Santiago Guzman:

I had become accustomed to the darkness. It was quiet, almost comforting, at least until now. I drifted off to nothingness.

"Momma! Guess what?"

"What, mijo?" My mother's voice was like caramel, gooey and warm

"I won the race at school today!"

"Is that so? Then it's a good thing I made some tamales for you!" The smell of her cooking had filled the small apartment, making me grin. This was before momma got a boyfriend, when her only income was from being a waitress in the middle of nowhere.

"Te amo Momma!"

People are yelling but I can't tell what they're saying. In the darkness I could dream about anything. About happy days, or days that never happened.

"Min! Why weren't you in class?" I approached him outside the convenience store. It was dark out, but I could still see the glittering of his earrings.

"I skipped." He said it so nonchalantly, I almost missed it. He had a bottle of something in his hand and his face had grown uncharacteristically warm in my hands.

"Hey! You said you would stop drinking!"

"I lied, haha." He staggered a little before leaning on me. "Chill out, would ya? Father gives me enough stress as it is."

"What do you want to do?" He had called me in the middle of the night, demanding we meet up.

"I dunno. I just missed you," the boy looked up at me, "How come you never skip with me?"

"I already have enough of a reputation, I don't need to push it." I looked around to find no car in sight, "How did you even get here?"

"I walked." I sighed. His house was upward of five miles away and it was chilly outside. Stephanie had the car for the night so I had ridden my bike over. I glanced at the object in question. There was no way we were both fitting on it.

"Come on, there's a park nearby."

"Whatever you want." He was mumbling now, barely able to support his own weight. With a grunt, I hoisted the boy on my back before grabbing my bike.

At night, the park seemed almost magical. The swings rustled in the wind and someone had hung up wind chimes nearby. I sat the boy on the bench before perching myself on the edge of the fountain.

"Want to talk about it?" I knew his home life wasn't great, but Min often avoided talking about it. He leaned against the back of the bench, putting his arms up behind him.

"What did you do in class?" Ignoring my question, typical.

"Hmmm, Steph decided to give a speech about caring for the Earth in the middle of lunch, but that's about it. She's probably gonna kill you when she finds out you skipped." Immediately, the boy sat up, grabbing my shoulders. His eyes were frightened and the dark circles under his eyes became apparent.

"WAKE UP!" He pushed me backward and I fell into the fountain. Struggling to breathe, my eyes shot open.

I was back in the darkness. It's like I'm underwater.

"Find the rat. She has to be here somewhere!" There was more shouting and orders being given. 

What's going on?

Where am I?