Thirteen Years Old

Chapter 2 - Jem (REVISITED)

Time flied as the five friends his on trees, Under the patio and so on. After a few hours of playing hide and seek, Jem, Samantha, Kayla and Leo decided that they'd hidden themselves everywhere they could. They all agreed to prank Ethan and hide in the small swamp behind Kayla's house.

Jem was the one that came up with the plan. They'd all hide in the swamp together. Ethan being a scaredy-cat, he wouldn't go in there, especially since the sun wasn't shining. Then, he'd tell his friends that they'd won, bitter, but never going into the swamp. They wouldn't come out of their hiding spot, though, and they'd stay silent, scaring Ethan.

While the seeker counted, the four laughing friends hurried away, shushing each other. Kayla giggled and let out so many little screams Samantha had to lightly smack her on the cheek.

''Hey, look at these bushes! They're full of leaves, it's perfect! Let's hide there!'' Kayla decided.

This is why the four friends squeezed themselves in the bushes, Jem hushing them. They couldn't hear Ethan anymore, only their muffled breathing. After a few minutes, though, loud footsteps were heard. Jem almost choked: he didn't expect that  Ethan would actually look out for them.

''Uh... Guys? Why aren't the footsteps coming from Kayla's backyard?'' Leo asked.

That's were Jem's plan went wrong. 

''What do you mean, Leo?'' The birthday girl wondered out loud.

''Shh! He's right!'' Samantha whisper-screamed.

The noise was coming from the swamp. The kids wondered who it could possibly be. It was probably just stupid teens wanting a quiet and unfrequented place to smoke or drink alcohol.

Just as the kids began to feel reassured, they heard a man's suffering groans. He was begging for something, Jem understood. But what, exactly? He heard scattered voices, never a full sentence. 

''No! Please, don't! C'mon man, we- aaaah!''

Jem gasped as he stopped listening. The begging man had just received a punch on the nose.

The other one, since they were just two, laughed maniacally. 

Scrounch, scrounch, scrounch.

The four friends freezed. The noise was coming from Kayla's backyard.

While the man still laughed, Ethan whispered gently. ''Guys? Guys, come out now, this is not funny!''

''Oh, for God's sake,'' Leo muttered as he stood up a little to drag Ethan into the bushes. Just in time, because a moment afterwards, the man stopped laughing.

''I heard something,'' he said in his low-pitched voice.

He spun to glance around, but the cheap flashlight he'd lit up couldn't make out the kids' outline in the dense bushes.

''Eh, it's probably just you stepping on a stick, you're so clumsy,'' grunted the hurted man. With that, he earned another punch.

Through the bushes' leaves, Jem managed to take a look at the two men: the first man, the one punching the other, had pale skin and dark hair, probably brown. All his body was covered in black, and he had his sweatshirt's hood pulled up, thowing a menacing shadow on his cold face. His hands were hidden by gloves. Under his cheek, a teardrop was inked. All his neck was covered by tattoos. Two letters stood out from the roses and skulls. an A, followed by an L.

The other man had a duffel bag over the head and wore normal, everyday clothes. He clearly hadn't expected someone. 

A metallic glow caught his eyes. A gun. The duffel-bagged man tried to pull one from his beige jeans' pocket. Jem wasn't the only one that saw him do so. The hooded one did too. Furiously, he let out an angered scream and twisted the other man's wrist, making him drop the gun. He took it and held it against the duffel bag.

''I'd meant to cut you up, but I guess a swift death with your own weapon will have to do,'' he muttered.

He made a small move with his head and bit his lip.

''Please don't,'' the man with the duffel bag wispered softly.

The one holding the gun flinched and smiled. ''You tried, didn't you? Don't worry, I know you always hated my guts. Plus, you just tried to kill me. So, goodbye,'' 

As the four kids watched in horror, the man tightened his grip on the gun and

pulled

the

trigger.

*****

Okay, so, again, sorry I haven' uploaded in so long. I kinda want to say I'll try to upload Chap. 3 soon, but you guys probably won't believe me. Scroll down for the old version, otherwise, bye!

*P-S: The writer's note at the end of the old versions will probably ask you to vote, just know that they aren't a part of the new version, so don't feel as though you have to vote or comment!

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THE OLD VERSION

The children played for one hour in Kay's backyard, but after one hour of hide and seek in the same place, there aren't a lot of hiding places left. That's how Sam, Kay, Leo and Jem decided to do the ''ultimate'' prank on Ethan.

They decided to hide in the bushes in the little swamp behind Kay's home. When Ethan would say that they won, they would start making weird noises, like wild animal. Jem, the prankster, was the one who came up with the idea. There were two options. One, Ethan would be super scared and would call out for help. Then, the kids would scare him by jumping out of the bushes screaming. The second option was that Ethan wouldn't be fooled or that Ethan would try to be brave and, in any case, would go towards the noise. The first option was the most likely to happen, due to Ethan's anxious personnality.

As Jem expected, Ethan said that his friends won. What Jem didn't plan was that they wouldn't be the ones to make the noise. The four friends heard footsteps coming in their direction from the swamp, making it sure that it wasn't Ethan. Trying to calm his friends, Jem said that Ethan understood that they were pranking him so he decided to prank them. As Jem said that, the kids heard footsteps coming from Kay's house. Samantha sighed. Ethan had decided to be brave.

There were no more explanations for the unwelcome footsteps coming from the swamp. Terrified, Leo pulled Ethan towards him, in the bushes. It was the first time that Jem saw Leo afraid, so terrified ? Jem shuddered. He didn't want to think about it. He sliced the air with his hand, making it clear that he wanted his friends to shut up. They could now see the visitors that made the scary noises. There were two men. One had a bag on the head and the other one had a gun. His eyes were hidden behind pink and childish sunglasses. He had brown hair and his skin was  almost white. He wore black gloves with two letters on them; A.L. He was wearing a black tee-shirt and black jeans. He also wore black boots. One sock was out of one of his shoe. On the sock, there was a yellow and big smiley face that somehow made the scene even scarier.

The man with the bag on the head tried to move, but the other man punched him where Jem guessed his nose was. Then, the browned-haired man rose his gun so it almost touched the other man's forehead and, as the five kids watched in horror, pulled the trigger.

*****

Second chapter is written! Yeah! Please vote and comment, it really helps me and I know that almost every writer will understand that, at least I think...
Thanks for reading so far, instead of deciding this story was bullshit! Means a lot to me!