I couldn’t tell which was worse; the man tightly gripping my shoulder with his leather glove, or the fear in Nashi’s face. I finally mustered up the courage to turn. The man’s face is covered by the shadows due to being under the umbrella, adding to the ominous feeling of being around him. “C-can.. we hell-hel-…help you..” I stuttered. “Did they spot us? There’s no way. We were hiding in the bushes, and they were facing away from us. Why does he have an umbrella? Where the hell are the other guys that were with him on the beach?” Thoughts were racing through my head. Before he could respond (I’m guessing his answer wouldn’t be very thought-provoking anyway), he was struck in the face by an unknown object. My head sharply turned to see the origin of the attack. It was Nashi. Nashi ran across the table, ran past me, and grabbed the object from the knocked out man. However, when I turned to see what Nashi was grabbing, he tugged on my shoulder even harder than the man had, pulling me away with him. By the time I was able to get him to let go, we'd probably ran three blocks. “What the actual hell, Nashi!?” I yelled, still catching my breath. He tossed whatever he had thrown back into his bag. “Shit!! Three hours of sunlight left!” He said, checking the setting sky, then his watch, then back to the sky again. “We’re going back to your house. I’m staying the night.” He said. Well, I say “said”, but it was more of Nashi ordering. I wanted to object, but followed along after realizing I really had no other choice. What if those guys from the beach found where I lived? We ran as fast as we could, finally reaching my house. I opened the door with enough force to make the door-handle poke a hole in the wall. Mom’s gonna kill me for that. Nashi didn’t seem to mind or even notice, he slammed shut the door, locking it quickly before throwing his bag on our couch. “Hey!! Mrs. Higashikata!! Are you here?” Nashi yelled. “Mom’s probably out. Lemme text Jobin…” I told him, whiping out my phone. “Well??” He rushed. “I literally just hit send.” I told Nashi. Ping.
Jobin text back. “No, I’m out.” I read the text aloud. Nashi made a grunt. “We’re out of luck then.” Nashi sighed. Nashi was going to continue, but we were both alerted by the sound of multiple broken twigs. “Ozzy, text Jobin, and tell him someone’s coming for the Locacaca. We gotta stay here until he gets back.” Nashi told me. I rushed to text it. Seconds felt like hours, waiting for Jobin to reply. The tension was broken when Jobin replied. “Someone’s coming for our fruit? On my way.” I relayed the text to Nashi. “Good. Pack up, Ozzy. Take something important. Take anything you may need. Some bad people are coming. Coming for me, for Jobin, for the locacaca, and now for you. Hurry. Once Jobin arrives, we’re going to rush to the church and meet with the priest there, Father Isuka. Got it?” Detailed Nashi. Beams of lights shone from outside. “Flashlights! Get down!” Even when he was whispering, Nashi was speaking boldly enough for my body to do it without a second thought. My breathing was heavy, but felt light coming out of my throat. Minutes later the lights finally exerted from the house and pointed towards the orchard. That was until seconds later, when Jobin’s car headlights attracted the intruders back towards the house. “Ozzy, now! Run! I’m going to talk to Jobin. Then I'll be back behind you!! GO!! Run as fast as you can to the church!” Yelled Nashi. I grabbed my bag and sprinted out of the door, breaking it once more, rushing past the porch, past the lights shining, past Jobin’s body, past the driveway, past the beach, past the strange rock, past the cafe, past most of the town until I finally reached the church. “Isuka!! FATHER ISUKA!! IT’S OZZY HIGASHIKATA!! LET ME IN, PLEASE!!” I screamed. I pounded on the door as hard as possible until a man opened the door holding a cross in front of me as if it was a loaded rifle and I was an enemy. It took a second for Father Isuka to confirm it was me and not some demon, but he let me in the church. I wasn’t even able to set down my bag before I collapsed on the ground. And it was then where I passed out from exhaustion.
