Prologue
The moonlight acted as a spotlight, carving their faces out of the surrounding darkness. Heather sat in the middle, her shoulders pressed to her ears.
“We tell no one,” Carter said, his voice hoarse with his hands upon the steering wheel, the white of his knuckles protruding.
Heather looked up at the rearview mirror, Carter’s eyes peered back at her, “I mean it, Heather. No one.”
“I heard you,” she said.
The engine shut off as everything went quiet. The friends sat motionless, the smell of fresh pine inflated their noses. Carter pushed open his door, stepping out onto the grass. The mud was thick, it invaded every part of white that stuck to his shoes. The rest of the friends scooted out of the car, slowly.
“Right here, we make a pact,” Carter pointed to the ground.
“A pact?” Heather asked.
“Yes, Heather, a pact.”
Heather felt a tight grip around her hand. Wade, her boyfriend, had a tight hold around it. She glared into his eyes, almost as if she was awaiting his objection to the idea of a pact. He set his jaw and gave her a semi ‘it’ll be ok’ wink. Heather’s chest grew tighter as the realisation had just set in.
“We cant just walk away from this!” She said.
“Do you have any other suggestions?” Carter said, his voice echoed through the trees.
Heather’s palms grew sweaty, a pain began in her chest as her heart heated faster. The last thing she wanted to do was annoy Carter even more. He wasn’t the most sympathetic of people.
“We take this to our graves, agreed?” Carter asked, but the tone in his voice made it seem like more of a demand.
Sasha’s hair blew in the wind, goosebumps showing upon her body, “I’m cold.” She said.
“Then you should have brought a jacket.” Kiana said, her voice stern.
Carter scanned the circle, his eye laser focused on the rest of the group, “Agreed?” He asked again as it came out more serious this time.
“Agreed,” Kiana, Sasha, and Wade said in unison.
Carter fixated onto Heather, her eyes peering down at the mud, “Agreed?”
Heather drew her gaze to Carter and just for a moment, he looked vulnerable, scared, maybe even remorseful. “Yeah, agreed.”
