Page 2 of Death is My BFF
“Isn’t she pretty?” His words slurred. He smelled rotten. With bloodshot eyes and decayed teeth, he grinned down at Faith. “Come here, little girl.”
The man snatched Faith by the arm and yanked her to his side.
He was so frail his clothes sagged off his bones and gross sores poked through the gaps in his mask.
Faith choked out a sob.
“Take whatever you want! Take my whole purse!” Lisa threw her bag at the gunman’s feet. “There’s two hundred dollars in there. It’s all I have. Please, don’t hurt my daughter. Please.”
“Two hundred dollars? Is that all your kid is worth?” The masked man laughed harshly, but his amusement terminated as his gaze dropped. Faith followed his stare and noticed her mother’s phone was wedged between her legs. “Planning on calling the police?”
Lisa shook her head. “No, no, I wasn’t! I swear!”
“Give me the phone now, or I’ll shoot her!” A crazed look rolled over his bloodshot eyes. The coolness of metal paralyzed Faith as he pressed the barrel of the gun to her forehead. “Or maybe I’ll shoot her anyway.”
“No! No, please! She’s just a child! I’ll do anything you want!”
The intense pain in her stomach overcame Faith. Inhaling sharply, she let out a bloodcurdling scream.
“Why is she screaming like that?” the masked man demanded.
“What’s the matter with her?” He shoved Faith to the side, glaring at her with the gun clenched in his unsteady hand. “Shut up! Shut up, you little brat!”
Faith’s mother jumped into action, emptying pepper spray into the gunman’s face. They grappled for the gun.
“Faith!Run!”
Faith launched to her feet and ran toward the store entrance.
But ahead, another masked gunman slinked out from a checkout aisle, blocking her way. At the crack of the bullet, Faith’s ears roared, unable to hear her mother’s shrieks. She felt neither the bullet enter her stomach nor the side of her head striking the tile floor.
Mr. Wiggles fell from her small hand. Her lips quivered. To her right lay the cashier who had been shot, a gaping hole in the center of her forehead. Faith wanted to scream, but her breath was short-lived; she stared at the ceiling with glazed eyes, drowning almost peacefully in a pool of crimson.
Above her, the harsh florescent lights warmed to a golden hue and spread out like heavenly wings. Calmed by the ethereal glow, she closed her eyes to sleep . . .
The store plunged to a bitter cold, awakening Faith with a sudden gasp for air. Her hands pressed into her stomach, finding no trace of blood or pain. The market was different, dimmer, drained of color. And there were no people. Regaining the ability to stand, she rose to her feet.
“You must be Faith.”
She jumped at the melodic voice. A boy leaned against a shadowed wall behind her.
Faith analyzed the dulled surroundings in confusion, then narrowed in on the strange boy. Nearly blending in with the darkness, his features were concealed, except for a small grin.
“Who are you?” she asked.
He emerged from the shadows as if he were a part of them, threads of dark matter clinging to his body like fingers, before retreating back into the wall. He had the most frightening eyes. Otherworldly.
Mismatched green with all the characteristics of a cat, including thin vertical pupils. A mean scar slashed from his eyebrow to his cheek enhanced his cruel appearance.
“Anyone I want to be,” he replied at last.
She noted his strange accent as she watched him with rapt attention. He stood a good head taller than her, with a lean build that was by no means skinny. He was midnight, clad only in dark clothes, and around her age. A few years older, though, by Faith’s guess.
“How do you know my name?”
“I know everyone’s name, Faith.”
“I don’t understand.”