Eldritch

Chapter 2

It's the beginning of free period. Daniel makes his way towards the football field, alternating between a jog and a speedy walk. As he turns the corner, he catches sight of Charlene, slotting her text books into her locker. With her head bowed, she pushes her crimped, strawberry blonde hair from her face. Daniel stands, for a moment, contemplating carrying on his way, and leaving her to herself. He swallows, shakes his head, and continues to walk towards her. 'Charlene,' he calls.

As though making an appearance in a movie scene in slow motion, she angles her body towards him. Gently, he reaches towards her. She collapses into the hug and he sways his body ever so slightly. 'I'm so sorry about Abi.'

She cracks a weak smile and nods. 'I was walking past the principal's office a few minutes ago, and Sheriff Ryan was in there with him. I think he's going to start calling students out one by one to talk about Abi.'

A lump forms in his throat and he tries gulping it down as a clammy feeling washes over him. He tries ignoring the thumping of his heart against his chest. 'You think so?'

His girlfriend gives him a painful nod and he swallows again. 'I'm just not sure I'll be able to talk about her. I'm not ready. She's only just died.'

'I get that,' he says. 'But--'

The buzzing of the school intercom echoes against the walls of the wide corridor. 'Can Charlene Kirby please report to the principal's office now?'

She pauses, glances to him, and sheds a single tear drop. 'You're going to be okay,' he tells her. He gives her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

'I don't think so,' she swallows. 'It's hard enough to talk about her, but the thought that I'm a suspect in my best friend's death is too much to handle.'

Daniel attempts to dismiss the feelings of guilt wrenching in his gut. He struggles to keep himself together; to keep up the front. But, all he can entertain is the burdening guilt that feels as though it's making him slowly shrivel up from the inside out. 'Hey,' he gulps. 'What happened to Abi is horrible, but you had nothing to do with it. I know that. You've got nothing to worry about.'

'But, the Police don't know it,' she replies as she backs away and drags her feet in the direction of the office.

'I do though,' he murmurs to himself before continuing on his way.

----

As he reaches the bleachers, six of Daniel's peers sit in the bleachers. They all sit, stewing in the silence, none of them uttering a word to one another. A repressed atmosphere of culpability is widespread amongst the group. He takes a seat and breaks it by addressing them.

'We need to talk about Friday night.'

A girl seated in the centre of the group of teenagers adopts a scornful expression. 'What exactly do we need to talk about, Danny?' She puts sharp emphasis on her nickname for him.

Clenching his fists, Daniel narrows his eyes at her. 'First of all, don't ever call me Danny again,' he snaps. 'And are you serious, Lisa? Abi is dead, because of what we did. My girlfriend's best friend. And she's in pieces.'

'You don't know that,' she dead pans.

Ella stares at her, incredulously. She grips, her boyfriend, Sean's hand. Martin takes a stand against her. 'Abi died within a day of what we did. How can you sit there and even say that?'

Lisa scoffs and approaches a red faced Martin confrontationally. 'Well genius, let me--'

Sophie places a hand to Lisa's shoulder, attempting to ease tension between her twin brother and her best friend. 'Come on, Lisa. This isn't helping. Sit down and let's hear what Daniel has to say.'

Lisa turns and eyes each and every student surrounding her, silently seeking back up. As everyone fixes their attention back on Daniel, she tosses her arms up in defeat, throws herself back onto the bench she had been perching herself on, and shoots him a glare, which he ignores.

'What happened to Abi has to have something with what we did on Friday night and--'

Once he perceives the sharp sigh coming from Lisa's direction, he stops abruptly and stares at her as she shakes her head and mutters an inaudible string of words under her breath. 'Lisa, if you've got something to say, spit it out.'

'Okay,' she bites back. 'What happened to Abi has nothing to do with us. It was just an unfortunate coincidence.'

For the first time in this discussion, Ella takes a stand and vocalises her thoughts. 'An unfortunate coincidence? Seriously, Lisa? Is taking that stance just your way of ignoring your guilt? Or do you even have any?  Have you even got a conscience? Abi is dead because of us. We murdered her.'

'Oh don't be so melodramatic, Ella. I'm telling you, we had nothing to do with it.'

Lisa brings her face closer to Ella's, who cowers slightly and steps back as she infiltrates her personal space. Sean then comes to her aid. 'Lisa, stop being such a bitch. Leave Ella alone. If you think Abi's death was just a coincidence, then you're delusional and seriously need a reality check.'

'Okay,' she snaps. 'Why is everyone ganging up on me? I am not delusional.'

Sean mutters a snarky response under his breath, eliciting a rash reaction from Lisa and the argument escalates. Daniel and Martin join in, while Sophie tries breaking up the confrontation. Ella snaps at Lisa and she bites back. Sophie runs her fingers through her hair and slowly sinks back to her seat. As the bickering gets louder and each of the teens engages themselves further and further in the altercation, she lowers her face to her hands. About ten seconds pass when she finally snaps.

'Alright,' she shouts. 'Enough.'

The rest of the group face her, alarmed by her raised voice.

'Whether you believe it was a coincidence or not, we need to stop this coming out. You remember what we agreed before we did it? We could be next.'

Daniel nods in agreement, again assuming his position of leadership of the group. 'Sophie's right. Whether or not it's connected to Abi's death, we still did what we did. And nobody can find out about it.'

'Sheriff Ryan is calling on students one by one to speak to us,' he continues. 'Before we head back, we need to make a pact. We all need to promise that we'll never tell anyone about this.'

Daniel glances around the group. Ella gives a hesitant nod, followed by Sophie. Martin follows suit as well as Sean. He stares at Lisa and raises an eyebrow. The others follow his gaze and fix their sights upon Lisa. She bows her head. 'Lisa?'

'Fine,' she says. 'I agree.'

'To the grave,' Daniel reinforces, before stepping back onto the field.