The Eccedentesiast

Chapter Four

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Chapter Four
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"Take a load of this crap." Brian chuckled as he pointed at an old vintage TV.

They were walking along the river when they stumbled upon junk. That's where they found the TV along with a yellow purse, a large beach hat, some vinyls, and a box of cassette tapes.

"Should we take them back with us?" Gabriel asked. "I kind of want to see what's on those tapes." He picks one up and examines it from front to back.

Emma walked towards the large beach hat and picks it up in her hands, avoiding the mysterious black stains on the beige.

"It has a name on it." She called over to them and they stood behind her as she ran her hand over the permanent marker to dust the dirt off. "Jane Doe." Emma rolled her eyes. "Well, that's great." She let the hat fall to the ground.

Brian chuckled. "Do any of you have anything at home to play these?" he asked, squatting down to pick up the heavy-looking box. There were at least fifty tapes in there.

"I have a boom box that belonged to my cousin." Daniel raises his hand. "Maybe he has a small cassette player, too. I'll ask."

"Okay." Connor went down to inspect the TV. "Do you guys think this works?" He tapped on the screen.

"Probably." Emma dropped the hat and walked over to the three vinyls that were scattered on the ground. She picked them up and read the words that were on the plastic covers. "These probably don't."

"My cousin has a vinyl player, too," Daniel butt in.

Everybody turned to look at him.

"Your cousin has everything." Connor suspired.

"He's only like the richest asshole the world will ever hear of," Daniel said and picked up a large rock only to throw it at the TV. It was indestructible.

"Is that why he doesn't let us come over anymore?" Emma asked.

"Yup. He's afraid we'll end up breaking or burning something much more valuable than a vase or a window." Daniel shrugged nonchalantly. "He only focuses on his work and he works from home most of the time. He is his boss."

"He's a douchebag." Connor snorted. "I almost feel bad for you."

"You could. But I'm also lucky since he just throws money at me when I only asked for a dollar." He laughed.

"Lucky, bitch," Emma muttered. "My parents only give me lunch money for school. I have to keep skipping meals to use that money for other things."

Connor chuckled. "Damn." Connor turned around when he was about to talk to Brian but froze when he was nowhere to be seen. "Guys," he called for them. "Where's Brian?"

They all went over to Connor and started turning their heads to see if they could see Brian anywhere.

"I don't knooow," Daniel slowly dragged out.

They huddled up into a small circle to have eyes in all directions. Their hearts were like drums in the loud bubble of silence they were in. Daniel was gripping Emma's arm while she attempted to absentmindedly dig his nails out from her skin.

"Ow," she mumbled.

"I'm sorry." He scrunched up his nose and let her go apologetically.

"He's messing with us." Emma shook her head. Deep down she was terrified of the thought of them not being the only ones around at this time at night. "What time is it?" She turned to Connor who still had his phone flashlight on. He handed her his phone while he began walking back into the woods looking like a ninja. "It's 9:15," she announced to them.