Eden Lake

Chapter 8

For the past few days I have been going out to the beach every single night, just to watch the sunset. Harry has been showing up as well, keeping me company. Surprisingly for the both of us, we seem to get along quite well, which still feels strange to me to this day. I hate to admit this and I would never speak these words out loud for anyone to hear, but I secretly quite enjoy his company. I know that I shouldn't, but I do. And my desire to help him has only grown over the past few days. He is terrified of Brett, his very own friend and I can't find it within me to blame him. Brett is evil if you ask me.

I stop walking when I spot Adam in the near distance, playing around with some caterpillars, putting them in a glass jar. Those poor things. He should really stop doing that or I might sue him for animal abuse. I decide to just leave him alone, but then I hear Brett's annoying voice, causing Adam to hurriedly set free the little caterpillars, before jumping up, while I only roll my eyes in sheer annoyance. Why does he always have to show up and ruin things?

"Hey, mate." He appears from behind one of the trees and puts one of his arms around Adam's shoulder.

"Mate?" I scoff and roll my eyes at this.

Brett ignores my presence completely as he turns to Adam, whispering something into his ear. And boy, does he need to take a few classes on how to actually whisper. "You still want to be part of our gang, yeah?"

Adam only nods his head in return, obviously feeling uneasy. My eyes go wide in both shock and disbelief. Who in their right mind would want to be part of their so called gang? I can't wrap my head around it. The longer I think about it, the more confused I start to feel.

"Proof it then. Hit the bitch."

Brett's eyes land on me and I start to feel physically sick. The way he is taking advantage of a young boy that only wants to belong. It is sickening. Adam slowly makes his way over towards me and I can't help but to roll my eyes with a sigh, not feeling any type of fear for this kid. He mutters a sorry, so quiet I almost couldn't even hear it, before hesitantly raising his hand, ready to strike. I grab a hold of his wrist in mid air and take the empty, glass jar out of his other hand. "Not happening, kid." I throw the glass jar against the tree right next to Brett, wishing that it would have hit him square in the face instead. The glass shatters into pieces and Adam instantly, without thinking, rushes towards it, almost crying.

Brett slaps the boy hard across the face and curses at him. "Get the fuck out of here!"

Adam scurries away fast, leaving Brett and I alone.

"You are even worse then I thought you were."

"Really," He grins as he takes a few steps towards me, "you haven't seen shit."

I gulp in fear and take a step back as he continues to take steps towards me. My back hits a tree and I can feel myself starting to panic now that he is standing right in front of me. He places his hands against the tree on either side of my head, trapping me, so that I can't get away. He is so close that our noses are nearly touching. I try my best not to show any fear. He squints his eyes at me and I shrink, only now realizing that I have shown him that I'm afraid. I start to try and fight my way out, but he grabs onto me and throws me onto the ground. My back hits the ground with a thud and I wince in pain. I try and get myself up, but he climbs on top of me, straddling my waist. I start hitting him on the chest, trying to get him off me.

He grabs both of my hands and pins down my wrists onto the ground above my head.

"You remember when you pushed Paige, yeah?" He glares down at me, "told her I'd make you regret it."

He smirks while I struggle to free my hands, but his grip is painfully tight. He finally gets off me, but before I even have the chance to try and stand up, he kicks me hard in the stomach. And again and again. After he finally seems to have had enough and has grown bored, he leaves. My stomach is hurting and I cry out in pain as soon as he's disappeared into the trees. I roll over onto my back, focusing all of my attention on the sky above me, watching the clouds go by. Then suddenly, I hear footsteps nearing me. They're slow at first, but speed up quickly. I force myself to sit up as I try my best to ignore the pain. And I can't help but to feel relieved when I see Harry running towards me. He sits down on the ground next to me, a troubled and sorrowful look on his face.

I look at him and just can't hold it back any longer. I bury my face in his chest and start to sob uncontrollably. He doesn't say a word, but wraps both of his arms around me in an attempt to comfort me. And just like that, the pain seems to be fading away. Just a little bit.