Page 40 of Apathy
“What? Oh, don’t give me that look,” I chastised.
“It’s not safe.”
“It never is safe in Winworth. Look around you, dear brother. This is the freakiest place in the northern part of the United States. Finding a dead body here is like buying street food in Thailand.”
“I don’t like this,” he argued. “I don’t want you hanging out at those creepy places.”
“How do you know about our creepy places?” I lifted an eyebrow. “Those are supposed to be secret.”
“Come on.” He started laughing. “The crypt, the old amusement park? I was your age once, and we didn’t exactly hang out at the coffee shop down the street.”
He did have a point. There were only so many places in Winworth where a bunch of teenagers could hide. We preferred the old amusement park on the clearing that was overlooking the East Side, but it was too far away from the school, and the crypt was easier to go to when school was on.
“Well,” I opened the door, “I’ll be careful. I’ll see you later, okay?”
“All right.” He huffed, obviously unhappy with me, but I didn’t want to live my life in fear. I was scared, of course I was, but whoever killed Megan most probably already left town.
“I love you, Dylan,” I yelled as I exited the car.
“I love you, too,” he answered. “Be careful!”
“Always, Dy. Always.” I smiled and closed the door, turning to the school.
God, I fucking hated this period between the summer and the winter. Winworth had only two seasons—extremely warm summer, and freezing winter. We loved taking trips to Emercroft Lake during the summer, escaping for a day or two, and it wasn’t too far away. But winters here… Don’t get me fucking started.
If it wasn’t raining during October and November, it would be freezing cold. And December was just one big nope for me, with its foggy days and excessive amounts of snow. I had a friend in California who always moaned about wanting to live in a place with a proper winter, but he didn’t know that those pretty commercials for Christmas were nothing like reality. Snow looked pretty at first, but then it usually became mixed with mud and water, and the next thing you knew, it was just shitty.
With hurried steps, I crossed over the parking lot, hearing the rumble of Dylan’s car fade, leaving me all alone. Fucking crows were visible in the sky, flying low above the school. No wonder they chose them to be the official mascot of the school and the entire town. I had a feeling that they were always here, always croaking, always bringing this sinister feeling with them.
I pulled my phone out, checking the time, only to see an unopened message from an unknown number.
Huh?
The sliding door opened in front of me while I unlocked the phone, seeing the number on the screen for the first time in my life. I clicked the icon for my messages, going directly for the newest one.
Unknown: Did you like my little gift?
I passed by the lockers, heading directly toward mine at the other end of the hallway.
Me: Who is this?
I wrote as I stopped in front of my locker, near the biology classroom. I dropped my bag on the floor and turned to the locker, entering the combination on the lock. My phone vibrated again.
Unknown: Your beginning.
What the fuck?
Unknown: And your end.
Me: No, seriously. Who is this? If this is some weird prank, just stop wasting my time.
I placed my phone back into my pocket.
The lock opened with a click, and I picked my bag up, taking the notebook I would need for trigonometry. The bell started ringing, indicating the end of the period, as my phone started vibrating in my pocket again. I pulled it out, not expecting more messages from the unknown number.
Unknown: You still didn’t tell me if you liked my gift.
The message was followed by a picture. A picture I never wanted to see again. A picture of a face that kept haunting me over and over again since yesterday.
