Chapter 9
Sidney sat quietly on her couch, phone in hand. Tears welled up in her eyes. Lindsey…she was dead. She had been ripped apart and displayed for everyone to see. She shut her eyes, trying to be strong, but the tears pushed past her eyelids and rolled down her cheeks. The doorbell rang. Sidney got up and walked to the door. She peeked outside and there stood McKinsey, eyes red. Asher and Gale stood behind her. She opened the door and greeted them with a sad smile. McKinsey instantly busted into a fresh round of tears. She ran up to Sidney and wrapped her arms around her, crying into Sidney's shoulder. Asher and Gale walked into the house and shut the door behind them. Asher silently cried over his girlfriend death. Gale even let a few tears escape.
"Di-Did you hear what they found at the crime scene?" McKinsey asked between sobs.
Sidney shook her head.
McKinsey answered, "They found a note on the door. It was written in her blood and it was to me. It said…McKinsey just lost another friend because of what happened in the past."
Sidney glanced at Gale and Asher and they both shrugged. They knew nothing of this. She sat McKinsey down on the couch and asked her, "McKinsey, what happened in the past?"
McKinsey stiffened and looked away. She couldn't think about that night. Not again. But for the sake of all her friends…or at least the ones left alive…she had to tell them.
"About three years ago, before I moved up here, me and some of my friends were playing a prank. It was harmless…or so we thought. One of the girls that we were pranking, she was freaking out. All we were doing was locking them in closets for about five minutes then letting them out. Well, she was claustrophobic. She bust out the window and ran out of the room. She fell down the stairs and snapped her neck. She…she died. We told the police, but the other two girls fathers' and my father, they were police officers and covered it up for us. The other two…they were murdered in unexplained ways along with their friends…and now it is my turn. I'm sorry that I had to drag you all into this," she started to cry again. "I never meant to. I never meant to hurt anyone. I just wanted to escape everything of my past and now…now it's back. And my stupid mistake is killing everyone I love."
Sidney wrapped her arms around McKinsey again, trying to calm her. She replied, "It's not your fault. It was never your fault, it will never be your fault. Someone is doing this. Not you. You can't blame yourself for everything that goes wrong. I mean, Gale and I have been through this five times. Just remember what I said, when you give up hope, you truly have nothing else to live for. Never give up your fight for survival."
McKinsey looked up at her and smiled. She mouthed the words thank you.
Asher looked up and said, "I'm going to find whoever did this to Lindsey…and I'm going to personally rip their head off."
He got up and left the house. Sidney shut her eyes. She knew how he felt. She knew exactly how he felt…but running off like this, full of anger, he was going to get himself killed. And Lindsey wouldn't have wanted that. She got up and walked out of the house. Asher stood there, looking out across the forest. Tears were flowing from his eyes. Sidney stood beside him and looked across.
They stood there in silent for a little bit before Sidney finally spoke up.
"Don't do something you'll regret."
"Like what? Get killed? Because if I got killed, at least I would see Lindsey again."
Sidney looked at him and asked, "Do you not think that we don't miss her too? You don't think that I wish I could take everything back and everyone that has ever died around me suddenly come back to life? I honestly do. But I'm not going to beat myself up over this. This wasn't my doing, or yours. Lindsey would want you to live for her. Do that. Do it for her." With that, she walked back inside the house, leaving Asher standing there, watching as the clouds floated over the tree tops.