Jeremy hated living in link, it was so rural it took over four hours to get to the towns postal office and there was only one road as far as Jeremy knew. For a teenager this was hell on earth. He was on his way back from the post office when he was nearing his usual rest spot under an old billboard. As he slowed down he hopped off his bike and laid it under the shade of the billboard. Jeremy hummed and picked at the weeds growing around the cement and walked around the large sign and noticed a new looking dirt trail leading to more nothingness.

He wasn't one to turn an adventure down besides he'd nothing better to do and anywhere was better than home. His parent's didn't care for him the way parents should they always reminded him how unwanted he was and if he wanted to keep living and eating there then he better do everything they said like running their errands and what not Jeremy picked his bike up and went down the new trail. He noticed that the further he went the less vegetation there was, it was starting to look like a desert. First it was unease that plagued the silence then regret.

Coming down the path was starting to look like the beginning of a slasher flick. There was nothing special about it and it could possibly get him lost, but he convinced himself to keep going because he wanted to procrastinate going home and he was a guy, he could handle himself. He turned his head to see if he could see the billboard but it was long gone he continued along the trail until he came across what looked like an abandoned town. Yup ,definitely a red flag, but he'd come all this way... He got off his bike and pushed it along as he investigated the old town. He rounded the corner and stopped dead in his tracks, not five feet from him there was a guy leaning against a wall ,his face hidden by his hoodie Jeremy started walking backward then turned his back on the guy.

A couple of seconds and he was good until the hooded man painfully dug his fingers in Jeremy's shoulder making him drop his bike and fall to his knees. He yelped at the pain and tried to turn around when the guy elbowed him on the side of his head. everything went black for a moment and slowly he regained his vision. The guy was patting Jeremy down for his wallet most likely

"H-hey s-stop!"

A swift kick to the mouth had Jeremy reeling again but he recovered just as his attacker picked up his bike and took off , Jeremy tried to stand up and get his bike back but he fell back the dirt.

He finally caught his breath and yelled "Hey!"

but the guy was nowhere in sight. Jeremy dusted himself off ,wiped his bloodied mouth, and paced around contemplating what he should a wave of dizziness hit him and decided keep going on the path just in case there were more people hanging around. He was looking the trail that brought him to the town but saw a sign that said west, Jeremy figured that if he followed it he would get home since he lived west from town.

Jeremy was hungry and tired he was scared that he was lost the scenery seemed the same. In the distance he saw a building but he thought it was just another abandoned house. The closer he got the more details of the house he saw, it looked like it had a wooden fence around it, the house was yellow with white detailing, and it looked like a grandmother could live there. He couldn't help the relief he felt and started to run, he noticed the bright artificial grass and then a bike on the lawn. He couldn't believe his eyes the bike had a free sign on it, Jeremy excitedly opened the gate and ran to the bike he checked the brakes and the chain then checked the tires for air and they seemed fine.

It was strikingly familiar to his own but he didn't bother to notice since he just wanted to be home already. He tore the sign off the bike and got on he was about to pedal when someone cleared their throat. Startled, Jeremy hopped off the bike and turned to see who it was. There was a man standing in the doorway to the house he looked to be in his late twenties early thirties and had vibrant green eyes and short light brown hair.

"Are you just going to take that?" asked the man,

Jeremy felt himself blush, "I'm sorry sir I figured I could just take it because the sign said free".

The man laughed and said. "Free to trade, come inside and we'll talk."

Jeremy hesitated before following the man in because he had never seen him or heard of this area where the man lived not to mention he was the only person within miles. And that didn't feel right to Jeremy.

"You coming?" asked the man from inside the house,

"Um...Yes."

Jeremy stepped inside and stood awkwardly by the door. The man motioned for Jeremy to sit on his couch and the man sat next to him.

"So what's your name?" asked the man

"Jeremy."

"I'm Logan".