𝑨 𝑻𝑶𝑼𝑪𝑯 𝑶𝑭 𝑫𝑨𝑹𝑲𝑵𝑬𝑺𝑺

thirteen

Cameron remembered that night in detail. His best friend has stolen Maryssa from him. Maryssa was like a goddess. The first girl he genuinely loved. That cold night in December, Maryssa texted him, telling him that they had to break up, because she liked his best friends, Landon, over him.

There's no way Landon would ever be with Maryssa, he knows how much I love her.

He was wrong. That same night, pictures started flooding his messages, of them on a date. He was shattered. They had been best friends since forever, they hung out every Friday for a movie night and every other day, to study or just hang out. Everyone knew how close they were. If he couldn't trust his closest friend, who could he really trust?

Rage took over him, as he ran to Landon's house and saw no one there. He knew where they were.

Landon and Cameron had this special secret place in the woods, where you could see the moonlight perfectly. In that same place, they both swore to be friends forever, when they were nine.

Cameron ran to that place in the woods, only to find the new couple, sitting by the edge of the tall cliff, looking at the full moon. He hesitantly took a big rock from the ground and closed his eyes.

Do I really want to do this? He thought, but his mind din't think it through and...

AHH

Maryssa was screaming, looking at how her partners body fell down the cliff, to his death. "CAMERON, WHAT DID YOU DO?" She asked, between sobs. "I'm sorry- I'm- I'm so sorry-" He said, approaching the girl, with tears streaming down his face, realising what he had done. "DON'T COME NEAR ME." The crying girl said, walking back. What she didn't realise, was how close she was to the edge. So when she stepped back, she fell.

Cameron watched and kneeled in defeat, crying his eyes out.

What did I just do?

That one night, he lost the people he loved most. That moment has stuck with him since it happened and sometimes when he closes his eyes, he can still see the two dead corpses at the bottom of the cliff.

- - -

"It was an accident." He said, looking down. "That's what we all say." Parker replied, noticing how Cameron became weak. "But, you see, I'll give you a chance to redeem yourself." Kornelia added, catching Cameron's attention. "How?" He asked, confused. "I will count to seventy and give you a chance to run away into the forest. If we find you we will turn you in, but if we don't find you in seven minutes, you get to turn us in." She explained. "Let's do it." Cameron agreed, looking at how well the chances were for him.

"One." She started counting. Cameron started running away, deeper into the forest.

"Two, three, four, five." She continued.

"Seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve." Cameron started to get anxious. What if he lost?

"Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen."

"Eighteen, nineteen, twenty."

- - -

"Sixty, sixty one, sixty two, sixty three." The girl was still counting and Cameron found a place, where he was sure, she could never find him.

"Sixty four, sixty five, sixty six, sixty seven." Am I going to win? He thought, noticing how he could barely hear her loud counting, because of how far he was.

"Sixty eight, sixty nine."...

BANG

Cameron kneeled there in disbelief, as Parker approached him, with a gun in hand. "We never said we would play by the rules, did we?" Parker said, walking towards Cameron, who was bleeding out. Kornelia then joined them. "What a coincidence, both best friends dying in a forest." The girl said, looking down at Cameron. "Any last words?" Parker asked, watching how he was slowly dying. "You are both...such shitty people...you deserve to suffer with each other." Cameron said, before completely collapsing to the ground, dead.

Those words stuck with them. "Aw, he ships us." Kornelia said, acting like those words didn't hurt her. "Cute." Parker said, playing along.

The two of them went back to the mansion and walked to the tea room. Kornelia ordered both of the armed men, to clean up the crime scene and save the body for something else she had planned.

Being in the tea room felt like a dream. It has glass walls with plants hanging off the sides, a small table for two in the middle and a fountain. They both sat at the little table. Kornelia asked one of the maids to make them some coffee instead, them not being in the mood for tea at the moment.

"What do you think Cameron meant with "You deserve to suffer together?"" Kornelia asked, acting like she didn't know. "Don't play dumb, you know exactly what he meant." Parker said, seeing right through her act. He continued saying...

"I mean we've said it ourselves, even if we suffer with each other, we're still soulmates, right?"