Escaping RiverCreek

Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Broken Hearts

Just days after her tragic death, Kayla's funeral has RiverCreek buzzing. It's the headline for the news station as the case develops. News stations from all over the state have arrived to report on the case.

Rick has become a ghost. No one has seen him since dropping Cory off at his car. Worried, his parents have requested a missing person's report to be issued from the sheriff's office. He doesn't resurface until the morning of the funeral.

Unable to go inside the church, Cory sits on the hood if his car. He's sitting there in his suit, ignoring the humidity that is causing him to sweat like crazy. He's sitting there trying to get the images out of his mind when he notices Rick pulling into the church parking lot.

"Hey there he is." He slides off his hood, making his way back to Rick. "Where you been, brother?"

As he keeps his face forward, it is clear that something has happened to Rick.

"You ain't my brother. My brother wouldn't have allowed her to die. It's all you and that bitches' fault."

Rick plants an open palm in Cory's face, shoving him away from the van.

"Dude, what the hell?"

Rick doesn't budge at all. "He's dead, just wait. I will kill Frankie, and if you get in my way, I will take you down too, white boy."

Rick starts his van again, backing out onto the road and pulling away.

"Rick, stop!" Cory can only stand there, unsure of what to do. Still feeling as if he's lost his grip on reality Cory rips off his jacket, flinging it on the ground.

"I can't handle this anymore. Tara's pissed at me, Rick's gone, Kayla's dead—what else could go wrong?"

Cory bends over, picking up his jacket and returning to his car. He tosses it into the back seat. After unbuttoning his dress shirt, he throws it into the car as well. He's standing there in his gray slacks with a black muscle shirt, pounding his fist against the roof of his car.

Barely able to hear a racket of banging outside, Tara quietly leaves after the preacher finishes his sermon. She can't watch the pallbearers march up around the closed casket.

Unable to breathe, Tara gets outside to see Cory striking his car. She goes up to him. It's the first time they've talked in days.

"Hey, are you doing okay?"

He just stands there, unable to speak.

"Listen, I'm sorry, and I miss you. I love you, and I am so sorry about all this. It's tearing me apart, and I can't take you hurting." They stand there in silence.

"Please say something to me. I can't take this. I lost my best friend, and I'm losing you too. My heart is killing me, Cory. Talk to me!"

She latches onto him, trying to get any kind of reaction out of him.

"I can't do this," he mutters, stepping back to open his car door.

Standing there as tears fill her eyes once again, Tara can't move as she listens to Cory start his car and pull away.

"Come back," she stammers, beginning to shake at the onset of a panic attack.

As he races around the empty streets, Cory drives like a man possessed, trying to shake everything he's feeling, from the pain of losing his friends to the constant replay of Kayla being run over. His mind is nearly at the breaking point when he almost crashes head-on into a telephone poll.

He throws his car into neutral as he sits there, trying to catch his breath. He can't feel his hands when his panic attack strikes him. Unable to breathe, Cory pops his door open, falling to the pavement only to roll around for several seconds.