"There was a girl who invited me to the junkyard tonight." 

"You're not going to go, are you?" Chip asked, setting his pencil down. 

"She's part of the Beasts.. I think she would know something about the murders, or at least know people who do." His dark eyes looked at me concerned. 

"I've heard about the parties there... Kids like, invent new drugs there." I rolled my eyes.

"Sure, old man." The door of his bedroom creaked open, a tan girl walking in.

"Are you going to the junkyard?!" Adriana said. "Yes, you are, I was outside the door listening." She quickly added, trotting over to the bed and flopping down. Her round dark eyes, exactly like Chip's, shined in my direction. "Can I come?"

"No." I curtly said. She whined and looked to Chip.

"Pleeease?~" She cupped her chin into her hands. "I promise I won't even bother you I just wanna come." 

"Mom would kill you." Her brother warned, picking his textbook back up. 

"Not if you cover for me!" 

She continued to beg for a long time, and eventually I gave in to her helpless voice. I guess I'm a sucker for the Davis's. 

The junkyard was a pretty long walk from the house. Adriana had lied to her mom saying she was at a friends'. As we neared the chain-link fence surrounding the area, smoke was filling the air. Loud music boomed in the distance, accompanied by mixed voices floating along with the strange taste in the air. Approaching the entrance, Adriana waved me goodbye and skipped over to find some new friends. She was a lot like Chip in that area, inclined to make new friends and jump up to anyone. However, high school had almost beat the social butterfly out of him. He was probably bullied more than his mom, and that's saying a lot. He thinks it's because of me, and how Mrs. Bell favors him and everyone thinks it's weird. I continued my walk and was greeted by groups of teenagers gathered around, talking, drinking, doing drugs.. I looked around and spotted a lean girl with red hair gently curled, falling behind her shoulders. She wore self-cut denim shorts and a tight shirt covered by a varsity jacket. Her hazel eyes immediately saw me and her expression lifted. She bounded over to me, elbowing me. 

"Hey, you actually showed up." Fox smiled and took a sip of the cup in her hand. "Drinks are on that foldable table over there- and honestly you could get drugs whereeva." She snickered. 

"No thanks... who all's here?" I questioned, looking over everyone. 

"Ah... weeeell. They're mostly the high school gang recruits." She gritted her teeth awkwardly. 

"You said this wouldn't be a gang thing!" My tone got harsher, however, she didn't seem phased. 

"Yeeeah, well I half-lied." She bluntly responded, taking another drink. "Don't look at me like that! I didn't think you'd actually come." I groaned and continued to analyze each person. "You wanna meet some of 'em?" The girl smiled beside me. I thought for a moment, I could use her to get more leads.. I nodded. She took my arm and began to guide me around, I tried to pull away but after a while of her going back I just let it alone. 

We approached two girls that were on about something. Fox presented me in an embarrassing fashion.

"Hey ladies, this is Rowen. Rowen, this is Nancy-" She gestured to the girl with heavy makeup and brown hair. "-and this is Violet." The other girl had dark skin and glasses. 

"Hey, playboy~ I've heard a lot about you." Nancy winked at me, biting her lip and laughing. "Fox said she invited you but I never thought you'd actually come." Her words were drawn out, a lot like Fox's but even more annoying. "Vi's kinda shy, but she had a crush on you freshman year." Violet slapped the girl on her shoulder.

"Nancy, stop!" She hissed. 

"They're recruits?" I asked Fox with distaste. "I didn't know the Beasts standards were that low." 

"Nah, Nancy's boyfriend is though. They're here for free booze." Violet looked uncomfortable. I scoffed, I needed actual suspects. 

"Who's her boyfriend?" 

"He's over there, big football player with the beanie on." She lazily pointed to the right of us, where I saw a relatively large guy in the distance. I silently gestured Fox to go, who complied without hesitation. 

"Do you not like talkin' to girls or somethin'?" Fox asked as we made our way over. I never knew the junkyard was actually this big. 

"I don't like talking." 

"You like talkin' to Chip Davis." 

"He's different." I grumbled, wishing the conversation was over.

"Ohh! I see. So you actually are dating him." She said, taking another drink.

"No, it's not like that." 

"Sure it isn't." Is this woman capable of shutting up and minding her business?

"I don't like him. Besides, he has a crush on this girl.. I heard him telling his sister about it." I felt an uneasy feeling as Fox opened her mouth to speak.

"Oh.. Yeah, I know what that feels like." I stopped.

"What?" 

"Losin' someone because they date someone else or like someone else. I know it all too well." She didn't look up from her cup, which she swished around the contents inside as she talked.

"He's not gay." I grumbled, pushing off the feeling her expression gave me. 

"Losin' friends over that stuff is jus' as bad. No matter what he is to you, I get it if it hurts a lil'." She looked at me with an unidentifiable look on her face. I didn't know how to process her. She solemnly kept walking and looked back to see if I was following. I lifted heavy feet up and proceeded with her in silence. 

Fox led me around to almost everyone, and I had nothing except a list of names to give Chip. Why would a teenager be behind it anyways? That's stupid, Rowen. I found an old tire to sit on as Fox came back from talking to some other girls. She sat down next to me and pulled something out of her pocket. It was a small piece of paper that almost looked like a sticker. It had a red heart on it. She tore it in half and handed half to me. I took it.

"It's acid." She blankly said. "I don't want all of it, I just wanna feel a lil' high. You can have that if you want or sell it, I could care less." She laid it on her tongue and leaned back. 

"What does it do?" I asked, examining the tab.

"Makes you see stuff." 

"What if I already see stuff?" As she leaned back, she kept her eyes closed and didn't cease her position.

"Then go see a doctor."

"No, the drug."

"Oh. Uh, I don't know. Maybe they cancel out each other." I looked down at my hand. It would probably be stupid to trust her call on that, but I wanted to know. I put it on my tongue and sat for awhile. Swirls appeared around me like usual, but more and more started to appear. Objects began to distort and color filled the atmosphere. I felt my eyes seem to dart around the area, almost burning as if they were moving too fast. The colors were brighter than I had ever seen them, my eyelids flickering, trying to protect me as the swirls passed by. I didn't get up, too scared I would fall; the ground beneath me almost trembled. The dirt became mud as water started to climb up, the junkyard being flooded. I sat calmly, as did everyone else, not noticing. The water climbed up my body until I was completely submerged. I felt a floating sensation as bubbled streamed from the ground. Small colorful fish swam by, some with 4 eyes or 100 fins. In the distance approached a strange creature. I was reptilian, with a shell on its back and hard scaly skin. However, it had paws and ears and sharp teeth, its eyes resembling a feline. It swam to me, a low growl rumbling the junkyard. As soon as it appeared, it merely swam past me and went away into the distance. The water started to drain and I found myself laying on the ground inside the hole of the tire. 

"You good?" The girl above me looked down with an amused expression. I fumbled around and slowly stood up, my legs wobbling beneath me. "I'm surprised you haven't done drugs before." I rubbed my forehead, a splitting headache overcoming me. 

"Well, this was a waste of time." I groaned, making my way to the exit. 

"You sat staring in front of you for an hour, I'm pretty sure you do feel like you wasted time." Fox shoved her hands into her pockets. 

"Shit, I need Adriana." I frantically looked behind me.

"The smart one with a ponytail? Yeah, she came looking for you but left when you wouldn't leave your trance." Was I really out that long? I looked in front of me again. 

"I'm leaving." I still felt uneasy as I walked away from her, trying to figure out which way the forest was. 

"Wanna garb a bite first? My treat." I looked back. The smug expression that never left her face stared back at me. She was so nonchalant, uncaring, sneaky about everything. No wonder the Beasts wanted her. 

"Sure." We walked into the gas station, we grabbed two hotdogs and started to walk to the lake. 

"Soo... Where'd you get that scar from?" She was referring to the one sliced across the bridge of my nose. 

"None of your business." 

"Okay, touchy." 

"How'd you join the Beasts?" I surprised myself by wanting to know, but even more by actually asking her. She didn't seem phased, continuing her walk as she ate. 

"I was a freshman at Orilon. Everyone hated me and I hated everyone, I got into fights a lot.. I guess that's why they wanted me. Everyone said I was cunning and.. a bitch." She giggled. "So I went to one of their parties and Hawk recruited me. I'm sure you know who he is." I nodded. Hawk was a big dude with scratched up hands and strange eyes. He was friendly at first but was one of the top threats in the Beasts. He was Lynx's older brother. 

"The last recruit I saw inducted was... Spider I think. I distanced myself after."

"Oh, he's a dick." She grumbled. We arrived at the lake, sitting on the grass and feeling the watery breeze float around us. We finished our food and sat in silence. "I'm confused. So are you a Beast or not?" She turned to me. 

"I'm not. I used to work for them, but I'm not a part of them." 

"You say 'them' like I'm not one." She smiled. Well, it didn't seem like she was. Everyone there was stupid or an asshole. She was an asshole, but not tough about it. "You know.. I know what happened. Sort of."

"Yeah, I bet he told everyone." I stared at the water in front of us. 

"Nah, he's kinda hush-hush about it. I think he's touchy about it too." She paused and looked at the sky, leaning back onto the ground. "I overheard him talking to Hawk about it. Not all of it though.. What'd he do to you?" Her tone softened at the question, almost like she was pondering to herself. 

"Sorry, I'm too touchy about it." I teased. She chuckled under her breath. "Are you dating him?" I added, not sure why. 

"Ew no. Too old for me." She gagged. "Also I'm gay." I looked at her in surprise. "What? I'm not afraid to say it. Shoot me!" She abruptly jumped up, running and jumping through the grass. "I' LIKE GIRLS!" She yelled, her hands cupped over her mouth. "AND I'M A GIRL!"

"Shut up! Someone actually will shoot you." I said, as she ran over to me I pulled her down. 

"Aw, do you care?" 

"Of course not, but I'm on the run from the cops at the moment, I can't be guilty by association. Die, hoe." She pushed me away.

"You're annoying, I'm never buying you dinner again."