Chapter five

Dean cringed as his mobile phone began ringing loudly. He was still perched on he balcony outside Chelsea's apartment. The living room light flicked on as the two policemen approached the balcony door. Panicking, Dean suddenly stood up, glancing over as shoulder at the shocked officers before diving over the edge of the balcony, dropping down several feet to one below. He cursed loudly as he landed awkwardly on his right leg. Wincing he straitened and hoisted himself over the edge of that balcony, gently easing himself down onto the one below, resisting the urge to cry out as he landed with a thud.

He continued to move down the balconies until he reached the grass, limping off as fast as he could into the darkness towards his car. His phone rang again, this time Lola's name appearing on the screen rather than Sam's. He answered, breathing heavily as he continued to limp towards the car,

"This really isn't a good time…" He growled,

"Dean! Are you okay?" Lola asked, concerned,

"Thank God…" Sam could be heard breathing with relief in the background,

"Yeah…sure! Why wouldn't I be? Except I'm running from the police!"

"The police?!"

Sam turned to look at Lola with shock, as he moved towards her to hear what was going on,

"Yeah…Chelsea's dead…and as soon as I find her…" He continued on breathlessly as he finally reached the car, leaning heavily against it's roof for support as he fished for his keys in his pocket, "…the cops show up! So I had to jump off a balcony."

"A balcony…?" Lola repeated uneasily, "You jumped off of a balcony. Dean…where are you?"
"I'm in the car…I'm heading back to the school."
"Right…we'll meet you there."

"Okay…bye…"
"Dean!"
"Yeah?"
"Please be careful…" Lola sighed. Dean smirked,

"Hey, relax…" He soothed, "I'll be fine."

"Okay. We'll see you in a few minutes."

Lola hung up and looked at her two partners,

"Where's he headed?" Sam asked,

"The school. I said we'd meet him."

"You guys…I've got some news…" Maggie suddenly cut in,

"What is it?" Sam asked as he and Lola crowded round behind them, leaning over the back of Maggie's chair,

"Well…you said that a few kids died back when Dean graduated, right?"

"Right…" Sam replied,

"Well I didn't really notice anything unusual about these deaths until I went back ten years to look at the other kids. One boy, who's body was never found, drove his car into the river. His name was James Walker. He seemed to start off the curse on this class…though after his death, I noticed a pattern emerged."

"Yeah…Dean's friend Greg told me about that kid." Lola agreed, "What was the pattern?"

"After James Walker's death…the students started dying in alphabetical order."

"Like in the year book?" Sam asked with a frown,

"Exactly like in the year book." Maggie nodded, "The deaths stopped for ten years…well…there were a couple more deaths that could be put down to natural causes, I suppose…though…they too held the pattern. The pattern's continuing."

Lola let out a long sigh,

"Then I guess we should be thankful that Dean's a W."

"Well…I pulled up the graduating class list." Maggie began, clicking a few times on the lap top's motion pad."

"Well we worked out in the truck that there are twenty-three people left."

"Twenty-two." Lola corrected, "Chelsea's dead."

"Right…what was Chelsea's last name? If we know that…then we'll know how long we've got."

Maggie scanned the digital list for a few seconds before leaning back in her seat with a sigh,

"Chelsea Morgan or Chelsea Simmons?" She asked, leaning her head back to look up at the pair. Lola shrugged, looking at Sam,

"I don't know either." He admitted,

"Go through the list…" Lola mumbled, "The list of deceased…"

"Okay…" Maggie mumbled, concentrating, "Chelsea Morgan is one of the named deceased from the car accident…so it must've been Simmons."

"Damn it…" Lola muttered, "That gives us very little time…"

"Let's get going then."

When the trio were five or so minutes away from the school, driving through the pitch black with only the pick-up trucks head lights for visibility, Lola suddenly slammed on the breaks, sending Sam and Maggie lurching forwards as the truck's tyres skidded along the black tarmac,

"Lola! What the hell?!" Maggie exclaimed, but Lola didn't answer as she opened the truck door, slamming it behind her as she jogged along down the road. Squinting, Maggie and Sam saw a stumbling figure that Lola was approaching. She grabbed at his arm as the pair climbed out to follow, Sam brandishing a flash light he'd found on the floor of the truck,

"Greg!" Lola said firmly to the clearly drunken man, who looked at her with a glazed expression,

"They're all dead…" He croaked,

"Greg…c'mon…" Lola soothed, pulling him back towards her truck but he pulled away,

"No!" He exclaimed, "it's too late for me! It's too late for all of us now…if we'd of known…we never would've followed him that day."
"Followed who…?" Lola asked, confused,

"James."

"…James Walker…?" Lola asked uneasily. Greg nodded slowly, "Greg…what happened?"

"Get away! You should be with Dean before it's too late…" He mumbled sadly, staggering uneasily across the road,

"Damn it! Tell me!" Lola demanded, following him across the road, lit only by the high beams of her vehicle. He looked at her fearfully as she grabbed his arm again, using all of her strength to spin him around, "People's lives are at stake! If you don't tell me, their blood will be on your hands!" She growled,

"I…I…" He swallowed hard, wiping at his glassy eyes, "It was an accident!" He sobbed,

"What was?"

"We didn't mean to kill him! It wasn't my fault!"

"Oh my God…" Lola murmured, "You killed James Walker?

"No! NO!" He cried, "It was an accident! I swear! We were just having some fun…and then it got out of hand…and…and…"

"Where did you bury the body? This is really important?"

"I…don't remember…"

Lola firmly slapped him across the face, her eyes narrowed at him as she did,

"Well you'd better remember!" She told him angrily, "Dean is going to die unless you tell me where you buried the body!"

Greg looked at her, startled by her words and actions,

"What…kind of girl are you?" He asked,

"We haven't got time…tell me what you did with the body."

"We buried it…in the park somewhere…"

"Whereabouts? I need you to be specific!"

"I…near the lake…"

"Whereabouts?"

Greg struggled to remember,

"I don't know…it was dark…and…by the boat house…yeah…I think it was on the other side of the boat house…"

"LOLA!" Sam yelled from across the road. Lola ignored the younger of the two Winchester boys, remaining completely oblivious to the headlights that were steadily approaching as they stood in the middle of the road. Maggie and Sam exchanged looks as Greg struggled with the details, Lola completely clueless to her impending doom. Sam sucked in a breath before darting across the road, grabbing Lola around the waist, pulling her back and out of the way of the oncoming truck just in time. Lola gasped as Greg disappeared beneath the wheels of the heavy vehicle, a splatter of blood landing across her cheek. She stood motionless in Sam's arms for a few seconds before composing herself and turning to Sam,

"Behind the boathouse by the lake in the park. We need to salt and burn the bones."

"What about Dean?" Sam asked as Lola marched back towards her truck where Maggie stood, a little shaken up from the events she'd just witnessed,

"Maggie…walk to the school and meet up with Dean." She said as she walked to the back of her truck,

"Hey! Where are you going?"

"We're going to end this." Sam said as he followed Lola,

"Well…y'know…I could do that!" Maggie said defensively. Lola pulled out a shovel and looked at Maggie blankly,

"You wanna dig up a ten-year-old corpse…or hold the gun?" Lola asked, moving back to the cabin on the truck, "Sorry Maggie…but I just don't think that you're strong enough to go around digging up dead bodies." She stated matter of factly as Sam handed Maggie the flash light. Maggie sighed, resigning to her fate,

"Okay…fine…" She sulked, flicking the light on, beginning to trudge in the direction of the school,

"Hey Maggie!" Sam called,

"Yeah?"
"Be careful."

Maggie nodded,

"Okay…I'll true." She smiled before continuing on in the darkness,

"She'll be fine." Lola reassured,

"Not everyone's as cold as you are, Lola." Sam said seriously as they got back in the truck,

"Bah! I'm lovely!"

Dean sat in the cold parking lot of his old high school, tapping impatiently on the steering wheel as he waited for the others. He'd of been lying if he'd said he wasn't scared, however, he knew that whatever was going to happen to him, was going to happen to him and besides, he had faith in the others and their ability to solve this. He caught a glimpse of something moving in the rear-view mirror and leaning forwards so that he could look into the side mirror, he realised it was Maggie making her way up the road towards him, flash light in hand. He chuckled as she walked right up, opening the passenger door and slumping into the seat,

"Where're the others?" He asked with a frown,

"They went to dig up a body."

"Who's?"

"I don't know. I wasn't privileged to that portion of the conversation." She sighed, "They went without me…because apparently they think I can't handle a rotting corpse."

"It is pretty gross." Dean admitted, with a shrug. Maggie sighed heavily as the wind outside began to pick up, shaking the branches of a nearby tree ominously,

"I know…but I'll never learn if I don't do it." She sulked,

"Uhm…" Dean began uneasily, "This is my life that we're talking about here…it's probably best just to leave it with people that know what they're doing."
"What? Like I need a three-week course in digging a hole?"

Dean rolled his eyes,

"Forget it…" He muttered, the wind outside growing stronger and stronger. Maggie shifted in her seat nervously,

"Do you think that perhaps we should go inside…?" She suggested, "It might be a bit safer."
Dean nodded,

"I agree with you on that one." He said, popping open the door of the Impala and hurriedly making his way up the steps to the main entrance of the school.

"So what did that guy Greg say before…?" Sam trailed off as he and Lola walked through the darkened park, shovels in hands, heading for the lake,

"Three days before graduation a boy named James Walker drove his car into the river…or so was thought…but turns out some of the kids in Dean's class killed him on accident and buried the body in the park…and I guess they pushed his car into the water." Lola replied, her eyes fixed dead ahead as she adjusted the bag on her shoulder.

Walking round the old wooden boathouse, the pair exchanged weary looks,

"I guess we'd better start digging…" Sam sighed, pushing the tip of the spade into the ground, pressing the ball of his foot against it's edge to thrust it further into the grass-covered soil. Lola also began digging, a couple of metres away. They had no idea where to begin digging, or how deep to go, but they had to start somewhere.