7 Days of Darkness

Chapter 4 - Medium's Secret

Night 2

Chloe:

"3" BANG!! The impact blasted chips of wood everywhere. Ducking, I tried to avoid the bits of wall and splashes of blood whilst still trying to stay out of sight. I had watched Austin shoot and kill Cheryl, but I couldn't do anything about it. Austin had lost his mind, and if he saw me peeking through a small opening in the wall, he would've killed me too.

I had to go now. I couldn't risk Austin noticing me. I ran as fast and as quiet as I could, but something had caught my foot and knocked me to the ground. I looked back and into a lone window on the back of the house, Austin had heard me. He quickly headed for the door, gun in hand, vengeance in his eyes as he kicked the door open. I swiftly got up and started sprinting away from my pursuer. If Austin saw my face, the rest of the town would think I was the murderer and would hang me in the town square.

"BANG!!" Austin fired a shot at me which barely missed my shoulder, and he started loading for another shot. I heard the "CHUNK" of the gun ready to be fired for a second time, and then a muffled "oof". I didn't dare look back incase Austin was preparing to shoot again so I kept running, then ducked into the nearest house.

I ended up barging straight through the door of Rachel's house. It was extremely dark and eerie, and I couldn't help but feel nervous as I walked warily through the front door. It was quiet, a little too quiet. In the back corner of the room was Rachel's bag, and the living area was completely empty except for two small wooden chairs in the centre. I started towards the rickety looking seats but stopped when someone opened the door behind me. Following my reflexes, I looked for something to hide behind, but with the room so empty, there was no place I could disappear too. Feeling helpless, I ducked behind one of the chairs and hoped that whoever came into the room didn't notice me.

The door slowly creaked open, and to my surprise, no one entered. The small wooden door remained open enough for a person to walk through, and then closed again, as if someone had just entered. But no one had, I was still the only person in the room. As I headed towards the door again, I felt a cool wind pass through me. I have never felt more terrified in my entire life.

I left the eerily empty room and just as I was about to exit her home, Rachel stepped in carrying another small wooden chair. We both stood for a second, nervous and surprised, and then Rachel mumbled under her breath. "What are you doing here?"

She looked me dead in the eye and I looked at her in fear. Rachel was not who she seemed. There was something happening in this house that was beyond my level of understanding. She pushed past me and entered the empty room where she placed the new wooden chair so it was beside the far one, facing the seat closest to the door. Rachel sat in the seat nearest to me and started mumbling words under her breath. I couldn't handle any more, so I went back to the porch and left for my own house where Tanner was nowhere to be found. I was very worried, both for my safety, and my brother's. If Tanner had been murdered, no, he hadn't. I tried not to think about it anymore as I drifted off into sleep.

• • •

Day 3

Justin:

As John hauled the dead body of Cheryl out to the edge of town, the rest of us gathered in a circle around an old noose probably from the 1800s. Today was cloudy and foggy, the perfect weather for another murder.

Last night, after Austin lost it and killed Cheryl, he ran outside where John had fortunately been there to stop him from chasing after whoever it was that was running from him. John told me what Austin had said: he believed that Cheryl had killed Travis, but when we looked at the red stain for a second time, we realized that it wasn't blood at all. Someone had framed Cheryl which meant that the murderers were still alive. John helped Austin to his place, where we gave him a drink and went to the back room to discuss what John had seen. When we returned, we found Austin leaned up against the wall, a knife in his chest, and a message written on the wall saying "Sorry" Austin's left hand was wrapped around the knife and his right was placed on his heart.

Charles scoffed and straightened his jacket. "From what I've seen, Cheryl deserved what she got." Everyone turned their heads towards him as he lit a cigar and puffed several times.

"Excuse me?" Returned Lily, shocked and angry that Charles would say such a thing.

"Well, look at her record!" Charles took a slip of paper out of his jacket pocket. "With what she knew, she could've killed us all in one night!

Victor stood up and started marching towards Charles with his finger pointed at Charles's face. "You can't prove that Cheryl would do that. She chose to be kind and to help people. If she ended up like you she just might've murdered us."

Charles scoffed again and took another puff of smoke as he lifted his jacket out to put the paper inside. Tucked inside the pocket of his jacket, was a small pistol. "Charles," I said eyeing the weapon. "What is that?"

Charles looked at me worriedly and stuttered. "What is what?" He quickly pulled his jacket back in and straightened it.

"Charles, where were you last night?" I started backing away slowly, and the others did the same, except for Peter who stood where he was completely ignoring the situation.

"I was in my bunk! Sound asleep!"

"Why do you have a gun?" The other townsfolk started moving farther away, and Peter still had no idea what was happening.

"Self-defence! With a murderer on the loose you can never be to safe!"

I glanced at the noose in the centre of the town square and then at Victor who nodded back at me. "Charles, I think you know how this goes."

Charles started to shuffle nervously and after several seconds, he cleared his throat and straightened his posture. "I wouldn't threaten me if I were you."

"And why is that?" Victor returned.

"Because," Charles reached into his jacket pocket, and slowly pulled out the slip of paper. He revealed what it said on the other side. "I have the power of the law on my side. I'm the mayor of Mournstead."