Careless, Reckless Decisions | ONC 2021

Chapter Four

WARNING: This chapter includes violence, strong language, and graphic scenes.

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When I realized the sound was not coming towards me, I knew that John would be experiencing something way worse than being blinded by headlights.

And if the sound of bones cracking, and liquid splattering onto my face wasn't enough proof, then I don't know what was.

I felt as if I kept reliving that moment over and over again, on repeat. The sound of sticks snapping, and the feeling of being sprayed in thick, red paint.

Only it wasn't sticks, and it wasn't paint.

It was bones and it was blood.

After my eyes adjusted to everything around me, I suddenly felt an overwhelming exhaustion taking over, and I crumpled to the ground.

I closed my eyes and laid my head on the cement road, wishing for nothing more than to be in my house, reading my books.

"Are you ok? Oh my god, Jenna. Answer me!" I opened my eyes to see Kia's huge blue ones staring back at me.

Nope. I was still stuck here, in this never-ending nightmare.

"I-I think I'm fine." I let Kia lift me up off of the ground, my hands instinctively drawing back to my sides.

"Y-your hands." I could hear the panic seeping through her voice as she inspected me.

But I was more worried about the unmoving body just a few feet away from us.

"Kia," I tore myself away from her and pointed my bleeding fingers towards the puddle of blood that surrounded John's unmoving body. "What did you do."

It was less like a question, and more like a statement. I knew what she had done, but I couldn't believe it unless she said it from her mouth.

Please don't say it. Please don't say-

"I ran him over," Kia whispered, but then more clearly. "I ran John over."

I could hear Kia's quiet sobs and cries, as she realized the damage she had done.

Not once did I look at her, or thank her for saving me. No matter how much I was glad I was still alive and breathing, I couldn't stop thinking about how close I was to sharing John's fate.

"What are we going to do?!" I could tell Kia was still crying by the way her voice was muffled.

I wanted to desperately tell her that I had nothing to do with anything. That I was innocent. That I was merely a witness, a bystander.

But I knew deep down it didn't matter.

I felt as if my body was moving in slow motion. Like my brain was put on pause. This couldn't actually be real...could it?

My life-long crush, or should I say freak in the making, was just murdered by my best friend, who was trying to protect me.

Maybe I was losing my mind. It happened, it was a real thing. Maybe I was just going crazy. Maybe we both were.

For the first time since Kia helped me up, I looked over at her.

Even though I knew she had been crying, I was still surprised to see her face wet with tears. The courageous and brave Kia I knew, was gone.

She was blubbering incoherent words and shaking as snot ran down her face. And for the slightest moment, I thought maybe we were going insane.

But then reality set in, and my years of watching Criminal Minds paid off.

I quickly turned to Kia in one swift motion, "Stop crying. Kia, we need a plan. And fast."

She looked up at me, but didn't seem to register what I was saying, "Wh-what are you talking about? I'm a monster Jenna, we- we should go to the police."

I instantly shook my head, "Do you want to go to jail? Look at him."

My hand shook as I pointed towards John.

Or what remained of him.

"We could say it was self-defense," Kia argued, gulping as she glanced over at him.

"That would only make sense if I had run him over," This was starting to get annoying. We didn't have much time before some stupid drunk kid stumbled out and saw us.

But Kia didn't seem to mind.

"No, no, no. This can't be happening, this isn't real." She started laughing, but it sounded hollow. "This is all just a bad dream. Jenna, tell me it's just a fucking dream!"

Kia kicked the old car out of anger, and out of horrible irony, the darn headlights flashed on.

I grabbed Kia's shoulders and shook her, ignoring the stinging in my hands, "Shut up, Kia. People will hear you."

It surprised me how calm my voice sounded when really, it felt like my insides were going to burst.

"How can you be so calm?! You're acting crazy, Jenna." Kia started pacing, and I knew that if we didn't do something soon, we were going to get caught.

I laughed. Loudly.

"You're calling me crazy?! You were the one so hell-bent on getting me and John together. You were the one who ran him over. In fact, if I wanted to, I could go to the police right now, and blame it all on you!" I felt like screaming at her.

Me? Insane?

Hilarious.

But instead of yelling back at me like the Kia I knew, she kept pacing.

Back and forth. Back and forth. Until I got sick of it.

"God, would you stop that?!" But she didn't stop. "Ok, since you're so incapable of handling your own problems, this is what we do. We get John into the trunk of your car. I don't care if he doesn't fit, we make him fit. Then, we go into the woods, bury him, and forget this ever happened."

I knew I was rambling, but I couldn't help it.

Kia looked up at me with her huge blue eyes which I used to think were beautiful. But now they just looked dead.

"O-ok. Um...what about the mess? The blood I mean." We both simultaneously glanced over at 'John.'

"This is a main road, right? It's right next to the woods, too. It will just look like someone hit a deer." I shrugged, but the motion made me feel nauseous.

Kia looked at me skeptically, "Say someone did hit a deer. It wouldn't just runoff. Especially after losing that much blood."

I felt woozy.

"Okay, first thing's first. Let's just focus on getting him into your car." As we moved closer to the remains of John, I couldn't help but stare.

His head had been swiveled in a way that was so gruesome it forced me to look away. The bones in his legs stuck out of his flesh like a sore thumb. If he had gotten struck any harder, he would just be a pile of blood, torn skin, and bones.

I didn't even want to talk about the excessive amounts of blood.

"Kia...how hard did you hit him?" I asked her, finally looking away.

"I-I don't know. I just...I just knew that you were gone for too long. And Danielle was busy talking to Lily. So I left to find you, and when I saw what he was trying to do to you...I just lost control." She gazed at me with tears flooded in her eyes, and I knew that she was just trying to look out for me.

"Thank you," I whispered to her, as I let her engulf me into a hug, seeming she didn't care about the blood trickling off my dress.

We didn't even start doing anything, and I already felt exhausted.

But we still had the whole night ahead of us... and who knows what could happen?