"What are you singing?" Colton asked, distressed as he held his shot leg.
Kaiya didn't answer, only singing.
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Where dead man called out
For his love to flee
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Where I told you to run
So we'd both be free
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree
"Kaiya stop!"
The children's voices became more of a hush as the bangs got louder. The red-headed boy began to pray, whispering pleas under his breath as his friends cling to him. Footsteps approach the room and a dishevelled woman stumbled in. She looks directly at Sunny fear present in her eye
"SUNNY!!"
She launched forward, her bloodied hands scrambling on the desks. A man in a dark brown trench coat and army boots kicked the doo.r in, a large, black, nondescript object in his hand. He raised the object-
A loud noise erupted through the room, making ears ring to the point of bleeding. The woman collapsed on the ground as the man swung around and pointing the object towards some children on the other side of the room. His vision when black, the flashback begin cut short. Before waking from his seizure, the red-headed boy's voice rung through his mind, echoing humbly,
"MAMA!"
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Wear a necklace of rope
Wear a necklace of hope
Side by side with me
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Where I told you to run
So we'd both be free
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree
Kaiya bent down, nudging Sunny.
She kept the gun trained on Colton, her singing not letting up.
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
They strung up a man
They say who murdered three
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Where dead man called out
For his love to flee
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree
Colton decided to take the opportunity of Kaiya being distracted to pounce at her.
Kaiya instinctively turned and pulled the trigger, the bullet going straight through his head.
She dropped the gun and covered her mouth, not wanting it to go that far.
The gunshots from hie delusion slowly faded into a peaceful pitter-patter.\
As it, until a real one jolted him awake.
Sunnys eyes opened with the sudden noise. He hoisted himself up, before slipping down on his back again. The room spun as he tried to keep his focus. Eventually, the ringing in his ears hushed into the alarming silence that hung over the room. Slowly sitting up again, his gazed landed on a slumped figure, he sat still, blood pooling underneath him. Sunny shuffled along the floor in an attempt to get closer.
It was Colton. He sat in a lifeless, hunched over position, a large gaping hole present in his temple. Most of the blood that caked his face was dry, but a few streams of fresh fluid ran down his nose. His lips were blue and his eye heavy-lidded, his eye devoid of all emotion.
Sunny didn't scream. He didn't wail or shout of help. He just sat and what the body slowly drain of its life-forces, nothing going through his head or out his mouth.
He sat; emotionless.
Kaiya dropped to her knees, the weight of her action setting in after minutes.
She couldn't stop staring at his body, at all the blood now in her room.
Thoughts ran through her head a mile a minute.
What would people think?
Would they think she was crazy?
Would they realise what Colton had done?
Would she be put away for this?
Would she get away on self-defense?
Would Sunny be a liable witness?
What would happen to her?
Sunny closed his eyes for a second, sighing.
He stood up and carried Colton bridle style to the bathroom. He came back a minute later, his face now displayed frustration other than anything else.
"What's your biggest knif.e?"
Kaiya looked at him, confused.
"Knife? Why do you need a knife?"
Although she was staring at Sunny, her eyes were distant.
She was lost on her thoughts.
"Well, we're not just gonna leave him here, are we?"
He stood in the entrance to the hallway, arms limp by his side.
"If we want to dispose of the body without leaving a trace, things many need to get messy."
He looked away, knowing a kitchen knife couldn't cut through bone.
"I suppose there are other ways; but, I don't know if they're going to be as easy to pull off."
Sunny huffed, still drained from his fit,
"Up to you. The safe and gruesome way, or the clean and risky way."
Kaiya looked at Sunny in horror.
"Dispose of the body? Sunny, I didn't murder him! It was self-defense! If we get rid of his body it will look suspicious!"
"But if we don't they'll pin it on you!" he hissed. It was true, they could say it was self-defence, but what proof did they have.
"Forget about the murder-are you even allowed to own a gun on campus? What if they tell your father, what will happen then?"
Sunny sighed, the situation just setting in. He might go to jail for this.
"I don't want anything to do with this. I'm only here helping you so you don't land your goof ass in the slammer! So, are gonna cut him up, and wheel him out in a suitcase?"
"NO! Sunny we can't do that! And they'll pin it on you just as much! You're the one who's been handling his body! Your fingerprints are all over him!"
She ran her hands through her hair.
"I can get away with this. I can get away on self-defense, which it was. Colton has tried to attack and rape me for years. I can use that as a reason for why I had the gun - I was afraid for my life. And he attacked you! I can say I was scared he was going to attack me and do something worse to you!"
Sunny shook his head.
"No. it's not worth it. If you do want anything to do with it then leave. I'm not going to prison. My cousin owns an estate in the country. I have a large suitcase. I can say I'm going on holidays and take him with me. I'm not letting you turn us in."
He held his finger out towards Kaiya, his voice shaking as he finished his last sentence,
"I can't go to jail."
"If you do that then you are going straight to jail, Sunny. His parents will wonder where he is. The school will wonder where he is. You and I both know that Rylee would not approve of your method. I'm going to go to the principal. Don't try to stop me. I'm good at sob stories."
"Rylee doesn't matter right now!" he snapped. "Whether or not we hide the body, you've already killed him. Rylee's already as disappointed as a dead man can be!"
Sunny took a deep breath,
"I am your elder, you do as I say."
"My elder?" Kaiya asked, now an annoyed tone to her voice. "We're both 17! And I'm a month older than you! Don't pull that shit on me Sunny! It's not gonna work!"
She grabbed the door handle and began to walk out.
"Don't try to stop me or I'm dragging you down further than you are already going."
He grabbed her arm and yanked her back inside, roughly.
"No!" he demanded. He dragged her all the way to the bathroom and locked the door behind them. He pressed his back to the door, covering the lock.
"You are being ridiculous- what proof do you have that this was self-defence? the gun, with your fingerprints? His body, with my fingerprints? I've read enough murder mystery books to know where this is going-" he huffed, panicking slightly
"And even if you do get away with it- you still have a fucking GUN on campus! You'll get fucking suspended! Then what will your parents do, huh?"
Kaiya grabbed her arm back. "Don't talk to me like that, Sunny. You underestimate the power a crying girl has on old men. I can fucking handle myself."
With that, she ran out of her room and towards the principal's office.
Sunny sat, unsure of what he should do next. His head hasn't been in the right place recently, hes neglecting thing and falling behind on school work, but he knew went he had taken things to far. He pulled out his phone and dial 3 digits, not quite aware of why he hadn't done it sooner.
"Uh, hey. There's a dead man in my bathroom."
Outside the principal's office, Kaiya paced back and forth.
She knew that she had to word what she wanted to say perfectly, otherwise it would just go to shit.
But she didn't know what that was.
Sunny sat quietly, waiting for the ambulance. He could leave now. Pack up the suitcase with Colton body and flee, but he felt to heavy to move.
He didn't even kill him, he was just a witness.
So why does this all feel like his fault?
Kaiya hyped herself up, digging her nails into her thighs to create gashes and to make herself cry.
She made her breath shaky.
She'd done this before.
She knew what to do.
He could hear the sirens outside the campus now. He knew had he would go to prison. Even if he didn't, he'd still be suspect number one and the target of media outbursts. He thought about how he'd cope in the slammer. Large, gruff offenders with tattoos and prison shanks. He would fit in at all, he's the complete opposite of them and had no muscle strength to fend for himself. What would his father think? He would find out, being the nearest relative. And, on the off chance they let him back into the courtroom, how would he act? Would he lash out? Would he support his son or stand against him? Sunny was so lost in thought he didn't even notice the man standing in the doorway,
"Sir? Are you Sunny June?"
Kaiya was about to knock on the principal's door when she heard sirens.
Panic began to set in.
She knew Sunny had called the police.
But maybe she could still save this.
The both of them.
She ran back to her room to see it surrounded by police officers.
One of the female officers saw her panic and escorted her away.
The holding cells were eerily quiet. Not even a breath was exchanged as Sunny sat on the cold tiled floor. He was going to prison, for sure, might as well get used to it.
He guessed that Kaiya would try to bail him out, tell them she shot the gun; but even then, how many middle aged men would believe that a petite little lady killed a man?
Nope, throw the red head a bone cause his soulless ass was about to be beaten.
Kaiya was being interrogated. She was in one of those rooms, which wasn't particularly helping her self-inflicted anxiety.
"I need you to tell me exactly what happened, Miss Whelan."
"I was going to leave for class when Colton showed up. He'd tried to rape me a few times but I'd always stopped him. When Sunny realised I wasn't in class he came to find me."
