Haku was in the woods. The trees stretched into the pitch black sky, dark and ominous. The air was filled with the sounds of night life and leaves crunching under Haku's footsteps. She wandered aimlessly through the foliage, the air leaving a sticky, damp feeling on her skin.
She stopped and looked up at the sky. Admidst the inky blackness was the moon, its light so bright it illuminated everything in a bluish glow. The moon seemed to be pulsating waves of light.
A sharp, shrill scream cut through the the air. All other noise suddenly stopped. The scream echoed through the trees. Haku turned to see Gumi standing a few metres in front of her, covered in dirt and blackish blood, with a few leaves stuck to her hair. She took a step forwards and emitted another scream, seemingly without moving her jaw.
She suddenly dashed forwards at an alarming speed, her arms outstretched, reaching for Haku's neck. She made another noise, this one more malicious and ghostly.
Haku opened her eyes and she was wrapped in a floral print duvet, lying on a mattress on Luo's bedroom floor. There was a sliver of moonlight from a crack in the curtains, and it faintly lit up the room. She could feel the sweet chilli chicken burger she'd had for dinner churning around in her stomach.
She let out a sob. Evidently Luo was still awake, because she heard her rustling her bedcovers.
"Haku? Are you okay?" She asked quietly.
Haku could only muster enough energy to roll over and vomit onto the soft gray carpet.
The rest of the weekend went by. Haku and Luo played board games and went out for lunch but the events of Friday afternoon were still fresh in their minds. The kitchen seemed tainted. After Gongyu chopped up the chair that was used to bash someone's brains in and then burn it in the fire pit outside along with the blanket used to wrap up the body, Haku still didn't feel any better. She was dreading Monday.
She went home on Sunday evening and said to her dad that she had a headache and needed to lie down. She lay on top of her bedcovers and tried to at least make herself act and sound normal for school tomorrow.
Monday morning arrived.
Gumi's disappearance was all anyone could talk about. Even Miku and the teachers were concerned. But there was something fake about it. Miku often mocked Gumi, though she never got physical with her. Miku, it seemed, was faking concern either to keep up with the idea that she was a kind-hearted person who cared about her peers, or so that she could appear on the news and act all pretty and sad for some reason.
But no one was even more worried than Rin, Gumi's best friend.
Haku rarely ever saw Rin. Rin apparently was trying to stay under the radar to avoid getting picked on like Haku. As if she had anything to worry about. Her twin brother Len went to Boy's High, and was apparently insanely protective of his sister, and was also on several sports teams.
Haku came across Rin in the hallways, crying. At that, Haku's guilt came welling back up to the surface. After all, she had some involvement in her best friend's death. Another reason why she shouldn't stand up for herself: she'll indirectly make other people upset.
She had to comfort Rin. Pretend she wasn't involved.
She walked up to her and put a hand in her shoulder.
"Hey, Rin, I'm sure Gumi's alright, we'll find her…" She cringed internally at how fake and empty those words sounded.
It was as if Rin could sense this, because she turned around and spat "Fuck off, you bitch! I don't want your fuckin pity!"
The words stung but Haku felt like she deserved them.
In class, the teacher set up the classroom TV and played a video of the Sunday news coverage of Gumi's disappearance.
Her mother was there, weeping. "Please, Gumi, come back home! Your family loves you!"
"The teenager disappeared after school last Friday," the reporter said, "she was last seen crossing the street from the school. If you have any information please call this number…"
When the bell rang for lunch, Haku practically ran to her locker to retrieve her water bottle. Seeing the news report made her feel a hundred times worse.
When she opened the door, something thin and white fluttered to the ground. It was a piece of paper, folded in half. She picked it up and opened it.
I KNOW WHAT YOU DID.
MEET ME ON THE SCHOOL FIELD AT EXACTLY FOUR O'CLOCK OR I GO TO THE POLICE.
TELL NO ONE.
These words were scrawled onto the paper, big and black and ugly. Haku stared at it, feeling the bile rise up in her throat. She dropped everything and ran to the toilet just in time to throw up into it.
When she returned, she saw Miku making off with her school bag, laughing maniacally.
She would later find it in the bin.
Haku made her way to the cafeteria and seated herself next to Luo. Luo stared at her face, which made Haku realise how pale and drawn she must look.
"You got one too, didn't you?" Luo said quietly. Haku only nodded in response.
Luo took her hand and rubbed it gently to calm her. "It looks like we're just going to have to do what the note says. Maybe we can bargain with them so they don't go to the police."
"But what if they don't accept?" Haku asked.
Luo's face darkened. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."
Haku knew what she meant, and it made her feel sick again.