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five

KAYDEN TURNER WAS SITTING ON THE COUCH IN AIDEN O'CONNOR'S LIVING ROOM, HER FEET PROPPED UP ON THE COFFEE TABLE WHICH HELD AN ASSORTMENT OF SNACKS AND DRINKS. She had thought it was just going to be Aiden's friends Casey Rivers and Holland Glaser, but accompanying them had been Milo Thompson and Hudson Rivera, who she only knew that well from the football team.

She didn't really know what was going on with Hudson and Milo, but it was more than obvious the two liked it each other. To her surprise, Holland and Casey had been overwhelmingly friendly towards her, and it made her feel warm all over. It had been such a long time since she had had fun- since she had been able to do something like this.

It almost made her forget that she had purposefully ditched Kyle back at the party.

Speaking of which, she felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket again. She pulled it out and switched it on, looking at the sixteenth text message she had received from Kyle:

Kyle: When I find u, ur dead. Thought I could trust u. Apparently not.

Aiden peered over his shoulder, and she saw his face harden. Without saying a word he plucked the phone from her fingers, putting it on the table next to him. He looked at her, shaking his head.

"Fuck that," He said quietly. "You don't have to think about him right now."

She nodded, and tried to absorb herself in the movie- which was Friday the Thirteenth. Of course the only thing the town's local cable channel had playing were horror movies. Everyone here was obsessed with Halloween, including her. Oftentimes after she felt like shit after leaving Kyle's, she would go home and play the Ouija board by herself alone in her room. It wasn't a good thing for her to do, but she didn't really care. It was the only thing that let her really forget.

She looked over at Aiden, studying his dark eyes and his hair that fell into them. Well, until now at least.

As she listened to the horrible jokes Milo was telling from the floor, an announcement sounded over the television. She sat up, leaning forward as a news report blared across the screen: BELLA CAVERN FOUND DEAD IN SLAYDEN'S BACKWOODS. ALL TEENAGERS ARE ADVISED TO STAY INSIDE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

"Holy shit," Casey breathed, looking down at Holland, who's head was in his lap. They all exchanged glances, and Hudson said lowly, "You don't think anyone's still there, do you? It's two am. I mean, they had to have gone home, right?"

"I don't know," Holland said, chewing on her bottom lip. "Shit. Another murder on the same fucking day?"

They were all completely silent, staring at the white blinding words across the screen before Milo said abruptly, "I think I better head home. I can give you all a ride if you want."

Kayden looked nervously at Aiden, who said slowly, "Kay's staying here, but you all go on ahead. I'll text you tomorrow and we can get a group of us together. I think we all need to have a very long discussion about all this shit."

Holland waved at Kayden, pulling Casey to his feet as they all said goodbye, eventually leaving through the front door. Aiden and Kayden watched as their headlights shone through the window, and then eventually pulled away, the sound of the engine growing fainter as they disappeared.

Kayden pulled her knees up to her chest. "Who the hell is killing people? It's fucking crazy."

"Right," Aiden said. "It's messed up. Two kids on the same day."

As Kayden opened her mouth to reply, headlights glared through the front living room window. There was a couple of seconds as the engine idled, and then shut off. Kayden looked at Aiden curiously. "Did they forget something?"