The Woods (GxG)

Chapter IV

   Elsa and I ran down the hallway and barged into Amy and Luke's room just as Noah and Ashley caught up to us.

   "Amy? What's wrong?" Noah asked.

   She was on her knees, crying loudly. "Luke! What the hell did you do to him!?"

   I turned my attention to the corner of the room, my eyes widening, my mouth hanging open.

   "Holy shit..." Elsa said, following my gaze.

   Luke sat in the corner, his head blown into pieces, blood staining the walls, shotgun resting on the floor between his legs.

   I quickly turned around and bent over, the sudden urge to throw up overtaking me.

   "Jesus Christ..." Noah said, Ashley hiding behind him. "Luke..."

   Elsa patted my back as I wiped my mouth on my sleeve. "Peyton..?"

   I stood back up, tears welling in my eyes. "What happened, Amy..?"

   She shook her head. "H-he... I was s-sleeping and... The shot woke me up... Luke, please..."

   I helped her up and she rested her head on my shoulder, starting to cry again. "It made him do it..." She said.

   The sound of whispers filled the room, floating through my ears, I still couldn't make out what they were saying.

   "Ok, Peyton, I need you to take her out of here." Noah said before addressing the rest of the group. "Elsa, hand me those sheets. Ashley, go start the car." He finished, tossing her the keys.

   I followed Ashley out, sitting Amy at the kitchen table as Ashley stepped outside.

   "Please, Luke..." Amy continued to plead.

   Elsa stepped into the kitchen, blood covering her hands. I looked up at her, the look on her face showed fear and sadness.

   Amy rested her head in her hands, still crying, pleading for Luke to come back.

   I stood up, helping Elsa wash the blood from her hands. "Are you ok?"

   She shook her head, closing her eyes, a few tears slipping through. "I can still see him..."

   "Shut up!" Amy suddenly yelled.

   Elsa and I turned to her. "Amy, calm-"

   She stood up, cutting me off. "No! He's fucking dead! And it's their fault!"

   "Who's fault, Amy?" Elsa asked.

   Amy spun on her, breathing through shaky, clenched teeth. "The same thing that carved that word into your wrist."

   Elsa looked down at the bandage on her arm before turning her attention to me. "What's she talking about? What word?"

   "Don't worry about it, Elsa... It's not important right now..." I said, trying to deescalate the situation.

   Noah walked into the living room then, holding Luke's body in his arms, a bloody sheet covering what was left of his head.

   "No!" Amy called out, collapsing to her knees again.

   Noah gave me a sad look before carrying his body outside, where Ashley was waiting in the car.

   I knelt next to Amy then as Elsa unwrapped the bandage on her arm, letting out a few sobs. "You... Why didn't you tell me..?"

   "Elsa, please..." I begged.

   She turned to the sink then, throwing up.

   I looked away, wrapping my arms around Amy. "C'mon, we have to follow them."

   She got back to her feet as Ashley came back inside. "The car won't start... We need to borrow one of yours."

   I sat Amy back down before following Ashley outside, that same cold breeze blowing past me. "I'll give mine a try."

   I sat behind the wheel and turned the key, but nothing happened. "What the hell?"

   "What's wrong?" Ashley asked as I turned the key again.

   "I don't know... It won't start." I replied.

   "It won't let us leave..." Amy said from her spot on the front porch, Elsa walking up behind her.

   I shared a look with Ashley and Noah. "Let's... Let's give Amy's a try."

   "You'll need these..." Amy said, dangling the keys from her fingers before throwing them deep into the woods.

   I stepped out of my car. "What the hell are you doing, Amy!?"

   "It's no use... We're all trapped here..." She said ominously before turning around and brushing past Elsa.

   The rest of us shared a worried look before walking back inside...

   Amy went to lay down in the spare room, Lukes corpse still in the backseat of Noah and Ashley's car. We sat around the kitchen table, the whispers still lingering somewhere in the house.

   "We don't have any service out here and the nearest main road is at least a two hour walk." Noah said.

   "We can't make that walk tonight, it's to dark." Ashley said.

   As they continued their conversation, I glanced over at Elsa, who was running her finger over the still bloody wound.

   I took her hand in mine, causing her to look up at me. "We need to wrap that again..."

   She shook her head. "Why? I'm not trying to hide anything. Let everyone else see it, what fucking difference does it make."

   I let out a small sigh. "Elsa please..."

   Her hard eyes softened as she looked down, resting her hands on the table. "I'm sorry... You're right..."

   I helped her re-wrap her wound as Ashley whispered something into Noah's ear, I was only able to catch some of it. "... Not your fault... Fault last time... Did really good..."

   Noah thanked her before pressing a light kiss to her lips. She nodded before standing up and heading back to their room.

   "What was all that about?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

   He let out a sigh. "This... This isn't the first time I've seen something like this..."

—————

   "My partner and I were on our regular patrol when we got a call about a domestic disturbance. We threw on the flashers and headed there as quickly as we could."

   "A couple officers were already on scene when we arrived. They said it had spiraled into a hostage situation... A man had his nine year old stepdaughter at gun point. The mother told us he was on drugs... He had a problem for a long time and finally just snapped..."

   I could see a single tear leak down his cheek. "Before she could finish her story, we heard a gunshot... And then another... We charged in and found them in the upstairs bedroom... The man had shot the girl before turning the gun on himself..."

—————

   "I'm so sorry, Noah..." I said.

   He shook his head. "If I would've acted just a little bit faster, maybe... Maybe I could've saved her..."

   "It's not your fault, Noah... There's nothing you could've done..." Elsa said.

   Before he could answer, Ashley ran back into the kitchen, tears in her eyes. "Noah... It's Amy... I went to check on her and she... She's dead..."