The Night The River Turned Red

One Summer Night

When I went out that night I would've never thought that I would witness something that would be lingering in my mind ten years later. I was seventeen years old when my friends and I went down to the river for a night of fun. School was starting in a week and this was our last summer of freedom before the concept of reality would enter our minds and we would have to start our adult lives.
The night started out the same as our regular summer nights. My four friends (Jillian, Paul, Zach, Shannon) and I drove down to the river bank on the edge of Cradbury. It was our secret spot that no one else knew about. The moon light lit up the river bank and glimmered amongst the water. We set up our sleeping bags near a huge oak tree that stood at least ten meters tall that was just steps away from the water, and then started a bonfire. As we drank and told stories that none of us would remember in the morning Paul thought it would be a good idea to go swimming. We joined in, even though the water was freezing it was refreshing at the same time. We were having the time of our lives. That is until we heard a heard a gunshot from upstream followed by a splash. We immediately swam to the river bank where we stood in silence waiting for a sign. About a minute later we saw the body of a woman floating down the river. Shannon was screaming as we ran to the car, but it was too late. A mysterious man wearing a trench coat and a grimacing smile stood under the oak tree with a rifle in his left hand.
"Calm down" he demanded.
"I'm not going to hurt you of you do what I say! I want you to forget everything that you've seen tonight. Do not go to the police or even mention this night amongst yourselves."
"You expect us to just forget what we saw and just pretend it didn't happen?" Paul protested.
"Exactly"
"You are never going to get away with killing a human being. The police will find out who did this" Paul exclaimed.
"You've got a lot of nerve talking to me like that; you think you're some hero do you? Too bad the villain wins in this story" The man said as he pulled the trigger and shot Paul in the chest.
"Does anyone else have anything to say to me" the man asked. We shook our heads in fear.
"Good, now leave and keep your mouths shut" he said with a stern look on his face. We all scurried into the car and started to make our way to the road when I noticed the man dumping Paul's body into the river in the rearview mirror!
We woke up the next day in the car on the side of the highway. All of us remembering what happened the previous night. None of us knew what to say, what does one say after watching one of his closest friends get shot and then dumped into the river in front of his very eyes? Jillian broke the silence.
"What are we going to do? Should we go to the police?"
"No way, that guy probably knows who we are by now and is keeping a close eye on us" Zach mentioned.
"Zach is right" I said.
"Who knows what he might do to us if we tell the police what really happened. It is best if we report Paul as 'missing' and tell the police that when we woke up he was nowhere to be found."
That's exactly what we did that day and have rarely talked about it since then but we made a pact that we would never tell anyone else about that night.
The next year was crazy as the whole town of Cradbury was searching for Paul. It was a big story to the press and we were even interviewed on national television. Although we felt guilty lying to everyone and making up a false story to cover up Paul's death we knew that it was crucial for our safety.
As days turned into months the Search for Paul was simmering down. Everyone had almost forgotten about him and it was becoming easier for me not to think about it. After senior year our adult lives began and we had to go our separate ways. Jillian and Zach went off to college. Shannon moved a few towns over and found a job at a local publishing company. As for me, after a failed attempt to become a detective I continued to work for my dad at the family restaurant.