A Key To Nothing
by Juul
Chapter Ten: All Work and No Play
Jason and Erin sat in Erin's room trying to figure out Kevin and Carrie's pictures. They each had a seperate one and there was one where they were standing together. The picture of Carrie alone was just one where she was holding up some stuffed animals Kevin had won for her; the only odd things in the background were other prizes hanging off of some of the booths. Kevin's picture didn't seem to have any clue whatsoever; it was taken by Wendy when she was goofing around with him and the flash was all overexposed and out of focus. In the picture featuring both Kevin and Carrie, they were standing in front of a water fountain with some fireworks in the background.
"Nothing?" asked Jason in a hopeful voice.
"Nope," answered Erin.
Jason put the pictures down. "Did you realize that Frankie's picture didn't have a clue?"
Erin nodded.
Sighing, Jason put a hand to his forehead. "This is hopeless."
"Come on," said Erin, "We can beat this, I know it."
"Alright, whatever you say," said Jason, flipping through his stack of photos again. He stopped and looked at one. "Hey, Erin," he said, "did Frankie have any other pictures?"
"Not that I'm aware of," said Erin as she put down her stack of photos to look at what Jason had found.
"Well it looks like he's got another picture," said Jason.
They both looked at the photograph. Frankie was on the Wacky Ladder and it looked as if he was falling off. Both teens looked in shock at the picture, neither one saying anything for a few minutes.
"He fell off the ladder..." Jason said in a quiet voice. He looked in the bottom corner of the picture and cringed. There was a flyer for a band called WoodChipper... "This is just wrong..." Jason put the picture down and let himself fall backwards onto the bed. He stared at the ceiling, trying to imagine what life would be like if Wendy and Ian were still around. If that night had never happened.
Erin soon laid down next to Jason, looking from him to the ceiling every few minutes. She folded her hands on her stomach and sighed. "We couldn't save Frankie," she said, breaking the awkward silence. "Do you think we'll be able to save Kevin and Carrie?"
"I don't know," answered Jason, putting his hands behind his head, "I hope so. I'd crack for sure if something happened to them." He glanced at the clock. 9:36 P.M. "I know they're going to the rec center tomorrow. Kev called me and told me earlier. I told them I'd meet up with them for old time's sake." Jason turned to Erin. "You wanna come?"
Erin thought for a moment. "Sure," she finally answered, "Besides, they're next, and we have to do everything we can to save them." Jason nodded in agreement. "Jason, I really don't understand why," said Erin, "but I feel better about all this when I'm with you."
Jason looked once more in her direction. "Maybe it is best that we stick together," he replied, "especially considering that we're the only ones who actually have an idea of what's going on."
Once again, that awkward silence broke out between the two of them. Jason felt a little less comfortable than Erin simply because on top of the fact that they were both tired, Jason was still afraid that he was falling for her. Every few minutes, Jason would look in Erin's direction and watch her until she noticed and looked at him.
"Hey, Jay," said Erin in a tired voice.
"Yeah?" asked Jason.
"What are you going to do now, you know, since we're out of high school and stuff?" asked Erin.
Jason thought for a moment. "Hmm... I'm not sure. Wendy and I were going to get engaged after graduation and after that we planned on going to college together."
"Really?" asked Erin. "That's what Ian and I had planned." She smiled. "Except for the fact that we were already engaged." She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. "I miss him so much... but I know that won't bring him back..."
"I suppose we're both expected to move on now, huh?" asked Jason, looking at the ceiling. "I hope I can," he continued, "it's going to be hard, but I think I'll manage. No matter what, Wendy will always have a special place in my heart."
Jason paused for a moment. Should I ask her...? Nah... But maybe...? No way... He debated on whether or not he should ask Erin about... 'them.' After almost ten minutes of silent debating, Jason made his decision. "Hey, Erin," he said, rolling over on his side to face her. He started to reach out his hand and tap her on the shoulder, but he stopped himself upon noticing that Erin had fallen asleep.
"Nevermind," Jason mumbled to himself, smiling at his foolishness. He laid next to Erin, watching her sleep. I can't help it, he thought, She's beautiful. I know that I'll have to move on from Wendy, but I don't want to. But if I have to move on, I guess I'll want to start something new with Erin.
Jason watched her roll over onto her side and heard her mumble Ian's name. "Erin," Jason said quietly, "I'm so sorry. Not just for me anymore, but for you. And I'm sorry I'm starting to feel... different... about you..." He nervously bit his lip and shook his head. Jason scooted closer to Erin and hesitantly put his arm around her. He felt her tense up at first, but then relax after he had gently grabbed her hand.
"Ian..." mumbled Erin. "Don't leave me... please..."
Jason held Erin close, and tried not to cry. He remembered all the times he had comforted Wendy when she was in distress; he remembered all the times that she had made him laugh when he was in the worst mood possible. Jason gently rubbed Erin's hand in his, and made a silent vow to himself.
Erin, I promise that I'll protect you from now on. I know that no one will ever replace Ian, but I'd like to start something new with you. Why? Because nobody else will ever know how I feel. Nobody else will never know how you feel. We're in this together and we will be 'til the end.
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Jason opened his eyes and looked around the dark room, wondering where he was. He remembered all of the previous night... going to Erin's, looking at the clues in the pictures, talking with Erin... Oh shit, thought Jason, I fell asleep! He started to panic, but stopped himself from doing anything stupid.
He glanced at the clock without moving his whole body. It was 2:42 in the morning. Jason then returned his gaze towards Erin, who was still asleep in his arms. Okay, I didn't wake her up, that's good... He knew that if he tried getting out through the front door he'd wake up Erin's mother and she'd automatically assume the worst. Shit.
Jason looked around the room and spotted an open window. He knew that one of the two windows in her room was above an awning and he remembered seeing Ian and Erin both sitting on the awning back in the day, waving to him and Wendy as they walked by. Jason carefully got off Erin's bed and tiptoed across the room towards the window.
He felt a calm summer breeze drift in through the window and he turned around to see Erin one last time before he left. Jason saw Erin shiver a little from the breeze and he took off his jacket. He walked carefully towards Erin and draped the jacket over her upper body. Then he went back towards the window and before exiting, he whispered, "I'll see you tomorrow."
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Erin awoke the next morning around 7:00. She sat up and stretched, not noticing anything unusual. The girl yawned and stood up and noticed something fall to the floor. Erin bent over and picked up a jacket. That's Jason's, she thought, what's it doing here? Then she remembered: Jason had come over to her house the previous night to help with the pictures.
After picking out an outfit for the day and taking a shower, Erin got dressed and went downstairs to eat breakfast. She saw it as a good thing that she was starting to get her appetite back; she had lost nearly fifteen pounds since the Devil's Flight incident. Erin settled for a pop-tart and a cup of coffee and she sat down at the table, wondering what was in store for her today.
The goth waited until around 9:30 to leave for Jason's house. She decided she was going to drive them to the rec center to see Kevin and Carrie; she felt as if she owed it to him for giving her a ride home the previous day. After running up the stairs to her room to get the pictures, Jason's jacket, and her keys, she wrote a note on a piece of scrap paper explaining to her mother where she went.
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To Erin's relief, Jason was ready to leave by the time she got to his house. She noticed that he was acting a little weird, but she didn't exactly see it as a bad thing. Come to think of it, he didn't act weird until she gave him back his jacket... Erin and Jason didn't talk much on the way to the rec center, but after they parked in the shade, they got out the pictures and talked about whether or not Kevin and Carrie would believe them.
Jason led the way through the game room and gym and out a door in the back of the building. They walked through a small courtyard and saw Kevin and Carrie both in the private pool. Jason decided that Kevin rented the place out for the day just so they could hang out, judging from the fact that no one else was there.
"Hey!" said Kevin, spying Jason and Erin. He climbed out of the pool and dashed towards Jason, running into him and giving him a brotherly hug. "What's up, man?"
"Nothin'," was Jason's casual reply. "Just seein' what you guys are doing."
Carrie had gotten out of the pool, too, and had walked over to them. "Jason," she said, nodding in his direction. Jason smiled weakly at her. "Erin," Carrie looked at Erin and gave her a small hug. "I know it's not the time," said Carrie, "but I want you to know that I'm really sorry about Ian... and Wendy. Wendy was my best friend..." Carrie trailed off and got quiet, so she wouldn't have a high risk of crying.
"It's okay," said Erin. No, it's not okay, Carrie... it'll never be okay...
The four teens stood in a circle talking about what they were doing now that they were officially done with high school, what they've been up to (Jason and Erin weren't too enthusiastic about this topic), and how life had been.
"Man," said Kevin, putting his hands in the pockets of his swimming trunks, "These days really suck." The others nodded in agreement. "Fucking boring..."
Jason decided to break the news that he and Erin didn't come there just to say hi. "Kev," said Jason, "Carrie, we didn't just drop by to see what you guys were up to."
"What do you mean?" asked Kevin as he struck a match and lit a fire in a nearby grill and put a few hot dogs on it.
"Well," started Jason, "do you remember Flight 180 about six years ago?"
Kevin tossed the match over his shoulder after blowing it out. "Yeah, I think I remember hearing about it on the news..."
Jason nodded, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach. "About that..."
"We think it might have something to do with what's happening now," said Erin.
"And how is that?" asked Carrie, plugging in a small stereo to an outlet on the side of the building.
Erin watched both Kevin and Carrie, trying not to miss anything. "Did you guys hear about how all the survivors of that crash started dying off in freak accidents?"
"Yeah," said Carrie, messing around with the radio stations until she found one she liked. "That was weird."
AFI's "Miss Murder" came on. How ironic, thought Erin in disgust.
"Let me guess," said Kevin, "you guys think that the Ashes, Lewis, and Frankie all died in freak accidents because they got off the rollercoaster?"
Jason nodded. "As freaky as it sounds, well, yeah."
Carrie laughed. "You guys are crazy. I know that we've all gone through some real wack shit lately, but come on."
"Erin's premonition, the rollercoaster crash, the pictures, it all makes sense!" defended Jason.
"Pictures?" asked Kevin.
"Yeah," said Jason, handing the stack of pictures to Kevin. "From Senior Night. Look at some of 'em and you'll find out real fast what we're getting at."
Kevin flipped through the pictures like they were a flipbook. "You guys are trippin'!"
A cold breeze blew around the courtyard, causing the leaves on the trees to rattle mysteriously and a wind chime to softly make music in the oddly cool summer air. Erin looked up and watched the sky, everything seemed to go dead still after that, minus Jason, Kevin, and Carrie's conversation.
Death was approaching.