The air had gone significantly colder. Silence lingered in the air. There were no birds calling or families laughing. All I could hear was my own footsteps and breath. I walked back to the store Chip and I were at. The lights were on and figures moved inside. The bell ringed as I opened the door to enter. The store clerk turned to welcome me. There was an ATM inside, which was crowded by two young men quietly exchanging words. I walked up to them.

"Ay, Rowen. Finally decided to show up?" The taller of the two with piercings and a shaved head teased me. The other was occupied with the machine.

"Do you have my money?" I grumbled.

"Shark's tryna get it open, but he's too much of a dumbass to realize people's credit cards have a code." He hit the back of Shark's head.

"I thought you said you had it?" These two were Shark and Hound. They were apart of the gang that occupied one half of town, the Beasts. They were meatheads but would let me steal money off of them if I gave them information about the other side of town.

"Well, we were kinda in a pinch and needed to spend it on other things.." Hound rubbed the pack of his head in embarrassment.

"If you two don't get your shit together you're not going to get anything out of me anymore. Give me my money or I'm done." I threatened, going into a defensive stance. Hound was taller but much skinnier than I was, and Shark was just short and fat that he claimed was muscle.

"Listen, kid. Lynx isn't gonna be too happy with us if ya' just bail. Won't want that lovaboy of yer's to get squashed." He laughed. I grabbed the collar of his jacket.

"No, you listen. I never wanted a part of your gang nonsense but I need this money. Lynx hasn't got shit on me since I haven't taken that stupid oath. Leave my personal life out of this." I slightly pushed him against the wall.

"Don't worry about 'im, 'Ound. 'e's too much of a lowlife to get a job, so 'e's gon be relying on us for the rest of 'is life." Shark let out a disgusting wheeze. "Got it!" He continued to announce, withdrawing all the money from the credit card. He counted it out cautiously as I watched his every move. These two had cheated me out more than once.

"'ere. 1,000." I took the bills from Shark's grubby hand as I counted.

"Tomorrow night we'll tell ya' what the next mission is." Hound said as the two started to depart. I was left alone as I stuffed the money into my pocket.

"You're too smart to be hanging out with them." A red-headed girl seemed to appear out of nowhere. She wore barely any clothes, with a skin tight crop top and short skirt. "I won't be surprised when Lynx decides to off them." She said, slinking towards me. She put her finger on my chest and looked into my eyes. "But you'd certainly be his favorite." She said with a wicked smile. I pushed her off of me.

"If you're here to recruit me to the Beasts, thanks, but no thanks." I said as I walked out of the store. She followed me into the dark, sticking way too close to my back.

"Oh well~ I tried!" She flirted as she took her hand to my arm. I quickly retreated away from her.

"What's your problem?" I grumbled. She smiled again and jokingly rolled her eyes.

"There's a party going on tonight at the junkyard. I'd love for you to come."

"Why would I want to go to a party? Do you even know who I am?" The girl looked me up and down, her hazel eyes gleaming with mischief.

"You're Rowen. I see you pick Chip Davis up from school every day. You've always just fascinated me." She smiled. "I'd like to get to know you."

"I don't have money to give you, this is so I can eat." I pushed past her again to the road.

"I don't want money, I have plenty of that." She called after me as I continued to walk. "I just want you to go to a party with me." I didn't stop walking until I turned out of sight. Something told me she would be back, but I would be able to handle whatever happens.

My footsteps echoed on the black pavement as I walked down the lonely street. The cold air bit my face as my eyes hovered around the empty night town. Every part of my body wanted to crawl back into Chip's house and spend the night, but I knew I couldn't put him in danger. Shark and Hound were stupid but their relationships were powerful. Dogs were barking in the distance and bugs were buzzing loudly. What started as a silent night soon turned into dark and sneaky sounds. The rustle of Ziploc bags and the flicker of lighters were followed by hushed chatter and sighs. I walked to the edge of town where a small forest resided, the branches waving to welcome my arrival. I had a small tent set up hidden within the foliage, where I would sleep every night. I stumbled awkwardly into the much-too-tiny tent and lay down in the sleeping bag inside. I never allowed my mind to wander too far away from me, so sleeping had never been a problem for me.

I drifted to sleep with the sound of crickets ringing in my ears. 

"Rowen!" A ghostly voice echoed through my head. "Rowen!" I was underwater in what I thought was a lake. The water around me was dark and I could barely see anything. I turned around and was met with a gigantic sea turtle looming before me. It's eyes were bright and stared directly into my soul. "Rowen!" It cried, swimming closer. I tried to get near it, but my foot was caught on something. I tugged and tugged, which caused whatever was holding me down to grow tighter and tighter. "Rowen!" 

"I'm trying!" I yelled, but my voice was inaudible. Water flooded into my mouth and my lungs began to drown. 

"ROWEN!" I looked to the turtle, who seemed to be in distress. A large shark, even bigger than the turtle, was behind it. I tried to yell, I tried to tug, I tried to do something. The shark drew nearer and finally, it opened it jaws. Darkness began to fill my mind as I heard the loud crack of a shell and blood pooled into the water. A distorted, ear-splitting scream that was too horrifying to describe split my ears as the water took me in as its own. 

I opened my eyes to the same yellow tent and a gagging feeling lingering in my throat. I sat up and deeply sighed. I looked to my arm, where a sea turtle tattoo I had gotten a year ago resided. 

"Shit.." I exhaled as I put my hands over my face.