Goodbye

Zria began making her way towards Zach's house. She wanted to tell them everything that happened today. The terrible teachings that they missed out on, what May said, and how Celeste stopped talking to her. Zria's mind was then cut off by the sight of a leaf falling to the ground.

"It's fall already," Zria muttered as she looked at the coffee shop, where her and Zach's mom introduced them. They were both working in the same field when they decided that both of their kids should have a playdate. Zria remembers the way she hid behind her mother because she was once afraid of getting cooties.

"Go on now," Zria's mom nudged her closer to the kid. The kid wore a blue cap with a blue shirt to match, and was complemented by yellow shorts. "Go say hi to him." Zria remembers when mom actually liked Zach, but when they came out, she became more distant, causing her and Zach's mom to become eerie around each other. She stepped up to the kid. Their eyes were beautiful, Sepia, and his hair was a dark brown.

"Hey." The kid held out his hand for her to shake. She did so, but not without hesitation. She didn't talk much to them for a while. For the majority, their relationship was a one-sided friendship. Zach talked, while Zria listened. It wasn't that much later before she was introduced to Zach's twin brother, Zay.

"Hey!" Zria turned around. She didn't know what came over her. A random memory like that was out of nowhere. It was hard for her to get a hold of herself, eventually she realized that Celeste was heading in the same direction. "Zria, are you okay? I was calling your name for a while." Celeste's worry made Zria feel a little at ease knowing that she wasn't the crazy one. To make travel easier she handed Celeste one of the grocery bags.

"I'm fine," Zria smiled. She didn't know how she felt, but she smiled. She was worried. Worried about their friendship. Not just with Zach, but with Celeste too. Zria didn't want anything to come between any of her friends. She had already lost her connection with her mother. She refused to lose another. "Come on. Let's go check on Zach." Initially Zria became confused on how she knew where Zach lived, but eventually she just concluded that they may have told her.

"So," Celeste muttered. Zria knew what she was gonna ask, but instead let her finish her question. "We haven't talked in a while huh?"

"Because you kept avoiding me?" Zria snapped back. She could tell that Celeste wanted to reply, but didn't do so. It wasn't long before they both arrived at Zach's house. Zria took a deep breath. Why did I feel this way? She thought as she stepped up to her friend's door. But a certain note caught her eye.

9/17/21

Went out to the store

Jennifer Damn

Zria sighed. Of course Zach's mother was at the store right now. She begins to turn around to head home.

"Wait, why are we-," Celeste takes her time to read the note. Zria, expecting the other to follow her down the road was shocked to see Celeste easily open the door and walk in.

"Celeste," Zria began to panic at the girl's actions. She repeated to whisper her name to see how far she was. "Celeste! What are you doing?" Zria's heart kept pulsating. Was this girl crazy? Or did she want a death wish? Zria's mind came to a halt when she heard rustling in the bushes. She didn't want to even be seen around her at this time so she scurried on in after Celeste.

"It's about time," Celeste rolled her eyes, oblivious to how dangerous it was. "I have been calling you since forever." Was Zria scared, no. scared didn't even come close to what she was feeling. She felt terrified, and full of rage. How could she break into her best friend's house? Who was she, a criminal now?

"Whatever," Zria grabbed the other's arm and began to take her back through the door. Then she stopped.

"What's wrong?" Celeste looked at Zria with confusion.

"This house."

"This house, what."

"This house is quiet. That's not normal." Zria's eyes began to wander around the living room. Ever since she was a child visiting her was always noisy, in a comforting way. Either the dog barked loudly up and down the halls, or Zach's younger sister would cry her life away.

"Then let's go check it out," Celeste began to grab on to Zria and led her upstairs. Zria wanted to protest. She should protest, but nothing would come out. What if someone is hurt? Each step made an even deeper hole into Zria's heart.

"Okay, you can let go of me now." Zria seethed. She wanted to go home, to be anywhere, but here. This wasn't some type of movie where you could just play with whatever you want.

"ZACH!" Celeste's voice echoed through the halls; however, no one answered. Zria's stomach started to sink even further. What is going on? Zria then took the lead on the way to Zach's room. She made sure to walk carefully in case their dog, Dandelion, wouldn't come barking. Why? Zria began to feel sick, but I didn't matter. She was at the door. The door of Zach's room.

"Zach?" Zria muttered as she creaked open the door. She looked around the room. The blue curtain hung on the window, as normal. The wallpaper still layers the walls with Columbine and Lily of the Nile that danced up and down the walls.

"Huh," Celeste looks around the room. "I guess no one's home." Zria smiled. She was so thankful she didn't have to deal with anything right now.

"Great," Zria turned her back to go. She was fed up with all this creepy non-sense. "Now we can go-" A terrible stench attacked her nose. The pungent smell of rotten fruit or rotten meat was more accurate. Zria ignored it. Nothing was going to get in the way of her leaving this place.

"Zria," Celeste began to try and level with her, but nothing was going to work. She wanted out. "I know you smell that Z. It's coming from the closet." Celeste began to wiggle her way out of the other grasp. Succeeding, she made her way to the closet and before any warning ripped open the door.

The sight that befell the two. They both wish they could forget, but they couldn't. No matter what happened they could never be able to wipe away what happened.

"Zria."

"Yeah?"

"What is that?"

"It's Dandelion," Zria began to gag a little. The blood from the huge gash that ran from the eye to the throat. The dog's tongue lay flat, as if she was taking a nice little drink. "It's Zach's dog." The memory of Zach getting his new dog was imprinted into her mind. The way they smiled when putting on the collar. The way Zach was so excited to take them out for a walk. Zria felt a nudge on her arm. She turned around to see Celeste pointing to the bathroom, as she began to back up from the door.

"Z...z" Celeste couldn't stop stammering. Zria was confused. What was she going on about? Zria began to take a step towards the bathroom. Fear overcame her as she finally saw what Celeste was talking about.

What they saw was the body of Zachery Damn. Their body hung several feet off the ground. Multiple knife marks began from their neck to chest. Blood covered the mirror and bathtub. His blood was used to spell out the words.

You are a he!

Zria couldn't believe her eyes. Who did this? Why? They didn't do anything wrong.

"Hey." Zria jumped by the sound of Celeste's voice. Zria wanted nothing more than to get to a safe place and call the cops.

"We need to go." Zria walked down the stairs of the house, carefully making sure she did touch anything. She didn't want to get incriminated. I shouldn't have ever come here. Zria grabbed the bag of groceries that was left on the floor and began to walk out of the house. She then heard the sound. Coins? No, why would she hear coins? KEYS! Those were the sounds of keys she heard. Both the girls began to panic as they ran to go out the back door. Why did Zach's mom have to come home now? They both began to run toward the back porch. They quietly made sure to close the door. In case anything else happens.

"There," Zria looked to see Celeste pointing at the fence. "We can climb over that." Zria panicked. This was all her fault anyways. Why was more breaking and entering a part of her solution? Zria pushed the other hand down.

"Maybe," Zria started. She was angry. Angry about all the things Celeste put her through. They should have just left after seeing the note. "If I had a more responsible friend, we wouldn't be in a situation like this." Zria knew that they needed to run, but she wanted to get her anger out right now. Both of their squandering was out voiced by the sound of Jennifer's screams.

"We should go!" Zria nodded to the other girl's suggestion as they both proceeded to hop the fence.

"Oh," Both girls' voices stammered at the sight of Zach's next door neighbor, watering their flowers. Zria smiled. They saw each other all the time, so explaining why they were there was easy.

"I'm so sorry," Zria tried to ease the situation as she could sense the tension from Celeste and the old geezer. "We were just playing hide and seek and decided to jump over the fence. It's just a simple mistake." This lie caused a smile to appear on the woman's face.

"Well, if that's all, I would like it if you could leave." Both girls nodded as they opened their gate and walked out. Wanting to do anything, but stay.