"Hey, guys! Sorry, I'm late!"

I busted through the entrance of the local diner, Good Eats, feet prancing across the black and white tile flooring, seeing Michelle and Hunter turning around in their seats to wave at me. "What took you so long?" I took a seat on one side of the booth, seeing Hunter and Michelle on the other with a textbook in between them. "Sorry, the debate vice-captain wanted to go over some categories that may be of interest to me," I explained and Hunter rolled his brown eyes, fixing me with a stare.

"You're too nice, Eli," He blinked at me, shaking his head. I didn't quite agree with what he was saying. I liked to be nice because it was the rule of treating people the way you wanted to be treated. "You can never say no."

I couldn't deny the validity of that statement. I couldn't say no to people, my heart wouldn't let me. 

I went to go speak on behalf of defending myself as he snorted, looking into his AP history book, but all of a sudden, the television scared the daylights out of me. "Hello, Denver. This is Kristina Bailey reporting to you live from Devil's Tombstone Forest," I blinked in hearing the name of the forest that surrounded East Ravenwood on the outskirts of Denver, bordering the nearby city of Lakewood. 

She was standing in front of crime scene tape, the light and sirens of ambulances echoing off of the plasma t.v as we watched body bags being wheeled off on gurneys. "I am here at the crime scene in which there were two bodies discovered. Sources tell me that one was a female in her 20s, and the other was a male in his 30s. They have not been identified, but police are at a loss with the developments in this case," Kristina explained as the camera zoomed in on an open body bag.

My mouth fell in horror as my eyes landed on pale white skin splattered with blood. "As you can see, these murders have a distinct style about them: a wide hole through their body where their heart should be," We could see that there was a bloody hole through the right centermost part of their chest, but what was extremely interesting yet off-putting was the black thing that the victims were clutching in their hand.

It was their bloody black heart.

"Qué?" I muttered to myself, wondering what on Earth could make a person's heart black like that. More importantly, why were the arms and hands of that person so damn pale? I blinked in confusion, seeing everyone engrossed in her words. 

"This is the third time in two weeks finding pairs of victims with m.o," Kristina said and I sighed, shaking my head. "Police suspect that these murders were done with a piece of wood, a stake perhaps, given the shape of the hole," I grimaced, wondering why things like this were happening out of the blue. What sick person would want to invoke pain on someone else? And in this manner?

"The perpetrators are at large, and sources tell me that there hasn't been any information found yet to incriminate any possible suspects," Kristina sighed, looking fearful. "Back to you, Trey."

I blinked back to the table, seeing Michelle turn from the t.v to give Hunter an intense stare, seemingly sharing her sentiments. She clenched her jaw as he narrowed his eyes, apparently angry about something. I narrowed my eyes, wondering what they were both thinking. It was an unusual time, that was right, but I was just confused about what was going through their mind, and why they seemed to be so knowledgeable of each other. "Um—"

I jolted in my seat a bit, gathering their attention. I could feel my phone vibrating in my pocket, so I paused my end of the conversation to answer it. "Hello?" I spoke without looking at the screen to see who it was. "Eli Matteo! When are you coming home?" The harsh voice of one Isobel Velacruz, my dear mother. She was probably home from her job of social work, so she was looking for me.

As usual.

"Should be home within the hour," I replied casually, pondering what she wanted. "I'm out with Michelle and Hunter right now," I stated and she sighed. "As long as you're being a good boyfriend to her, that's all that matters," The Cuban woman constantly got on me about making sure that I was treating Michelle perfectly like the queen that she was. "Yes, mom, adiós!" Once I hung up the call, I noticed that the two were back to their normal selves, giggling and smiling. 

Times like this, I felt like the odd one out. It sucked because I couldn't come out and say it, for fear that I would feel so bad. I knew they loved me, but it hurt sometimes. I ignored their chatter of the declaration of independence, turning to the window to gaze out of it like I was in some music video.

Suddenly, I felt that prickling feeling that I got in the field earlier, like someone was just raking their hard gaze all over me. I frowned a bit, looking around the vast city of Denver, seeing nothing amiss from the usual traffic. I couldn't tell where it was coming from, but I knew someone was staring a hole through me.

¿Que demonios?

What the hell?

Extreme unease was just making its home inside of my body, and I couldn't get comfortable knowing that there were eyes on me. But where though? I was scanning the entire city from the window, seeing people walking on the sidewalks, their phones up to their ears as they worried about nothing but that conversation. I blinked back and forth, moving my eyes all over, but I found nothing out of sorts and that stare was getting harder and harder.

I shook my head, taking a well-needed breath. Maybe a change in scenery would do me some good. "Alright guys, I'm going to head out," I grabbed my bag from the left of me, enticing a pout from Michelle. "Already? You just got here, babe," She muttered sadly and I nodded. "True, but I need to go," I stood up, nodding to Hunter. "Okay," Michelle pulled me down to kiss me. "I'll come by later, okay?"

I nodded in affirmation as I left them to their studying. I couldn't relate with my three study halls and whatnot. 

I quickly said bye to the waiters, jogging as fast I could to my car. It felt like all eyes were just glaring right at me and if I wasn't quick enough, they'd kill me.

Shudder.

As I whizzed through the back streets of Denver, I thought about my neverending workload. Between football and college preparations, to valedictorian speeches and graduation assistance, to debate practice and last-minute Hamlet corrections for drama, to tutor sessions three times a week and making sure I showed up on time and eager to work with the kids in the psychological ward at the hospital every day, to making sure that I was present, smiling, and ready to help everyone.

It was quite a lot, but I couldn't complain because people counted on me to pull through.

It wasn't long before I arrived at 1525 E Monaco Ave, parking my car next to my mother's crossover. We lived fairly well off, I could say by the look of our house, due to the fact that my father worked in a restaurant. The money that I earned went to my funds and the upkeep around here, so that was something.

"Mom, I'm home!" I called out to Isobel once I shut the mahogany wood glass door closed. I could hear her heels clicking against the floor as I sought to where she was. There in front of the stove was a tall woman decked in a blue dress with dark hair and pale brown eyes.

"I just got off of the phone with the coach at CU Denver," My mother began as I stepped in the kitchen with a furrow of my brows. "Huh?" I recognized the name of the school that I was going to be attending in a few months. "He said he would save you a spot on the team if you accept the football scholarship to go there. This would be good for us as we need the money..." She kept going on in her tangent, and I was confused because I specifically told the admissions counselor there that I didn't plan to pursue sports.

"Mamá, what are you talking about?" I cut in, watching my 17-year-old sister enter the room, her hazel eyes blinking around in confusion as she sat at the island. "I already told you that I was going for child psychology," I put a hand up to my head, wondering where she got this notion from. I literally told her that I wanted nothing to do with sports.

I liked sports, but not enough.

Sigh.

"No what are you talking about, hijo?" She raised a brow, calling me her son, but her tone didn't sound endearing. "I love you, Eli. You are the pride of this familia. Of course, you're gonna play in college too," She rubbed my cheek, pushing her dark brown hair over her shoulders. "There's no way you can do anything else." Her tone was full of finality as she walked off with a huff, going to her bedroom.

I took a deep breath to calm my fast-pacing range of emotions, feeling arms wrap around my waist. I looked to see my sister pulling me close to her, sensing what I was feeling. "It's okay, Tati," I hugged my sister close to me, feeling like the best big brother on Earth. There was nothing that I wouldn't do for Tatianna Velacruz, and that was on everything. She looked up to me, called me her pride and joy, her role model.

How could I not want to do better after hearing that?

"You'll find a way," She squeezed me tight before letting go, heading back the way she came. I just leaned on our granite countertop, wondering what I was going to do now. This was not good.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a tall man with black hair and brown eyes stalking towards me. "What's up, squirt?" I only had a second of a reflex time before a big hand reached out to me. "Stop it!" My older brother ruffled my hair and I scowled at him, secretly happy that he was here. This was Anthony Velacruz, my 21-year-old brother. He was everything that I wanted to be. He went to college and graduated early on the account of having more than enough credits for his accounting degree, so now he worked at a local company as a tax accountant.

"Fix the long face, kid," He smiled down at me and I immediately felt relieved. "Don't worry too much about it, Eli. You'll find a way," Hearing him say it was what made a difference in everything.

"Right..." I finally smirked in response, knowing that everything was going to be okay as long as I had Anthony in my corner. "So go talk to your girlfriend on the phone or watch porn. Whatever it is you do," He shrugged with a chuckle and I groaned in disgust.

"Shut up, Anthony!"

For a moment there, I felt a bit at peace, not thinking about the many assignments that I had left to do before I could finally move onto the next stage. Being around my brother had that calming feeling, and being around my sister made me want to keep pushing forward. 

"Alrighty," I mumbled to myself as I started my trek towards the stairs, ready to just plow through everything and check off one by one. No matter how much I didn't want to, I had no choice because I was that pillar.

However, I still couldn't get rid of that prickling feeling like someone was watching me from outside my house.