Sweet Charlotte

「 thirty: concluded conflicts 」

All of a sudden, Sunni lunged, her arms pulling Willow's behind her back. Willow seized, eyes wide and body stiff. Her lips parted, ready to ask a question, to argue, hell, even to plead. Before she had a chance to, Mara lunged and forced Willow to the floor with her blade lifted and ready for puncture. "I'm sorry," she whispered, hand wavering as she raised it.

It was a reflex, a habit, something she wasn't able to control: Willow screamed. She wailed. "No!" she cried. "Get away from me!"

She started kicking as Mara's knife came down. She jolted as she wailed, just barely missing the knife's aim at her neck. Mara's shaky hands caused to blade to nick only Willow's arm, but thanks to the adrenaline, Willow didn't notice. Mara sat on her legs to keep her still. Sunni's grip tightened on Willow's shoulders, trying to keep her from fighting back.

Willow had never screamed as loud or as hard as she did then and there, praying that they weren't too far from the field; that someone would be able to hear her.

Mara sighed, jetting the knife down again. Willow writhed in the other direction, just barely missing it. "Shut her up!" She scoffed to Sunni.

Sunni, crying and weak, released her grip to grab something from her pocket. Willow took the chance to shove her palms in Mara's chest, throwing her off. Mara groaned, slamming onto the dirty bathroom floor.

Seth had his head in his hands, her fingers coiled through his hair, his brain beating on itself for how poorly he'd been playing. Maybe it was because it was his first game back since Charlotte had been found. Maybe it was because Mara, Sunni and Carter — potential suspects — were watching the game. Or, maybe it was because of Willow's strange behaviour prior to kickoff. Thinking of such, the male looked up and searched the stands for where he'd spotted them earlier. His eyes froze, shivering, when he only saw one figure there: Carter.

Mara and Sunni were gone, and so was Willow. But why?

His heart began to quicken, harrowing in on the stands, hoping he'd be able to spot them. Maybe they'd left to get some fresh air, or maybe one of them had forgotten something in the vehicle and Willow had gone with them to grill them for information.

Something in Seth's gut said it wasn't that simple. Something in his gut said it was something far, far worse.

A faint scream past his shoulder confirmed that.

He stood from the bench, turning, surveying the scene. Was he imagining things? Was he daydreaming due to stress? Was he hearing something he'd created because of his anxiety?

"Seth?" Aeron asked, drawing closer and setting a hand on the male's shoulder. "You okay buddy?"

Seth flinched away at his touch, recognizing the way his voice made his stomach curdle. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Aeron scoffed. "We're supposed to be watching the game, man. Coach isn't going to be happy if he catches you daydreaming after you played a shit game."

While normally Aeron's bitter comments would rub Seth the wrong way, this time they didn't. He was too busy trying to prove to his brain that he wasn't crazy. That there was something there.

There was a whistle on the field, commotion bubbling from the grass behind Seth's back. Then, there it was again.

A scream. No words, not a 'no' like he'd imagined before, but a scream. A real one. One he hadn't imagined.

And he knew whose voice it belonged to.

His stomach dropped, his eyes scanning the scenery even faster than before. Then, faintly spotted through the dimming sky, he spotted it; the girl's washroom.