The Storm After The Calm

Marcus sat on one of the rocks building up the cliff, watching the slow sunset. He had liked this place even before junior high. It was where he used to have his quiet time whenever he needed to get  away from Middlewood's shenanigans. The cliff had become his private sanctuary; where he enjoyed a peace of mind as he gazed over the calm waters of Lake Boswell while admiring the sunset over Wall Forest. The sight was as beautiful as it was as rare, and its discovery by him and Jeff had provided one of the best days of his life.

Marcus was still in a state of trance when his three friends arrived. The route to the cliff consisted of passing through a thicket of bushes and overwhelming grass which resulted in blackjack flowers sticking to their trousers. They were finally happy when they made it, and joined Marcus as the night started setting in.

"Seems like Middlewood has found its own Sherlock Holmes," Jeff began. The others chuckled as they sat on the rocks just beside Marcus.

"Shut up Jeff. It was only by luck and that man's stupidity that we were able to find out who killed Sheila," Marcus answered. They each silently stared beyond the waters and into the forest, each concentrated in their own thoughts.

"What do you think lies inside that forest?" Marcus asked randomly. Only few in Middlewood had been inside that forest, but they had only explored it through the nature trails developed for hikes by the National Forest Service. Myths only spread around about what was in the thick expansive forest, but otherwise its contents had remained secret for years.

"Wolves, blood-sucking vampires," Luis guessed.

"You wish," Michelle joked. They all broke into laughter, enjoying the company they had.

"Did the woman from Child Services come?" Marcus asked after the laughter died down.

"Oh Marcus it was lucky that you had left. That woman is one nasty thing. She started ranting about how we were so careless to let a child slip and even threatened William with closing down the school. If it were not for Michelle I'd have given her a piece of my mind," Jeff replied sourly. He recalled how the woman marched in, armed with a straight face enough to give a child cardiac arrest and demanded to know where Marcus was.

"Well it's great Michelle had saved you from giving her a piece of your mind because I'm not sure whether you would have any of it left at all," Marcus joked, causing Jeff to pout his face ad Michelle and Luis broke into laughter once more.

"Fuck you Marcus!" Jeff remarked in between the gags. They finally calmed down, and went back to their state of silence.

"Why did you call us here Marcus?" Michelle finally got straight to the point.

"Oh! Right. I wanted to show you guys something," Marcus replied as he stood up. He took his left hand into his pocket and brought something out.

The other three gaped as they watched Marcus hang the Dragon Pearl Necklace from his hand. It was as beautiful as they were told— precious pearls along the necklace, with a dragon pendant made of glistening Blue Diamond hanging in the middle. One word could simply describe the necklace; breathtaking.

"You mean that this is the thing that has caused so much trouble?!" Jeff exclaimed. Marcus nodded and smiled at them, proud of his achievement.

"You were the one who took it from Calvin. No wonder he thought someone had stolen it," Michelle explained.

"Yeah. I managed to slip it into my pocket as they searched for it in his suitcase. Thank God for these sneaky little hands.

"So what are you going to do with it?" Luis asked what was on everyone's minds. Marcus kept quiet for a long time, finally shrugging in the end.

"Honestly speaking, I don't know. Let us hope that it's not as cursed as William and your grandmother said," Marcus answered. They were still gaping at its beauty when a sound from behind them diverted their attention.

The happiness on the children's faces quickly turned into fright as they watched Stewart walk into the clearing. He had lost a considerable amount of weight, definitely more than Marcus. He looked beaten up, and his red eyes confirmed that he had failed to get enough sleep for a number of days. What was scarier was that he was holding a gun, which he appeared ready to use at any moment. The four kids quickly huddled together, each suddenly expecting the worst. Stewart staggered over to them until he was close enough but not too close.

"Son, I don't want any trouble with you. Just hand me the necklace and I'll be out of my way," he said, his tone deep and dangerous. Marcus could literally feel his heart thumping against his chest, but he knew he had to stand up against his father. That wretched man didn't deserve anything, let alone the necklace. He broke off from his friends and approached his father, his eyes suddenly full of contempt.

"You come into town, introduce yourself back to us like some prodigal son, only for you to come and betray me like that. Who do you think you are?!" Marcus yelled out, tears flowing out of his eyes. No amount of tears could explain the betrayal his father had just done to him. He found himself wishing that he had a gun so that he could run a bullet through his head.

"I swear Marcus. That was not my intention. I wanted to get back to your life. I wanted us to become a family once again," Stewart tried explaining himself.

"Instead you ended up getting my mother killed," Marcus went off at him. "And now I have no family left because my father is a lying prick and a wolf in disguise."

"Marcus it isn't like that. You know I didn't kill your mother, she died in an accident," Stewart answered him. He felt that it was unfair Marcus was blaming him for his mother's death.

"Tell me something Stewart," Marcus went back to referring him by his name. "Did you know who killed Sheila."

His father eyed him earnestly.

"No, I didn't. My only objective was finding the necklace. Please, I need that necklace. It is important for whatever is going to happen to Middlewood in the next few years," Stewart tried negotiating with him.

Marcus scoffed.

"This?" he pointed to the necklace. "This is what was most important to you?"

He shook his head at him.

"Well too bad. I don't know what happened to it after it was thrown into Lake Boswell."

"Wait, what do you— NOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Stewart stared in complete shock as Marcus ran to the edge of the cliff, swung his hand so hard and released the necklace, sending it flying into the water. It disappeared below the surface, marking it lost.

Stewart cried out in horror as his ultimate goal went down into the water, as good as nonexistent. The Shadow's sole mission had gone down the drain, just like that, in the hands of a teenager who felt wronged by his villainous father.

Marcus glared at his father in satisfaction. Throwing the necklace had returned to him a sense of calm, seeing that he avenged his father for what he did. His friends just stared at him in utter shock, knowing that whatever Marcus had caused, there was no going back from it.

Suddenly a gun sounded, and the five jumped in alert, scared to death. Their expressions slowly horrified as they realised that one of them was wheezing. Four of those faces turned to one as they realised that he had been shot.

Marcus took his hand to his abdomen, and he cried out as he realised that blood was gushing out of him. His head slowly went down to the gunshot wound and up back to his friends, struggling to catch his breath. Before any of them realised, he had lost his composure, and even before Luis had reached where he was, he had fallen over the cliff, heading for the water.

Jeff stood stagnated to the ground hyperventilating. His head slowly turned to the one man holding a gun amongst them— Stewart.

"What have you done?" he growled at him, his chest heaving. Stewart looked back at him, his face a mixture of confusion and pain.

"But... but... I didn't pull the trigger. I was right here with you! I didn't...." Stewart tried to explain, but his explanation wasn't worthy to a boy whose loss had clouded his judgement. Jeff sprang at him and landed him a single blow enough to knock him out, pure anger fuelling it.

Jeff turned to Michelle and Luis and together they ran to where Marcus had stood. They gazed over the cliff and in their desperation tried to yell out Marcus' name, hoping that the boy who had fallen into the water would hear them and come floating to the surface.

But the waters where he had dropped in were calm again, nothing to show for his fall except for patches of red which were dissolving into the lake, the sound of police sirens drowning out the children's yells.