Broken Memory ✓

9. Blood!

"What in the world happened to you?!"

That is the first thing I hear when I step inside. Dad is on the living room couch, but he's looking back at me. He's staring at the bandages on my leg.

"I fell. And scraped my leg. The bandages make it seem worse. I just scraped a larger area of my leg," I explain, hoping it's enough.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. It was bleeding, but my friends helped me," I nod, walking further into the house.

"Alright... I'll trust you on that. Make sure to wear longer pants if the bandages are still there when Mom gets home. She'd kill us."

"No problem," I give him a thumbs up. He smiles, giving me a thumbs up back, so I then head to my room and take off my shoes. I collapse on my bed in utter exhaustion, memories of today flashing through my head.

So... Why were there so many dead bodies?

Why haven't they been cleared out? Have there been no investigations? That clearly looked like a murder.

How did that man know we were in there? We were there for quite a while before he came in.

All those people... Would we know their identities? Imagine the families of the victims... Do they even know they're gone? Dead?

I fall asleep with the light on, not moving from the moment I lay down. These thoughts stay floating in my head until I drift off.

"Ash, before you go," I hear Dad say. I stop right before opening the door, turning around. My bag rests on my shoulders, and I hope he doesn't talk to me long because the bag is killing me due to its weight. "Did you know this kid named 'Jonathan'?"

"Uhh... Yeah? Why?" I question. Jonathan. The bully. I couldn't forget him.

"Well... Just... Be respectful at school today. They found him dead in the woods."

"What?!" I exclaim. But it's too late for Dad to elaborate. I turn around as I hear the bus roll around the corner.

"You better go! They might give more information at school."

I nod, running out the door and to the bus, hoping I wouldn't miss it.

When I get to school, Caleb meets me at the bench. The moment we sit down, Caleb faces me, and I can tell he wants to say something. He glances around before leaning in. "Did you... Did you hear about Jonathan?"

"Kind of," I murmur back. "I was only told he was found dead in the woods."

"Yeah, well," Caleb glances around once again. "There were human scratch marks and bites all over his body... But no DNA was found. It sounds like it was a murder."

"Oh, Jesus. That reminds me of the murder in that hospital."

"Yeah. And you know what else?"

"What?"

Caleb sighs. "Liam is going to kill me. I know it. He'll think I did it."

"Don't worry, Caleb. Me and Connor are going to protect you, okay?"

"Protect from what?" Connor appears, sitting down with us. Caleb explains the situation to him, including the details on Jonathan's death and the fact that Liam is going to try to practically kill him.

Connor reassures Caleb we won't let him get hurt and he loosens up a tiny bit. I can tell he still feels some anxiety about it, though; his body is still a little tense and he seems to be looking out for Liam.