You Killed Him

The Party

I told Colin the plans for the party excitedly. He didn’t think it was a good idea at first. He said it was too rushed, that I’ve never thrown a party before and I might get in trouble if my dad finds out about it. I told him that Nathan would help and I was hoping he would too. After much persuasion, he finally gave in. “But I’m doing this for you, not him”, he said.

I took a deep whiff of air. “Smells like summer freedom”, I thought to myself as I was on my way to the supermarket to buy stuff for the party. I was given a list of things to buy for the party. “I’ll meet you there later” were Nathan’s exact words when he passed me the list.

As I went down the list, “party cups, nacho chips, soda”, I bumped into someone. I looked up from the sheet of paper to meet Nathan’s gaze. “Oh, hi Nate. I’m sorry”, I said with a slight chuckle. “It’s okay”, he replied. “So, empty-handed Kayla, where do we start?” he laughed as he noticed my empty shopping basket.

Colin was supposed to meet us at my house after we were done shopping. It was quite a hot and sunny afternoon. I was dripping with sweat when I reached home. “You look like you’ve just finished a marathon or something”, Colin said when he opened the door to let Nate and I in.

“So, how many people are coming?” Colin asked. “Oh my gosh. I haven’t invited anyone”, I cried. I felt like pulling my hair out of frustration. How could I forget such an important element of the party? What’s a party without anyone?

“Chillax, Kayla”, Nathan said. “I’ve sent out invitations to most of the people from our school and about 90% of them RSVP-ed.” He had a huge smile on his face, waiting for me to tell him how thankful I was and that was exactly what I did.

After 3 hours of cleaning and tidying and putting up some banners, we started preparing the food. Colin ordered some pizza and Nathan was helping me with the chips and other finger food.

Soon, the guests started arriving. My house was packed with teenagers busy chatting away, making plans to hang out over the holidays, some of them shooting darts with the dart set Colin brought over. There were so many people in my house, most of them I barely knew. Sure, I’ve seen most of them in the school hallways, some of them I’ve just said hi and bye to.

About an hour into the party, I saw a few older guys bring kegs into the living room. I pushed my way through the crowd to get around my house. I was looking for Nathan. Apparently, he was talking to Colin in the kitchen.

“Guys, there are people bringing kegs of beer in. This was not part of the plan” I said alarmingly.

“What?! Beer? We’re not even of legal age yet”, Colin said.

“Relax. Don’t worry. Those are a few of my pals from my old school. It’s just sparkling juice or something harmless. You both should let loose, hang back and enjoy yourselves”, said Nathan.

Colin pulled me aside. “I have to talk to you”, Colin told me, pulling me to the back, away from Nathan. “Are you sure this is a good idea? We could get into trouble. I don’t think you know half of the people here” Colin said in a serious tone.

“I know. But you heard Nathan. I don’t think anything bad is going to happen. School is over. Maybe we should really just enjoy ourselves”, I tried convincing Colin.

He shrugged. “If that’s what you want, Kayla. I’ll just be hanging around in here”, he said. I nodded a few times then walked over to where the kegs were. “Just a few sips”, I muttered to myself.

I was on the sofa. Loud music was blaring throughout the whole house. My ears were so sensitive; the music was driving me crazy. I felt like my head was about to explode. I felt like I was floating about. I wanted to look for Colin. I tried to get up. My legs felt like jelly. I stumbled.

“Hey, you okay?” a random guy asked. I pulled his sleeve to get back on my feet and then shoved him away. “Colin”, I called out. “Colin, are you there?”

I took a few more steps. “Where are you? Colin. Help me”, I cried out. My head felt so heavy, I didn’t think I could hold support myself anymore. I slumped into a corner and buried my head in my arms. What was happening to me? Everything around me was spinning; there was a deafening sound in my ears. I closed my eyes and prayed that everything would go away.

“Kayla dear, would you like some milk with your cereal?” my mother asked. I nodded a few times, “Yes please.”  The school bus was going to arrive in a few minutes. “Vincent, please get ready. Your sister’s waiting for you. And your cereal is getting soggy”, my mother called out.

The school bus arrived earlier than I had expected. I rushed upstairs to get my school bag from my room. Through my room window, I saw two men, no, three, approach my doorstep. As I hurried downstairs, I heard my mother open the door for them, asking who they are.

When I saw those men, the exact ones who held me captive, I shouted, “No, mom! Run! Run now!” She turned around to look at me. She was so confused. I ran to her yelling, “Close the door, mom! Don’t let them in!”

The men were in masks but I could tell they were the same ones who captured me. They grabbed my mother’s arm and started leading her out the door. I tried to run after her but I couldn’t seem to get pass the doorway. It was as if there was a barrier preventing me from going out, from saving my mother.

I watched as she followed the evil men into their black SUV. She was so helpless. Why didn’t she struggle to free herself?  Was she under some kind of hypnosis? I couldn’t bear to watch them take her away. I turned around to find another way out of the house. But I bumped into Vincent. He stood there like a statue, emotionless.

“Vincent! Did you see what happened? Why are you not doing anything about it?” I cried. After a few moments of silence, he finally spoke. “There’s nothing I can do, not anymore,” he said.

I opened my eyes widely with a gasp. They darted around, adapting to the bright rays of sunshine. It was around 10a.m. I found myself lying on the sofa with a blanket over me.

There was no one else in the house, it seemed, almost as if the party never happened.  I pushed the blanket aside and slid my feet of the sofa. When I attempted to stand up, there was a crushing sound beneath my feet. I looked down to see a plastic cup, flattened. “Okay. So the party did happen. And everyone cleared the house, no hangovers. That’s good. And now, I’m left to clean up”, I thought to myself. “So this was how the aftermath of a party looks like.”

I made my way into a very untidy and dirty kitchen to look for some garbage bags but I was stopped by the doorbell. “Colin, it better be you”, I muttered, wondering why he didn’t stay the night. There was no sign of Nathan either. I was feeling frustrated.

I saw a distorted figure of a tall person through the glass windows in the door. To my surprise, my dad was standing at the doorstep. I realized I opened the door a little bit too wide because I watched his gaze transfer from my face to the floor with chips and empty cups all over. “Dad,” I said, dreadfully, “I can explain.”

“We need to talk, Kayla.” He said in a serious tone. “Something definitely happened here”, he said circling his finger around the house as he walked in, “But that can wait.”

“Something else happened, something very unpleasant. I don’t know how to break it down to you but I hope you understand that your brother, Vincent, he’s gone.”

“What do you mean he’s gone?” I asked, slightly alarmed. My dad wasn’t even supposed to be here. This has to be really important for him to make a trip back home.

“Kayla, he’s not coming back.”

------to the right: Colin at the kitchen door