Demi

A little anxious I pushed open the door of the bar I was supposed to meet my best friend Olivia. With all my heart I hoped that she was already inside, waiting for me. I hated making my entrance alone.

I hung up my leather jacket on the wooden peg across from the entrance and looked around. There weren't many people at the bar at this hour, and a bit disappointed I came to the conclusion Olivia wasn't here yet. Quietly I cursed to myself. Why was she always late?

I sat down at a table that was window-seated, giving me a majestic view on the mountainous area. I had moved to this small town a little over a year ago, and it had been the best decision I had ever made. The sun already started to set.

Suddenly I felt a hand resting on my shoulder. "Hey, Demi, is that you? Long time no see!" I stared into two hazel brown eyes. I gasped, causing the man to take a step backwards.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he apologized, brushing a strand of hair from his forehead and tucking it behind his ear. "Mind if I sit down?" He did so before I got a chance to answer. I sighed.

"What exactly do you want, Victor?"

The dark-haired man eyed me. "How long has it been now, Demi? I mean, since you and Ben last spoke," he added when he saw my confused face.

My face darkened. "Why don't you ask him? He is your best friend, after all."

Victor let out a frustrated sound. "Oh, come on. I know you guys are pissed at each other, but please, talk to the guy. He's not doing so well."

"And what exactly do you want me to say? He's the one who decided to cut me out of his life, not the other way around." I realized I sounded more upset than I intended to. He scratched his head.

"I don't know what exactly went down between the two of you, since he refuses to share that with me, but it hasn't made him into a better person." I kept staring at him, not sure about what to say.

I let out a relieved sigh when I spotted my blonde best friend through the window. I waved at her and she enthusiastically returned the favor, followed by a surprised glance at Victor, and a frown at me. I sent her an apologizing smile back.

A few seconds later she entered the bar and walked towards us, sitting down at the last available chair at my table. "I did not know you had invited more people tonight," she remarked, her head tilted, pinning her gaze on Victor.

"He was not invited." I reply wryly. "In fact, he was just leaving, right, Victor?" He looked at me in astonishment, but rose from the table anyway.

"Well, it was nice seeing you again, Demi. You too, Olivia. Take care. And Demi – Please consider my request." He gave us both a nod, and set course to join his friends again, at the other side of the bar.

"Well, that was... Weird," Olivia slowly said, still looking at him. "And what kind of request? What's he talking about?" She gazed at me again.

"I have no idea..." I mumbled. "Hey, but why were you so late? Did the traffic attempt to ruin your life again?" I mocked her.

All of a sudden she became very serious. "No, I was watching the news. You know about those riots we heard about the other day? There seem to be coming more and more of them, it's like they're multiplying. It actually frightens me a little," the blonde confessed, biting her lip.

I shook my head and tried to reassure her. "It's okay, we're safe here. The bigger cities are literally miles away. Just some crazy hooligans, or something. Nothing threatening."

She looked at me, frowning. "You think so?" I quickly nodded.

"It will die down in a bit, I'm pretty sure. There's nothing to worry about." That seemed to calm her down a bit.

"Mhm, if you say so."

***

Olivia and I were just busy discussing her latest crush, when it started to get noisy in the bar. A little agitated I looked up at the crowd that had gathered in front of the bar's only television. I rose from the table to get a better view on what was displayed on it, but it wasn't sufficient. I had to move closer to be able to get a good view. My friend timidly followed.

It was an extra airing of the news, about the apparent riots, which seemed to be closing in on our town.

"... Stay inside until authorities declare the area safe again," I caught the news reporter's last words, before the screen faded to black. Some people around me sighed in disbelief and distant chattering was heard. Olivia sent me a worried look.

"You think we should head home? I mean, you heard the news, it was about our area... Stay inside, until they tell us otherwise." She looked up at the television again, in hopes for more news about the situation, but the screen stayed black.

A knot started forming in my stomach. I sure believed hostile things were going on in the big cities, but we were miles and miles away from there. These riots wouldn't spread so fast, would they? This was just a sleepy little town, nothing ever happened here. It didn't make any sense at all for them to shut down this area as well.

"Hey, you guys," Victor popped up next to us. "The bar is going to close now, on instruction of the government. Shall I drive you girls home? I decided to take my pick-up for a test drive tonight, so there's plenty of room left to drop you girls off at your houses. I don't feel comfortable with the two of you walking these streets or taking the bus. I mean, you heard the news..."

I wanted to decline his offer, but Olivia accepted. "That would be great, Vic. I must admit, the news scared me a little. Why would there be riots in an area like this? It's practically extinct here, right?" She shuddered, and he placed his hand on her shoulder. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm sure it's just precaution, nothing more. It wouldn't surprise me if these riots were all a set up by the government, to prove a point or something." Now they both stared at me.

"Whatever their point is, then, it's clearly working," the man responded in a serious tone. He motioned his friends at the other side of the bar. "Let's get out of here."

He set course to the exit, Olivia closely following him, and motioning me to do the same. I let out another deep sigh and finally started walking towards them, getting my leather jacket from the peg in the process. I spotted distraught people passing me by, some of them were frantically discussing the recent events while others just moved quietly.

I shook my head at them. It was all going to be fine. We would be fine. There was nothing to worry about, it was just a precaution. We would all be laughing about this, next week.

Yet the knot in my stomach did not lessen.

***

The silence was deafening inside Victor's pick-up truck. Victor was driving, his friend Peter was in the front seat and Olivia and I shared the back seat with another one of Victor's friends. The inside of the pick-up smelled like nicotine combined with sweat, making me a little nauseous. I decided to break the silence.

"So... Are you guys going to see the game, this weekend? It's going to be an interesting match." Olivia widened her eyes at me in disbelief.

"Are you for real? We might be under attack, Demi, and you start talking about the weekend? It wouldn't surprise me if there wasn't a game at all." She frowned and I shrugged, running my hand through my dark blonde hair.

"Olivia's right, Dem," Victor acclaimed, his eyes focused on the highway he just drove onto. "Let's just wait and see, how the rest of this week goes. Maybe everything will be fine again by tomorrow. Maybe it won't. Let's just wait."

I sighed and indignantly crossed my arms, staring out of the window. The sky was pitch black and the lanterns were no longer ignited at this point. I noticed how we were the only car driving this road. When I thought about it, I hadn't seen a car in quite a time. That was quite unusual on a highway like this one. People sure had taken these instructions seriously.

Suddenly the car started to go slower and slower, until Victor steered upon an emergency lane. "Victor? Why are we stopping?" Olivia asked, but then smoke started to come out of the engine, making Victor sigh.

"Damnit..." He exclaimed, slamming his fists on the steering wheel out of frustration. "I think the engine is overheated."

"Well, should we call someone? Like the road service?" I tried, but Victor shook his head. "I don't think they're gonna respond, we were all urged to stay inside."

"Well then, what do we do?"

Victor wanted to unbuckle his seat belt, but Peter beat him to it. "I'll take a look at it. I know quite some things about cars." Victor sent him a thankful smile, while Peter opened the car door and stepped out. Swift-handedly he opened the hood of the car, and immediately started coughing, waving away the smoke. "Damn, man. That engine ain't gon' work no more, I'm afraid. But I'll do my best."

"That's just great," I rolled my eyes. "Now we're stuck, on a deserted highway. I should just have walked home."

"Well, I suggest you start walking then, you stuck up bitch," Nick aimed at me. I opened my mouth, but Victor intervened. "Guys, guys, chill. It's already late, we're all tired and want to go home, I get it. Let's just keep quiet."

I sent him an apologizing smile. "You're right. I'm sorry." Then we all got startled by a rustling sound. Peter pulled his head from the hood of the car. "What was that?" He looked around, but didn't see anything, and started working on the engine again.

"Your engine's a mess, man," we could hear Peter murmur. "What in the world did you do with it?" Suddenly there was this sound again, as if something was snarling at us. We were all on edge.

Nick was the first to see him.

A man, walking a bit funny. He came straight out of the forest that was adjacent to the emergency lane. He must have been hurt, judging he was covered in blood, and staggering to come face to face with Peter.

Peter turned around to face him. "Oh, hello." Then his eyes widened. "Wow, are you okay? Were you –"

He could even not finish his sentence. 

***