Allen woke up to someone kicking him on the back. He immediately sat up straight, only to see that Barry was crouching in front of him. "Seriously, mate?" Barry seemed bewildered, as he motioned to the sleeping Kelsey beside Allen. Allen scratches his head, he didn't remember anything much...

Then Allen suddenly stood up. "It's not what it looks like!" His voice came or lifer than he intended it to be. They both heard a groan from beside them, and saw Kelsey slowly waking up, groaning and yawning. As soon as she was sitting down and awake, Barry stood up along with Allen.

"Morning," Kelsey yawned and stared at the two boys, her hair messed up like a bird's nest. She stared from Allen to Barry, "What?"

Barry gave an awkward cough, and shook his head. "Should we call the police about Ashton?" He immediately tried to change the subject. Kelsey and Allen seemed dazed as they nodded to his suggestion.

"But first, I'm hungry," Kelsey got up and walked over to her bag to find some food.

***

The alley was deserted, not a single human being was there. The garbage bins up ahead stank of stale meat. Cats prowled around, hissing. Rats scurried here and there, sliding into the shadows. Thud. Thud. The sound of heavy boots echoed around the alley. A sharp blade. Police sirens. The occasional dropping of blood. Ashton strolled casually into the darkened alley. Not noticing, or perhaps not caring about the fact that the police were after her, hot on her trail. So we're the reporters.

Squelch. A dead rat lay squished under Ashton's boot. She looked down, and snickered. With a big swoosh, the rat's head was separated from her body. The police had definitely heard that. They found her, closing in on her. Weapons raised, walkie-talkies at the ready. Dozens of policemen were there. So were around fifty reporters. Chuckling to herself, Ashton dropped her axe. She raised her hands over her head, and turned around. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. How are you today?"

***

Allen had made up his mind. He was desperate to find out why his sister was mad. Was she being bullied in school? No, Kelsey would know that. He sighed and looked back at his two companions. They were almost ready, getting all the things they had and bringing them in scooped hands or Kelsey's backpack which she carried everywhere. Allen has been at standing in the middle of the road while they packed their stuff up, trying to catch a ride back to the city. The taxi driver that brought them there was definitely a jerk who wanted to abandon them in the middle of nowhere. Not a single sign of humanity showed up anywhere all around them. The farms seemed to tend to themselves, and so did the front yards of surrounding houses. The only person in sight was an old man smoking a pipe on the front porch of a house. His rocking chair freaked as it moved. He wore shades, though it was absolutely dull outside, as if the state of the neighbourhood somehow affected the sun.

Allen sighed and walked back into the barn. "We're never getting a ride if we keep on going like this. I wonder how that old man gets his groceries."

Barry perked up, "There's am old man here? Maybe we can ask for his help!"

Allen shook his head, "Probably wacky or loony."

Kelsey picked up her backpack and walked outside. She looked around at the surrounding houses, looking for the old man. "Nobody here."

"What? Let me see," the old man was clearly there, sitting on his creepy rocking chair, his wrinkled face eerily seeming to grin. Allen pointed to the old man. "He's right there."

Somehow, however, Kelsey couldn't see the old man. Shaking her head, she sighed and felt Allen's head. "You're probably hallucinating because of our state right now," then she went back into the bar to help Barry.

Allen was confused. Was he the only one who could see it? The old man placed his pipe down on a wooden table beside him. Then, he grinned. Grinned a horrifying grin. Not comforting at all. Allen staggered backwards, he couldn't scream, no matter how much he wanted to. The old man had grinned, grinned to reveal two rows of sharp, jagged teeth, each dripping with blood at the tip.

Then a yellow cab came, rushing past the old man and stopping before Allen. Staggering, Allen looked around the cab at the old man — he was gone.