𝖑𝖊𝖊𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖘

Chapter Two: You Can Cry If You Want To

The world seemed to go silent, everything fading to black. Yet they were still conscious. No had noticed they were running, until they found themselves standing in the backyard of the house, staring down at the body in the rosebushes.

Shelby was a sorrowful sight, her face still molded into an expression of fear. The state of her body almost made everyone vomit on the spot. There was so much blood. Her chiffon pink nightgown that once flowed perfectly as she would walk, stained with the red of her wounds.

The picture of Gloria Lockhart, a once-powerful woman, sinking to her knees and sobbing, would be enough to completely shatter one's heart. She has loved her daughter very much, even if she didn't always show it. In between her weeping she quietly spoke to the body, as if she was listening, telling her how sorry she was for not being there.

"Call the fucking police," Mrs. Lockhart shot her head to the group standing behind her, her makeup stained by her tears. One girl broke off to go call for the cops while the rest of them stood there, silently weeping to themselves.

When the police had finally arrived, they brought up the possibility of it being suicide. They were wrong, and they knew it. One with that intention would not mark themselves with that many wounds. She just wouldn't.

• • •

The hundred or so of them pressed their hands to the window as they watched the red and blue lights disappear into the distance. All fell silent again, no one wanted to move, no one wanted to speak. Why would they? After seeing something as horrifying as that, you wouldn't want to either.

One girl broke away from the group to run to the bathroom, it was Carolyn. None of the others paid any attention. She walked as fast as she could, raising her hand to her face to block her mouth. As she shut the door behind her, she sank to the ground. Tears began to pour out of her eyes, running down her pale cheeks, and dropping onto her knees.

"This can't be real," she muttered, shaking violently in her panic. "It can't be, it can't be, it can't be," she repeated as she hugged her knees to her chest. She had lost her best friend, her hope, her happiness.

All she wished for at that moment was to travel back in time to when they were just little girls, meeting for the first time. They were so small, so innocent, so unafraid...

They were alive...

• • •

A small girl with brown hair tucked into pigtails hugged her knees as she sat under the slide, which spooked her as it moved from the kids that would slide down it. She sat silently, playing with the wood chips which she sat on. They poked her if she moved, and left remnants of themselves on her polka-dotted skirt.

Another small girl ran up to her, her honey blonde hair bouncing in the curls her mother had put in it. She stumbled a bit before she sat on the ground across from the brunette girl. Her lips curved into a sweet smile, her oceanic eyes gazing at the freckled face of the girl opposite to her.

"Hi," her soft voice spoke up, catching the attention of the brown-haired girl. "Hey," the brunette quietly replied. "You seemed lonely, so I came to sit with you," the blonde cheerfully spoke. "That's nice I guess," the freckled one continued picking at the wood chip in her small hands. "You're really pretty," the happier one shifted closer to the sullen one. "Thanks," the brunette set down her wood chip and directed her attention at the girl gazing at her, "you're p-pretty too."

"My name's Shelby," the blonde extended her hand, which the other took hesitantly. "I'm Carolyn," the green-eyed one forced a smile. "I say we are going to be best friends forever, starting right now," Shelby stood up. Carolyn slowly stood up after her, "Oh okay."

Shelby grabbed her hand and lead her off to play elsewhere. As she was being dragged along, Carolyn started to smile, brighter than she had ever before. She had a best friend, a thing the girl, barely over seven at the time, never thought she would have.

And the blonde girl was right, they would be best friends forever...

• • •

"Carolyn," a soft voice spoke to the girl curled up on the floor, "are you ok?" Carolyn stood up, wiping the tears from her eyes and fixing her clothes. She opened the door to greet the face of the ginger girl, who so happened to be Shelby's cousin. "I'm fine, sorry you can have the bathroom if you need it," Carolyn began to walk off, though was stopped by Mabel pulling her into a hug.

"You can cry," Mabel whispered to her, "if you want to." Carolyn looked at her, revealing her reddened eyes. Mabel knew she had been crying and hugged her tighter, "I know how you feel." Carolyn bent her head down to rest on the shoulder of the finger girl, letting her tears flow. Somehow, all of the other Kappa girls sensed the sadness and came over to the two girls.

Slowly, Carolyn became encased in the embrace of not only Mabel, but every member of the Kappa house. They all knew her pain, they knew how much it hurt. Though they were all scared, and all would be painfully grieving, they had each other. That made Carolyn smile a bit, despite her tears. She had people to help her through it, and that made her the happiest she could be in that situation.

• • •

"I'm glad I have you all," Carolyn wiped her cheeks on her sleeve, "it makes this a bit less scary." They all nodded, their eyes painted with tears. "Let's find the fucker who did it," Jordan spoken. "We'll kill 'em," Avery lightly punched their knuckle into faer hand. "Hell yeah," Olive nodded. "You can't kill a Kappa and get away with it," Mabel added.

You can't kill a Kappa and get away with it...