Hell on Earth

Chapter Three - Tragedy in the Quarry

Cynthia was woken up by the phone on her nightstand ringing. She shot straight up and answered it.

"Dustin?" she asked.

"I'm okay," her brother replied. "I'm with the Wheelers. I have AV Club after school, so I'll be late. Okay."

"Okay," Cynthia echoed. "Be safe."

"I will," Dustin said. Then, he hung up the phone.

Cynthia sat there for a minute. She couldn't believe that this was how she was going to be spending all of her mornings now for the foreseeable future. Waiting on a phone call from her little brother.

"Jesus," Cynthia muttered to herself as she got out of bed. "I need to get a life."

Cynthia threw on a pair of jeans, a Beatles shirt, and her red Dr. Martens before heading down stairs. She poured herself a bowl of cereal. The phone rang as she was eating.

"Henderson residence," she said through a mouth of Corn Flakes.

"Cynthia, I'm driving you to school today," Jonathan said. "We need to talk. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Nice to see you got a new phone," Cynthia said. "I'll be waiting for you." She hung up the phone.

Cynthia finished her bowl of cereal, grabbed her back pack, and sat on her front step. While she waited for Jonathan, she grabbed her notebook and a pen and started to write.

"Where do I want to go from here?" Cynthia muttered to herself as she looked at her outline for a new story. "How does this story end?" She looked at her character log and thought about everything that would lead up to the story's conclusion. "Sacrifice?" She thought for a moment. "Murder? No." She crossed out both ideas. "Deception."

She looked up when she heard Jonathan's car pull into the driveway. She got up and got into the car as soon as it stopped.

"What's wrong, Jonathan?" she asked as he pulled back onto the road.

"My mom is going crazy," he told her. "She thinks Will is talking to her through the lights. She thinks that he's in our house and is talking to her through the lights."

"Your mom is just scared," Cynthia said. "She's scared because her son is missing. Joyce is looking for answers anywhere she thinks she can find them."

"I don't know," Jonathan scratched the back of his head. "I've never seen her like this before."

"Will's never been missing before," Cynthia tried to reassure him. "This will pass."

They pulled into school. Cynthia grabbed her bag and headed into the school with Jonathan. Once they got to their lockers, they separated.

"Don't take forever after school to develop your photos," Cynthia said as she walked backwards. "I would like to be home at a reasonable time tonight."

"Just meet me by the car after school," Jonathan rolled his eyes as he walked towards class.

Cynthia was bored the entire day. Every class just seemed to be more and more review. Whenever she could, she would sneak her notebook out and just start to write. Anything was better than listening to the teacher drone on and on about something she already knew about. When the final bell of the day rang, Cynthia grabbed her stuff and headed out to Jonathan's car. To her surprise, he was waiting by the doors for her.

"That's strange," Cynthia said. "You didn't take 50 million years this time."

"Laugh it up," Jonathan said. "You're coming to my house after school to help calm my mom's nerves. I need some help."