A Bounty of Pictures

Chapter 7

I stand there thinking while everyone throws suggestions. I follow the tracks to where the first pair stop.

"Take pictures." I say almost in a trance like voice. Peyton understands and takes out his phone. I kick some hay out of the way and footprints uncover to a shell. "Someone left a shell behind. Looks like a revolver type." I bend down to pick it up when Seth's hand stops me.

"Chloe, don't! You'll get fingerprints on it." Seth's eyes show a sign of concern, something I thought I'd never see in my high school career.
I decide to move more hay. A second pair appear more distinct than before. Something shiny catches my eye. I dig into the hardening earth to find a ring. A wedding ring.

"I found a wedding ring!" I yell. Rachel looks at it more closely before determining it's a man's ring based on the diameter.

I stand up and the world becomes a fast merry-go-round. I cling onto Peyton's shoulder.

"Are you okay?" He asks.

I shake my head, "I don't know."

Scenes from Friday makes the field into a small box. The gun rises and the man looks towards my tree as if to make sure I'm looking. Then the bullet is let loose and the camera shutters.
I collapse onto the pile of hay.  The world goes black.

                                 •••

The color of a winter's morning sun fades into a dark sapphire color. Then the colors disappear and are replaced by a light tan, then the colors reappear.

"Chloe?" A boy's voice asks.  He snaps his fingers in front of me. I try to blink the haze away but it stays. The colors change to a dark brown. The perfume smell is taken away by a salty one. I cough and throw my hands at the brown color.

"Chloe." Another boy says a name that doesn't register. The sapphire color comes back into view but the salty smell stays.  I sneeze and the haze goes away, but not completely. Peyton puts the bowl down a side table and the spring perfume comes back. The sapphire color comes back again and they register as Seth's eyes.

"Where am I?" I look around the room. My body seeps into the light brown couch.

"My living room." Peyton says confused.  He reaches for a glass of water on the wooden side table. "Drink this."  I gulp down the water and he takes the cup back.

"What happened out there? It looked kind of weird carrying a knocked out girl down the road."

I shake my head. "I don't know. The imagines from the night kept spinning around in my head."

Peyton helps prop me up against the pillows. The clock on the wall chimes.

"What time is it?" I ask.

"Four thirty."

"I need to get home." I begun to stand up but Peyton carefully pushes my shoulder until I sit back down.

"It's fine. Rachel already covered for you and Josie ran the errands." Seth loudly sighs. "Oh, and Parker called. He said Harlow wants to see you tomorrow afternoon."

"Thank you so much!" I say. A wave of exhaustion pours over me and I place my head on the pillow before drifting to sleep.

Long time since I last published a chapter! Hope you're enjoying it!  Don't forget to vote and comment!  Also check out Framed, my first book.
-Angela