The hall was empty, odd considering that it was usually packed with people studying for a test they had first period. Sunny sat down and began writing out some math equations. He wasn't necessarily studying for anything, he just liked being on top of things before his teachers. He eventually lost interest in the endless stream of number and started doodling on the side of his notebook. His drawings ranged from little cats to the face of an all too familiar boy, he had almost gotten lost in his beady little pen-draw eyes until someone spoke up behind him.
"You like drawing?"
He shot around in surprise, only to be greeted with a face that made his stomach churn.
"No, I don't. What do you want, Carson?"
He brown-haired boy behind him shrugged,
"Just come to do some catching up on my chemistry work."
"You don't like Chem." He whispered, eyes narrowing into him. Carson chuckled,
"Oh, you know me too well! Yes, I'm here to talk to you."
He took a seat and placed his hands calmly on the table, watching the other boy's defensive nature,
"You and Rylee, then?"
"What about us." Sunny replied coldly,
"I just didn't know you too had a-" he paused, scrunching his nose,
"a thing"
"Our "thing" isn't any of your business, and frankly I don't understand why you feel it's necessary to come and interview me about it."
Carson stood up, towering over the other,
"Listen, Rylee wasn't like that till you came around. He wasn't sad or a-"
he glanced around the room, teeth clenched,
"-A homosexual. I don't know what kind of sick motive you have, infecting this school, but watch your back, kid. This isn't the last time you'll see my face."
And with that, Carson left.
A knock on Kaiya's door made her look up.
No one even visited her in her dorm apart from Sunny and Rylee.
It wouldn't be Sunny and it definitely wasn't Rylee.
She sighed and reluctantly walked to open the door, trying to close it as soon as she sees who it is.
"That's no way to treat your boyfriend, Kaiya."
"We're not dating, Colton. How many times do I have to fucking tell you that?"
"Oh, don't be like that."
He pushed his way into her room and closed the door behind him.
Kaiya didn't like that.
Class had started 30 minutes ago, yet Kaiya still hadn't shown up. No one really questioned it, considering yesterdays antics, but something still put Sunny on edge. The usually empty seat next to him made a creaking noise as someone sat down. Sunny didn't look up to acknowledge them, hoping not to make any contact.
"Hey" the person spoke, smiling warmly at him. He replied with a simple "hi" before going back to writing his notes.
"What's your name?" the girl was persistent, trying to hold a conversation.
"Sunny."
"Oh that's such a cute name!" she giggled,
"My names Lemongrass, but my friends call be Lee. I'm new!"
Sunny had to physically stop himself from laughing. What kind of sick bastard calls their kid 'Lemongrass'? Rich people named their kids some stupid things nowadays, what happened to the simple 'Oliver'?
"That's cool," he said calmly. his hands were writing but his mind was somewhere else, mostly that being Kaiya. Where the hell was she? She'd let him know if she wasn't going to classes. Lee was still rambling on in the background as he tried to convince himself she's okay,
"Hey, are you gay?"
"What?" Sunny snapped his head over to the girl next to him, twirling her brown hair between her fingers,
"Well, you just don't seem that interested in me. Most guys can barely keep their hands off me." she laughed,
"My sexual orientation is none of your business, sorry love."
"Oh, you are aren't you! It's cool if you are, I-"
"MISS! Can I move please?"
Sunny gathered his things are moved to the other side of the room, away from whatever abomination had just joined his class. Hw tried his best to work, but between worrying about Kaiya, and the lemon girl staring at him like a dog who'd just spotted a bone, it was fruitless.
"Miss, I have to take my meds," he stated, standing up and packing away his things and promptly leaving the room.
He didn't have medication, he just needed to see if Kaiya was okay
"Colton I have to go to class," Kaiya insisted, trying to wrestle her wrist away.
Colton's grip was too strong for her.
"Come on, just let me go. Please."
"You don't need to go to class. You're smart. You'll catch up."
"Please just let me go."
Colton pulled Kaiya close to him, and his strength stopped her from wrestling away.
Colton was the one person Kaiya couldn't get away from.
He sped through last nights snow, what was now slush soaked his shoes and dampened his socks. The walk felt a lot longer it normally does.
Something was wrong.
"Colton let me go."
"Neither of us want that, do we Kaiya?"
"Let. Me. Go."
In an effort of defense, Kaiya brought her knee up and hit Colton's crotch.
He let her go and grabbed his crotch, allowing Kaiya to kick him away with a foot to the stomach.
Sunny had started sprinting, a sickly feeling of dread built in his stomach. What if he was too late?
He arrived in the hallway of her complex and was greeted by a struggle. He ran to her dorm to discover the door unlocked and swung open. A man was slowly hunking his way to his feet, pain present in his face.
"Come on Kaiya, that wasn't very necassry, was it?"
It wasn't until Sunny had processed his voice had he recognised to man.
"Colton! What the fuck are you doing here?!"
"You have no part in this, June," Colton hissed, eyes on Kaiya.
From the moment Kaiya started at Littlewood, Colton had claimed her.
He wanted her, and he didn't care how he would get her.
Of course, Kaiya didn't want that.
But Colton didn't care.
"Like hell- Get your hands off her!" He growled, tugging the boy away. Sunny always towered over his classmates, but Colton was the only person who stood at his height. Plus, he was double his weight, his muscle mass being enough to make anyone thinking about approaching him uneasy. But Sunny still stood his ground, eyebrows knit.
"What don't you understand about "fuck off, never contact me again" ?"
Kaiya ran into the bathroom and locked the door behind her, shaking.
She took deep but shaky breaths, trying to calm herself down.
Remembering something, she rummaged around in her bathroom drawers under the sink.
She found what she was looking for: a gun she'd stolen from her father.
She loaded it with a few bullets, then exited the bathroom aiming it at Colton.
"I don't want to shoot you, but I will."
Sunny's eyes widened.
Where the FUCK did she get a gun?!?
"Kaiya, no!" he demanded, holding his hand out like it was going to stop her.
Colton took this as an opportunity to swing, striking Sunny in the jaw.
"FUCK-" he fell to the ground, hitting his head on the hardwood. His vision blurred as he made a gasp for air, the last thing he saw before fall into a seizure was Colton, swiftly stumbling over to grab Kaiya.
As he fell unconscious, two thoughts crossed his mind. The first being, 'fuck epilepsy'.
The second being, 'I how she knows how to use that gun'
Kaiya's hands shook, and she rushed to steady them.
She saw Colton punch Sunny, knocking him out.
Now Colton was coming towards her.
This snapped her into action.
She shot him in the leg, a warning shot.
"Don't come any closer."
Sunny unconscious mind was a wonder.
He opened his eyes to a familiar surrounding.
A classroom.
He shook his head and studied his surroundings. A group of children sat on the floor at the feet of an elderly woman, singing nursery rhythms in a soothing/haunting tone. He stood up and approach the children slowly, his focuse mostly on a little, curly haired red-headed boy in the front.
Colton looked at Kaiya in sudden fear, now knowing that she knew how to work the gun.
A strange feeling washed over Kaiya as she remembered a song Rylee would sing to her.
She began to sing it, the words seemingly having an affect on Colton and reminding Kaiya of Rylee's death.
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?
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
The ladies voice numbed out to a whisper, leaving just the kids chanting the eerie song. Sunny eyed up the boy, watching as the other kids around him laughed and envelop him in a hug. A load bang shook them out of it, all eyes glued to the door of the classroom. An alarm played over the sound system, followed but another round of consecutive bangs. The lady had secured the door shut and demanded the kids hide under the tables. All the panic and motion made Sunny feel sick. He followed the red-headed boy under a desk, hoping to hide from an impending threat. He hadn't realised where he was. What was about to happen. He had blocked it from the deepest part of his memories.
"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."
