BRANDON AND DANNY
Brandon and Danny jumped into Brandon's gigantic 4 x 4, completely unnecessary for city living, but perfect for driving up mountains and wading through rivers. It rumbled to life, shaking Danny from side to side with its roaring engine. It was about twenty years old and Brandon refused to get rid of it, not while it continued to faithfully serve him, even if it did gyrate from side to side as you drove. Brandon told Danny that people paid good money modifying their cars to make them bounce and jump, yet his did it for free, so he was pleased with that. Even though it was as old as it was, it had no trouble scaling hills, dragging trailers and sometimes unwitting animals up with it.
Their first stop was going to be Mariam and Mateo's house; they said they'd be getting ready to go out, so it made sense to drop by there first. On the journey, Brandon told Danny that he could still see shadow figures, intermittently. They were always just around random corners as they drove past, tucked away out of plain sight, but still there nonetheless. They reached Mariam and Mateo's house, pulled over and got out of the shudder-machine. Danny wasn't as tall as Brandon, so had to jump down as if dismounting a horse. They couldn't put their finger on it, but something looked different. They shrugged it off and walked up the path, shortly after ringing the doorbell. They were expected, so Mariam and Mateo should be there, especially as it was only two thirty in the afternoon. They made a couple of attempts, with no response.
“They should be here” Danny said, turning to Brandon.
Brandon sensed something wrong and banged on the door, which duly creaked open with the force from his knuckles. It was obviously unlocked and not shut properly, which was strange. Even though it was a decent neighbourhood, no one ever left doors unlocked and open any more. Danny called out their names as he lent his head through the door. Again, there was no response, which they both found a little unnerving in the light of what had been happening to them.
“Do you think we should go in?” Danny asked, before yelling their names through the open door again.
Brandon didn't hesitate for another moment and wandered in, shouting their names as well. Danny followed and they walked down the hall to the lounge, both still calling out Mateo and Mariam's names. There seemed to be no disturbance from what they could tell. There was a laptop on the couch and a mobile phone on the table, with nothing else out of the ordinary.
“I'm going to try calling Mateo, maybe they nipped out for something and hadn't realised they left the door open” Brandon said as he reached into his pocket for his phone.
Danny thought this was a little naïve of him, after everything that they'd talked about. Brandon had to be reminded of what happened on the previous day, but for Danny it was as fresh as today, so he cut him some slack. Danny was convinced in the back of his mind, that part that was probably still slightly sane, that this wasn't a good sign. Brandon’s phone started to ring Mateo's and they heard something in the distance, Mateo's phone chirping back. They followed the sound into the study to find his mobile sitting on the desk next to his laptop, no sign of Mateo. They called their names again, as they checked every room in the house and the back garden, but there was no sign of them.
“Why would they go out without either mobile with them? And leave their laptops on and the door open?” Brandon said concerned, but Danny knew why.
“They've gone Brandon, whatever that creature is has been here, how else can we explain it?”
Brandon shook his head. They had talked in length about all this, but part of him still didn't believe it, it just couldn't be. He was angry with himself, and still in denial, muttering one thing to Danny and then thinking the complete opposite the next.
“Look man, there's nothing we could have done” Danny said putting his hand on Brandon's shoulder, his arm at full stretch just to reach that high.
“You should have warned them on the phone” Brandon cried.
“It wouldn't have made any difference, it would have happened. The only difference is they would have known beforehand that it was going to happen, that's if they believed us in the first place”
It didn't help Brandon's guilt, and certainly didn't make his anger subside, which duly resulted in him punching the wall beside him, with all his might and frustration. Danny then gulped and swore under his breath. What about Gina? She could be in danger now, or they could be too late for her too. He yanked his phone out of his pocket frantically and dialled Gina. The phone rang, so he waited anxiously for her to answer. Eventually it rang off and went to her voicemail.
“Dammit” He shouted, “We need to check on Gina”
They dashed out to the 4 x 4, jumping in as quickly as they could, Danny having to have a second attempt after bouncing back off the vehicle on his first. They sped
