Chapter 2: Tag, you're Hit!
Luan spent her day in leisure playing small practical jokes on the populous of Royal Woods. Some responded to her whirlwind of gags with either friendly laughter or annoyed complaints. But regardless, Luan simply laughed and kept moving on with her day. Occasionally, curiosity dawned on her and left her wondering where her family disappeared to, but she shrugged it off and kept going with her day.
Eventually, the jokester's comedic chaos led her to the park. She pulled out a banana and ate the fruit in 2 bites, dropping the peel on a small sidewalk for a victim to slip on it. She giggled and hid behind a tree in wait for the fish to bite. "I can't wait to say YELLOW to my next victim." Luan joked about the fruit's color. She found herself trying to contain her laughter without being noticed.
But as her giggling slowed down and eventually stopped, she saw something in the distance. It looked like a silhouette resembling a man, it simply stared at her for a little bit until Luan ducked behind the tree again, fearing her prank would get ruined. She peered around the corner again, but the man was gone. She was about to leave her post when she heard a loud "WOAH!" and then a profound thud.
She turned and saw a dark skinned boy, wearing a blue and yellow striped shirt and glasses. Luan quickly recognized the boy as her brother's friend, Clyde. She smiled and helped him up. "Hey, Clyde. Happy April Fools Day!" She laughed as she bent down to pick up the banana peel. "Can you do me a favor and tell Lincoln that he's in for a surprise the next time I POTAsee him?" She laughed.
Clyde rubbed his butt as he recovered from his fall. "Yeah, I guess I can warn him. But why are you pulling pranks over town? I thought you kept April Fools Day at your place." He asked afraid to hear the answer.
"Normally, yeah. But everyone was gone this morning when I woke up. So I thought I'd shake things up." She replied. Luan was about to walk away but was stopped when Clyde grabbed her arm.
"Wait, you didn't see Lincoln or Lori or ANYONE else today?"
"Yep, all gone." Luan was about to follow up with a joke, but quickly stopped when she saw Clyde turn slightly pale. "You ok?"
"I'm fine. But I'm worried about Lincoln though. Usually he radios me on our walkie talkies about April Fools day and what his game plan to avoid it is, but he never called or picked up." He explain. A small amount of worry snuck into Luan as she heard this.
"Well, I'll keep that in mind. Bye." And with that Luan left. As she walked back into the streets, she started to get concerned and decided to check in with others to see if her family had been seen or heard from at all. She pulled out her smart phone and called Lori's boyfriend, Bobby. After a few rings, he picked up. "Hey, Bobby… No this isn't an April Fools prank. I want to know If you've seen Lori at all… You don't have to tell me WHERE she is. Just that you saw or talked to her…"
What Luan heard next made her anxiety shoot up higher. "…Not even a text?" She was tempted to continue until she caught a glimpse of a large shadow following her in a store window's reflection. She whipped her head around to see the person head on, but found no one. "Ok, call me back if you hear anything." She hung up and started walking again.
As Luan walked, she could've swore she heard footsteps echoing hers. Cautiously, she picked up the pace and moved faster.
The echoing foot steps sped up in time with hers almost immediately. Speeding up little by little, Luan noticed that it seemed like she was the only one on the street as she kept walking, eventually starting to run from paranoia. Her heart beating out of her chest in fear. Briefly losing her common sense, she foolishly ran into an alley and found herself face to face with a brick wall.
She quickly turned to try and run back, but froze in her tracks at the sight of the figure that was following her. His gray hood and coat covering his whole body as he slowly walked up to her. Luan felt frozen and could only stand in place. Eventually, the man stopped and reached for his hood, revealing his face.
The man showed Luan his head and it looked like a large purple oval with piercing red eyes. Luan simply gawked at the odd looking stranger in awestruck, shock.
Then she suddenly started to laugh. "Oh, man. That was a GRAPE prank you pulled on me. Let me guess, you got hit with a jelly burst and wanted to try and get home to wash it off?" Luan chuckled, thinking the stranger to be a victim of some other prankster's gag. The man's expression didn't change from it's serious demeanor as he replied.
"I always look like this, Luan." He responded. Luan's blood ran ice cold when she heard him say her name.
"How did you…?"
"That is not important. What is important is who I am." The stranger interjected. "My name is Hit…"
The wind blew through the alley and picked up some trash and sent it flying across the ground. As the silence settled in, Hit broke it with one quick statement.
"… I've been hired to kill you."