Ruby Ring

Chapter 5: WHERE THEM GIRLS AT

JUSTIN

"You asked for me?" a loud voice boomed through the door.

"Come in, Marcus," Justin said. He was sitting on his bed, looking at his phone screen.

"So, what's up?" Marcus walked through the door and sat on the bed. He was a small, scrawny kid with skinny limbs. Marcus was known for wearing shades all the time, except when he was on the basketball court.

"I need to tell you something. It sounds kinda far-fetched, but it really happened,"

"Okay,"

"This sketchy guy named John Morrison suddenly appeared in front of Bridget, Camilla, and I yesterday and claimed that the ring I bought for Bridget was his. Camilla took the ring and all of a sudden, John threw my car at the three of us and I got trapped under it. He then took Bridget and Camilla and disappeared in a flash,"

"What? You serious?" Marcus put his hands on his hips. Justin could see Marcus' eyes giving him a disbelieving look through his Ray-Bans sunglasses.

"Yeah, I'm not kidding,"

"You sure you aren't in a Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode?"

"I'm not crazy, Marcus! Honest!"

"What do you want me to do about this?"

"I'm going to amass a group of people to help me find Bridget and Camilla,"

"Well, I have to help my father with the library, so I can't go with you. Sorry, buddy," Marcus shook his head. Justin smiled as he recalled how he met Marcus. He was in the local library one day and Marcus and his father, the owner, were kind enough to recommend him The Hunger Games.

"It's fine. I know helping your dad with the library takes up a lot of time. But can you at least help me put together a search party?"

"Gladly. Let's go," Marcus got up and headed outside Justin's room.

---

Marcus and Justin headed towards the edge of the neighborhood, where a homely brick house sat. Justin walked up to the door and rang the doorbell.

"Hey, guys. You need something?" a thin platinum blonde boy opened the door. A gun was attached to his belt.

"Yeah. Can you come outside for a bit? It's important,"

"Yeah, sure," the boy stepped outside and closed the door. "What's up?"

"Patrick, listen up. Bridget and Camilla disappeared and I need your help in finding them. A guy named John Morrison took them hostage. I don't know anything about him except that he's probably not human,"

"How can I help?"

"You hunt, yes?"

"Uh huh," Patrick nodded. As far as Justin was concerned, Patrick was the only guy who used guns for hunting. Most of the kids at school, including Justin himself, were against gun ownership.

"In case John's goons come after us, we need you to be able to protect us,"

"Alright, sure, I'm in. But wait, will an adult be with us?"

"I'll get one of Dad's coworkers to accompany us,"

"Sounds good. I'll talk to my parents about this and I'll get back to you,"

"Thanks, Patrick. We gotta go. Goodbye," Marcus waved as Patrick closed the door. He turned to Justin. "Who's next?"

---

The two boys then made their way to the local dojo, where the second search party member, along with many others, would be at this time. Martial arts was extremely popular at Justin's school. The past year, the student body wanted a martial arts athletic team, but the school turned down the request for reasons unknown.