A/N: Take two. Remember, anything could be a clue... )
Disclaimer: We own nothing.
.KILL THE MESSENGER.
1
At the intersection of 57th and 24th Street was a man in waiting.
The glow of the streetlamps faded dully into the chilly fall night, and though stars twinkled in the black sky, they remained unimportant and ignorant.
The man pushed back his dark sleeves, revealing a glow-in-the-dark watch with the words Cellini Cestello engraved on its face in fancy print. The watch was solid gold and it glittered translucently in the dim lighting, though it did not twinkle or shimmer enough to catch the eye of a passer-by.
It was midnight.
He would have to wait another minute.
"Hey—you going already? The night is young, man!"
Zack rolled his eyes good-naturedly as he grabbed his coat, tossing it over a shoulder. "It's called a curfew, Adam!" he shouted back as he weaved his way through the crowd of partiers.
"But it's Halloween!"
Zack shrugged, still hurrying out of the house. "See you Monday!"
As soon as he left the building the blaring music became muted in the chilly October air. He could still feel the bass but it was more tolerable now, and he didn't have to smell beer with every note.
He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and began the long trudge home. The party had been wilder than expected, but he'd only had a little to drink and tomorrow was a Saturday so it wasn't a big deal. He'd just tell Cody and his mom that he was tired, or something, and sleep undisturbed for the greater part of the weeken-
-BANG!
A gunshot.
A gunshot?
Zack instantly halted his steps. His heart skipped a beat as he realized that the shot had been close—and that a gunshot meant one definite thing.
Somebody had pulled the trigger.
Frowning in confusion, he veered off to the right so as to investigate the source of the noise. Most likely it had been some sort of Halloween prank…Some people weren't content with only one devil's night, after all.
And then he heard the voices.
Quiet, hushed, but higher-pitched as he walked closer towards them. Finally he saw shapes in the glare of a streetlamp, and the voices raised their intensity.
"…Nobody told me it was loaded!"
"You idiot! What did you do? Christ—what did you do?"
"I didn't do nothing—I didn't mean to—you were here, too! He said it was a joke! He said it was a joke!"
Panic. The voices were drenched in it.
Zack hid himself from view but peeked around a wall to get a better visual. He saw what looked like three figures standing over something on the ground…Occasionally one of the shapes would look down and shudder, but Zack couldn't quite see what the fuss was about.
"God—is he dead?" Now the panic had turned to shock. Cold-blooded shock.
"No. No-but-but we can't-,"
"-We gotta call 911, man; we can't just leave him here!"
"He's dead anyway!"
"But he's not yet!"
And then Zack heard it. A choked moan…A weak cry…help! someone pleaded. The hairs on his neck stood on edge and his heart quickened its beating.
And then he connected two and two.
Oh, God-
His eyes bugged as he raised a hand to cover his mouth. He tried to fight down a gag but it tumbled out of his vocal chords anyway and he hunkered down, still gaping, so as not to give away his existence.
But it was too late.
One of the three figures had heard his outburst, and now three sets of footsteps were hurrying towards him. Zack squeezed his eyes shut in horror—this was it. He was going to die at sixteen.
He wished he could see Cody again. And his mom. And maybe his dad and Adam and that girl he'd dumped a week back.
He told himself fiercely not to cry and found some inner strength to stand and face his adversaries, heart beating a rough tattoo against his ribcage.
And was met with three of his classmates.
He recognized all three of them; could have sat down and had a conversation with any of them any day. To think that they had just killed someone was-it was-
-It was unthinkable.
"What-what did you see?" one of them demanded, voice higher-pitched than usual as he jabbed his finger (which was trembling horribly) towards Zack. The other two stared as if horrified by his presence, and Zack noticed with a pang of fear that one of them was holding a handgun.
Part of him wished he could see their faces, but it was too dark and he couldn't make out anything but the fact that they were all his height, if not slightly taller.
"Nothing-," he started, voice thick. "I'm just walking home-,"
"What if he's lying?" one of the boys exclaimed tearfully. "We're going to get electrocuted! They're gonna lock us up and we're never gonna get a job, or get married, or-or graduate high school!"
"Shut up!" another boy snarled. "What did you really see?"
"Nothing!" Zack repeated. "Honest to God, I'm just walking home! And I heard-I heard a shot so I-I came over to see what it was-" he broke off, fingers tightly crossed behind his back.
"Nothing happened," one of the boys insisted. He wasn't quite as anxious as the second, but his voice still shook. "Don't even think about telling anybody-,"
"-Or we'll kill you, too," said another, taking a step closer. Zack suddenly felt something cool against his temple. His heart nearly ceased its beating as he realized that a gun was now pointed at his head. "You got that?"
Zack suddenly couldn't breathe, and he gagged as he starred down the barrister. "I-," he started, throat dry and speaking nearly impossible. His knees felt like jelly and he had to reach out and grab the brick wall to keep from collapsing.
"We'll kill you and your family and everybody you care about if you even think about telling!" The cool gun against Zack's head shook slightly.
"Okay!" Zack managed, gasping for breath. "I swear I won't tell. I-I-," he looked around at the three of them, shock still thumping through his veins. "I didn't see anything," he finished, eyes wide.
A few moments of tense silence passed, and the gun didn't move from its pointed position until the moments commenced.
"We're going." said one of them.
And then they were gone.
Zack stood there, chest heaving and mind spinning for another thirty seconds. And then he realized he was alone with a corpse and he knew he had to do something about it. Trepidation clouding his thoughts, Zack slowly slinked forward.
Wondering who he would see.
When the body came into view Zack could see that it wasn't quite a "body" yet, as a hand still twitched and soft moans escaped the victim's mouth. Zack knelt down beside the boy, brows furrowing and breath catching in his throat as he recognized who the teen was.
His name was Austin, Austin Craver, and they'd been lab partners in biology since the beginning of the school year. Austin and him hadn't really been close, but they'd gotten along well. Austin was well-liked; not popular, but still appreciated.
And now he was dying.
Zack reached out a hesitant hand, finally letting it fall to his side when he realized that he had no idea what to do.
Austin's eyes cracked open, flooded with pain, and he choked as blood dribbled down his chin. A gaping wound in his torso was letting out too much blood, and his skin was ghostly white in the faint streetlamp.
"Hurts-," Austin gasped, clenching his eyes shut and coiling his fingers slightly. Zack stared at him dumbly before snapping to attention and reaching decisively into his pocket for his cell phone. Why hadn't he thought of that before!
"Hold on," he told Austin. "I'm gonna call an ambulance, man, okay?"
"Three-four-," the dying boy whispered, before his words fell silent and his hand stopped moving. His eyes rolling back slightly, Austin went completely limp.
He was dead.
Zack's breath started coming in little gasps, then, and he stumbled to his feet. Backtracking clumsily, he found himself running, running, running away from the body. Away from the crime.Away from the horror he had just witnessed.
The man in waiting rolled his sleeve back again to look at his Rolex.
It was five after midnight.
He straightened his jacket and walked away.
To Be Continued
Please review! And if you think you've spotted a clue (and I can say that there were at least four in this chapter), good work. Perhaps you'll be the first to solve the mystery :).