Sam had developed a new morning routine within the past month. When the dawn shined through her window, she would open her eyes, rise out of bed, and stare out at the trees while letting the sunlight warm her face.
"Don't you guys think this is a little bit cruel?"
She checks her phone to see if there are any new messages, sighs when there was none, and then begin going about her day. She runs a hot bath for herself and soaks until she feels human enough to get out or falls asleep listening to her music and the water gets cold.
"It's not her fault she has a huge crush on Mike!"
After her bath, she slips on some clothes and heads to the kitchen to make herself breakfast. She makes toast with jam, brews herself a pot of coffee, and stares out the kitchen window to check if any news vans were parked on the edge of the property. If there are none, she pours herself a mug, stirs in some sugar, and sits at the island to nibble her toast and sip her coffee.
"Hannah?"
If she manages to eat breakfast, Sam would walk out onto the porch with her mug to sit. She listens to the birds singing in the trees, watches the fir trees sway in the wind, and inhale the faint scent of morning dew and pine. Eventually, her eyes would wander to her phone's screensaver.
"Hannah! Hannah, hey honey. Don't, it's just a…stupid prank…"
Hannah's smile would stare back with an arm around a Sam from three years ago. In the picture, they were making overly shocked faces while pointing to Hannah's fresh tattoo like it was something scandalous. Beth had taken that picture of them after Hannah returned from Vancouver with the black ink still sore and sensitive. The tattoo had been a surprise to say the least, but Sam had just shrugged it off and was just glad to have them back. Hannah had been the sister she never had, Beth had been one of her closest friends, and Sam missed them! She missed them so much!
"Hannah! Hannah, hey honey. Don't, it's just a…stupid prank…"
Sam would take a bracing swig of coffee against the black tide of grief and sit there as it cools and tears well up in her eyes because it had been over two months and there was still nothing!
"You guys are jerks, you know that?"
That was the worst thing of all. Worse than the funeral with empty caskets, worse than reporters hounding them for information, worse than the aching, gnawing guilt and grief, sleepless nights, and tears, worse than everyone breaking and falling apart within the first few days of coming back from Blackwood, and worse than Josh's silence.
"Y'know, I kinda think you're the LAST person she wants to see right now, Mike!"
Because the worst thing as long as the investigation remained open, as long as no Hannah and Beth's fate remained undetermined, a sliver of hope, and Sam hated it.
"Oh my god! I can't believe you actually did this."
Emily Davis was many things. Intelligent, resourceful, persuasive; she was a girl who knew what she wanted and would find a way to get it if she could not. Ashley had once said she was a total Slytherin, which she took as a compliment because ambition and cunning were traits she valued. Emily also called Ashley a nerd afterward because no, she had not read the Harry Potter books so stop asking!
"Just because he's class Prez doesn't mean he belongs to everyone. Mike is my man."
What Emily Davis wasn't, on the other hand, was an insomniac. She did not lie awake at night tossing and turning, she did not let things like guilt and remorse keep her up at night, and she certainly did not dwell on the past and let it keep her from her beauty sleep.
"Whatever you say, Darling!"
And she certainly did not do things like reminisce alone in her room while lying on her bed and scroll through the past on her phone like she was doing right now.
"She's here! Shh!"
Pictures she hated to look at but could not bring herself to delete passed her eyes with each swipe of her thumb. Her and Jessica side by side, freshman year, smirking up at the camera. Mike pressing his lips against her head the day they had gone out to that new coffee shop. A selfie of her with Hannah and Sam waving from the backseat of her car. Another selfie of her on the couch in the with Beth, who was covering her face because she had always hated getting her picture taken.
There was a video on the next swipe and Emily pressed play.
Matt and Chris were hunched over a table with a house of cards built on top of it and were in the process of adding the final card.
"Alright, go!" Came her voice as Chris carefully began to lower the final card onto the top with Matt spotting him from the side.
"Come on!" Beth yelled from the background.
"Don't fuck up! Don't fuck up!" Came Mike's obnoxious yelling off-screen, "You're gonna fuck up!"
"Shut up!" Chris yelled back without taking his eyes from the construction and slowly affixed the final card.
"Oh!" Matt gasped as Chris pulled his hands away. When it did not collapse, Matt screamed out "OHHH!" With everyone joining in. Chris jumped back and threw his hands in the air like he was praising the gods with everyone cheering and clapping. The video ended with Josh's blurry body dolphin-diving onto the table and demolishing the project in a celebratory fit.
That had been their little group's first summer vacation over at the Washington Lodge. Her and Mike had just started dating, Jessica and she were still best friends, Hannah and Beth were still alive and happy and laughing…
"It was just a prank, Han!"
And it had been a prank! Pranks had been the staple of their group for as long as she could remember…but it had been a prank just as much as a warning.
Sam would say that Hannah was just naïve and impressionable with a head full of desire for a Prince Charming type like Munroe. Emily knew otherwise. She had talked to Hannah more than once about her advances and had asked as politely as she could to leave her boyfriend the hell alone. Still, it was like every time she turned around that night, little miss Washington was hanging off her boyfriend like a limpet. The little mementos of Mike she found in Hannah's room had been the last straw.
Hannah always had a problem with what didn't belong to her. The golden child of the Washington family; horse-back riding, bronze medal in tennis, A+ student, collecting certificates and ribbons by the dozen. Hannah's achievements were well earned and respectable, but with success came rewards, admiration, and appreciation. From a young age, Hannah's parents spoiled her rotten and handed her everything. Hannah quickly learned she got wanted if she put in effort, and that was where her boundary had issues stemmed from.
How did Emily know this? Because Emily was smart; she observed, listened, and studied just like her oh-so-wonderful parents taught their adopted daughter. Unlike dear little Hannah Washington, they did not spoil their kid. They made sure she walked outside dressed-to-impress the fuck out of whoever saw her, but made she understood when to seize an opportunity and when to just drop it! If Hannah had learned that, then maybe her and Beth would still be alive! Maybe Emily wouldn't have fought with both Mike and Jessica until they tore apart each other with words and blame alone and chased them into each other's arms. Maybe the friends she had once cherished above her Honor-Roll, GPA, and scholarship to satisfy her parents demands for success would still be here instead of only bitter memories.
Chris rubbed his eyes under his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had been staring at his computer screen for over an hour and his eyes were starting to get that familiar ache. Wait, scratch that-over two hours-and he still had managed to accomplish absolutely jack and squat. Despite all the videos, tutorials, and studying, Chris seemed to be getting nowhere beyond the rough outline of the app he was deadest on making. Did that have anything to do with the fact this was like the seventh time he had changed the design and/or function of said app? Yes, but he just couldn't seem to make up his mind! He had so many ideas to get out of his head and into code, but it was like every time he sat down to work, he wound up staring blankly into the screen at the barebones of his hypothetical brainchild.
"Useless." Chris grumbled and scrubbed at his eyes harder. Whether he meant the computer, his eyesight, himself, or all the above he didn't know.
The blinds around his room were shut tight to block out the sun, and he opened them to get some natural light. They had originally been closed to the rabid reporters with their camera's flashing and filming the best friend of Joshua Washington, brother to Hannah and Beth Washington, children of movie mogul Bob Washington, and witness to the twin's final moments. Yeah, he had grown tired of that pretty quick, just like he was growing tired on not being capable of making a decision regarding his precious brain-baby.
Chris forced himself to sit back down at his desk and turn on his monitor. He typed in a few characters, deleted them a few minutes later, questioned what the point of it all was, what was he even doing with himself, if anything was worth doing anymore, his life and existence in general, and ultimately decided on banging out a single line of code before calling it quits and seeing what Ashley was up to.
She was the only thing that gave him any form of joy these days.
Matt's sweat stung his eyes as he rested the bar across his shoulders and began the count again.
1, 2, 3…
Up and down he went with thighs burning, shoulders aching, and muscles screaming for relief. Matt gave none.
4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10…
His eyes were fixed to a spot on the wall as he did his squats. Up, down. Up, down. Up, down. Up, down.
11, 12, 13…14…15…
Matt grimaced as he started to slow. He had already been working out for over an hour and his body was screaming for rest, but he kept pushing himself to the point where his muscles were beginning to hurt and shake.
16…17…18…19…
He felt the cords in his neck strain and throb as he tried to lift himself up for the final lift-
"What? Oh my god! Matt?"
-And failed. The bar slipped from his grasp and hit the floor with a muted thud as his legs gave out. He kneeled there on the padded, basement floor with his breath heaving, sweat soaking into his shirt and shorts, and muscles cramping. Matt carefully stretched his legs out and lay down on his back as the tremors rocked his body. Hannah's words from that night, coupled with her hurt, confused, and betrayed expression as she stared at him when he emerged with the camera flashed before his mind and he smacked a fist into the padding. An ache raced up his arm from the action, and Matt accepted it with a grimace. It was what he deserved.
"Hey, Hannah."
Mike carefully shaved away the remaining bit of stubble and cream on his right cheek. A quick rinse of his razor was followed by a pat down of his face, and a check for any strays he missed. A splash of aftershave had him feeling like a new man as he stared into the mirror at his smiling reflection.
"Maybe we should start with a little, you know, making out and see where it goes from there."
He and Jessica were going out tonight and he wanted to look good for the occasion. Not that he never not looked good, but it was good to clean up once and a while. Him and Jessica were going out to some Italian bistro that had just recently opened. Jessica had been craving raviolis and he could go for some spaghetti and meatballs himself.
"Uh, I'm sorry, Hannah, this all got outta hand, but…"
Mike tucked in his shirt and threw on his jacket before adding the pièce de resistance; a spritz of cologne that would have his lovely little lady handing off him. He gave himself a once-over in the mirror and nodded in satisfaction.
"We were just messing around, Beth, it was nothing serious-"
"Looking good, Mikey!" He complimented himself before he turned and-spun around to ram his fist into the mirror and SHATTER that stupid, smug, smiling fucking face because you killed her you son of a bitch! You killed them BOTH-walked out the bathroom with his smile fixed firmly in place.
"So…should we go after her?"
Ashley did not usually smoke. Usually, the only thing that she smoked was sage, and that was a rare occasion on its own, but sage and crystals didn't cut it for when she got like this. So, here she was outside on her roof, sucking in another cloud of nicotine that helped ease the anxiety demons dancing in the back of her brain and the tightness in her chest. Yes, she knew that smoking was bad and made sure not to regularly light up the little cancer sticks every time she started getting panicky, but on days like this when it had been building, and building, and building, and all she wanted to do was run and scream and cry all at once…
"What's going on? Where is my sister going?"
She blamed the news for her current ciggy. She had been scrolling through the internet, looking for any inspiration to kickstart an idea for her novel, and accidentally clicked on an article about a crazy animal attack that involved the death of six people, and the sole survivor was branded as missing. She'd barely read the title before clicking back, but the words SURVIVOR and MISSING had stuck in her brain, and not in a good way that could be used to fuel future story ideas. No, this was the kind that was accompanied by a slew of bad memories and thoughts that festered with her all week. They buried deep into her brain and pulled out the hazy, alcohol-soaked memories of the Prank.
"What did you do!?"
They had all been so drunk, and the suggestion had been so stupid, but the word "Prank" had been thrown out and Ashley was game. Their entire group was comprised of practical jokers, tricksters, and pranksters alike; a den of tricksy hobbitses as Josh would say in dead-on Gollum impression that never failed to make her squirm because ew, Gollum.
All she wanted to do now was get back inside and get back to working on her novel…not that she had been making much progress to begin with. Ashley put her cigarette out on mossy shingles and clambered back into her room through her window. Overflowing bookshelves and posters of bands and motivational quotes greeted her upon return, and she made her way over to her bed where her phone lay upon the cover. The screen was lit with a recent text from Chris, and she smiled when she picked it up.
"You JERKS!"
It was good to still have one friend left.
Jessica didn't think she was a bad person. Blonde, bubbly bombshell; that was her! She loved to have fun, loved to laugh, loved to party, loved to cut loose and have a good time! She would tell you whether she likes you or not to your face whether you liked it or not! She was voted most likely become famous after High School. Famous!
How could a bad person be any of that?
"Oh, come on, she deserves it."
So…so why? Why had she done it? Hell, why had the others gone through with it? Had it been the copious amount of booze? The thrill of another prank played?
"Hannah's been making the moves on him. I'm just looking out for my girl, Em."
Pranking was, like, their groups whole thing! They always played tricks or pranked one another! One time, they plastic wrapped Mike's whole car overnight, and the look on his face when he walked outside had been priceless! Another time, Chris rewired Matt's car so pressing the gas pedal honked the horn. Josh once replaced Beth's bowl of yogurt with a bowl of mayonnaise, but she got revenge by hooking his bedroom doorknob up to an outlet so that it zapped him when he tried to open it.
They had all loved pranks…except Hannah. Hannah had always been weird about the idea of pranking in general. She shied away from being a part of any prank, joke, or trick whatsoever, and absolutely despised being on the receiving end. Jessica remembered one day in summer, Chris and Josh dropped a water balloon on her from a second story window as she was coming up her driveway. Hannah had broken down in tears and wouldn't speak to any of them for a week.
It had been harmless fun and it had been hot out anyway! It wasn't like they had put hair dye in her shampoo bottle or something! Chris had rocked his blue dye-job with pride.
"Oh my god! She's taking her shirt off!"
Things had gone off the rails so fast.
The idea had been to jump out all once and scare Hannah. Her and Emily were going to roll out from under the bed screaming like maniacs while Matt and Ashley would pop out and join in. Matt was supposed to record her expression. Was it mean to use her crush as bait? Maybe! Had they intended for drama-queen Hannah to run out into the snow? Hell no! But Hannah had been seriously testing the waters with Emily that night and Jessica wanted to do something to help her ex-best friend.
No one, and she meant no one, had expected Hannah to start undressing. It had been so shocking that Jessica hadn't been able to keep her mouth shut! Next thing she knew, Hannah had run out into the snow, Beth chased after her, and the dark, creepy woods had swallowed them up. Now? Everyone had split apart and gone their own way. Well…except her and Mike.
"Ugh, it's fine. She just can't take a joke."
Still, no more pranks, no more jokes, no more fun and surprises? It was something that Jessica always looked forward to when hanging with everybody, and now that it was gone? That Hannah and Beth were gone? Things just weren't as bright or fun anymore.
"Hannah! HANNAH!"
He didn't mean for it to happen!
Frère Jacques! Frère Jacques!
He hadn't wanted them to die!
Dormez-vous! Dormez-vous!
Hannah!
Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines!
Beth!
Ding, dang, dong! Ding, dang, dong!
He was so sorry!
James lifted his head off the ground with a loud groan. His head felt like someone took a baseball bat to it, the morning sun made his eyes throb, his stomach ached and felt unbearably full and bloated, bile burned in the back of his throat, and his mouth tasted awful. Sweat, morning dew, and grime clung to his skin and made him feel filthy. Everything ached, hurt, and felt all kinds of wrong. It was all too bright, too sudden, too much!
James heaved and expelled the contents of his stomach onto the dirt. It made him feel better, and he rolled over onto his side when he was done to lay there until he could move without feeling sick.
Where the hell am I?
Immediately he noticed three things when he started looking around. One, he was still in the woods, which was good. Two, the mossy trees and thick ferns surrounding him had not been where he had set up camp, which was NOT good. And three…
Is that a deer? That's a deer!
Panic and disgust hit him hard when he rolled over and saw the half-eaten carcass laying not three yards away from him. The pile of meat, blood, and fur buzzed with flies. The lower torso of the animal was just…gone; nothing but exposed bones and organs that had been torn out and eaten. Copious amounts of blood stained the back of the neck and face, deep slashes ran up and down the creature's hide, and its head was twisted at an odd angle. The sight sent a burst of adrenaline through his system and he tried scrambling to his feet. His sharp movements were rewarded with a wave of nausea and he fell back to the ground.
Sticks and rocks poked and scraped his bare flesh, and flash of deep red against his pale flesh caught his eye, and James glanced down at his hands, fingers, chest, and after wiping against a clean portion of his arm, his mouth, which were caked in drying blood.
Oh god…
James felt his gorge rise as his breath started coming out in sharp, shallow pants while his head swam, and his body shook. Everything suddenly felt too hot and too cold, and he looked anywhere and everywhere to focus on anything but the remains of his…no…the Animal's meal.
Don't think about! Get your bearings! Find out where you are!
Out of all the things James grabbed from the house, a roadmap had not been one of them. James never travelled far outside his hometown. Once he left its borders, he hadn't known which exits or turns to take and quickly gotten lost and ended up driving through endless backroads and dirt trails until the truck ran out of gas. He hated the thought of leaving his uncle's truck to rust on the side of the road, but he couldn't afford it being recognized by police. His house had to have been discovered by now and police would see Bert's truck was missing. So, James gathered up his remaining supplies and hiked off into the woods to find somewhere to settle down and wait.
Wait for what, he did not know, but something had been coming. With each passing night, he had felt…something. He had not known what it was at first, but as the moon changed phases, the feeling grew stronger, his silver necklace grew increasingly uncomfortably against his skin, and there were times when he felt the Animal in his mind like a physical force.
Then last night, as the full moon rose high into the night sky, his blood caught fire, the necklace became a hot brand around his neck, and agony obliterated his world as his body broke, changed, and twisted…
Don't think about it!
The memory of the pain and nightmarish sensations made him physically shudder as he stood there in the woods, naked as the day he was born and covered in a deer's blood. He forced his mind to think through the panic, through the terror, through the fear and gear into survival mode. First, get clean. There was plenty of damp leaves and ferns he could use to clean himself off. Then, see if he could find his way back to where he had camped for the night. The Animal's scent was a heavy musk in the air, and James spied huge pawprints that led off into the woods.
Keep going. Survive!
James gritted his teeth and started walking.