Ditching Greek | editing

19| Bonfire (Part 3)

I brought my attention back to Clyde and inquired in a hushed tone, so quiet Aaron couldn't hear, and certainly not anyone other than Clyde. "What's going on exactly? I feel like there's something you're not telling..." I trailed off, getting lost in a figure that was dancing around the skirt of the woods, shifting the shadows and looping between trees. It moved as a blur of darkness. I couldn't get a good sight on it.

Clyde noticed the same I did and stepped in front of me, shielding me entirely. Everyone else got back up to a standing position, eying the figure. "Stay behind me," he ordered.

"She doesn't know, does she?" Aaron asked, frowning deeply now. "You shouldn't have brought her here."

"You know Clyde hasn't changed," Gideon scoffed, appearing from the crowd and sauntering to where I stood. "Tell her."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Gideon is right. For once" Aaron sighed, "As much as this is our secret, it's hers as well."

"She could also be the wrong girl...just like the others," Gideon supplied as he dug his hands deep into his pockets, "It's her life you were gambling on for even bringing her here in the first place, you might as well tell her, Clyde."

"My life?" I held onto Clyde's shoulders, hard. "W-what is he talking about?" my voice quivered at the seriousness that had just crossed everyone's face. A look of remorse flashed onto Clyde's face after Gideon said those words. Leaves ruffled in the wind, the dark figure was getting closer to where the rest of the partygoers were....and closer to where I was.

What kind of sick black magic were they messing with? Had I just stepped into my own death? I knew Tony had warned all of us about the missing girls who went to Off the Hill gatherings, but I had foolishly dismissed them as nothing more than college gossip. Was I wrong? Was Clyde and his frat brothers really killers and prime suspects of those girls? And what did this have to do with me being tested? Tested on what? Tested for what? 

"Well there's only one way to find out," someone inside the crowd suggests.

Gideon shot a look at whoever had spoken, "That's right. Start the fire then."

Aaron jogged to the front of the pile of woods and snapped his finger. A spark flew out of his hands and landed at the top of the woods. In seconds, the fire began to roar. The bright orange flames went up to nearly fifteen feet in the air.

My body tensed. "D... did that guy just light a fire...without matches, Clyde?"

"Eh, if I said yes would you believe me?" he asked with a weak smile.

"No. I wouldn't."

"Then no," he replied, "He didn't just do that."

I cleared my throat, blinking blankly at the fire that seemed to grow taller each time I glanced at it. "What are they going to do to me?"

"I'm not going to let them touch you," Clyde said over his shoulder to me and reached for my hand, "It's too soon to do the test on you, anyway."

"What test?" I exclaimed. "No one's telling me anything. You can't just keep pushing me in the dark. I want some answers. Now."

I needed to put my foot down on this entire thing. None of this made any sense. One second I was stating my name, and now I had to pass some test? What had I just signed myself up for?

"Uh, I think it would be better if we hold the questions for later."

I narrowed my eyes at him and crossed my arms over my chest. "Why?"

He stayed silent, moving more in front of me and acting like a human shield. His frame now completely covered me. He nodded his head in the direction toward the fire. I shifted my eyes to what he was trying to get me to look at. The fire had risen higher, but from the look on his face, I knew that wasn't what he was worried about.