Beechwood Academy

chapter fourteen

Noah was waiting for Duncan when he returned to his dorm. The silent boy was sitting on the floor outside of the door and silently waiting for Duncan to walk up while scribbling in his notebook per usual. When Duncan approached Noah jumped up and shoved the notebook into the brunette's chest and gave him a pestering look. Duncan eyed him before holding the notebook out in order to see the words scribbled on each line: ᴍɪꜱꜱ ᴅʀᴀᴋᴇ ɪꜱ ɢᴏɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴀꜱᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴏ ꜱᴛᴀʏ ʟᴀᴛᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴇʜᴇᴀʀꜱᴀʟ ᴛᴏᴍᴏʀʀᴏᴡ ɴɪɢʜᴛ, ɪ ɴᴇᴇᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴏ ꜱᴀʏ ɴᴏ.

"Why?" Duncan asked, part of him knew exactly why but he just wanted the confirmation. As if he was prepared for the question Duncan showed him the same series of photos he'd already seen, the one of Susie with black eyes, the scene where Sammy had a knife to his gut, and the worst one where all of his friends were dead on top of piles of rubble.

"This stuff happens tomorrow?" Duncan asked, his mouth dropping open. Noah nodded and took his notebook back, scribbling another sentence: ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇ ɪᴛ, ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅ'ꜱ ꜰᴀᴛᴇ.

"How? How do I change it?" Duncan asked. Noah immediately wrote his answer without a moment's hesitation: ꜱᴜꜱɪᴇ ʜᴀꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴅɪᴇ ᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴀʟʟ ᴅᴏ.

Duncan's heart dropped into his stomach and he shook his head. "I am not killing Susie." Noah underlined  ᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴀʟʟ ᴅᴏ and Duncan shook his head again. "I've yet to earn any proof that you're telling the truth about your weird dreams. I'm not going to murder Susie."

Noah sighed and dropped his head in his hands. He slowly wrote another sentence: ʏᴏᴜ'ʟʟ ꜱᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴇ ᴋɴᴏᴡɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ꜱᴀᴠᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇᴍ. Noah shoved the notebook into Duncan's hands and walked away, shaking his head in disbelief. Duncan let himself into his dorm and dropped into his bed with a long frustrated sigh. Sammy wasn't home, he was having the talk with Daisy over ice cream in the cafeteria so Duncan would have the place to himself for a few hours at most, depending on how well "the talk" goes. Duncan held the notebook above his face, reading the recent words before flipping through the drawings and looking for the ones that involved him or his friends. The first one he stumbled upon was of him, Rudy, and Wren tied up side by side and in incredible detail they were drenched in blood. Rudy's face was hidden against Duncan's shirt but Duncan could tell it was him without needing to his face. Wren was crying and staring at something that wasn't included in the photo while Duncan just looked numb.

Duncan flipped to the next page and nearly threw the book across the room. The next drawing was of him sitting in the exact position he was in now in his bed with a notebook in his lap, his face in the drawing looked shocked and he forced himself into a different sitting position before slamming the notebook closed and dropping his head to his knees. He knew Noah wasn't lying, but he hoped so desperately that he was. There was no way he'd let himself murder Susie. Why her? What does she do to cause whatever the hell happens to his friends?

* * *

Duncan didn't sleep that night. Sammy kept asking him if he was okay but he never responded and that morning he barely moved to get out of bed. His body was rejecting the idea of going about his day when it was very possible his friends were about to die. Noah was right, it would be his fault and he would regret not doing something about it. Maybe he wouldn't have to kill Susie, could he lock her in the showers? Tie her up and stuff her under his bed until the end of the day? Ask her to stay home? Each and every one of those plans could end terribly.

Sammy was hovering over Duncan's bed with a concerned look on his face.

"I'm not going to class." Duncan mumbled.

"And why not?" Sammy asked, his hands perched on his hips.

"Sick."

"Sick? Did you get rejected or something, what's wrong with you?" Sammy asked, nudging Duncan's shoulder as if that motion would be enough to get him up and moving.

"I'm sick." Duncan repeated and Sammy sighed. Duncan heard Sammy rummaging around the room getting dressed and gathering his books but he never met his eyes. Maybe if Duncan lay there and refuses to move that everything would work out for the better, that was the best idea he had.

"I'll fill you in on everything you miss today, just make sure you eat lunch." Sammy said before leaving the dorm and locking the door behind him. Duncan's body tensed at Sammy's absence. This thought was eating away at his stomach until he felt as if he couldn't breath. He didn't move like he'd sworn but something still felt wrong. He knew that he wouldn't be able to save his friends no matter what he did, it was fate.

Hours later, his dorm door creaked open. He assumed it was Sammy, considering the fact that Sammy was the only person who had a key to their dorm but when the person approached Duncan's bed he saw raven hair instead of blonde and when he spoke, the accent was Scottish instead of British.

"Time to play, Duncan." He'd never heard that voice before but somehow he knew exactly who it was.

Jared King knocked him out in one swing.