ᴛʜᴇ ᦓꫀꫀ᥅ // ₑddᵢₑ ₘᵤₙₛₒₙ

Chapter || ɹnoℲ

   December finally rolled by, and to her disdain Erin continues to tough it out at home with Gregg and her mom. The arguing never ceases. Halfway through the month, Erin has the type of nightmare that lingers for days, not being able to look Eddie in the eye for a few days following. She watched from the waters as Patrick McKinney slowed his swimming, a familiar chime tolling out hauntingly.

   She was confused why they were pursuing Eddie, just knowing this had to be a nightmare as they were literally chasing him out in the middle of the lake, Eddie in a boat trying to row it fast enough to escape. But still, the soul stirring feeling that came with it was unshakeable.

"Come on. We almost have him.. Hey, Patrick! Patrick!" Jason turns to Patrick as Eddie wildly waves an oar to keep them at bay, Patrick and Eddie faltering as they notice something odd about the boy's behavior. The chiming continues, until the boy is suddenly pulled under the water. Jason calls for him, him and Eddie recoiling in fright as he suddenly shoots up from the water and into the air. Eddie falls back out of the boat, the boy being suspended in the air being contorted into odd angles, his bones in degrees that shouldn't be possible for humans.

   Erin added another painting to the collection of disturbing painting, another abnormally large piece with senseless markings and shrouded in darkness.

   That year Erin and Eddie surprised each other with gifts, something they were both surprised by. Eddie was nervous, giddy too as he thought about the girl's gesture, the fact she had. She talks to nobody hardly, but here she was giving him and only him a gift. He opens it, revealing a painting of him and his uncle. He stares at it in awe for a moment, Erin's sheepish nature coming up as he suddenly shifts his eyes to her.

"This is.. just- Incredible! You did this? You have to let me see some of your other work sometime!" She shakes her head suddenly.

"Literally, like, never in a thousand years. Besides this is like, the only normal piece I've done lately, there's nothing to see." He denies this, saying he's sure whatever it was she was doing would be great. He hands her a small giftbag, a few more mixtapes for her to listen too. She tries to contain her excitement, showing him her appreciation before time continued.

   January came by and the pair got closer, while at the same time the girl had also distanced herself. He wasn't sure why, just knew something was troubling her. She got nosebleeds, headaches, was spacey- A part of him thought maybe she was on drugs but, she just didn't really look high otherwise.. If anyone would know, it'd be him, and he saw no other signs that she was using. He blamed it on the fact that she's been cooped up in at home with her mom and her boyfriend, but there seemed more to it than that.

   That only held out for so long, the girl finally cracking one day as Gregg pushed her too far.

   I exited class, offering Eddie a small smile as we parted ways for our next class. I stopped by my locker briskly, swapping out different books before turning back around to head to next class.

   The hall was empty, deserted suddenly with not a soul in sight. I looked around the ghost-like halls, an ominous feeling rolling over my shoulders as I stepped away from my locker.

   I heard a chime, knowing instantly I knew it but was unable to place it at first as I found myself wandering towards the sound. Something making my mind go cloudy as I make my way to the end of the way, turning into the empty staircase. A clock was embedded in the wall, gnarly looking vines and undergrowth infused with it making it stick to the wall. Eeriness rose as I had flashbacks, pictures of the mangled bodies coming back as if to remind me. I pulled away suddenly from the clock, invoking a heart rate inducing chime.