When The Storm Hits

Chapter 7: The Longest Night

James and I walked outside when his sister arrived. He shed his jacket off and handed it to me when he noticed I was shivering. The fall air was beginning to cool down, as we grew closer to winter. I thanked him, and then bumped into James purposely. He grinned at me, and put an arm around my shoulder. That was when the screaming started.

It started with one girl, who seemed to be standing over something. People began to crowd around her until there was an almost impenetrable circle. Mass panic had started, after people had gotten to see what had cause the girl to scream, they too began to freak out. I apologized to James, and made my way through the large body of people. I whipped my phone out, with my camera ready. I wasn't going to miss a thing. 

"Move out of the way," I shouted, pushing people who ran past me. 

"What are you doing?!" Someone yelled at me. 

"I've gotta get the scoop on this," I grunted as I tripped over someone. 

Finally, I had broken through the circle. What stood in the circle shocked the hell out of me, still scares me to this day. Standing upright were seven people, who were tied together. I stepped closer to them, my camera recording as I walked closer. My feet squished through the wet grass, there seemed to be puddles all around them. After aiming my camera light at the ground, I saw that it was blood that I was walking through, not water. My head jerked up to the seven bodies, and I saw that they were all missing their heads. 

"What the fuck," James breathed, he was suddenly beside me. 

"They are all headless! Did anyone call the police?" I asked aloud. No one answered. After getting a full view of all the people I dialed 911. The officer answered in two rings, and I told the nice lady that we had found. She asked us calmly to stay here, and not to panic. 

I was oddly calm about the whole situation. Most people in situations like this, would be crying, or vomiting. But I was cool as a cucumber. James was shaking, like a leaf in the wind. I leaned on him, hoping that a little human contact would comfort him. I could see tears is his eyes. 

"Its one thing to see this on a computer screen, and its another to see it in real life." James said. He was full blown crying. 

"Here, look at me James. Look me in the eyes." I said putting my hands on his shoulders. 

"I don't want to open my eyes." He moaned. 

"Its okay James, I turned you away from them. Just, focus on me. Focus on my voice." I said to him calmly. 

"O-okay," His voice shook. James slowly opened his eyes, blinking away the tears. He wiped his face with the back of his hand. I looked at his messy dark hair, and smiled. Parts of it were sticking up all over the place from the wind that started to kick up. 

"Think about us dancing again. Your hands on my waist, the music thumping. That was pretty fun right?" I laughed.

"Yeah it was pretty fun," James said. "I have fun anytime I'm with you Lilly."

"Good, James, good." I said. He still was sniffling, but the crying had stopped. 

Finally the cops had arrived. Most of the people had left, so everyone who was here had to talk to the police. After James and I gave our statements, we got into his sister Sicily's car. She looked just like James, except with long hair. She smiled at me, and told me she was glad to finally meet the great Lillian Denmark. 

"Thanks for taking me home," I said to Sicily. 

"You are welcome," She said turning the music up just a little bit. After they dropped me off I walked slowly up the steps to my house, dreading walking through the door. 

My mom stood in the kitchen with the lights on. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she held a glass of red wine in her hand. Her mouth was pressed into a thin line, she was obviously very pissed. I shucked off James's coat and laid it neatly on the kitchen chair.

"Where were you young lady?" Mom asked me.

"I was at a party, the cops showed up. There was another murder, seven people this time Ma." I said clenching my hands into fists.

"I don't care about the murders Lillian. Did you not learn your lesson from your last grounding?" My mom asked me.

"I did ask you to go to the party. I texted you, and you said sure!" I whined.

"I didn't think you would be going to a rave, you smell like sweat and beer." She complained. "I'm grounding you again Lilly, this time for a month."

"HA!" I laughed. "You can't ground me anymore. Tomorrow I'm moving in with Dad. I'm getting sick of your shit Mom." 

"Fine then, if you leave tomorrow, don't bother coming back."