"band": In 500 words (or 100 words if you prefer), tell what happens when there is a band

~

Dylan

"What?" I screamed to the waitress over the wailing guitar. I didn't know what kind of band I was supposed to have met my friend to see, but this muddled mess was not a pleasant experience.

"Penny says to look at your phone," she repeated.

My phone? I fished it out of my pocket. I had fifty bazillion texts from Penny. The last had me off my bar stool and heading for the back.

He knows where you are.

I raced through the kitchen and hit the back alley door at a run, bowling my way into the broad chest of the man I was trying to avoid. I flailed before finding my balance.

He scowled and said something, but it was garbled in the ringing aftermath of the guitar rattling around in my skull. It didn't matter. I knew nothing he had to say would be good.

"Go away, Will. I told you I don't want to see you anymore," I insisted again. "You're violating your restraining order." I backed up toward the door and hoped it wouldn't be locked. I was out of luck. Will frowned even deeper and held out a hand to me.

"You need to come with me, Dylan," he said, his deep voice finally registering. "They know you're here."

My heart skipped a beat. The only thing worse than Will was them. After all these years, I'd thought I'd finally outrun my father's goons, but I felt the truth of what Will insisted.

Still, I slapped his hand away. "Every moment you hold me here brings them closer."

Will sighed. "You know that I can help hide you, Dylan."

My nostrils flared, and I got an extra whiff of the alley's dumpsters. Heat burned in my belly, rolling against his words. Will's talent was to slip between. If I took his hand, he could open a portal and take me to safety. Yes, I'd be somewhere else, which would be an advantage, but I'd be somewhere else with him. But it was better than being taken by my father's men.

Movement behind Will at the ally's entrance caught my eye. A man dressed in a suit and tie strode into view, gun already drawn. He raised it and fired, hitting Will square in the back.

Will's eyes went wide. I rushed to him. The moment I touched him, he opened the portal he'd promised, and we tumbled through. As it closed behind us, we landed on the soft, slightly overgrown grass of an unfamiliar, sunny hilltop.

Despite my issues with Will, I didn't want him to die, so I set to work gathering the magic from the air around me that I needed to heal him. I pushed it into him with a long groan, the pain causing my head to spin. I managed to stay awake long enough to see his eyes flutter open.

"I knew you still cared about me," he said with a grin right before I passed out.

~~~

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