He glanced up at the people walking in, dropping the knife.
"Oh, bar's closed, guys. Indefinitely, to be honest." He pulled his jacket over his head, his undershirt getting pulled up and exposing his stomach for a moment before he pulled it back down in embarrassment. There was a rapidly growing bruise that could be seen in that half-second, and he really hoped Lorreth wasn't looking in his direction at that particular moment. I've used up too much today.
Lorreth was definitely looking at him, noticing the bruise, until the young boy nervously walked up to her and hugged her. Lorreth rolled her eyes.
“I missed you too, Cliff.” Lorreth patted his curly black hair, and Cliff stepped back.
“Gregory, you couldn’t have arrived at a worse time, but whatever, Cliff’s already probably pretty emotionally scarred.” Gregory laughed. Gregory had dark brown, almost black hair, and golden brown eyes. Cliff shared Gregory’s eyes, but his were more of a gold green, slightly closer to Lorreth’s bright green eyes. Cliff had black hair, like Lorreth, but it was much curlier, like Gregory’s. In fact, it was evidently obvious that Cliff was related to both Lorreth and Gregory.
"Hey, uhm, don't mean to be rude, but I've gotta get the fuck up outta here," he said, rubbing his hands together. "Could we possibly take this outside so I can close up what's left of my bar?" Once again, the light fell onto his face, changing up the entire color scheme for a moment/
“Yes, please. Cliff, say hi to Baylee.” Lorreth began gently pushing the boy out the door, trying to get him as far as possible from the gruesome sight inside.
“Hi Baylee. I’m Cliff,” the boy responded cheerfully as he exited the bar. Gregory and Lorreth followed closely behind.
And last was Baylee, who closed the door of the par and produced a pair of keys, kneeling down to lock the door.
"Hi, Cliff. How old are you, little guy?" he asked, changing his voice to sound more friendly to the kid.
I mean, I just murdered 3 people in his presence, so the least I can do is be nice.
“I’m seven and a half,” he responded simply, emphasizing the and a half proudly.
"Dang," he said, standing up and slipping the keys back in his pocket. "You're really big for a seven year old, man." He turned to Lorreth and gave her a "We need to get the fuck up outta here," look as he spoke.
Lorreth nodded silently.
“Gregory, this is Baylee. Baylee, meet Gregory.” Gregory stretched out his hand for Baylee to shake, a friendly smile on his face.
He wiped the blood from his right hand onto his pants and took the invitation, making it quick before looking around.
"Daw, shit, man. They slashed my tires!"
“You can hitch a ride in my car.” Lorreth pointed to a small, sleek gray car. It looked relatively new, and expensive.
“Lorreth, is that a good idea? You just learned to drive. Like, a month ago,” Gregory responded quickly, really, really hoping she wouldn’t make him sit in a car with her at the wheel. He would rather walk. They didn’t even have cars back home.
"How about I drive?" he suggested, rubbing his face with the non-bloody hand in frustration.
We need to go, for fucks sake.
“I don’t trust a stranger to drive my car.” Gregory sighed at Lorreth’s response.
“Just let him drive the dang car. He can’t be worse than you.” Lorreth rolled her eyes, but nodded, handing Baylee the keys.
“Please try your best not to dent it.”
"No promises." This was completely deadpan as he unlocked the doors with the keys. "Aright, everyone in, I guess."
Lorreth sat in the back, Gregory next to her, and Cliff slid into the seat next to the driver, buckling up. He was actually pretty tall for his age, though still probably should not be in the front. Lorreth and Gregory didn’t say anything.
No time to argue, he thought as he slid into the driver's seat just as red and blue lights were caught in the rearview.
"Fuck!" He jammed the key into the ignition and started the engine, hauling ass out of the parking lot as soon as it was able.
Cliff seemed completely unbothered by the turn of events, and just sat staring out the window. Lorreth and Gregory were talking to each other quietly so that Cliff wouldn’t hear.
Good God, everyone's batshit, he thought, cutting a hard right turn and flooring it down the empty highway.
Lorreth made sure Baylee wasn’t watching, and then pecked Gregory’s lips quickly, before sitting back and looking out the window.
He was too busy swerving out of the way of a spike strip, but he would've bristled at the sight if he woul've seen it.
“Who wants to play a game?” Cliff suddenly said, excitement in his voice.
“What game do you want to play now, Cliff?” Lorreth said. She tried to sound annoyed, but Cliff was too adorable when he was excited to be mad at.
“Truth or dare!” Gregory smiled indulgently. Lorreth and Gregory may not have been the biggest fans of each other, but they both evidently loved Cliff fiercely.
“I’ll go first. Baylee, Truth or dare?”
"Now is not the time, bud!" He jerked the wheel to the right, roaring out of an exit and tearing down a backroad, turning around for half a second to see if the police followed him. He let out an audible sigh when the police lights had disappeared and turned back around, both hands on the wheel.
"Alright, what did you say, Cliff?"
Cliff seemed unbothered by everything around him.
“Truth or dare? Pick one!”
No hesitation, he said, "Dare," as he slowed his speed down to an acceptable mph.
Cliff thought for a minute.
“I dare you to…” Cliff looked back at Lorreth and Gregory for inspiration. Lorreth grinned and leaned over, whispering something into Cliff’s ear. Cliff seemed confused, but went along with it.
“I dare you to kiss Lorreth.” Lorreth grinned, and Gregory facepalmed discreetly.
"Like, right now?" he asked, glancing over at Cliff before watching the rode once again.