Damnation (OLD AND DISCONTINUED, PLEASE READ NEWER VERSION)

CHAPTER 6

I lay on my bed, tossing a tennis ball in the air. I had walked back home after what happened at Duck Pond. The events of today played over and over in my mind. Did I really see Joseph chop that poor boy's head off? Did that really just happen? I held the ball in my hand and squeezed it. I had to tell Zack, but what would he say? From what he said, Zack and Joseph seemed to be really great friends. Would Zack even believe me? I sighed. I dropped the ball on the ground and stood up. I grabbed my hoodie off of my closet door and dashed out my room. Even if Zack wouldn't listen, I at least had to try.

I waited for Zack at Duck pond. The ducks seemed to be really active at the moment. I kept on checking my phone for any message. I texted him to come, so why wasn't he coming? I bit my lip. I hoped he wasn't with Joseph.

It took a long time before Zack showed up. I was swishing my hand in the water before I saw him. I shook my hand.

"Oh, hey Zack. Nice of you to come," I said. Zack furrowed his eyebrows as he sat down beside me. He sighed.

"Why did you want me to come here? Your text sounded urgent," Zack questioned. I stared off into the pond, pursing my lips.

"I need to talk to you about Joseph," I said. Zack raised his eyebrows. Then suddenly, as if he realized something, he smirked.

"Oh, I know. You're just jealous of how much time I've been spending with Joseph, but that's okay. I'm sure you can just hang out with Sandra or something like that," he sneered. I sighed and slapped my palm to my forehead.

"No, it's not like that. Look, today after school, I saw Joseph here in Duck Pond. He... chopped a guy's head off," I spoke. Zack's smile wavered. He chuckled weakly.

"I... don't know what you're talking about," Zack murmured. He turned to the pond. He had a sad look on his face. I sighed and gave him a weak smile.

"I guess Joseph isn't the guy you think he is. But don't feel sad. We can go to the movies or something and hang out, you know, like we used to. It'll be perfect, just the two of us," I pointed out. Zack sat up. He thought for a while before turning back to me. His eyes were maroon.

"Oh I see. You are jealous. You expect me to believe Joseph is some bad guy so I'd come crawling back to you?" Zack snarled. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"No, it's not like that. Zack, you don't understand-"

"Oh, I understand. I understand, all right. I don't appreciate what you're doing right now. Just stop it," he interjected. He was angry, but I could tell he was sad on the inside.

"But Zack. You need to know that―"
"JUST STOP!" Zack picked me up a bit and pushed me back. No matter how strong I was, I felt like a rag doll. Zack growled at me. I stood up.

"Zack, just please listen to me-"

"SHUT UP!" Zack turned into a wolf and pounced on me. I was frightened, seeing my best friend acting like this. Drool dripped from the beast's mouth onto my shoulders as it growled. It scratched at my face, marking my cheek. It took me a lot of effort to push the beast off of me. Once it stuck its landing, the beast ran away without letting me have another word. I almost left when something caught my eye. I crawled my way over to the object and picked it up. It was a voice recorder. Judging from how he left, Zack probably left it. On it, there was a piece of tape where someone, wrote, "Secret: DO NOT TOUCH". Disregarding what it said, I took it and stuffed it in my pocket. After dusting myself off, I left Duck Pond. At that moment, a female duck caught a tiny minnow swimming around in the pond. It was funny; that duck was more successful than I'd ever been.

I was so irritated with Zack that I hadn't realized I had punched holes into trees. I noticed when several squirrels ran away in fear. After seeing that, I plopped myself under the closest tree.