Hollow Point

Noire awoke early the next morning, excited to start her day and ask about the strange building. After changing into jean capris and a white tank top, she ran to the bathroom to fix her hair and brush her teeth.

She spotted Mr. and Mrs. Cummings as she ran outside. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Cummings."

"Good morning, Noire. How did you sleep last night?" Mr. Cummings asked with a smile.

"Very well, thank you. Listen, I have a question for you two that I really hope you could help me with." She glared over at Vilhelmas, who was now creeping out of the door.

Mrs. Cummings quickly adapted a questioning look. "Well, what is it? You know you can ask us anything."

"Well, I was looking out my window last night, and I noticed this really strange, mysterious building up there." Noire pointed to the top of the hill behind her house. "I was wondering if you could tell me what it was and why it's so isolated."

Mr. and Mrs. Cummings immediately stiffened at the mention of the building. Mr. Cummings coughed and looked off to the side while his wife laughed uncomfortably, realizing she was alone in explaining this.

"Well, uh. We don't really talk about it here, Noire." She sniffed uneasily.

"Oh! I know!" Vilhelmas piped up, beaming. He dashed down to where Noire was, eager to assist.

Mr. Cummings frowned and smacked Vilhelmas in the back of the head. "You idiot. You weren't even old enough to remember it happening!"

Vilhelmas turned away, cursing under his breath. He went to kick the small rock by the road but missed, falling and knocking the wind out of himself. Noire kept her laughter to herself, looking back over at her neighbors. "Are you positive you can't at least tell me what it is?"

Mrs. Cummings sighed as Vilhelmas heaved himself up, cheeks flaming. "It's called Hollow Point. Don't ask anymore, Noire. You don't want to know." She looked down at her shoes with a sad expression.

A chill ran through Noire's spine. Hollow Point...strange name. She thanked the Cummings and headed back across the road. As she was walking up her side walk, she heard someone call her name. Turning to the right, she saw a guy about her age who wore tight jeans and a v-neck.

"Um, hi there. How do you know my name?"

The guy grinned. "When you live in a small town, word gets around fast." He held out a hand to her. "I'm Scott."

Noire smiled back and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Scott. I'm Noire, but you already knew that." She giggled quietly and looked at the ground.

Scott's smile widened. "And before we become friends or anything, you should know something about me." He was fully grinning by the end of his sentence.

Noire, still smiling, tilted her head to the side. "Oh? And what would that be?"

Still smiling, he replied, "I'm not into girls."

Noire's eyes widened and her smile got even wider. "Well, I think that's pretty amazing. Now there's no getting out of being my best friend."

Scott finally let out a laugh. "Good, I'm so glad that you accept that I'm a zoophiliac!"

Terror struck throughout Noire's body. "A-are you serious?"

Scott completely lost it at Noire's shocked expression. "No!" he laughed. "I was kidding, I'm gay."

Noire breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh thank you. That was scary. Now, you can still be my best friend." She smiled kindly and went to the sidewalk by the road. "Hey, wanna show me around?"

Scott smirked. "Of course." He linked his arm through Noire's and dragged her off toward the street. "Hey, you're a pretty serious person, huh? You need to lighten up a bit. Did you really believe that I was into beastiality?"

Noire held onto Scott's arm tightly. "Yeah...it's how I was raised. And in a way, I knew you were joking because of that smile on your face."

"Good." Scott sighed. "Because that's all you're going to get for interesting things in this town. I've never been in such a boring place. I mean, I do like Batakiai, but sometimes it's just too uneventful, you know?"

"I guess so. But I do have to ask; what's this Hollow Point business? People seem...afraid of it. I think it'd be a great adventure to go up there." Noire looked up at Scott and flashed him her best smile, hoping to get some sort of answer from him.

Scott shot her a pained smile in return. "It's....sort of a sore subject. I'm not really...completely sure what's up there. All I know is that there's supposed to be something really dangerous in Hollow Point."

"Oh yeah?" Noire rolled her eyes. "What could possibly be so dangerous they have to keep it isolated from a remote town?"

"That's just it." Scott hesitated. "No one really knows, or will talk about it if they do. He's-" Scott cut himself short and shook his head. "I really don't know, Noire," he murmured, not looking at her.

"A boy is up there?! Why doesn't anyone help him? Oh gosh, he must be so scared." Fear bubbled in Noire's stomach and she loosened her grip on Scott's arm.

"No, a boy's not up there! Look, it's- it may be someone, but I'm still not sure about it. I just overheard something, I really don't know what's up there. Don't go up there, Noire. Please." There was a desperate look in Scott's eyes. "I heard the last person to go up there died."

"Haha, I doubt that one's true. People probably said that so others wouldn't go up there. I'm going tonight." Noire looked up at Scott with an evil smile. "You're coming with me."

He looked at her, shocked. "Wuh-what?" Scott stepped away from her. "No, Noire. Forget it, okay? I didn't say anything about it, we'll go on with our lives, alright?" He laughed nervously, knowing she wouldn't let the matter drop.

"Oh, don't be such a baby, Scott. I'll be there to hold your hand." Noire snickered and hugged Scott. "It'll be fun. Please?"

Scott sighed deeply. "If we wind up dead, I'm never talking to you again. I'm still not sure about this...."

Noire glared at Scott. "Fine, I'll go by myself. I bet it'll just be easier. I'll call you when I get home, okay? I'm not sure what time that'll be though."

Scott sighed in relief. "Thanks, Noire. I still wish you wouldn't go, but if you call me maybe it'll be okay. It doesn't matter how late it is, I live by myself anyways." He looked her straight in the eye. "Don't do anything stupid. Please." Thinking about that for a moment, he opened his mouth again. "Or...more stupid than this insane 'adventure' plan."

Noire rolled her eyes. "Oh, calm down, darling. I'll be fine. I live for danger. I'm going to head home now, though. Thanks for the help today. Call you later." She sent him a small smile before running back to her house.

Scott half-heartedly waved back before turning away and walking back to his house, muttering about stubborn adrenaline junkies.
---
Noire stepped out into the darkness with a flashlight gripped in her right hand. Closing the door quietly, she set foot behind her house and towards the hill.

As she got closer to the hill, her heart began to race faster and her palms became sweaty. "Stop it, Noire," she told herself. "Quit being such a baby about this." She took a deep breath before starting her journey up the hill.

What had to have been at least 20 minutes of trudging up the hill, Noire was finally standing in front of the building. There were no windows and fences surrounded the entire building. She let out a small gasp.

"Hollow Point."