It was sudden. I had gone to my orchestra locker and got my violin. When I turned around, the twins had appeared. I managed to hide my shock as I studied them. Their amber eyes were malicious and ruthless. They were also much more muscular than me, although I do have muscles from lacrosse. I still toss balls around- I’d saved up for what I needed. But that certainly wasn’t very helpful now. Their arms were folded across their chests- and I knew that they meant business.

“Alex Meyer.” The twin on the right (they looked exactly alike) addressed me coolly- not asking me if it was my name, but stating it like he already knew. I considered lying but decided that it would be useless.

“Yeah.”

“Just as Kai described him,” the one on the left stated, and they both sniggered. I stood there, frozen. What exactly had he said? I guessed that I’d never know- with him dead and gone. These two certainly weren’t about to tell me- in fact, they were more likely to beat me up.

“Yes, the little squirt.” One of them seized me by my hands and the other covered my mouth. But as he grabbed my hand, I swung my violin case at him. I was careful to hang on for dear life as I did so. My violin is my most prized possession. If these two got their hands on it, it would certainly mean big (no pun intended) trouble.

To my excessive luck and surprise, the case hit its mark. I swung it backwards to hit the other twin as well. I then yanked it back towards myself. Thankfully, I had locked my locker, so I didn’t have to go back and fix that. I really am good at getting lucky, as screwed up as my life is. As much as my environment has been horrible, my own smarts have often saved me. It’s a good thing that I wasn’t born stupid. Then again, music may have influenced that. Good musicians are usually talented in more than one way.

As soon as I was free, I got the heck out of Dodge- I sure wasn’t going to sit around and let these two beat me up. Who knows what these two could do to me? Maybe God does- as much as I don’t believe in him. I really don’t know why.

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t fair t blame a higher-order being that I didn’t even believe in. I did know that. That was why I blamed myself. No, it wasn’t easier, but that was the way it was, wasn’t it?

I ran like I never had before in my life. But even as I ran, the twins were catching up. I realized vaguely that there was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. I was completely trapped- almost like déjà vu. That was all my life seemed to be anyway. I tried my best, but this was where it got me. I knew way better than to drink or rejoin the gang, but maybe I had no choice.

“Hey, kid, quit running for a minute, would you?”

What choice did I have? If they didn’t beat me up, I would gladly stop. Besides my breath was getting short, and if I didn’t quit soon, I’d be wheezing. I stopped there.

“What do you want?”

“Heh, to beat you up,” one cackled.

“Well, actually, yeah. But if you drink this, we won’t.”

“What is that?” I asked.

“The good stuff.”

“How much?”

“Fifteen- that’s it. Then we’ll leave you alone.”

I’d done ten before. Was it going to be okay? I’d rather do that than die, although this effort could kill me. But I needed to at least try.

I wordlessly took the bottle from one of the twins. “Here goes nothing,” I mumbled, feeling numb, as if I was already utterly intoxicated…