The Iron Facade

Chapter Five

    "This isn't real. It's not, it can't be." Katherine's eyes were wet and puffy. She watched as the police stuffed Adam's corpse into a body bag. She kept telling herself that this was all a bad dream. A horrible nightmare. Lauren wrapped her arms around Katherine.

   "I'm so sorry, Kathy." She was holding back tears, herself. Katherine didn't hug back, she only stared blankly. Eleanor was curled up on a bed, she calmed down a bit. Matt sat next to her, rubbing her back to comfort her. However, Matt was as traumatized as the others, maybe a little more than them.

   Philip sat next to Esther with his arms crossed, he was trying to keep his sadness hidden. Though, anyone could see the pain in his eyes. Esther was slouching in her seat, she seemed to have no emotion. She showed no signs of sadness, anger or happiness. She just stared at the wall, lifeless.

   Megan had cried so hard that she had eventually passed out while John had locked himself in the other room, not wanting to be seen.

   Ty was in the bathroom. He had thrown up multiple times. He had no idea what was wrong with Esther, but he wished she would snap out of it. She hadn't said a word to anyone, barely even sparing any of them a glance. He wished she would snap out of it and hug him and comfort him.

    Then, a noise drew him out from the bathroom. A sound that gave him chills. Laughter. Esther was there, sitting and laughing hysterically. Katherine stared at her in horror. Ty felt frozen. How could she be laughing at a time like this?!

    Everyone watched as she laughed. Tears began to stream from her eyes as she laughed. Her hands curled into fists, yet she still laughed. Her laughter soon evolved into a scream. A long, drawn out scream that scraped her throat and was filled with pain and anger. Philip wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. She cried into his chest.

   "Bring him back, Pip. Please. Please! Bring him back." She begged. "He didn't deserve this." Philip rubbed her back and a few stray tears slipped from his eyes. The room sat in silence as the only sounds that could be heard were Esther's painful cries. Just then, Eleanor let out a cry and hugged Esther tightly. Following was: Matt, Katherine, Philip, and everyone else in the room, until it was a group hug. It was a big hug filled with memories, tears and pain.

   Eventually, John came out of the room he was in, and Megan woke up with bags under her eyes. The friends lay there for a few hours, no one spoke, everyone was just thinking. Eleanor sighed and stood up, "Why don't we order some pizza and... try to forget about this the best we can?" Lauren nodded.

   "Yeah." She mumbled. "Yeah, that'd probably be best." The group nodded, but only numbly.

   "Forget...?" Kathy's voice was soft, but it was almost a growl. "Forget? How could any of us forget?! Adam was our friend and he just died in front of us! And now you expect us to 'forget' about it?!" Her eyes were lit with anger. Esther then let out a laugh, as she stood up and turned to face Kathy.

   "Of course we expect you to forget." She said. Her eyes were heavily dilated as her pupils were mere dots. "We expect you to forget about what happened and about Adam. Because we don't care. Nobody cares! We're just tiny specks. Who cares about specks?!" Her legs then collapsed under her.