CREATIVE CHAOTIC MINDS

𝟎𝟕. 𝐀 𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐔𝐄, 𝐀 𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐔𝐄, 𝐖𝐄 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍

The rain still had not released its grasp on the small town when Quinn trudged up to school the next day, a droplet slipping down the slope of their nose as they entered through the main double doors (on time, today). It was freezing, wet, and a wind had begun to pick up, sweeping up plastic bags and turning umbrellas inside-out. They shrugged off the chill that ran down their spine and headed inside, the cold still creeping up behind them, but falling behind the further they went. By the time they reached the form room, it was only sub-optimal temperature. The school clearly wasn't so quick to turn on the heating.

"Come on, come on, don't sit down," Mr Eedlewoods urged the students pouring in, waving his hands towards the door. "It's assembly day. Head down to the hall."
Quinn bit their tongue at the fact that they'd had to drag themselves up that seemingly endless flight of stairs only to have to toss themselves back down. None of the other students seemed happy about it either. Quinn looked around, but none of their friends from yesterday could be seen, so they simply assumed they were aware of the assembly and rushed down to go find them.
The students were piling into the hall by the time they got there, looking like rows of zombies.

Their phone vibrated in their pocket as they joined the queue into the hall, and discretely (meaning they suspiciously turned to face the wall and opened their blazer like someone selling drugs out of their pockets) checked their notifications, seeing a rather urgent-sounding text right at the top.
MIST LAKE IN 5 MINUTES, THERE'S BEEN AN INCIDENT.
They stared at the message, puzzled.
Quinn had a bad feeling about this, and began to feel cold.
How would they get out of assembly, even if they did want to go? And- Oh. The fire alarm began to ring, and everyone scattered from the forming line in the hall, pushing out towards the nearest fire exit. They bit their lip nervously again, and tried to evade catching eye contact with anyone as they slipped out the opposite exit, the one Vinnie had told them lead out towards the forest and mist lake. The wind had died down and the rain was the odd drop and drizzle: hopefully this wouldn't take long enough for the weather to worsen again.

They gently closed the door, making sure it made no noise and, just as they were about to turn around, the soft snap of a branch was heard. Instinctively they spun around, raising fists in defence.

"Hey, hey! It's just me!" Echo squawked, eyes wide. Amethyst was just behind her, an amused smile playing on her lips.

"What are you guys doing here?" Quinn asked, relaxing instantly.

"We both got this weird text — what about you?" Echo replied.

"Me too.." They held up their phone, and the other two both read it and nodded, grim expressions on their faces.

"Let's go then, I guess," Amethyst suggested, and the three picked their way through the damp woods, trees sparse at first, but the further they strayed from the modern reach of school the thicker the foliage got. They had to watch their steps as tendrils of roots and stems crept underfoot, threatening a nasty fall.

As they neared the lake, Echo held up a hand, signalling for them to stop. They watched her expression, curiously. She seemed to be focusing on something neither Quinn or Amethyst could pick up on.

"There's people talking, out by the lake," Echo explained.

Amethyst tensed. "Can you hear what they're saying?"

"Can't make out clear words, but sounds distressed," Echo reported, and began to walk again.

"Shouldn't we, like, wait?" Quinn burst out, a little louder than they'd hoped. Echo and Amethyst blinked at them. "I mean, in case they're going to attack us. I don't know."

Echo shrugged. "They sound our age."

Despite their intuition practically begging them to turn around and absolutely leg it back to school, Quinn followed the pair as they approached the lake, only about 30 metres ahead now. They could just about make out three figures, stood at the edge of the lake, the silver body of water stretching out for what seemed like miles behind them, lapping periodically at the pebbled land.

The three figures must've heard them approaching, and swivelled around to watch. Raven, Vinnie and Aura came into full view, no longer silhouettes.

"What are you doing here?" Raven choked out, sharing irritated looks with Vinnie and Aura.
Quinn frowned, then looked to see Echo and Amethyst looking equally annoyed.

"We got texts telling us to come, you egg," Echo grumbled, reluctantly showing them her phone.

"I'd watch who you're calling an "egg", if I were you," Aura snapped back, blue eyes glistening with a wild madness, as she ominously tapped something in her pocket. This seemed to make sense to Echo, but definitely left Quinn confused. "Do I make myself clear, halfwit?"

Vinnie's eyes narrowed in thought, pushing her glasses up her nose.

"Hm. There must be a reason why us of all people have been asked out here," she commented, her voice suggesting there was something else within the words. What that was, Quinn couldn't decipher, but everyone else seemed to get the message.

"Not Quinn though," Aura nodded at them, tilting her head slightly, the dark side of her hair tumbling down her shoulder as she eyed them. Quinn felt like a specimen on a microscope slide under her sharp gaze.

"True," Amethyst murmured. "But why exactly are we here, anyway?"

Just then, Raven's jaw dropped, a trembling gasp catching in their throat. Everyone turned to catch a glimpse of what they'd seen — and immediately wished they hadn't.

Scarcely concealed behind a broad tree trunk, a body lay. skin pale, almost blue in colour, eyes open and upturned to the sky; empty and devoid of life.

Quinn's heart dropped.

"Oh SHIT," Echo yelped, almost tripping on her own boots as she stumbled to get as far as possible from the corpse. Corpse. There was no nicer way to put it.

"Saints above..." Aura whispered, breath caught in her throat. Her eyes had lost their riled glisten, and were now transfixed on the body.

Amethyst sat on the pebbled ground, silent, eyes cast to the ground. horrified beyond expression.

"We're fucked," Vinnie half-laughed, half-cried.

And fucked they were.