Shot through the heart
And you're to blame
Darlin' You give love a bad name...

"Murder capital of the world." Abigail read aloud, "You have got to be kidding me!"

It was eight o'clock on a Saturday night and Abigail Grayson and Susan Bauford had been driving for two days straight. The heat was stifling and the beat up old black Cadillac they were driving didn't even have air conditioning. The black leather seats felt like hot coals and they clung to the skin like Velcro. The bottle of ice-cold water they had bought from the store not 10 minutes ago was now half empty, warm and of little use.

Susan grinned from the driver's seat, apparently oblivious to the heat wave they had been experiencing, "C'mon Abby, I come here almost every summer and nothing bad has ever happened...and besides this was your idea, remember?"

Abigail shook her head incessantly, "No, it was your idea to drag us all the way out to Santa-Carla as a vacation, which by the way, I didn't even agree to." She folded her arms in annoyance; she couldn't believe that this was where they were going to be staying for two weeks.

"Abby, please. At least try to enjoy it, you haven't had a break from that stupid job of yours in over a year. You're nineteen for crying out loud!" she glanced sideways at her best friend, "You just need to relax a little, I mean, after what happened with Peter-" Susan hesitated as Abigail glared coldly at her before looking out the window. She sighed, "I want to see you happy, that's all."

It was Abigail's turn to sigh, she could never stay mad at her, "I know Sue, I'm sorry I'm being such a jerk. These past few months have been tough and you're right, I do need to relax a little." She turned to the girl she'd known since she was four and grinned slyly at her, "Let's make a deal. I promise I'll at least try to enjoy myself on one condition."

Susan raised one eyebrow, "And what's that?"

"We get to visit the comic book store."

"How do you even know they have a comic book store?"

Abigail smirked, "I saw it on the billboard two minutes ago. The store's at the end of the boardwalk...So do we have a deal?"

Susan rolled her eyes, "Okay, fine. It's a deal."

It took them at least twenty minutes to find a parking space. The parking lot was mostly filled with motorcycles but they managed to squeeze into a spot barely ten feet from the beach. Abigail could see the sea of people on the boardwalk and the sound of the carousel in the distance.

"So, where to first? We can go to the comic book store last, seen as it's at the very end of the boardwalk."

Susan took a moment to examine the area before deciding to visit the video store first. It was the closest to the parking lot and didn't seem to be as busy as the other stores. They also need to find a place to stay for a few weeks.

They had barely set a foot inside when a man's voice came from the counter, "Hello, how may I help you ladies?" His voice was gentle, yet strong at the same time. He was tall, with short brown hair and he wore rather large, black rimmed glasses. His suit was a cream colour and he wore a pink shirt with a rather loud tie. He looked to be at least in his mid-forties.

The two girls smiled politely at him and Susan spoke up, "Hi, well we just got here and we were wondering if you knew a motel or somewhere where we could stay for a few weeks?"

The man smiled at them, "Oh I see, well let me be the first to welcome you to Santa Carla. I'm Max and I'm the owner of VideoMax." He shook both of the hands, "There is a motel a few streets down, I'd be happy to show it to you if you'd like. It's only a few minutes away."

"No, we'd hate to impose-"began Susan. "Nonsense!" interrupted Max, "I'll just get Jane to cover my shift, I'll be right back."

He left the counter and walked briskly to the back of the store before disappearing behind a curtain.

As soon as he left Abigail grabbed Susan by the arm, "What the hell do you think you're doing, huh? You don't even know that guy! He could be a freakin' Hannibal fanatic for all you know and you're just going to let him take us to some random motel? Have you gone insane?"

"Hey, I thought you promised you were going to relax and enjoy yourself?" she asked

"That was before you decided to sign our death warrants." She muttered coldly. Susan couldn't help but laugh and pretty soon Abigail joined in. Within seconds they were in hysterics and people were beginning to stare.

That's when they walked in.

The silence in the room was frightening and the air suddenly had a slight chill to it. There were four boys in total. The one that caught Abigail's attention had blonde hair and stunning blue eyes. He stood in front of the other three boys and smirked slightly as he glanced around the room. He held his gaze longer on the ones he didn't recognize.

Abigail didn't even hear Max coming up behind her.

She looked down and noticed a dog standing by Max's feet, growling at the boys who had just arrived. Max's voice was venomous, "I thought I told you boys not to come in here anymore?"

The boy with the blonde hair looked to Max and smirked. He stared intently at Abigail for a second or two and gave her a barely noticeable nod before turning and walking out the door, the other three boys following suit.

Time seemed to stand still for a little while but soon the store was back to its usual blur of chattering. Max shook himself slightly before turning to the two girls, "Sorry about that. There are some bad apples around here but-"he continued to talk aimlessly as he led them out of the video store.

The night air had cooled slightly as a gentle breeze passed through the town. The girls followed Max down several crowded streets as Susan whispered, "Bad? If those boys were apples, they'd be delicious."

She giggled like a school girl as Abigail rolled her eyes. This was normal behaviour for Susan, all she could think about were boys and parties...It was like she was the girl version of a guy...Abigail didn't approve much.

Susan seemed to notice Abby's slight disapproval and lowered her voice so Max wouldn't overhear, "C'mon even a hermit like you has to admit they were hot!"

Abigail feigned hurt, "Ouch! Fine, I admit, they were rather cute." Giving in to the moment, she added, "Especially the blonde in the middle..." Susan laughed and they bumped shoulders, "I just hope you're not planning to stalk them for the two weeks that we're here..."

Susan had a mischievous grin on her face and merely shrugged.

They continued on in silence, only talking when Max asked something, only giving short polite answers. Abigail was careful not to reveal to much, although she reckoned Susan was just about a minute or two away from telling him her entire life story.

They passed a few more streets and were just about to ask how much further it was to the motel when Max stopped directly in front of a neon sign which read, 'The Boardwalk Motel'
"How original." muttered Abigail as she gazed over the building: it was small with white-washed walls and slate roof tiles. Susan chuckled slightly and Max must have heard her too because he also laughed."I know it's not the Bellagio but it's the best we've got I'm afraid."

He studied Abigail for a second or two, without her noticing. She was strong, so much stronger than that other one. She would be such a perfect a addition to -

"No, no it's perfect thank you so much." Said Susan, interrupting his thoughts. He gave her a winning smile, "You're completely welcome and if you need anything, don't hesitate to call."

He reached for something inside his jacket and Abigail flinched, he gave her a confused look before slowly pulling a white card from his pocket and handed it to Abigail. It had his name and number on the back, along with the number and address of the video store. He shook them both by the hand and they thanked him before he left.