The Bystander Effect

Chapter 14

(A/N: Whew! This story got confusing. With all the numbers and characters, I had to go back and make a few personal notes, make a few changes, and here we are. Sorry for the delay! I hope you all can forgive me! And hopefully I get this story finished soon for you guys, so I can start uploading the new story I've also been working on behind the scenes. It's gonna be good! XO, Sam)

"I would say that something's nefarious in the water at Rosewood Valley High," said a reporter on the television screen in Kelly's pristine living room, "But that may be in poor taste, considering the fate of three young victims. Victoria, Jeremy, and Danica—popular for their hit show Nitwits—all deceased on the set for their latest video-in-the-making. Cause of death was ruled accidental. This is following reports of several other accidental deaths—"

"Accidental," Kelly said to the empty room. She scoffed at the word used by the reporter. The report had interrupted the reality tv show Kelly was watching while spreading a fresh coat of blue paint her toenails, her foot propped on the coffee table, nail polish wand in hand.

"All these strange deaths came about after the resurfacing of missing teen Hayden Figueroa, whose badly burned body was found days ago beside Fiddler's Lake. Thus began a stream of accidents—"

Kelly listened with her stomach churning as each name was counted off. She watched the photos of the recently deceased students flash across the screen. Doyle Mathews, Kelsea Sparks, some girl named Jerry that she didn't know. They paused a moment on each photo so the viewer could stare at the memory of their living smiles. Kelly felt worse with each one, but not because of their loss. She was growing more afraid and angry by the moment, because she knew this was no accident. This was getting out of hand. It got out of hand when she accidentally went too far with Hayden, but she thought she could take control of the situation. Now she wondered if she ever had control. That someone was going to keep killing people...until they got to her. And they have the advantage, because she has no clue who it is, she realized. She felt a tremor of fear flood through her.

"Someone is going to try to kill me," she said out loud to no one. The wand in her hand dripped a splash of red on her foot. "Darn! What the?" It brought her out of the frozen state, but chilled her even more. She hadn't been using red. She hated red. Hayden had liked red. Kelly inspected the splash of bright crimson on her foot. Big Apple Red, she thought. Hayden had always colored her toenails that very shade. Kelly wiped up the spill with her mother's expensive afghan throw. When she closed the lid on the polish, it was blue. Her mind was playing tricks, that's all. 

However, someone was certainly going after her classmates. Were these people that knew about Hayden? Something was definitely suspicious, and Kelly had a pretty good idea who could be behind it all.

----

Britney stood alone in her kitchen holding a fresh glass of Diet Coke in ice. She'd caught sight of the family room tv on her way back and stopped to watch. Her television was much smaller than Kelly's, but it was the same report in which they were talking about death. Hayden's death...and others. She teared up as she looked  at all the faces on the news, and didn't notice as a tear splashed in her coke. These were people she had known and gone to school with for years. Some had even attended her birthday party last fall--a sweet sixteen party thrown by Hayden. And she noticed them somewhere else...in the viewer count of the live stream of Hayden's last appearance. Her throat was tight and an overwhelming metallic taste came over her. She felt light-headed, as though she were receiving anesthesia.

Jada swept into the room and slammed her textbooks on the kitchen table. The centerpiece, a dish full of colorful gems and a vase of orange flowers, rattled at the force. 

"What the hell is going on?" she asked, staring incredulously at the screen. 

"Someone is going after them," Britney said. Her fingers tingled as if they had recently gone numb. 

After some thought, Jada replied, "She's going after them, because they were going to tell. You see? I told you not to tell."

"Maybe someone else is going after them because they didn't tell."

"Who would do that?" Puzzlement warped Jada's face for a moment, then her eyes widened knowingly. "What have you been doing, Britney?"

"It's not me."

"You've been acting all weird," Jada says and she backs up. "You've been going out at weird times."

"It's not me, Jada! How could you even think it?"

"Where did you go last night?" Jada said quickly.

"I went for a run."

"Where?" She was shooting questions at Britney lightning fast.

"The woods," Britney answered just as quickly as Jada could dish the questions out.

"Why? Why would you do that in the middle of the night?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"That's it, it bothers you so bad, so this is what you decide to do about it?"

"I could never...I'm not like Kelly! Do you even know me at all?"

Jada gave a suspicious look. "Whatever. Just stay away from me."

She stormed off. Britney heard Jada's bedroom door slam shortly after, jarring the whole house and causing her to flinch. It stung her, knowing that her own sister didn't trust her. They had never really seen eye to eye on anything, but she had thought that at least her sister would believe her when it came to something like this. With a stabbing sensation in her chest, she turned back to the television. They had resumed the reality show she had been watching, but she wasn't interested now. All she could think of was the situation she had gotten pulled into. She didn't know who, but she was sure she knew why these things were happening, and it needed to stop.