Where it all began ("Bend or Break" Book 1)

Chapter 7

We entered the woods and walked for half an hour till we found what we viewed as a safe spot to bury Ko's bloodied earring and necklace.

The spot was a patch of dirt near a tall spruce. Lab took out the spatula from the orange plastic bag and handed it to me. We bent down and began digging quickly with our spoon and spatula (which were quite ineffective). We dug a hole deep enough to place the large cardboard box in. As we were covering the hole up again, we heard a branch crack nearby and froze. We both spun around in fear and standing in front of us, was a young looking man, maybe in his 20s - 30s, with short light auburn hair, fringes up and oval-shaped emerald green eyes. We hurried in front of the hole. My heart raced and I could feel Lab's soft and fragile hand tremble.

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"Don't bother?" the man said flatly. His accent clearly Australian.

"W-What" I muttered

"Don't bother" he repeated "We sent you the package"

I felt suddenly dizzy and leaned against the tree for support. I couldn't process it. The words "We sent you the package" echoed in my head. I glanced at Lab - she had gone pale.

"Who's we?" I stuttered

"Me and my accomplice" "I'm the writer, he's the killer"

"The writer?" I breathed

"Yes, the writer" "You're the protagonists of my novel " he explained

Writer? Protagonists? I couldn't process. I managed to blurt out "Why us?"

"Two beautiful teens. One is innocent, inexperienced and oblivious to the real world. Shielded from it by her brother. The other, no so inexperienced and oblivious, she is abused by her parents, troubled and self-harming. Theme: Love and Struggle. Boom! a best friend is murdered, the girls are framed for her murder, how will each one react, how differently will they react from one another, how will they change and how will their emotions for each other change? Will their relationship strengthen or weaken? How will all these traumatic events change them, influence them?, Beautiful isn't it?" he smiled

"Why are you doing this to us? " Lab whimpered

"You and Alisa are essential to me "

"All this just for a book?" I breathed

"It's not just for a book, darling. Thanks to you and Andrea, I'll be more than just a simple, dull author. I won't just write my stories, I'll make them, bring them alive. Control them, you see" "I write a chapter of my book, I write a chapter of your lives, understand?"

"Burn in hell" I spat "You're sick"

"No I'm not sick, I'm innovative. I'm an innovative writer. A writer of the future" he beamed "You see, Unlike the writers of today, who know from the beginning of their book's ending, I don't. I just know the facts, what's going to happen, what I don't know is how you two will react to the facts, what will you two do out of anger, out of pain, out of fear or at of love" "It's genius, isn't' it?, people will love it" he grinned

"Is killing what you call being an innovative writer!" I yelled

"Who? Charlotte Michaels? It had to happen"

"Because it's essential for your dumb book?!" Lab sobbed

"Yes" I smiled

"I'll kill you!" I threatened

"You wouldn't harm a fly" he grinned "You're too innocent"

"I'll kill you" I snarled and grasped the kitchen knife that lay in the hole behind me.

"And guess what? It doesn't matter if the police come upon your corpse and pin it on me because I'm going to jail for Charlotte's murder anyway, right?!. What have I got to lose?!" "I won't even bother cleaning the blood off my hands"

"Are you sure about that darling?" He laughed

"About what?!"

"That you haven't got anything to use?" "If you kill me, the killer will kill everyone you and Andrea have ever loved" He explained "You might want to think twice"

I let the knife fall to the grass. "You're not in control of us, of our lives. You'll be sent to jail where you belong and where you'll spend the rest of your miserable life. You'll lose"I raged.

"Last time I checked, We murdered you're best friend and we framed you for the murder". "Seems to me, I'm still in control" he whispered

Rage seized me.I picked up the knife again and ran towards the writer, the knife clenched in my left hand. Lab wrapped her arms around me, holding me back.

"What the hell are you doing!" I raged

"Ali, the killer will murder all of us"

"Not if I don't kill him"

"It's no use!" she cried "It's no use"

"Get off of me Lab" "I mean it!"

She pulled me into her and met her lips with mine.

"Why?" I murmured in amazement

She smiled and shrugged "I don't know"

she whispered "Should there be a "why"?"

She then faced the writer and clenched her right fist.

"Lab, what are you doing?" I murmured

She swung her fist at him. It was a stern blow to the nose. He fell to the dirt, blood gushing out of his nose.

The writer laughed, wiping the blood off his nose with his right palm. "You shouldn't have done that" he snapped

"Screw you!" Lab yelled.

"Run Re" she yelled and took me by the hand. We ran across the woods, it's cypresses, pines, and ferns, the bold, brisk wind touching my skin and brushing through my hair. A white butterfly flutters its wings and took off into the midnight sky, as we approached it.