Friends Or Foe

I saw a convenience store that was about 2 blocks away from the apartment. Chime. I never liked those bells, and it's only worse now.

"Welcome" a girl peeks over the counter with a smile that slowly fades when she sees my hand.

"You alway wear that?"

"Course not, funny enough I slammed it under my garage door".

"Right." She rolls her eyes and leans back on the counter, "you're a new face, which means one of two things. You're either marked or have a knack of shit neighborhoods".

"Pfft, don't joke like that kid"

"I hope you know I'm 27 and you don't look a day over 29"

"You'd be shocked" I quickly end the conversation before she pries any deeper. The back of the store has a section of fountain drinks and slushies. The girl watches me from afar as if I'm some shoplifter. I pick out some white silk gloves, and fill up a cup with a cherry slushy since the others were down. A pair of eyes watch each step. I know it's the girl but my head can't help but turn to make sure it's only her. But she isn't at the counter. The silence is killing me, maybe she just went to the bathroom. I walk down to the end of a chip alsile as a floor tile makes a weird thump sound. The chips seemingly shift a bit before something jumps at me.

"Boo!" The girl laughed her ass off as I jumped back, "Man, your face, thought I was some ghost going to eat your brains?"

"Zombies eat your brains, looks like one got to you." I rolled my eyes and walked over to the counter. She swiftly gets behind it.

"Gloves, drinks, and food, listen pal, if you're on the run just tell me."

"Is it that wrong for a man to get food?"

"Of course not sir, but gloves in the middle of spring?" She grabbed my bandaged hand towards her. I try yanking out, each pull more and more desperate. But to no avail as she unwraps the bandages. "Wow, some garage door huh?"

She goes under the desk and grabs a fresh pair of medical cloth and rewraps my wounds. "You noticed it didn't you?" The girl nods as her eyes look at me, as if she knew me before.

"Then why?"

She stays quiet for a moment, her mouth opened and closed, dancing around her reasoning. Finally words audible to me come out. "I'm not sure."

She goes to the back, and I know she's calling her manager or higher up, hell everyone in the city from the mayor to the homeless. I was tempted to grab the things and book it but first I see her hand with hair products and blue contact lenses. "Come on back here, the cameras are off."

A soft touch like a mother comforting their child runs down my hair. The girl's hands were smooth, and warm compared to the harsh wind outside. But shakey, very shakey. She puts out some scissors and runs her hand through my hair one more time. "I hope you won't mind a haircut, oh and by the way it won't be free".

I watched my black curly hair fall to the ground. To keep myself busy I started to think about everything that happened to me. I was never rich but I wasn't poor, my parents were never around always busy with work or parties, so it ended up only being me and my brother. I recall envying him, he was the family's golden child. In school he was one of the best in his classes, plus popular. He studied into hunters and eventually became one, which I find ironic how we always ended up on the opposite side of everything. The girl finishes my makeover and places her hands on her hip. "So cash or credit"

"Huh?"

"You thought I was kidding? You owe me 500 dollars or you tell me how you were marked"

"Fine, it all started-" just as I spoke a loud crash and what sounded like shattered glass hitting the floor interrupted me. A man around 6 foot with dark messy hair and green eyes slams down the door with enough force to flatten a boar.

"I know he's here, where's the marked!"The man slammed through the items and tables flipping them over then looks back at us. "You have 10 seconds to answer or you're both dead!"

He reached into his duffel bag and pulled out a sawed off double barrel shotgun. He aimed at us his eyes filled with flames from satan as his finger plays with the trigger teasing it. Until, BANG!