Nephtys

[Lone shade of Black]

This was my creative writing project, so I thought I might as well post it here. It's probably not very good, but whatever...

1.
“Ugh, I hate bologna sandwiches.”
The sandwich was held on a corner by a slight, utterly pale hand connected to a slight, utterly pale arm, with its only decoration being a dark bracelet made of thick string. The hand dropped it back into its home, a large pale red cooler, with faded letters across it showing that the cooler not only looked run-down, but probably was made before anyone in the area was born.
“Then get another one, Em. I got plenty of sandwiches for all of us. I think that’s Bren’s. I know I wanted pastrami. What did you want?” These words came from a mouth with thin lips, dry from a hot day. The beginning of a mustache was above those lips, with the scruffy look after a forgotten shave or two.
“Chicken or tuna…I don’t know? How am I supposed to remember after three days?” The eyes from Em’s pale, slender face bulged out a little like a puppy trying to be cute so the owner forgets the pee stain on the carpet. Her blue of her eyes made her eyes look stained, as if the person who painted her forgot to do her irises in the lines.
“Hmm, maybe you could have, I don’t know, written it down somewhere? I mean, you must write something down in that journal of yours other than how to never lose your...”
Em went up and punched the man in the arm, causing a small ripple on his blue windbreaker.
“Just because we’re freshmen doesn’t mean you can say that! You are so mean! Why am I friends with you anyway, Chris?”
“‘Cause I’m the only ride you’ve got.”
Chris reached into the old red cooler, picking up a sandwich with soft porous white bread, and a brownish filling in the middle. He tossed it to Em.
“Here’s your sandwich. I think its chicken salad. I hope you like it.”
               2.
Em started to open the sandwich from its plastic wrappings. While opening the sandwich, she looked around at where they were. It had been a long, tiring hike in. The clearing they found was fairly large, enough for eight or nine people, but she had never been good at math, so there could have been more.  The area was somewhat rocky, although there was enough soft ground to make the area comfortable. The grasses were long, and the area buggy, which made the heat a bit less bearable. It wasn’t so hot out, however, so neither Em nor Chris seemed to mind.
Em could smell the pines and the hickory trees, which made her feel very relaxed. Em always liked the smell of wildlife, as well as the reddish-brown color of the surrounding trees. The trees were silent except for a light wind, giving Em an eerie feeling that she was alone, even from Chris, who was rummaging through the cooler. She finally got the sandwich opened, but noticed that Chris was giving her a strange look, so she put the sandwich back down in the wrappings, laid neatly on the uneven ground.
“What?” said Em.
“Don’t you have any manners? They aren’t here yet,” said Chris
“But Brendan and Jess are always late, and Ryan…well, he hasn’t been the same since-“
Chris rushed up to Em, covering her mouth with his hand. She could taste the dirt and sweat on it, and looking at Chris, could see his eyes move around widely, looking for some unknown terror.
“Please, this isn’t the time to discuss it,” he said, looking at her. “I want to wait a-“
Em ripped his hand off of her mouth. “What’s the hell? Are you crazy are something, you asshole? What is going on with you?” Em stood up, all five and a half feet of her, “It’s been a year, and nobody’s been able to figure it out, so we-”
Chris reached out a pushed her, hard enough to make her fall to the ground. Em’s scream pierced through the wilderness.
               3.
“That hurt! Damn it, what was that for?”
“I thought I said I didn’t want to talk about it.”
“That’s all you can answer? You are being such a freak right now! I’m going to right this all down in my journal, so I remember to tell your mom once we get back. Maybe she’ll get rid of your allowance, huh?”
Em turned to her journal, a small notebook that once seemed to have the color of a pink sunset, but over the years it had turn to the color of pinkish flesh. The spiral wire that held it together stuck out of the book, some making larger circles than the others, and ended in a sharp point.
As she turned the pages, she noticed that red droplets were splattering the pages, soaking through as if it had been in a downpour. Putting her palm to her nose, she could feel a cold liquid coming out, drenching her hand, her mouth, and the orange shirt she was wearing. She even managed to get some in her long dark brown hair.
“Aw, you made my nose bleed, you idiot!”
Chris, who had been stunned by what he had done, rushed over to her side. He noticed the blood on her hands, which were now busy covering her face.
“Damn, why do you have to be so clumsy…,” muttered Chris.
“What are you talking about?”
“…Never mind. I’ll get napkins. Shit, the one time I don’t bring the first aid kit…”
Chris ran back to the cooler, grabbing three plain white crumpled napkins.
“That’s not going to be enough,” said Em, her voice distorted by her hands and some of the blood rushing into her mouth.
“I know, I know, but just take these for now,” said Chris, handing the napkins to Em. She quickly grabbed them, shoving them up her nose.
“Em, don’t forget to put your head back-“
“Yeah, yeah, I know.”
“You still thinking about threatening me?”
Em looked at Chris in the face, “Maybe I’ll put that on hold for another day.”
               4.
Farther up into the woods, a car pulled up nearby Chris’s green sedan. It was a very large blue SUV, covered in mud from a day’s journey down muddy roads. Two people stepped out of the car. The driver was a guy, wearing a fluffy white jacket that was too hot for the weather, and too large for the surroundings. His sunglasses also looked ridiculous for the woods, the hundred dollar type that was worn by people with too much money and too much time on their hands. His necklaces completed the look, making him looking more like a bad rapper than a man going to a picnic in the woods.
The passenger, on the other hand, looked a little more practical. Her blond wavy hair was tied in a ponytail in a way that showed she meant business. She wore new stiff hiking shoes, which gave her a little trouble walking around to the driver. Her grey coat, like the driver, was unsuited for the area, but it was less flashy.  Kissing the driver, a smudge of her makeup stayed as her calling card.
“Mmm, nice,” said the driver.
“Well, do you want anything else? It is pretty quiet here…” She said, playfully twirling some of her hair.
“Well…it does seem like a nice idea…”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, but I’d rather eat now. Plus, I hate the outdoors. I’d rather just get home. Then, though, I’ll take you up on your offer.”
“OK, Bren,” she said, in a sickly sweet, syrupy way that really meant the other way. Fortunately for her, Bren was too dense to notice it.
               5.
The girl had a hard time walking in her new shoes, and soon she regretted wearing them. Bren, meanwhile, had managed to catch his coat on the trees several times, and rips were showing. He had soon taken his glasses off, preferring instead to put his right arm in from of his face, as if he was facing a vast forest jungle. His necklaces were soon off, too, after too many entanglements, and his shiny white sneakers, made black by the mud.
“Jess…,” said Bren, panting from exhaustion, trying to get yet another branch off his jacket.
“Yeah…?”
“Why…do we have…to go…all the way in…to these stupid …woods?”
“Because…that’s what…Chris…decided….”
Jess knew that this was a stupid lie. Chris hated the woods just as much as Bren. However, she couldn’t tell him the truth. The truth had been too much even for her, and for Bren…well, he was a vegetable, and would probably run to his mommy to call the police. She’d probably be able to stop him, but right now she was not in the mood to seduce Bren.
“Oh…well… why…would he go…so deep…into the woods?” said Bren
“I don’t know…maybe he’s a…dumbass?” said Jess. This brought a chuckle to both of their lips.
“I…thought…I…was…a dumbass.”
“Oh…don’t…bring that…up…again…. Let’s…keep moving….”
               6.
As they continued to struggle through the woods, Jess felt a pair of eyes watching her. She stopped to look around, but no one was there. She continued to move, but Bren saw and flinched, and asked her, “Why…did you…look around?”
“I…don’t know….hate woods….” Jess knew this wasn’t true, but she was in a bad mood already. Her makeup was smudged, making her look like a man in drag who had just been hit by a piece of wood. Her sweaty palms tried desperately to swat away the mosquitoes, but she was not having much luck. With this being their luck, she decided not to add to it that she thought someone was following them.
“Well…I guess…we better…brume…ahead…huh?” said Bren.
“What...are…you talking…about?” said Jess.
“What…do you…mean? We…need…keep…walking…so-”
“You…idiot…that…doesn’t…mean…that.”
“It…doesn’t?” said Bren.
“No…did you…get…that…from a…text…book…or something?” said Jess with impatience.
“I heard it…on….televi-OW!”
“Idiot…hey, what happened?”

7.
“Hey, is your nose better yet?”
This was the first thing Chris had said to Em for awhile. He had mostly been trying to avoid her by fiddling around with his jacket, taking many bathroom breaks, and generally just trying to avoid her with menial tasks he could find. He never did like blood, though he had experienced looking at it lots of times. In fact, he was still surprised how much he still didn’t like it that much.
“Yeah, there’s still a little bit of blood, but it’s mostly coagulated.” Her voice was a little weak, but Chris could still hear her.
“Coagulated?”
“Yeah, it’s coagulated. What, what’s the problem?”
“Coagulated? Who the heck uses that word anymore?”
“Hey! What’s wrong with it?”
“It sounds like a word my grandma would use.”
“What do you mean?” said Em.
Chris sighed. “What’s it mean?”
“Well-“
“And say it in English, please. No more words that a…what’s the smart people group again?”
“Mensa?”
“Yeah, them. They should be able to understand it.”
“Ugh, fine. Coagulation is-“
               8.
Out of the woods unexpectedly came two bedraggled people. They looked as if they had been in a bar fight, with both having scratches and cuts all over. The man’s coat was ripped up, and he was limping on one foot. His arm was around the woman, who was almost in as bad condition as he was, though unlike him she had twigs stuck in her hair.
“Wow…hey Jess,” remarked Em, “It looks like you’ve been through a lot…”
“Uh, yeah, no shit,” said Jess.
‘Hey now, there’s no reason to get nasty with one another. We haven’t even started lunch yet,” said Chris.
“Well, it’s your damn fault! We’ve had to walk through these stupid woods, and look at what happened to Bren!” said Jess
“Yeah, I was going to ask about that…” said Em.
“Well, Emma, if you want to know so damn much, it’s because he fell into a ditch covered by those prickly plant things! Thank god he didn’t break his foot! Bren, what did I tell you?” said Jess.
Bren noticed that Jess was looking at his foot, looked at it himself, and moved his head to look at her while trying to look as pathetic as possible.
“Uh…don’t let it touch the ground, ‘cause it’ll…,” said Bren.
“It’ll make it worse. Now what should you be doing?” said Jess.
Bren slowly lifted his foot, looking at Jess with a pathetic face.
“That’s right. Now keep it there! I don’t want to find out that you’re in bed for a week because you didn’t listen to me. Then it’d be my fault,” aid Jess.
Jess then sat down, laying down Bren next to her. Out of Bren’s mouth came a groaning sound, sulking. Everyone was a little surprised by this- he would usually start asking for food because of his injury-but they ignored him anyway.
               9.
“So,” said Em, “did anything else happen?”
“Well,” said Jess, sitting down while setting down Bren next to her, “I kept thinking someone was following.”
“What!” yelled Chris. Even Jess, who wasn’t usually shocked by anything, was shocked by the urgency in his voice.
“Hey, man, calm down. It was just one of those stupid things that happen when you’re in a shitty mood. But what happened to you, Em? You’re a bloody mess.”
Chris sighed a little, but his fears were not swayed. Em could always tell when he was in a paranoid moment, and she could see was in a particularly bad one. However, noticing the question Jess asked, Em looked down at herself. Blood still smeared her clothes, and the pallor of her face was still a little white.
   “Oh,” said Em with an obvious sneer, “I-“
   “She fell,” said Chris.
Em looked at Chris. She didn’t understand what was going on, but something was weird in the way he said it. It was as if he was trying to forget the truth for falseness. It was like in that book she had read, 1994 or whatever the name was.
“No I didn’t! Chris, you-“
“You fell, damnit! You tripped on that rock right there!” said Chris.
Em and Jess looked at the rock. It was a normal dull colored rock, like any other in the forest, only being noticeable for sticking out prominently from the ground.
“Chris, you are such a damn liar!”
“Oh, shut up,” said Em.
With a large “Humph!” Em sat down on the ground, scorning Chris. Everyone stayed quiet for a bit, until Jess spoke up.
“Hey, can I have a coke?” said Jess.
 “No,” said Em, “If I can’t have a sandwich till Ryan arrives, you can’t have a coke.”
“Ugh, that emo freak? Why did you invite him?” said Jess.
“Do you remember why we are here?” said Em.
Jess shifted a little in her spot. She remembered alright, but this subject had always been touchy, especially when Chris was around.
“Well…I think it’s been a year since…”
“Since Cherie died.”
               10.   
Both of them stared at Chris. Neither of them had heard him mention her death since her funeral. In fact, neither of them had heard him mention her name since then. Em was especially stunned after what had happened earlier.
“What the hell!” Screamed Em.
“…What?” said Chris.
“Didn’t you say that it was too early to mention ‘it’?” said Em.
“I thought I heard someone before, but I don’t hear anyone now,” said Chris.
“Chris,” said Em, “you need, like, to get some pills! You’re getting so paranoid!”
“What are you talking about?” said Jess.
“Jess, haven’t you noticed it too?” said Em.
“Well, Chris has been acting strange for awhile…,”
“Remember how he reacted when he couldn’t find his keys yesterday?” said Em.
“You mean the police call?” said Jess.
“Yeah! He called the police! He actually thought someone had called the police!”
“Hey, I’m right here,” said Chris, both women looking up.
 “You know,” said Chris, “I’m surprised that you aren’t watching out. We might not have been alone.”
“Chris,” said Em, “we were in the middle of the woods!”
“What was in the middle of the woods?” said Bren
               11.
Everyone immediately shut up and tried to find something else to say. However, the awkward silence only made things worse. Em opened her mouth, but quickly shut it again.
“I said, ‘What was in the middle of the woods?’” repeated Bren.
“Bren,” said Jess, “It’s nothing for you to be concerned about. We we’re just talking about when…” Jess looked futilely at Chris and Em, but they could only shake their heads. “…I’ll tell you another time, ok?”
“Oh, this is one of those stupid secrets you have that make it so I’m the last one to know. No, I’m not going to be the one guy out on this one on this one,” said Bren
“Bren, it’s not important. I’ll tell you some other time…,” said Jess.
“Well, I still think I deserve to know,” said Jess
“Still arguing as always, I see,” A mysterious voice emanated the woods.
 “Nice try, Ryan,” Chris said, “but I can still recognize your voice from a mile away.”

            12.
Out of a dark corner of the small patch of grass the group was in came out a man who looked more likely to fit in a biker bar than in the woods. From his worn black leather jackets game two chains from the bottom the zippers, hanging loosely. His jeans also had chains coming from the pockets. His boots looked scratches, and twigs were stuck in his laces. He had three piercing on each ear and two on his left nostril, taking away from the boyish charm of his face. An eyebrow was also pierced, giving his face a sneering look. His hair was the only thing relatively unscathed by this mod look; it seemed to come from a school for cutting the hair of Oxford preppies. His smile was thin and gave both of the girls a bit of unease at its mocking quality. Chris, however, seemed not to have noticed.
Coming towards the group, he said, specifically to Chris, “Hey, you know, ‘least I’ve tried, and you can’t shame me for that.”
Coming up to Chris, they shook hands in their own special way. Em and Jess sighed impatiently, while Bren just moaned.
“What is it?” said Ryan.
“God, do guys always have to do that?” said Em.
“I agree,” said Jess, “We’re in college already. Stuff like that is so high school. You two are dorks.” Jess and Em both giggled.
“Hey now,” said Ryan, “that’s no way to treat the people taking you out to lunch.”
“Yeah, what a lunch,” said Jess. “A couple of sandwiches that we haven’t even eaten yet, and some nasty sodas. The bugs seem to be having a good time though.”
Ryan clicked his tongue in disgust. “Women,” he said, “all they do is complain, and put on their fancy clothes.”
Both of the women looked ready to tear Ryan to shreds.
“What exactly do you mean by that, Ryan?” said Em.
“What do you mean ‘what do I mean’?” Ryan looked at Chris. “You gotta agree with me after that. Women just don’t understand what it means to go along with what a guys saying. You know what I mean, Chris?”
Chris looked at Ryan, then at Em, and sighed. Ryan was never the one to say the right thing at the right time. At times, it seemed that every time he talked, an ambulance came soon after. He had hoped that his friend would be calm, seeing that neither of the girls like him very much, and Bren didn’t even know him. Jess had known him when he was Cherie’s boyfriend, and since the incident with her she had not seen him at all. She said that they was never time to, but Chris somewhat knew that she missed Cherie, and that Ryan only reminded her of the whole incident. Em, on the other hand, had hated Ryan since Chris remembered. She had told him once that she had seen a strange glimmer in his eye, and didn’t like that. Whatever, he had told himself then, but he still had thoughts on what might have happened if he heeded her advice.
               

[Lone shade of Black]

13.
“Uh, Ryan, you know Bren, right?” said Chris, trying to defuse the situation.
“Who?” said Ryan.
“Guess that’s a no. Anyway, he’s the guy moaning and groaning over there.”
“Oh, Mister Fly over there. I was wondering what he was doing here. Who is he?”
“He’s Jess’s bf,” replied Chris.
“Bf? Since when have you said ‘bf’?”
“Aw, shut up, man,” said Chris
“Hey now, man, I’m just hassling you’s all.” Ryan patted Chris’s shoulder. “Introducing him before these ladies’ glares start to pierce my skin,” he said, pointed back at the two women.
               14.
The two guys walked over to Bren. He still looked as pathetic as ever, lying in the shade of the tree he was in front of. His face was facing to the left, with his eyes closed, as if he was a baby sleeping. His sunglasses had fallen off his face onto the ground, and dirt covered his close. His hurt leg was outstretched, with his foot perched on a rock sticking out of the ground. His bald head glittered in a little sun that was poking through the shade. Tempted, Chris poked him on the spot, causing Bren to moan some more.
“C’mon, Bren,” said Chris, ‘I’m going to introduce you to a special friend of mine.”
“Yeah, can you spell ‘special’?” said Ryan. “S-p-e-c-i-a-l. That’s you, my friend. You don’t even have to rap in order to learn that. Isn’t learning fun?”
“Ryan, stop patronizing him. Can’t you see he can’t understand?”
A shrill voice came from behind them. Jess said, “Hey, if you to don’t stop, I’m going to take Em’s diary and smack you both in the head with it.”
Ryan looked behind him. “So,” he said, “that’s Em’s, huh? I was wondering where that book came from. Em, I thought you don’t like public writing?”
Em squirmed a little. “It’s for college, so I don’t really have a choice.”
“Ugh,” said Jess, “Let’s get back to our conversation.”
               15.
Em and jess were both sitting down on some nice patches of grass.  Jess was lounging by Em, who was lying on the ground. Em looked up at Jess.
“So, you really haven’t seen him since then?”
“No,” she said, “I don’t trust the bastard.”
“Hey, now. He’s not the greatest guy in the world, but he isn’t one of those either.”
“I used to think that way, but I don’t know anymore. He seems so…different.”
“Yeah, I know. He did take her death well, did he?”
“You shouldn’t say that out loud. She isn’t supposed to be dead,” said Jess
“Yeah, but…hey, what’s going on over there?” said Em.
               16.
Both turned Ryan ran towards them. When he got close, he yelled at Jess, “HE DOESN’T KNOW?”
“Hey, what can I do? He’s like a lab, following me everywhere. The last time I tried to get away, he sent his buddies after me.”
“Aw hell,” said Ryan.
“Sorry,” said Chris, “I was introducing him to Bren, and he said that he wouldn’t talk ‘less Ryan told him. When Ryan asked what, and Bren told him, well…yeah.”
“Now, you stay out of this, Chris.” Ryan started to pace, but after a couple times stopped.
“We’re going to have to tell him,” he said.
“What?” “No!” “For Christ sakes, that’s stupid!” said Em, Jess, and Chris respectively at the same time.
“We can’t keep him here without him knowing. It’s a dishonor. I’m going to tell him now.”
“Now, Ryan,” said Em, “this isn’t smart. We should wait until after the picnic to see what he’s picked up, and then see if we should tell him the rest if he’s picked up enough. This is the type of guy who’s too afraid to not go to the police.”
“Yeah, well, you should have told me earlier,” said Ryan, “’Cause I’m not letting this alone. Sorry, but it has to be done.”
“God, let him do it,” said Jess.
“What?” said Em and Chris together.
“I’ve got him on a leach anyway. I doubt he’d try to do anything that’d get me in jail. He’s an idiot, but loyal.”
“I’m not sure,” said Chris, “For once, Em has a good point. We may want to—Hey stop, Ryan!”
Chris and Em bother chased after Ryan and Jess, who had gone over to Bren for a little chat.
               17.
“Hey, Bren, you still awake?” said Ryan when he got there. Ryan was standing over Bren, leaned over with his hands on his knees. Jess had sat next to Bren, and was at the moment trying to cuddle up to him. Bren batted away at Ryan’s face.
“Go away,” Bren said, “I’m not gonna talk to you.”
“Actually, I was going to talk about the thing everyone else knows,” said Ryan.
“What?” Bren sat up.
“Yeah,” said Ryan, sitting down, “Y’see, I couldn’t believe those punks couldn’t tell something like this to a real fly guy like yourself, y’know? So, after some thinking, I decided I’d tell you myself.”
“Well, what is it?”
As Ryan was about to tell him, Chris and Em came over. Chris grabbed Ryan’s shirt as Em looked on.
“You better have not have told him,” Chris said.
“What, that’s Cherie’s dead because of us?” said Ryan.
               18.
Chris dropped Ryan to the ground. Em gasped, putting her hands to her mouth. She rain off to a corner of the clearing, crying on the way there. Jess, meanwhile, moved away from Bren, and went over to Ryan, who Chris had dropped. Raising her arm above her head, she brought it down in a loud slap. Chris sat down on the ground, looking stunned. Bren had ripped his glasses of, threw them to the ground, and stared at Ryan.
“What?” Bren said.
“Well…” began Ryan, “y’see, that day, we three-I’m talking about Em, Chris, and I-we were also with Cherie.”
“You lied to the police?” said Bren.
“No…we merely changed the truth a little to fit our own needs. Cherie, she was always having asthma attacks, if you know about her at all. We…we were just stupid, is all. Cherie, she was sweet. She was the umbrella to those margaritas I used to make in secret in my basement. Chris, you remember her saying that, right? Chris?”
Chris, however, wouldn’t look at Ryan. He knew that he could never look at him again. After all the time and effort, all the pain he had gone to keeping it a secret, it had driven him mad! Yet, here was his friend, blurting it out to a distrustful idiot who he normally wouldn’t trust to order for him at a McDonalds, and in such a way as if he had left his fly open by accident. He knew Ryan had changed, but Chris never thought he had changed this much. He thought of all the time he had spent with him, all the secrets he shared. What was he to do now, with a friend like this? It troubled him to no end.
“Anyway,” continued Ryan, “she was the best girl there ever was. She was my girl, for god’s sakes. Is there any girl better than your own? Yah, corny, but a good kind of corny. But, she had the weakness of stupidity. That stupid, stupid, stupid girl!” Tears had started to well up in his eyes. His fist pounded into the ground.
“She’s just had to bring her inhaler,” Ryan continued. “She had a huge pack, even! Yet, she puts it on the bottom. ‘N when she was in the middle of this god-forsaken field, gasping for breath, what can we do? She put it on the bottom! So what do I do? I bash her head with a rock. Hey, don’t look at me like that. Please man! She was suffering. Just a fish out of water, you know what I mean? I couldn’t let her be like that. She was beautiful, rosy cheeks ‘n’ all. She had it, man, but at that moment, it was gone. She was dying, and she wasn’t hiding it. Man, where you going? Don’t you understand?”
“Yeah, I understand,” said Bren. He was now half standing in the forest, Jess holding him by his hand, as if to pull him back in.
“I understand, you son of a bitch! I know what I’m being suckered into! I’m being, like, framed or something! But you ain’t getting me to be your little sheep!”
Jess, tugging at Bren, said, “Bren, what are you talking about? You’re not making any sense at all. No hush, and maybe we could do something fun. This is a nice spot to make out, and I don’t think anyone will mind. Bren, please, stop pulling away. Bren, no one means you harm. Bren, you’re hurting me! Stop pulling!”
Jess’s grip was to Bren was broken, as he ripped his hand from her, landing in the forest. He stood up, and, wiping himself off, ran away.
“Shit!” said Chris, as he began to run after Bren.
Ryan followed Bren, turning to the girls and saying, “You stay here. Us guys’ll figure out a way to deal with him. You stay here and stay pretty.”
               19.
Bren ran as fast as he could, but it was tough going. He narrowly avoid several times tripping over broken branches, and the leaves were slippery enough to make running even tougher than usual. His leg was no help, either. Although he had been exaggerating his “injury”, he actually had hurt his ankle, and the pain it was causing now was bringing him to the point of tears. All he knew, though, was that he had to keep running.
I have to get the police, he kept thinking. Bren didn’t think any of them could do something like that. Murder was, like, a sin, and sins are punished for. Not even his girlfriend could try to convince him that that wasn’t like that. He needed to run, he needed to reach his car, although he had no idea where it was. He just kept going forward, thinking he’d eventually reach something
Behind him, he could hear Ryan and Chris, yelling at him, trying to stop him. Ryan was the one who scared him though. He had heard about him. A member of the Demonheads, some local biker gang, was what he had heard. He didn’t know where, but he was sure it was true. That Chris was his friend could only mean that Ryan must be the leader. God damnit, Bren thought what have I gotten into?
The stream ahead of Bren was not large, but it was not small either. The dry summer heat had caused many of rocks previously uncovered to stick out from the watery depths. Bren barely noticed as he stepped into the stream, splashing water around him. He did, however, notice when he tripped on one of the rocks. Unfortunately for him, he was unable to stop his fall, and his head slamming into another one of the rocks. His body convulsed like a dying dog for a little bit until his body quietly collapsed, as the stream became a reddish tint.
               20.
Ryan and Chris stood over Bren, breathing hard. Ryan then stood up and, looking calmly at Chris, punched him right in the mouth.
“What the hell!” said Chris, blood now coming from his nose.
“You idiot, you caused this.”
“What did you do to Chris?” said Em, coming over to his side. She took a look at Bren’s body. Using as much air as her body could muster, her shill scream pierce the idyllic scenery. Ryan pushed her on to the ground.
“Shut up! We can handle this. Where’s Jess?” said Ryan.
“She…she ran back to her car. She’s upset, and now…you didn’t do this, did you?” said Em.
“He tripped, that’s the story. We’ve got no problem, as far as it is. We were running, and he tripped.”
“Ok…god, I’ve seen too much death. Chris, what happened to your nose?”
“Ask Mr. Confident up there,” said Chris.
“Hey, shut it Chris,” said Ryan. “We’ve got no time for that. Now, no one really comes here anymore since Cherie disappeared, right? Those bear rumors and stuff. People are so pathetic sometimes…anyway, we’ll leave him here.”
“What?” said Chris, “You can’t leave him here. Even if there’s nobody, I didn’t hate the guy that much. I thought he was pretty funny. Stupid as hell, but funny.”
“Well, hide him behind the tree then. I don’t care, I’m leaving. Em, you’re taking the cooler and the trash. If someone does find him, he’s just death by misadventure, right?”
“That’s a bit of legal talk for a biker,” said Em.
“Thanks, Em. I’m hoping to become a lawyer once this whole phase passes. Anyway, just clean up our tracks and we should be good. Em, you tell Jess, but in a good way, ‘k? Don’t make her get crazy.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem, she didn’t even like him anyway,” said Em. “This doesn’t feel right though?”
“When does it?” said Chris, getting up. “I don’t want to deal with any longer. And Ryan, I don’t want to see your fucking face again!”
“I understand,” said Ryan. “But you better not come back again, either.”
Chris spat in Ryan’s face. “Yeah, don’t worry, I won’t.” He wiped his nose as he walked away. Never would he deal with this again. One death on his soul was already enough, but two was just a disgrace. He knew he would be stuck with this for as long as he lived.
               21.
“You better go get him,” Ryan said to Em.
“Why? He’s a brat anyway.”
“He’s your ride, too, guessing from the two cars I saw parked. Stop saying things like “brat”, too. You’re a freshman now; you don’t use words like that anymore. Don’t stick your tongue out either.”
“What are you, my father?”
“Maybe I know what’s good for you,” said Ryan.
“Maybe I could complain about your sexism,” said Em.
“To whom? I’m a biker.”
“My father’s a lawyer too, remember.”
“…You’re sneaky, you know that? You should be a biker.”
“You shouldn’t be. I’ve never heard a biker say ‘whom’ before.”
“Oh, go clean up already.” Ryan nodded in the direction of the clearing they had been in.
   “Oh, and bring me a sandwich,” he asked, as she started to walk away.
   “What type?” she asked.
   “I don’t care, as long as it isn’t bologna. “
   “Why don’t you help me with the cooler, and then you can get your sandwich?”
Ryan rolled his eyes. “My hunger compels me to do so,” he said, walking with her, leaving Bren to rot in the rusty hued river.













Epilogue
The TV flickered on, illuminating the darkness of the room. It wasn’t the nicest television, more like one found at a flea market, but the image quality was ok, and the table it was on was a nice oak table. On the television flashed a newswoman. She had a nice face, but was somewhat homely as all newswoman looked. Her presence gave one of stardom deferred, as wrinkles were beginning to show in her once taut face. The banality of the newsroom she was in seemed to make it worse, as if she were in some sort of news hell. She began her news broadcast slowly and deliberately, as if any word lost would wreck everyone’s day.
“And,” she began, “in local news, four college students were arrested early today on several charges, including manslaughter. All of the kids were involved in the case of Cherie Descal, who went missing a year ago today. She was last seen outside a convenience store with three teenagers.”
“ She was supposedly killed by a bear on the Levit trail in the local woods, as reported by the teenagers Christopher Mccal, Ryan Douglas, and Melanie Davice, all 17 at the time. However, the teenagers later said that they had lied, and she in fact went off with students, although the students were not named publicly.”
 “The accused, whose names have not been released at this time, have been accused of Cherie Descal’s murder, as well as the murder of Brendan Halloy, the son of Thomas Halloy, heir of the toilet paper company Halloy Cushions. Brendan disappeared last week, and until now was believed to have run away. His body has now been found, and returned to his parents.”
“The four accused were arrested as a fifth member who had been at the scenes of both crimes confessed for, as quoted by police, ‘a guilty conscience’. The four will be brought to trial, with a possibility of 20 or more years behind bars. The member who confessed will be given a reduced sentence of 5 years. Now, Jeremy Hinds with the weather.”
The television flashed off, the smiling face of the worn woman disappearing from the screen. The person who had been watching the television smiled. The person felt bad about what they had done, but the person was glad to have gotten rid of all those murdering freaks. The person slowly got up from the lounge chair, going to the fridge to get a beer. Tomorrow would be a big day, the person thought as the person drank their beer. Yes, tomorrow, the last day of freedom for awhile. It would be a big day indeed.

[Nephtys]

A quick shot of advice: You're likely not to get much response the way this looks.

Unfortunately the forum doesn't convert your tabs from Word (or whatever word processor you might use) so your story does not have any paragraphs that I can see. I know they're there, but... You know.

This is VERY difficult to read. If you could insert double line breaks to replace all the paragraph indents it would be much more easy on the eyes.

And by logical extension I could then be bothered to read and critique.