can take even one of these guys let alone two of them. Suddenly mine and Sylvia's eyes locked onto one another, and she suddenly looked horrified. One of the guys' eyes followed her gaze to where I was at.

" Hey!" He growled at me, anger lining his eyes. I ended up frozen in place. 

"The fuck are you staring at!?" The man shouted at me as if to send me away and to his credit it worked as I hurried to the other side of the alleyway. However, I immediately felt shame and regret as I slowed to a stop. What the hell was wrong with me? It is shameless to leave your girlfriend to be harassed by some asshole but to not even try to help her was even worse. But what could I do? All of the sudden a gunshot rang out coming from the alleyway behind. I turn and run back to the alleyway, thoughts rushing through my mind. 

'Was Sylvia hurt? Is she okay?' however when I came back to the alleyway it was empty. Well almost empty as I see one of the guys on the ground not moving. Before I could even question what was going on I heard a wet tearing sound from behind the dumpster in the alleyway. I looked over and saw feet sticking out from behind the side of it. Despite all my instinct to turn away and run I slowly moved closer to the dumpster. As I grew closer the sickening wet sound increased in volume and frequency. My heart was beating as if it was bursting out my chest as terror began to rise inside me. As I finally reached the dumpster my shaky hand grip side and I peered over to look. What I saw made my blood run cold and my breathing stopped. 

The guy in white shirt was dead. His large brown eyes frozen in terror as they were glossed over with no light in his eyes. But that is not what made me stop, no that is not why i have this horrid deep pit of fear and dread. It was who was on his blood soaked neck who was staring with black eyes with red iris that scared me. Sylvia looked at me with an insane amount of blood on and in her mouth, her sharp teeth painted red in blood. Suddenly adrenaline came rushing in and I turned and ran out of the alleyway as fast as I could. But before I even set a foot out the alleyway a powerful force grabbed my head and slammed my face into the concrete ground and everything went dark.