FATAL ERROR
Chapter 1
-Manor-
Piper rummaged through the mail, absentmindedly tossing the catalogs and mails to one side, trying to find her science magazine. During the procedure, an odd looking envelope caught her eye.
The red envelope stood out from the rest of the mail, its deep colour reminded Piper of blood. She shuddered at the thought. Picking the letter up to examine it, Piper noticed that her name was nicely typed onto the envelope. Strangely enough, there was no return address. Grabbing a letter opener, she tore open the envelope and took out a piece of letter sized paper, neatly folded three times. Hesitantly, Piper lifted the folds, and was surprised to see that the words were printed in red ink. 'What in the world?' Her nervousness increased, as the redness of the words reminded her again, of blood. Taking a deep breath, she read:
Piper,
It's been a year already… but I'm sure you still remember that night. I know I do. I also know that you and your friends failed to report to the police. Here's how you could redeem yourself from your fatal error. You are to do a task for me. Three tasks. Everyone else in the group also has three tasks. Complete these small commands within a week, or else… you will face the consequences. Feel free to discuss with the others, but not with anyone outside of the group. The consequences for that may more harm than you have already done. I know that I don't have to warn you about calling the police, because I know you won't.
Your first task: Fail the next English exam.
Remember, you have seven days.
Sincerely,
The Punisher
Piper felt the breath leave her lungs, as memories of last year's tragedy surfaced. She remembered the accident as if it were only yesterday – Charlotte's lifeless eyes were still fresh in her mind. For months, Piper had been unable to sleep well, for nightmares plagued her non-stop. It was near the Christmas holidays, when Missy, and her two friends invited Piper and Rebecca to join their "gang". Like herself, Rebecca wasn't very popular. To be blunt, she was a bit of a loner as well. Obviously, there was a price to pay. A big price. The two of them had to help Missy, Alexandra, and Jennifer kidnap Missy's main competitor for junior homecoming queen title, Charlotte Johnson. At that time, Piper had no idea that this was the task she had to do, but it was too late. She had already met up with the others at midnight. Along the way, when Piper finally did learn of the task, she was without a doubt, against the whole thing. Missy's threat of ruining Piper's life forced her to relent to their request, although she was hesitant.
-Flashback-
"We shouldn't be doing this…" Piper whispered nervously, fiddling with the rope in her hands.
"For godsakes, Piper, get a grip. Do you want to be with the cool guys or what?" Missy snapped, annoyed at Piper's cowardly display.
"I-I-I.. I do," Piper muttered quietly.
"Then do as I say," Missy exclaimed exasperatedly.
"But… kidnapping is a crime!
"Piper, dammit! Shut up already. We're going to get caught if you keep talking," Missy snapped, as she managed to get the window open. Noiselessly, she stepped in and in no time, all five of them were in.
"Ready?" Missy whispered.
"We shouldn't be doing this," Piper whispered back.
"Shut the hell up already," Alexandra snapped.
"Let's do it. Follow the plan guys," Missy said. "Piper?"
Piper took a deep breath, before clamping a hand over the sleeping Charlotte. That was when Jennifer grabbed Charlotte's legs, while Rebecca held Charlotte's arms still to let Alexandra tie them. These motions caused Charlotte to jerk awake, and she began to struggle to evade her kidnappers. Jennifer quickly threw her whole weight onto the squirming body, while Alexandra tried to tie Charlotte's flailing arms together. Piper was staring straight at Charlotte's frightened blue eyes, and she looked away in shame. This was when chaos erupted. Charlotte managed to yank her face away from Piper's hands, and was about to scream, when Missy quickly slammed the hammer into the poor girl's face. Charlotte was immediately silenced.
"Shit, Piper. What the hell were you doing?" Missy snapped, annoyed.
Blood began to ooze out from Charlotte's severe head injury, staining her sheets.
"Shit! Is she dead?" Jennifer asked nervously.
Piper reached over and felt for a pulse. There was none.
"She's dead…"
"No f*cking way. I don't believe this. F*ck… my life can't be over yet! Dammit Piper! I told you to cover her mouth!" Missy snapped.
"What do we do?" Alexandra asked.
Missy calmed herself down quickly, before saying "We dump her somewhere. Make it seem like she ran away."
"I'm not going to do that. We should just call the police and tell them what happened," Piper said.
"No! Do you have any idea how much trouble we're in??? I'm going to yell at you later, but right now, you've got to do what I say if you don't want to get in any more trouble."
"We're already in trouble," Piper exclaimed anxiously.
"Not yet. Think about it, Piper. You're throwing away your future. Not to mention all of our futures. It's not like she was even nice to you anyways, so why the hell do you care?" Missy demanded.
"It's not right."
"That's it, Piper. I've had it with your bullshit. Toughen up. We have work to do."
"I'm not taking any part in this," Piper stated firmly.
"You don't have a choice!"
"Yes, I do."
"You want a miserable life for the rest of high school?"
Piper shook her head slowly.
"Then help me out."
With much difficulty, they managed to hull Charlotte's lifeless body in Missy's car trunk. Rebecca grabbed some of Charlotte's cloths and personal items, hoping that it would seem more like Charlotte ran away.
"This is sick."
"Enough, Piper," Missy snapped, as she and the others continued to dig.
"We can just tell the police that it was an accident."
"Like they give a damn. Dammit, Piper. Work with me. Start digging."
Charlotte's body was lowered in their hole, and Piper unconsciously looked into Charlotte's blue eyes again. She shuddered violently, as she closed those lifeless eyes. Each spray of dirt on Charlotte's pretty face made Piper guilty beyond belief, but there wasn't anything she could do.
-End of Flashback-
The rest of the day was hell for Piper, as she continued to struggle with the accident, and her task. One thing stood out in her mind though… just what exactly are the consequences?