Beware, Jake.

The room felt so humid and the loud music was making me feel much more nauseous. I got out of the house, gasping for air. I saw my friend Tobin on the porch, smoking a cigar.

“Why aren’t you in the house?” I asked him, trying not to make it seem obvious that I was desperate for air. I folded my arms to make my act look more natural but of course, nothing got passed Tobin.

His blue plaid t-shirt was untucked from his jeans and his sleeves had come undone. He scanned me before answering, “Shouldn’t I be asking you that? You are the host after all.”

Ignoring his statement, I walked up next to him and leaned on with him. He offered me a cigar and I said no. “I told you before, I don’t smoke. That’s like suicide.”

“Living in this cruel hell we call world is already suicide,” He told me, giving a shot at being poetic. “Might as well I fulfil this world’s cruel wish.”

“How did it go with Angel tonight?” I asked, changing the subject. He ruffled his brown hair and groaned. “She can burn in a hole for all I care,” he answered coldly, smoke coming out from his lips.

“Did it really go that bad?” I asked. Tobin shot me a look with his piercing emerald eyes and that was all that had to be said.

“Why are you out here?” I tried again. Tobin sighed.

“Be careful Jake,” He told me instead, his voice ominous. “Someone’s planning something to hurt you and the ones you love most. You gotta be smart and outsmart that fool, whoever he is.”

The air goes crisp and I look at Tobin, dumbfounded. He gives me the most deadpan look he can give me and gets off the porch, walking down the steps, his weight making the wood creak.

“Where ya going?” I asked him.

“Home,” he replied without turning back. He threw his cigar onto the pavement and stepped on it. He turned back to me, his face still looking dead as ever. “Beware, Jake. Don’t fall into his trap.”

And with that, he walked away, out of sight, leaving me with a million questions.

‘Probably had too much to drink,’ I thought as I walked back into my house.

…

It was 1 AM when the crowd finally went home. The last of them included Cherry, Ren and Sasha. The three of them were hanging drunkenly around the porch.

“Thank goodness mom and dad are out of town and I’m the only child they have,” I muttered to myself when I saw the three drunkies on the porch.

“Hey! Get off my porch and go home, will ya?” I hollered out to the three of them from inside the house.

“It’s still early Jake,” I heard Ren slur without lifting his head. “The party’s just getting started.”

Cherry and Sasha ‘whoo-ed’ with him. I got out of the house and just as I was about to tell them off, Aaron came in his SUV, looking unexpectedly fresh. He was dressed in a plain black t-shirt and white jeans.

He got out of his car and sighed. “Forgive them, Jake. Ren’s mother sent me here to get Ren. She was worried because it was getting late and he wasn’t home yet. Same goes to Cherry and Sasha’s mother,” Aaron apologized humbly as he took drunk Ren by the arm.

“Got a date tonight?” I asked, folding my arms as I gave him a smile. He smiled back.

“I did have a date tonight. The girl ditched me at the restaurant for some reason,” he sighed at the end of his sentence but smiled anyway. I helped Aaron get Cherry and Sasha into the backseat of his SUV.

“Good night, Jake,” Aaron said before getting into the river seat of his SUV. He closed the door as soon as he got in and, right before he drove off, he rolled down his window and said, “hey Jake?”

“Yeah?” I answered, looking at him in the eye. He bit his lip nervously and said something very random.

“Be safe. Outsmart your enemies, aye?” And with that, his window went back up and he sped off, leaving dust behind. Suddenly, I begin to feel uneasy. Tobin had told me almost the same thing. Now Aaron.

What was going on?

I walked back into my house, still pondering about what both Tobin and Aaron had said to me. I took one glance at the living room and that one glance was enough to tell me that the living room might as well be a dump.

‘Should’ve asked Aaron to help me out a bit with the living room,’ I thought as my nose wrinkled. The living room was still humid and I had to get out of the living room. I ascended the stairs and walked drowsily towards my room.

I opened the door to my room and peered inside. It was still neat. But there was something alien on my study table.

It was a laptop. A white Acer laptop.

I walked carefully into my room and looked at it. It was plugged into its charger and the battery was full (the battery bar was glowing blue). It was either new or was fixed to look new. The monitor was black but the open, sitting straight up. I looked down at the keyboard and saw that a note was stuck to it.

“Open when you’re ready” it said. It wasn’t and handwritten though. Whoever put the laptop here typed this note and printed it out.

I paced in front of my study table, wondering whether to open the laptop tonight or wait until tomorrow. I was curious and scared to see what the laptop contained. My blood ran cold just thinking about it.

‘Maybe tomorrow,’ I thought to myself.

I turned off my lights and climbed into bed.

To be continued in: File 1.