Terror

Chapter Twenty-Six

Emma sat on the ground, feeling her heartbeat quicken. It wasn't from the constant popping of fireworks that might make her go deaf, but they were finally going to face the final endgame. It all still didn't feel right, which she knew what was missing. If Esme had still been alive, she'd be dragging her all over the place and screaming at her. Jade would then freeze Esme's feet, planting her on plaza ground. However, that wasn't going to happen anymore.

She felt tears slide down her cheeks, brushing them away. She needed the grieving process over this, but she had to focus on the final battle. James and Jason were the exact same way, because neither had gotten the chance to grieve for someone they cared about.

Suddenly, she felt a pinch on her nose, causing her eyes to widen to look up at Will. "Got you," he teased. "You thought I was Bryce! I knew it!"

Will had been the one to give her a chocolate bar the day all of this started. He had told her that they were from adults and homework.

"We've never talked, and you've already had to deal with Mia's nonsense," he remarked.

Mia yelled at him over the fireworks, but he stuck out his tongue. He lay himself out on the cracked road, casually propping up his knee as if they were hanging out like an ordinary day.

"Plus, you've dealt with Eden, who can be as insane as Divina," he said.

Emma looked over to see Eden's eyes glowing at the sight of River nervously lighting the fireworks. Emma assumed he thought she'd take the lighter and start burning stuff, but there wasn't much to burn anymore.

"Just wanted to be alone," Emma mumbled.

Will tapped his cheek in thought, seeming to be looking for an answer. "You're not saddened Emma, right? The girl Bryce said cried all the time."

When you miss someone who's gone, it's an awful feeling. Just like when her mom died, she felt the same hollowness and sadness over her passing.

"Esme and Jade died so..." she trailed off, wiping away a tear that fell.

"Oh damn, I didn't know, sorry," Will said.

Nevaeh came walking over with her eyebrow raised. "Who knew you'd talk to Will?" she stated.

"She's dating Bryce, so I could help her with, like, uh..." he trailed off but seemed lost. "I mean, I could tell her funny stories. Okay, so one time when we were staying at a fancy hotel, it had a water park. So, I was waiting to go down the waterslide, but Bryce was in front of me. So I pushed him down the water slide before diving face-first into a man's chest."

Bryce never told her any of those stories. He has said he's stayed in different hotels multiple times for fun since the hotel staff often passed him as an adult. Yet, there was apparently the odd time Eden would get violent with the staff.

"It was all the same night that he spit out chocolate milk all over Mia," Will laughed, holding his stomach.

Emma actually started to laugh, as Will grinned. She found it surprising that a humorous story like this could distract her from all the dread that was still arriving.

"He was so high once that he was acting like Mia. Tripping over suitcases and banging into doors just like she does," Will continued. "He really hates sleeping with thick sheets since they make him sweat. He even threw them at me father the water slide event," he added. "I'm sure you've never heard any of this because Bryce doesn't like us teasing him about it!"

Bryce whipped around from pestering Mia. He actually looked scared for a moment before slowly walking over and slapping Mia on the side of the head.

"See?" Will pointed out. "Bryce is a tease, but if you get under his skin, he hates having those memories brought up."