On a dark, ominous day of November, Marvin was slowly pedaling his orange bike back home from his game. The thick clouds were hanging overhead, and he whistled a slow tune as the water drizzled down from the eerie sky. The pedals squeaked and whined with each rotation and the water was beginning to get in his brakes.

Marvin looked all around at the endless rows of 3-story apartments that were all painted in a neutral tone, and he began to frown. He was still about 3 miles from his home and the pale drops that were falling upon his head began to hit harder. The clouds had blackened, and suddenly it seemed like all cars had gone from the streets. He squeezed the handle brakes on his bike and skidded to a stop. He couldn’t go much farther in the rain, so he walked his bike under the shelter of the buildings that way he could try and find a phone somewhere nearby, allowing him to call home and ask for a ride.

Taking small steps down the street, he stared hopelessly at another closed store. A sigh of frustration came out loud from his throat, and suddenly he began to hear very faint footsteps. They were light and careful, and made the faintest echo with each step. Marvin glanced nervously over his shoulder, the black figure that was coming from the fog was moving towards him. He swung his leg over the bike seat and the pedals started to spin like turbines as he tried to escape the silhouette of the man that was closing in on him. Unfortunately, his mountain bike was somewhat heavy and weighed down by countless gears, and he wasn’t nearly fast enough to avoid the person that was sprinting after him at a ridiculously fast pace.

Marv looked around frantically. The rain was colliding with his panicked face and he blinked rapidly to try and see his way out of the mess. The thunder cracked like dynamite through the air as the apartments flew by his face. Only about thirty feet off, a small gap in between buildings was coming up fast, and Marvin made a run for it.

He skillfully spun his pedals and turned on his back wheel, drifting sideways into the alley. He was sure that he had moved too swiftly for the man to see. A queen-sized mattress with a sign that said it was free stood propped against the wall, abandoned, and he scrambled to try and hide behind it. Heavy breathing was drawing ever closer. Staring through an opening, Marvin was astonished to find the man stopped in front of this alley. He shut his mouth and tried to stay silent. Step by step, the man inched even closer.

Little Marvin was trying not to cry as the bearded man’s ragged breathing could be heard directly on the other side of the mattress. Like a scene from a horror movie, the man’s head slowly moved around to look on the other side of the mattress. Marvin scrunched up his face and prepared for the worst. He opened his eyes. The man was looking right at him.

Marvin screamed, “What do you want from me?”

To his surprise, the villain that was staring back at him looked terrified.

He began to speak softly, in between breaths, “Help…”

Marvin’s eyes grew wide, and as the words of the man faded away, the stranger fell to the ground, useless.

As the boy stared into the cold blue eyes of the deceased man, he could see the vermillion blood that seeped from his neck, and stained his shirt, the victim had been slashed by a sharp weapon. His entire back was covered with wounds, and formed messy, jagged letters. And trying to hold back the vomit that was building in his throat, he read the bloody words, ‘YOU’RE NEXT’.