Matthew kissed Stephanie as they parted ways; he went left while she went right. They both kept low, crouching as best as they could to stay out of sight. Matthew boldly jumped up and ran across the middle of the arena, hoping to get to the next hiding spot. As he ran, Stephanie covered him. An enemy jumped up and had the same idea as Matthew. They nearly ran into each other before realizing that they were on opposite teams. Stephanie, from her own hiding spot, shot at the guy, hitting him in his vest before he could attack Matthew. His vest went dark as the shot registered. Matthew looked back at Stephanie, who waved to him. He was so invested in getting to the better vantage point, though, that he failed to see another enemy right behind Stephanie.
"Watch out!" he yelled back to her, aiming his gun in her direction.
He was too late. A young girl, about twelve years old, shot Stephanie's vest point blank in the back. Stephanie's vest went dark, registering the hit. The girl smiled at Stephanie before she ran away. Matthew turned back to continue on with his mission: to find another enemy. The lights suddenly went on as an ominous voice announced the end. Everyone's vests deactivated and they filed out of the laser tag arena. Matthew rejoined Stephanie outside and helped her remove her vest.
"That was fun," she said. "I didn't even see that girl sneak up on me."
"That's because you were busy having my back," Matthew explained, kissing his date once again on the cheek. "Hey, weren't you wearing earrings?"
"What?" Stephanie asked, feeling her bare ears. "Damn, I think they fell off while we were playing laser tag."
"I'll go find them," Matthew said, turning to go back into the arena. "What do they look like?"
"They're small golden hoops with an 'S' in the middle of them," Stephanie described the earrings. "Wesley gave them to me for my birthday."
"Great," Matthew said rather uneasily. "Back in a flash."
Matthew explained to the teenage guide about his girlfriend losing her earrings in the arena. He let Matthew inside before going back in to clean things up for the next group of participants. With the lights on, things were much easier to see, but the earrings Stephanie described were small, so they were still difficult to find. After about ten minutes of searching the entire arena, Matthew finally discovered two small objects reflecting light. They fit Stephanie's description, and Matthew picked them up. The moment he took them into his hand, though, he shuddered as his mind flooded his field of vision with a premonition. Wesley and Kim are attacked near an alley by two demons. They disappear and reappear in a strange place. A tall being says something to Wesley before reaching a hand out to Kim. The man's eyes glow a deep orange and Kim screams in agony as her body falls lifeless to the ground. Wesley's own scream pierces the air as two other demons hold him still, forcing him to watch her die.
Matthew came out of the vision almost sweating. His premonitions seemed so real and he could practically feel Wesley's emotions as he too witness Kim die at the hands of a demon. Matthew nearly cried as he continued to think about such a horrible thing. He looked back at Stephanie's earrings; they must have been the connection to Wesley to trigger the premonition. He immediately started thinking of what to say to Stephanie. He pulled out his cell phone and started rambling before jogging back out into the main arcade area.
"Oh my God," he rattled out the words so quickly that Stephanie could hardly understand him. "I gotta go!"
"What? Huh?" Stephanie was confused. "What's going on? Did you find the earrings?"
"It's Jimmy!" Matthew said quickly, handing Stephanie the earrings. "He's been in an accident! I gotta get to him!"
"Oh my God!" Stephanie cried. "Where is he? Is he okay?"
"I don't know!" Matthew exclaimed, handing Stephanie his keys. "You get yourself home. I'm gonna get a cab and I'll talk with you later tonight when everything calms down. Sorry to cut out on you before the end of our date. I'll make it up to you!"
Matthew blindly kissed the air in Stephanie's general direction before darting outside. Once outside, he broke into a run down the street, pulling out his cell phone and dialing James. Stephanie sighed as she put Matthew's keys into her purse. She sat down, hoping everything was okay with James. Putting her differences with Wesley aside, she pulled out her own cell phone and dialed Wesley's number. Though they no longer dated, she still cared enough about him and Matthew to show concern for their oldest brother. Pick up the phone…no, go to voicemail…no, pick up the phone… She thought back and forth about what she wanted to happen. Wesley's phone went to voicemail after four rings. A wave of relief washed over her. Wesley was probably on his way to see James himself.
"Hey, it's Stephanie," Stephanie said slowly, feigning calm. "I was just calling to see how things were with Jimmy. Hope everything goes well. Take care."