Believing Lies

by Elizabeth, Anne

  I thanked him and left the house. I decided to bring a draw-string bag with me, filled with some necessities. The sun was just setting. The blue sky was turning darker as the sun sank into the ground. It left waves of orange and red in the sky, but they were following the sun. There were many cars out on the street, but I didn’t mind. The headlights lit up the sidewalks for me. I pulled out my new phone and texted Noelle.

  Sadly, her number is one of those I memorized.

  To: Noelle

  Hey, it’s Kyle. I’m on my way to the search party. Want me to stop and get you?

  I was looking down at my phone and wasn’t paying attention. I felt someone bump into me. My phone fell to the ground with a clang. I looked up, but the girl was already bending down to pick up my phone.

  “I’m so sorry!” the girl exclaimed. She stood up and handed me my phone. I checked to make sure it wasn’t cracked. She spoke again while I was looking at my phone. “Do I know you? You look really familiar.”

  I looked up at her. Her eyes were dark, almost black it seemed. I scanned her features before I realized where she was from.

  A girl bumped into my shoulder. She grabbed her bicep and winced before she looked at me. “I’m so sorry,” she said. She eyed the dirt and blood all over my face. “Oh my gosh, are you okay?”

  I chuckled, grazing my hand across my cheek. The blood started to spread, like an artist would do with paint. I could picture the red liquid coloring the paleness of my skin. I felt the gash across the side of my face when I touched it. The edges were hard, and it hurt like hell when I touched the open wound.

  “Yeah, I just tripped. I’ll be okay, though,” I lied. She nodded slightly, walking away with fear written in her eyes.

  “No, I don’t think so,” I replied. “It’s alright, though.” I walked away before she had the chance to say anything else. I could feel her eyes still on me as I made my way down the street. My phone vibrated in my hands, so I held it up. The bright light blinded me for a second until my eyes readjusted.

  From: Noelle

  Sure! Glad you got a new phone :)

  I walked down the many streets it took to get to Noelle’s house. I arrived there and saw her waiting for me. She was wearing blue jeans, a sweater, and a coat. Her hair was down, flowing with the wind. I noticed she wasn’t wearing any makeup.

  She doesn’t need it.

  She saw me immediately and grinned. My heart warmed at the sight of her beaming to see me. She grabbed the bag that was next to her and ran up to me. I was shocked when she hugged me. Her arms wrapped around my waist. I stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do. Her chin was sitting on my shoulder as she whispered, “I’m so glad I have you here to go through this with me.”

  I smiled slightly. My eyes closed as I let the sound of the wind fill my eardrums. The sound of trees ruffling was also there. I placed my arms on her back and patted. She pulled away, still smiling at me.

  “Let’s find our boy.”

  Noelle didn’t say anything for a while after that. We continued walking; I was making small talk as best as I could. After a few minutes, I got her talking again and chatting about random things.

  “Nope.” I answered Noelle. We were already near the park where the search party was going to be held. “I don’t think it’s weird at all.”

  “You don’t think it’s weird they call it a search party!” she said, emphasizing the word. She skipped ahead to face me. “It’s not weird at all?”

  I shook my head and walked past her. I heard her feet click against the concrete. She appeared next to me before muttering, “I think it’s weird.”

  We walked silently for a few minutes. I kept peeking at her, the lights from the stores highlighting unique features of her face. If there was blue, her nose stood out to me. Red, it was her eyes. Yellow, it was her thick lips. Green, her freckles. When there was white light, she stood out.

  “So, Luke called me this morning,” she began. I hummed in response, letting her continue. “He told me you guys got into a fight. Wanna talk about it?”

  “Nope,” I replied, harsher than I meant to. It didn’t daunt her, though. She strutted alongside me, clicking her tongue.

  “Okay. But it might be better if you do.”

  I stopped walking and looked at her. She paused too and stared at me in confusion. I grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to stand still.

  “I would, but right now, this is about Nick.” She nodded, and we kept going. The group was already there when we turned the corner. It was a good amount of people too.

  All I need to do is see if Nick is still there.

  This will decide my fate.

  I almost gagged; my stomach started doing flips. My throat burned with vomit as we approached the group. Butterflies swarmed in my stomach as I realized that this was it.

  “Alright! Time to get started, people! This area of woods is small, so we need you to pair up. One of you will get a flashlight, and we will point you to the direction you need to go to.”

  I looked around the woods, trying to figure out where I was when I was with Nick. I noticed an awfully familiar bench in front of the trees.

  That’s it.

  “Can we be partners, Kyle?” Noelle’s sweet voice asked me. I turned to look at her. Her eyes were big, staring up into mine. The moon reflected the blueness in them. Before I could answer, footsteps were coming to us.

  “Kyle, can we be partners?” Luke asked. I whipped my head to face him, and I rolled my eyes. I was about to tell him I already had a partner when Noelle spoke up.

  “He’s all yours! I’m going to go with Macy over there,” she told me before running off to her friend that was waving her down. I groaned and stared at Luke.

  It was silent between us for a few moments before the officer yelled at us to grab a flashlight.

  “Why is the search party starting at night, anyways?” I muttered to myself while walking toward the officer. I guess not quietly enough because Luke answered me.

  “Oh! It’s because we are tracking someone, and we can use flashlights because flashlights are closer to the ground than the sun, and it makes it much easier to see footprints and tire tracks.” I stopped in my tracks and stared at him. “I was wondering the same thing earlier, so I googled it.”

  “Go get the flashlight,” I ordered.

  The night was cold, and it was dark. The only light that helped us was the moon and flashlight. There were no other light sources in the forest; it was a lot easier to see during the day. I stepped into the spot where Nick started fighting with me. Luke was standing by a tree.

  “Why the hell would you even be with her?” Nick fumed. I was standing in front of him, my back to the woods. Nick never got mad at me before. He was the sensitive one, the one that would walk away to get you to stop yelling at him. He was never angry at anyone.

  “Because she asked me to, Nick!” I informed him. “She was upset about your fight and wanted to talk to me about it!” Nick groaned loudly and started clenching his fists. His eyes scorched with rage. I watched as he made his way over to the bench and stomped his foot right through it. The wood snapped in half; his leg now stuck in the hole he created.

  “What the hell, Nick!?”

  I stared at the hole in the bench. Luke pointed a flashlight at it; he walked over there and started looking behind the bench. I couldn’t move; I didn’t think I could do this. If I entered those woods and saw Nick, I wouldn’t leave him.

  Bile bit the back of my throat. I took a breath in to relax my stomach, but it didn’t work. It was as if the butterflies in my stomach were now congregated in my whole body. I could feel them under every inch of my skin, trying to claw their way out.

  “Let’s go.” Luke interrupted my thoughts. He held the flashlight in his hand and headed into the woods. I followed suit. The leaves and branches tickled my body as we pushed our way through. We were following a hiking trail, but Nick and I went off course when we were here.

&nbs
p; “This way, Luke,” I called out to him. He snapped his head, and I waved him over to the patch of grass that I recognized.

  “But we are supposed to stay on the path,” Luke declared. I rolled my eyes at him and just went in my direction. I heard him following me by the sound of his feet crushing leaves beneath them.

  “How do you know we should go this way?”

  “Dude! I didn’t say anything that was that big of a deal! It’s not like I told her to break up with you!” I yelled at Nick. I was walking on the hiking trail with Nick exploding at me from behind. I stopped walking and turned to face him. He was yelling about how I ruined his relationship.

  “I didn’t ruin anything!” I reminded him.

  He scoffed at me. “You did! You don’t even realize it, though!” I stood there, listening to all the reasons why I was at fault for him thinking Noelle was going to break up with him. I turned to my left and saw a patch of grass that led into another trail. I looked at Nick, who was still fuming, and I took off in the direction of the new trail.

  “Kyle! Get back here!”

  “I just have a feeling,” I responded to Luke. He started waving the flashlight all around. Small movements were heard throughout the woods, like faint whispers of other searches and small animals. The leaves crunching, branches moving, rustle of bushes.

  “Kyle, I just want to say I’m sorry.”

  We were close. I took note of a tree that had chips in the bark.

  “Dude, just let it be!” I barked at Nick. “It’s not a big deal!” I stomped off into the forest, hoping he would stay back. I heard footsteps crunching leaves behind me, so I picked up my pace. “Drop it!”

  “No!” Nick argued. “I won’t drop it. What did you say to Noelle?” I kept walking, going deeper into the woods. He kept following me. “Answer me, Kyle!”

  I whipped around and faced Nick. He was fuming. His face was red, and the vein in his neck was turning purple. His eyes stared back into mine, trying to threaten me. He knew that he would never beat me in a fight; my anger always got the best of me. So he would never try it.

  “I just told her that I would never argue with her like you do,” I admitted. His face dropped, and he stood there. “That’s all! She was upset with you guys fighting, and she came to talk to me.” He edged closer to me, listening intensively. “She was crying, and I felt bad, and I was just trying to make her feel better.”

  Before I knew it, his fist came swinging at me. I quickly ducked to get out of the way. I caught his shoulder and looked into his eyes. They were filled with rage, and I could tell that he was here for blood. I knew I would lose control, and I didn’t want to hurt Nick. I pushed him back and walked away.

  “Hey, man, get away from me!”

  I took another right, my stomach dropping with each step I got closer to where it happened. Luke followed me, stomping along.

  “You aren’t even going to say anything?” Luke grumbled.

  I kept my speed, trying to get it over with as fast as I could. “Now isn’t the time, Luke.”

  The bitterness of my dinner was sitting in my throat. I turned over to a bush and let it out. I groaned, letting every piece out of my body. Luke gasped and started patting my back, trying to help.

  “Maybe we should stop,” he offered.

  I wiped my mouth clean. “No.”

  We were so close.

  “Hey, man, get away from me!” I screamed at Nick. His eyes followed me, red with anger. I could see the steam coming from his ears, and I knew I was in trouble.

  “No! Why would you say that to her?” he barked at me, pushing my chest. I felt his fist and my temper run out of patience. I looked at his hand before looking him in the eyes. His were focused on mine, and I knew we were in a fight.

  “She deserved the truth,” I said.

  I started to feel light-headed. My stomach ached from the vomiting, but I couldn’t stop. I wouldn’t stop. I pushed myself to take each step, Luke trailing behind me. He was talking to me, but I couldn’t understand him. It felt like my ears were plugged. I couldn’t even hear myself breathing. I wasn’t sure if I was.

  “BS!” he fumed. “You told her lies!”

  I don’t know what happened next. Calling me a liar triggered something within me. I used my hands and placed them on both of his pecs and pushed him as hard as I could. I watched as he lost his balance and fell backward. Before his head hit the ground, there was this loud noise. A gunshot. It blasted through my ears, and I had to cover them, or else I would’ve gone deaf. I looked around me and saw no one.

  “Damn hunters,” I muttered under my breath.

  I crumbled to the floor. Luke ran and bent down beside me. I held my head in my hands, and I tried hitting myself. The pain was getting too much for me. I vomited again.

  We were so close.

  I looked at Nick and watched as the blood came pouring out of his skull.

  What the hell?

  I ran over to him and watched as his eyes followed me. He knew he was dying. I saw that his head landed on a rock. The top part of the stone couldn’t be seen, so it must be lodged in his head. I watched the thick blood come rushing out, and I tried to cover it with my hands, but there was nothing I could do.

  I killed him…

  His eyes stared into mine before the blood from his head came pouring down his forehead and covered his eyes. I tried to wipe it away, but it was no use. It was all coming down, and it was coming fast. I watched as his lifeless body lay there; no Nick left any more. I knew what I had to do.

  I ran.

  My eyes turned to the spot where Nick’s body was when I ran. When I ran like a coward. Luke’s eyes were concentrated on me and probably the spit that was coming out of my mouth. I kept my head straight and stared at the spot.

  There it is.

  The blood surrounded the area. It was everywhere. It was as if the leaves flew and wiped the blood across trees and bushes. A big gush of it surrounded a rock, dripping down from the peak of it. You could see a bloody handprint placed along the side of the rock. Luke’s attention shifted to where I was looking.

  “Oh my god,” he whispered. He stood up and started screaming. He took the flashlight and was waving it back and forth. “Help! We found—”

  I tuned him out; I was focused on the spot. The leaves were still covered in blood. The rock was splattered with it. I could hear Nick’s voice ringing in my ears, calling me a liar. Footsteps raced by me as I sat there stunned, staring ahead of me. Everything was the same; everything was still there.

  Except for Nick’s body.

  9

  Day Thirteen

  Waking up the next morning was nerve-racking. My head was buried with all these thoughts about the night before. I couldn’t figure out if they were real or not. My mind had been so messed up; there was no telling if it happened to me.

  Was Nick’s body not there?

  Is he really alive?

  Am I not a monster?

  I jumped out of bed and tried to remember what happened. I looked around for the new phone Dad got me. If I had the phone, then Nick could be alive. It’s a weird concept, but it’s true. If I had the phone, then I did go to the search party, and we didn’t find Nick’s body where it should’ve been. I threw my pillows off my bed, looking for the phone. It wasn’t there.

  I could feel my heart sink. The thoughts and voices came rushing back to me, overtaking my entire mind. The search party flashed in my head. It felt real; it had to be real. Luke calling out to the people in front of us. Seeing his blood everywhere.

  Please be real.

  There was knocking on my door. I looked to the door, waiting for someone to pop their head inside my room. The pounding repeated when I didn’t say anything. I walked over to the door to reveal Dad. He was leaning against the wall when I opened it.

  “Hey, kid, I’m about to head out for work. I wanted to check on you before I left,” he drawled. He tried to give me a warm smile, but it just turned into a smirk.
I don’t think he knows how to show emotion.

  “I’m okay,” I answered, truthfully for once. Before he left, I asked him about the phone. “Hey, have you seen the phone you got me yesterday?”

  Come on, Dad, please say you remember.

  “Kyle,” he scolded, “you lost it already?”

  Yes!

  I chuckled, hiding my relief. “No, I just forgot where I put it. I’ll find it.”

  This means that Nick is alive.

  I need to tell Marie.

  I quickly got dressed and raced for the door. I bumped into Mom on her way out. Her hair was all messy, and she was still buttoning up her blazer. She was whipping her head around, collecting items as she turned. She finally noticed me when she grabbed her bag and hit me in the head with it. I winced, grabbing the side of my temple.

  “Oh! Kyle! I’m so sorry, sweetie. I didn’t notice you there!” She turned me around and started checking my head. I pushed her away.

  “Mom, I’m fine. What’s wrong? Why are you in such a rush?”

  She groaned and started running her fingers through her hair, getting them stuck in knots. She forcefully kept combing through with her hand. “I was going to sleep in, but a big trauma case came in. It’s a little girl. I think she’s twelve. Her parents requested me.”

  I nodded and watched her run around for a little bit. She went and grabbed a coffee, banana, her bag. After a few minutes of getting things, she stood by the door. Her mouth moved, counting off the stuff she had. After a few seconds, she smiled, opening the door. I followed her to her car so I could ask if I could see Marie.

  She was shoving her mug into the cup holder when she answered me. “Yes, of course.”

  I thanked her then waved goodbye. I waited on the grass to watch her drive away. The wet grass stuck to my bare feet. The frigid air froze my toes. She pulled up right next to me and rolled down the window.