Kevin Died

6. Army of One

6. Army of One

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I pounded on the front door of the closest house I could think of to get to.

"Luke!" I called.

I pounded harder on the door. "Mr. Pihlstrom?! Luke!"

The door suddenly swung open to reveal a bewildered looking Luke. "Ricky?"

I hurriedly stepped into his house, closing and locking the door behind me.

"Ricardo!" He demanded my attention, but I went over to the window to look outside. I didn't see the masked person.

"Ricky, what are you doing? It's late."

I turned to face him. What was I supposed to say?

I thought about calling the police, but I didn't want attention drawn to the whole Kevin thing. Kevin's killer was watching me, following me. That had to be it. Kevin told me his attacker wore a mask the night it happened.

What if they knew Kevin wasn't dead? I silently cursed at myself. I had called out Kevin's name back at the cemetery. I could've blown it.

"Dude, what's going on?" Luke pressed.

"I just... I don't know," I said. "The tires of my car are flat, so I came here."

"Flat? All of them? What happened? And why'd you seem so-?"

"Don't worry about it dude, just... Can I stay here tonight?"

"Sure," he nodded, "you know dad and I don't mind."

"Where is your dad?" I asked.

"He should be here soon," he said.

I nodded. "Okay, we can just call a tow for my car in the morning."

"The car that apparently has four flat tires.... Right." Luke retorted.

"Whatever," I said, flopping on the couch. I was beginning to calm down a little.

"Ricky, what's wrong man?" He asked sitting down next to me.

I couldn't tell him. I wanted to. I really wanted to. But I didn't want him to get involved in this. It was getting too serious. Too dangerous. After tonight, that was certain.

But what was I to do? I didn't know how to handle this, I was only eighteen. I was torn between either staying loyal to Kevin, keeping him a secret or blabbing about a killer stalking me, putting myself in danger.

I had to speak with Kevin again, if he even wanted to speak with me after Travis put an end to our little meeting. I just had to hope. We needed to figure it out together.

As for Luke's question I gave him a simple "Don't worry about," to which he looked irritated at.

"Seriously?" He sighed with a frown that said he did not approve of my answer.

"Look, I'm fine," I insisted.

He scoffed. "Sure."

He stood up and began his ascent upstairs. "Guest room is available as usual," he announced as he went.

"Thanks," I said.

Sleep was the last thing on my mind. I got up to look out of the window again. Though, I wasn't as worked up as before, I was still filled with a paranoia that I didn't see coming to an end any time soon.

___

"What did this, again?" The tow truck driver asked in his kneeling position. It was the next morning. He peeled his eyes away from the slashes in the tires to look up at me.