STILL

Chapter thirty-one

Three people dropped dead without a chance to survive, without a chance to live the life they dreamed of. They left behind multiple heartbreaks and trials of tears. They left behind waves of sadness and one big funeral for three beloved souls that were snatched away without a chance to say goodbye.

Tom, Emma and Jenny walked out of the funeral, two sad faces, one broken heart. Emma helped Tom walk as his side was too injured for him to walk on his own. All three stood aside far away from the people walking back and forth.

"Ok, how did this happen." Emma stopped them by the sidewalk. "How did he kill all three?" Her voice cracked. She closed her fist and wiped away a tear, she couldn't believe they were gone. Pain overwhelmed her as three of her very best-friends just disappeared.

"I was with Shawn," Jenny spoke up, eyes fixed on the floor. "We were on a date." A tear fell down her cheek. "It was my turn at first but I survived." She looked up at Emma, "We thought we were safe." Her hand started shaking. She couldn't believe the love of her life was gone.

"He proposed to me," She clenched on the ring that grasped her finger. Emma looked at her with pain in her eyes, all she wanted to do at that moment was hug her.
"Then Shawn heard him counting and we started running." She was on the edge of breaking down. "Then right when we crossed the street, he-" waterfalls streamed down her cheeks.
"He-He saved me-me!" Emma Immediately took Jenny into her arms.

Jenny buried her face in Emma's arms, she needed that hug more than anything.
Tom watched Jenny cry, he was oddly quiet and expressionless.

"I promise you that one day, one day I will make him suffer," Emma said between Jenny's sobs. They barley held on to their emotions, who could blame them? They lost too much.

"My friend's dad is the one working on Markus and Lena's deaths," Tom said. "He gave me some info after hours of insisting that it's my right to know what happened to my friends." Tom held onto his side. Finally his face started to express some emotion: anger.
"It all happened around three in the morning, according to their mother a demon possessed Markus and made him kill Lena," he said in disbelief. "And how did he die?" Jenny bit her tongue as she tried to keep her own anger contained.
"She claims that the same demon possessed her and made her kill him," he said.

"He took three players down in one night," Jenny said. She felt her blood boil, her hands were warm, her skin was on fire and her heart was filled with rage.

"Only one person can survive, remember?" Emma crossed her arms and took a few steps away from them. She gazed onto the street and watched people walk around; they were all puzzled by how these three died.

"That's according to his rules that he doesn't seem to follow very strictly," Tom said. He stood there holding onto the fence with one hand while holding his side with the other. His face was still expressionless, Emma could tell it was more than shock, however, that didn't matter now.

"I want to go home," Jenny said as she let out a sigh, her broken heart physically ached her bones.
"I'll drive you home," Tom offered, he took his hand off his injured side and buried them in his pocket, he felt his keys rattle against his thigh before he pulled them out, it hurt him to move but he didn't care; some pain was the least of his worries.

"No no," Emma protested, "you're in no condition to drive," she paused as she walked back towards them.
"I'll do the driving you get in the back seat." Emma snatched his keys from his hand  and helped them both to Tom's car.

Thoughts crammed their heads, everyone along the street stared at them with pitty and sarrow.

Oh poor things, they overheard.

She must be heartbroken.
Look at the ring on her finger!
It's horrible what happened to these kids

Empty condolences and gossip flew around as they made their way to the car. Jenny felt the weight of the ring on her finger and imagined the future she'll never have. Two kids, a dog, a big beautiful home with her man by her side; such a lovely dream ruined by her worst nightmare.

Emma tightned her grip around Jenny's shoulder, she comforted her through both the kind and unkind words of these strangers.

They climbed into the car and shut the windows. Emma took a deep breath, she filled her weak lungs before grabbing onto the steering wheel. They all felt weak in more ways than one, but this was no time to feel weak.

"We have to find a way out of this mess." Tom clenched his fists. "We can't let him get away with this," he said calmly.

"What do you think we should do?" Emma asked. She waited for either of them to answer her question but she was met by unsettling silence.

"Markus always kept copies of everything he researched," Jenny said. "Not just on his device but on some blog, it was private but I think we can get access to it." She finally looked up from her hand.

"I can look that up," Emma volunteered. "Tom, you said your dad's friend is leading the investigation? Can you try to find anything else? Copies, files or anything of the sort?" Emma asked Tom, she looked at him and couldn't help but notice how different he looked. Something was wrong with him. This damn secret, she thought to herself.

"I don't think it will be easy, but I can try," he answered, too expressionless, too preoccupied.

"Let's get out of here." Her gaze was fixed on him for a few seconds, she hoped he'd open up and tell her, she hoped all three of them could get through this, but to do that they had to be honest with each other, they had to be focused on survival, nothing else.

She started up the car and drove away, she shot a look at the rearview mirror.
Goodbye. The thought of never seeing them again was too painful for her to acknowledge. She let out a sigh before she darted her eyes at the road, unsure of what's to come.

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See? A calm chapter! I can be a good guy sometimes.

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