Down Under

Chapter 11

The sun beat down on your back as you exited the bus. Gravel crunched under your feet, with Sidney following behind, only to stop to check for mail. She opened the front door to her house, carefully locking it behind her, while you walked ahead to the living room and set your bag down. Her house was familiar to the point where you could pinpoint its slight differences, but it had remained incredibly consistent ever since her mother's death.

Sidney said that her father did most of the cleaning, so you could only infer that it was his way of keeping his wife's presence alive in the house. Her couches were still the same worn-down striped design that would be out of place if it weren't for the patterned wallpaper that somehow made it fit into the atmosphere. Normally, you would immediately beeline it to her room, but knowing that her father was gone made the house more accessible. There was also the added knowledge of future events. You needed to be prepared, which consisted of being familiarized with the layout again.

You could hear her messing about in the kitchen, probably fixing up some snack bowl that she had always insisted on having available whenever someone came over. It was the sort of action that her mother had instilled in her - it's bad manners not to provide guests with food. The ring of the phone nearly made you jump out of your skin, but the echoing laughter that Sidney produced calmed you down. Nothing was supposed to happen until nightfall, so that should at least bring you some peace.

At least, that's what you kept on repeating to yourself as your leg kept on shaking in place, unable to stop as it matched the speed of your thoughts. You tried to focus on the scattered decorations near you: the ducks sitting on top of books, the flower wreath hung next to the wall, and even the family pictures, but the smiling face of Sidney's mother only served as further punishment. It was that painful, a repeating memory of actually speaking to her and knowing her character, that made the guilt grow tenfold. Steve was dead, and he was very much gone due to your lack of action as well as your faulty memory. Sure, Casey was safe for now, but there was no way you could ensure her safety till the end. Too many factors were now in play, and, honestly, Stu scared you too much to admit.

"What's got you so worried?" Sidney asked, patting your shoulder as she centered the fruit bowl in the center of the coffee table in front of you. You jumped at the contact, scooting over to the opposite end of the sofa in an instant before trying to laugh away your surprise. "Sorry. Stupid question. Umm, Tatum said she'll pick us up after her practice finishes up. No later than seven."

"That's good," you mutter. It was a poor response, but Sidney didn't mind it. She had already dealt with the grieving process, still recovering from it, so it was easy to see the symptoms in you. That scatterbrained response that people who weren't sure how to move on usually adopted to try to present normally.

She sat where you had once been, picking up a grape to chew mindlessly on as she put on the news. It was a ritual of sorts, something she had picked up after her mother's death. It calmed Sidney's heart to know about everything that had happened during the day, even if it was something as small as a petty crime, because at least she wouldn't be completely lost to the surrounding danger. This way, she knew about the shifty people in town before others did, to remain alert and fill in the missing pieces that her mother had missed, which led to her end.

"The body of 18-year-old Steven Orth was discovered late last night by his girlfr-" The channel cut away abruptly, Sidney sending you a sheepish smile as the next one popped up. "Authorities are baffled by the lack of clues and the savagery-" Next on. "The town's in shock, and no one can quite believe what has happened here, although this is not the first time this small community of Woodsboro has endured such a tragedy." The familiar face of Gale Weathers decorated the screen. The grainy texture of the broadcast didn't show all of her features, but that red lip was still popping, despite the year that you dedicated to keeping Sidney from watching anything with her. This one, she didn't skip. "Only a year ago, Maureen Prescott, wife and mother, was found raped and murdered not far from this peaceful town square."