Crime Central

Question Everything

I opened my eyes ever so slowly, breathing deep as a sharp pain in my temple throbbed with no sign of relief. My focus came back even slower and all I could see was a blurry outline of a man.

"whaa--what happened?" I said as my vision slowly came back to reveal who was crouching over my body. I realized I was on the floor hardly able to remain sitting as the boys, Dawson, Kace, and Drew were all standing around me with a serious but concerned look etching their faces.

"Someone hit you Riley", Drew murmured. "They got away..."

"Who?" I stated, stunned. "Why would someone hit me?"

"We don't know but we're going to find out who would want to hurt you." Dawson stated with a fierce look on his face "He just ran up behind you and hit you right as you turned to see the commotion"

Jake piped up "I'm so sorry he got passed me, I tried to stop him but he's a lot stronger than me, almost superhuman strength, I couldn't even blink before he was across the room."

"Riley, do you know why anyone would come after you?" Kace questioned.

"No" as I shook my head no, instantly regretting it as the pain intensified.

"Well guys let's help her up and try to think about why someone would target her" Jake said.

"I need a drink" I bluntly stated.

They all laughed and a smile twitched at the corner of my lips. We all went back to our P's and Q's and I ordered a tequila and lime and a few spritzers. Pretty soon the ache in my head started to fade away with each shot I took. We all started laughing and drinks kept coming until the world was double.

• • •

I woke up the next morning with a sharp pain and a throbbing in my head intensifying the pain with every beat. I was back in my apartment with my clothes from yesterday on. A cute frilly black shirt and jeans. I slowly sat up in my bed and looked around not noticing anything out of the ordinary.

I stood up and walked to the bathroom to take some medicine for my throbbing head and headed to the kitchen. I made a pot of coffee and checked my phone for new messages. The boys had been blowing up my phone all morning but I must have put my phone on silent last night before bed. They were all asking if I was okay and if I made it home safely. Before I could reply there was a knock at my door. I walked over to open and it and when I finally got the door unlatched and opened there was nobody standing there. Weird. I closed the door and latched the lock. I walked back to the kitchen and was in the middle of hitting send when a call came in.

Unknown Number

I just stared at my phone. All this weird stuff that was happening was going way to fast. It seemed all of the sudden strange and dangerous things were happening. They didn't call again.

Drew called me next. I didn't bother telling him about the knock at my door or the random phone call. Could they be related to what happened last night? I shook my head as if to clear my thoughts and forgot that I got hit and the pain soared through my temple almost making me dizzy.

I decided it was time to get ready. I grabbed my cup of coffee and made my way to the shower. Once I felt refreshed and clean I texted the boys to ask if we could meet up. There was a park down the street from my house not far and in between where all of us lived. We all had our own apartments. With this being such a run down town it's hard to find a job. My parents died when I was 18 and they left me enough money to make a living.

We all met up at the park. It was nearing the end of spring and rainy season. You barely needed a jacket. Before anyone could say anything, sirens rang down the street. We may not have much here in the city but we still had emergency services. There was a lot of crime. Which made sense, nobody could get a job and there was the homeless so people stole to survive.

We all stood there and watched as the emergency vehicles drove by. Once they were gone we turned to look at one another with questioning looks on our faces. Our small hometown is just outside the big city with a population of under 2,000. Sure we had the basics but night time was when this city came alive.

We all made plans to meet at the cavern down the road from the club we were at last night. We figured it'd be best not to go to the one where something dangerous could happen again. It wasn't worth the risk. We said our goodbyes and headed off to get ready for the night out.