MasukRING AROUND THE BODIES 2Bullets ripped past the metal table, sending sparks flying everywhere. A few passed through, slamming into the wall in front of them and raining dust over their faces. Aaron placed a hand over his eyes and looked up at the equipment on the table. A burner, some flasks and pipes, the white dust hovering above them–this was a fucking drug lab. “Oh, damn," he said, laughing. "These motherfuckers stole from me, and they're even cooking more.”Jake coughed as the powder floating above them dropped down on their bodies. His eyes burned and his throat itched terribly. “I–I didn't see Casper,” he shouted above the gunfire as he pressed his back against the cold, metal table. "He's not amongst the shooters.”Aaron looked toward the hallway just as a bullet ripped through the sleeves of his shirt. "Oh, we'll deal with the bastard later,” he said before checking his gun. "Right now, we have to take care of these guys.”Jake swallowed, his jaw tightening as he nodded a
RING AROUND THE BODIES“Dad?" Both Jake and Aaron froze at the sound of the voice. Jake looked up from the bin where his face was buried, to the door leading to the back of the room. "Dad, what's the commotion about?” the voice came again as the door slowly creaked open. Aaron's hand gripped his gun tight as the metal barrier swung open, revealing a young guy standing behind it. He had a bandage wrapped around his head, the white stained red at the side. Jake's eyes widened as recognition set in. It was the same guy who had attacked him. He was the Casper they were looking for. “Dad–”The guy paused, his body freezing while his eyes moved around the room. He took in the blood pooling across the white tiles, the body behind the counter, Aaron standing before him with his gun faced down. His face instantly drained of color a s his breath stuttered. Then his eyes moved until they landed on Jake who still sat on the floor, clasping the bin. Recognition flashed in his eyes as he frow
THE SECRET“Blake?” Gina asked as she frowned. “Like… Blake Blake? As in Blake Thompson?”Ethan nodded. "Yeah," he said with a sigh as he rubbed his hands together nervously. “Blake Thompson. Aaron Thompson's little brother. The guy whose brother punched me in the face. The guy whose party we're literally going to right now.”He paused. “Yeah, that Blake Thompson." Gina stared ahead, swallowing. “Oh," she muttered again. And silence returned. For a while, she remained still and just stared at Ethan, eyes wide with something close to disbelief. The car continued on down the street, the quiet hum of the engine filling the quiet between them. Outside, the lights of the city passed by in colorful streaks, but inside the car, everything felt… dark. At least to Gin and Ethan. As for Tom, he kept himself busy trying to make conversation with the driver, completely unaware of what was happening behind him. “So, uh…” he began, tapping his fingers against the dashboard. "I'm guessing y
TELL THE TRUTH ALWAYSThe night was colder than Ethan expected. He pulled his sleeves down and shoved his hands into the pockets of the black jacket he'd later decided on. He stepped outside their house while Gina leaned against the porch railing, scrolling through her phone. For a Saturday night, except for the occasional passing cars, the street felt unusually quiet. It was perfect and for once, Ethan didn't feel the urge to disappear.The clothes really did seem to change him. "So," Gina said suddenly, looking up from her phone with a smirk. "Are you ready?"Ethan glanced at her. "Ready for what?"She rolled her eyes. "Don't act dumb. The party." She playfully nudged his shoulders. “The guy."His face immediately changed and a cold feeling crept up his chest. "Look, Gina...""What?" she laughed. "You think I forgot? You think I'll just forget about the mysterious guy you spent an entire night telling me about. The guy who confuses you, kisses you, almost gets you killed emotiona
THE LAST RUNThe bedroom looked less of a mess than it had been a few moments ago. Jake had thrown most of the clothes back into the closet, and the ones he didn't choose were pushed aside. The pile of shirts and jeans that had buried the bed now laid on the floor. It wasn't perfect, but it was something. Ethan exhaled as he fixed the button of the shirt and stood in front of the bathroom mirror. He stared at his reflection, smoothening an invisible wrinkle on the sleeves. For once, he didn't look like the cliche scrawny nerd that spent most of his time trying to disappear. With the brown flowing cargo pants and baby-blue thrifted button-up shirt, he looked… different. He adjusted the sleeves one last time, staring at the mirror as he ran a hand through his messy brown hair. "I don't really look bad," he muttered to himself, smiling. Satisfied with his new look, he walked toward the room again. The moment the door opened, Gina sat up on the bed with a loud groan. "Finally," sh
THE CALLJake's room was a mess, like a dog had come in and thrashed the place. It wasn't because something was broken, but because Ethan had never seen so many clothes littered across the floor in his life. Shirts, jackets, jeans and random pieces of clothing he had never seen Jake wear in years were scattered all over the room. Ethan picked up a black jacket and walked to the mirror. He held it against himself and stared at his reflection while Jake watches from the wardrobe. “Nah," Jake said immediately before going on to search for another clothe. “Nah?" Ethan echoed as he frowned. “Why do you mean nah?" “It's too bland," Jake answered absentmindedly as he held up a white shirt. “And it's black. You don't want to look like you're going to a funeral." “A funeral? It's a jacket, Jake." “It's a very depressing jacket." Ethan scoffed before tossing the jacket to the ground again. "You are taking this way too seriously, Jake,” he said with a sigh as he sat on the bed. "You do k
FORBIDDEN THOUGHTS Gerald pushed Martin down onto the bed, and the furniture creaked under his weight. Smiling, he began to slowly unbutton his shirt. But Martin, impatient as always, tore open the entire thing and pulled him toward himself. “Come here," he said as he planted a kiss on Gerald's
THE PRICE TO PAY BANG. The sound tore through the empty street like thunder, giving Jake barely any time to react. The impact slammed into him hard and a sharp, burning pain exploded through his shoulder. How had he not seen the gun? How did the guy pull it out fast? Why the hell did he bring
FAMILY Ethan pulled the duvet over his head, staring at his phone illuminating his face under the sheets. The screen had been open for almost thirty minutes now, but it'd been long since he stopped reading anything anymore. Even as he scrolled, the group chat was still alive, filling up with me
SEEN Blake stared at the message on his screen, his thumb hovering over them as he chewed on his lips. ‘We need to meet.’ That was all he had typed–just four stupid words. He had already typed three different messages but they just didn't feel right. The first had been too long, the second mad







