Overwhelmed with guilt, I stammered, "I'm so sorry, I had no idea." The weight of my thoughtless words weighed heavily upon me, knowing that I had unknowingly reopened a wound that had never truly healed.
"It's alright," he replied, his nod barely perceptible. Though his forgiveness was granted, the pain in his eyes remained, a constant reminder of the loss he had endured.
As we tried to refocus our attention on the present, we suddenly realized that we were alone in that room. Panic set in as we frantically searched for Shawn and Cris, but they were nowhere to be found. Desperation filled the air, until a faint voice broke through the silence. "Guys?" Shawn's voice echoed from the end of the walkway.
With a renewed sense of urgency, we hurried towards the sound, only to discover another walkway leading to the right. And there, at the end, stood Shawn, his gaze fixed upon Cris, who stood motionless, clutching an axe in her trembling hand.
Approaching her cautiously, I whispered, "Are you alright?" Concern etched across my face, I tried to understand the turmoil that consumed her.
I leaned on my left to look at her face but I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw her eyes completely glazed white, That made me jerk back with fear
"He is the cause of all our troubles!" she exclaimed, her voice filled with anger and determination. Her teeth clenched tightly, she directed her gaze towards a door that bore the name "Fredricks Jones." It was a beige colored wooden door with round yet pointy top, just like all other doors, how did the names got on these door became the last of our concerns in front of what was happening to Cris.
Attempting to calm her, I gently reassured her, "It's okay, Cris. He's just Freddy." But her resolve remained unyielding, refusing to let go of the hatred taken over her. "Yes! He's just that old, wicked Freddy. No matter how hard we try to move forward, he will always stand in our way. Can't you see? Even in this new place, he's here, lurking
As she yanked her arms back, she unleashed a relentless assault on it, shattering the door into countless fragments.
Shawn's concern grew, prompting him to reach out and gently rest his hand on her shoulder. However, an unexpected surge of energy surged from her, resembling a powerful bolt of lightning. The force was so intense that it sent Shawn hurtling backwards, crashing into the wall and losing consciousness.
Shawn's eyes fluttered open and he saw Dominique standing before him. His head was still spinning and he felt disoriented.
"Are you okay?" Dominique asked with concern etched on her face.
Meanwhile, I was terrified but I couldn't abandon my friend in her time of need.
She was completely unaware of what was happening to her, so I gently rubbed her shoulder to comfort her. "It's okay, Cris. He's just a bully," I whispered softly.
"You're right! He's a bully!" Cris growled, pulling her arm back to strike the wooden pieces hanging over the door.
"It's not worth it," I whispered again, sliding my hand down her shoulder to her hand until I could get a grip on the axe she was holding.
Cris fell to the ground, clutching her head and moaning in pain. When she opened her eyes, they were back to normal, and she pushed herself away from the axe as far as possible.
"What just happened?" she asked, sweat pouring down her face.
We were all terrified by what had just occurred, especially me since I was the one who had brought them there. We quickly left the place, hurrying back to our respective homes.
We dropped off Shawn, then Dominique, and finally Cris at her place. My home was just a few steps away from hers, so I made it back on my own.
It was another sleepless night for us as we stayed up, too scared to close our eyes.
Just as I was about to drift off, the alarm clock started ringing, signaling the start of a new day.
I stood up, rubbing my sleepy eyes, and stumbled into the shower. It was the only thing that could jolt me awake. Little did I know that the night we spent on the other side of the school was just the beginning of a nightmare. As I arrived at school, I saw my friends gathered in front of the school, their faces filled with worry.
Cris was trembling uncontrollably, and as I approached her, I noticed the presence of police officers inside the school. Before I could even utter a word, Cris started muttering incoherently, her voice filled with panic. "I killed him, Zee! I killed him!" she exclaimed, her forehead glistening with sweat.
"Hey, calm down! Who did you kill?" I held her shoulders, trying to steady her.
"Keep your voice down!" Shawn whispered, stepping forward. "One of the students found Fredrick's body near the pool. The police believe he was brutally attacked with a sharp tool."
"A sharp tool! I had an axe!" Cris whispered, her voice filled with guilt.
"That's impossible!" I reassured her, desperately trying to calm her down.
"But Zee, the axe!" she repeated, her words becoming a broken record.
"This doesn't prove anything! It doesn't explain anything!" I clenched my teeth, pulling her hand as I noticed a police officer approaching us.
"Just don't say anything about last night," I whispered urgently.
"Who is Zinnia James?" the officer asked, his voice stern.
I stepped forward, my heart pounding in my chest. "I am Zinnia James," I replied, trying to maintain a composed demeanor.
"Miss James, I am Sheriff Isaac Smith. I need to ask you some questions," he said, clearing his throat.
Fear coursed through me, but I refused to let it show. Ever since my father's death, I had learned to conceal my emotions. "I heard you had a confrontation with Fredrick the other day," he continued, holding a notepad and pen, ready to jot down my every word.
"It wasn't exactly a confrontation. He frightened me in the middle of the night, and I'm still new here..." I began explaining, but then I realized the true reason behind his question.
"Wait a moment!" I crossed my arms and scowled. "You don't seriously believe that I killed him just because of a silly prank, do you?" Even though, deep down, that was exactly what I wanted to do that night, I couldn't have possibly been the one responsible for his death.
"No! No... Of course not!" He stuttered and chuckled in embarrassment. "You can leave now!" He continued his questioning with the others, and I had a sinking feeling that Cris would somehow ruin everything. But to my surprise, she handled it quite well.
We gathered in the cafeteria and discussed our next steps. We couldn't draw attention to ourselves, so we decided to act normal and meet in front of the warehouse in the evening.
When the time came, we were all there except for Shawn. "Where's Shawn?" I scanned the area.
A minute later, we spotted Shawn limping towards us. "Where have you been? What happened to you?" Dominique asked.
"I guess you all forgot that a woman slammed me against the wall!" Shawn gave Cris a blank stare.
"Have you looked at yourself? You're a big guy, there's no way I could have lifted you, I could have even pulled a muscle by pushing you," she smirked sarcastically.
"But you did! Everyone saw you do it!" Shawn glared at her.
"You know what? Maybe you deserved it!" She was now furious, but before the fight could escalate, Dominique intervened and reminded them of our true purpose for being there.
"We're not here to fight each other, we're here to clean up the mess we've made!" He always had a way of calming people down and bringing reason into the chaos.
Upon entering the warehouse, we were surprised to find it impeccably clean, just as it was the last time we were here.
We retraced our steps and made our way to the office where the aid box was. Shawn broke the silence, asking about our plan moving forward.
Dominique suggested destroying the main door to prevent anyone else from making the same mistake we did.
However, I quickly interjected, "Are you forgetting that a destroyed door turned out to be a death sentence for one of the students? Destroying the main door can kill the entire school which also includes us!". It would also make it easier for others to enter. Dominique nodded in agreement, realizing the validity of my point.
With the main door out of the question, Dominique asked what our alternative plan would be.
I confidently replied that we would indeed destroy something, but it wouldn't be the door. My gaze shifted towards the first aid box, realizing its potential to help anyone enter the dark side of the school.