Life Burns Faster | Eddie Munson

9

Faith ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She could hear Andy's heavy footsteps behind her. Faith looked to her left and realised she'd lost sight of the lake. Desperately looking around, she could barely see two steps in front of her in the darkness that shrouded the area.

She glanced back to see Andy inches away from her and gasped as she tripped over a log, falling flat on her face. Andy didn't stop himself in time and fell over onto her. Both of them groaned before looking at each other quickly and springing back into action.

"Get off of me!" Faith yelled as Andy grabbed her and pushed her back down, a knee on her back, crushing her spine. Her cheek lay against the cold earth and she tried not to eat mud as she took sharp breaths. "Please, Andy, get off!"

"What did you do to Patrick?" He shouted in a shaky voice.

"I didn't do anything, I swear, it has nothing to do with me or Eddie," Faith tried to explain but Andy didn't buy it.

"Don't lie for him, I know Chrissy was in that freak's trailer when she died!" Andy spat. "He did something to Patrick too. How did he do that?"

"I swear, Andy, it's not Eddie that's killing these people – trust me, what we're seeing is bigger than any of us."

Andy began to cry and placed a hand behind Faith's head.

"What are you doing?" He began pushing her face into the ground, hard. "Andy! Stop it!"

"Stop. Lying." He cried between sobs and Faith struggled to breathe underneath the immense weight he was forcing on her. "You did this. You and the freak did this."

Faith felt the energy drain from her as she struggled in Andy's grip less and less with every breath she tried to take. The unmistakable sound of a clock chime echoed through the forest and Faith opened her eyes, trying to look up. She fought against Andy to turn her head to the side so she was fully resting on her cheek. She caught sight of the same clock she had seen the last time, it cracked in the centre of the face but instead of spiders, a geyser of water gushed out, flooding the ground beneath it. Faith could've sworn she felt water hit her face but told herself it couldn't be real. Andy pushed harder and Faith let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Then, the pain stopped. It happened all at once. The ringing in Faith's ears was all-consuming as she sat up slowly, holding her head in her hands. The world spun once again, only getting faster, the trees around her becoming blurry. She looked at Andy. He had stood up and was staring at Faith, who was curled up on the floor helplessly.

"Get up," he said in a lifeless tone. She frowned. "Get up."

Faith struggled to stand as the world wouldn't stop moving. Her eyes struggled to stay fixed on one spot as her eyelids flickered. Andy turned his head and looked to his left. Faith followed his gaze and saw the trees had cleared, giving way to a serene lake. It looked almost ghostly, with light mist rising from the water and into the air. It wasn't Lover's Lake either, it was familiar though.

She walked towards it haltingly, stopping at the edge of the freezing cold water as it lapped at the ends of her shoes. There was a dredging sound and a body appeared from underwater to float on the surface. Faith gasped as she watched the body bob in the centre of the lake.

"Why didn't you save me, Faith?" The familiar voice of her father cut through the silence and she stepped back, catching sight of him only a few metres to her right side.

"N– no, you're– you–" she stuttered, her face contorting.

"Why didn't you save me, Faith?" He repeated, tilting his head joltingly.

Faith shook her head, tears filling her eyes. "I couldn't– I couldn't save you," she said, barely above a whisper.

"Tell me the truth, Faith," her father demanded, his eyes wide.

"You were dead when I got to you, you were gone!" Faith sobbed. "Go away, please!"

"Do not tell lies."

"You– you were too far away..." Faith tried but her father continued to stare her down. He lifted an arm up slowly towards the lake and let his hand writhe, as if carrying a weight. Faith looked back to the lake, blood was spreading across the water, emanating from the body in the centre. "No!"

"Faith," her father said. "Do not tell lies."

She continued to cry and fell to her knees in the water that turned to blood in front of her eyes. "I have to! Don't you see? I have to lie."

"You lie," Faith's father growled. "To everyone."

Faith wept where she sat, barely able to see her father anymore through the tears.

"You're dead!" She screamed. "YOU'RE DEAD!"

Her voice echoed through the trees and the world began to spin once again. Faith held her head in her hands as she watched the world go by at an alarming speed. Her father walked quickly towards her and a surge of fear travelled through her body.

"Leave me alone!"

"Where are you going, Faith?" He asked, but it wasn't his voice, it was a deep, terror inducing growl. A tentacle-covered hand that didn't belong to her father reached out to her and Faith screamed until the world went pitch black.

Faith bolted up and started choking from the massive inhalation of air she'd taken. Her breathing was uneven, quick and light. She felt as though she couldn't get enough air in her lungs no matter how hard she tried. Faith got up and saw the lake in the distance. She ran to it and splashed its cold water in her face. It seemed to help as she began breathing more steadily. She squinted her eyes as she looked out across the water, no sign of what she'd seen what only felt like a few moments before. She didn't know how long had passed but the night was finally over.

There was a commotion over at Reefer Rick's house and Faith spotted police cars and news crews parked up outside. She reacted quickly and ran back into the woods, careful not to be seen. It wasn't all too long before she heard trudging and nearby chatter only metres from her. She ducked behind a tree trunk and watched as police officers scoured the area.

"Looks like there was a struggle here," one of the officers pointed to where Faith and Andy had fallen down only hours earlier. The man planted a red flag into the ground and began to take photographs of the scene.

"Did you hear the chief? This girl's new in town and now she's been immediately linked to that Munson kid," the other officer asked. "Something seems up to me."

The other policeman shook his head. "Fell in with the wrong crowd."

"Headteacher said she already had attitude problems, so it doesn't seem like an awful leap to wonder if she might be the one motivating the Munson kid."

The exchange answered one worry in Faith's mind – she was now top of the town's wanted list, sharing the honour with Eddie.

She didn't even know if Eddie had made it out of Lover's Lake. Her chest hurt at the thought of Eddie, she felt a horrible sense of foreboding and it wasn't good. Faith couldn't go home, she'd have to go through the town and there was no way she was making it there.

She wondered to herself where Eddie would go. There was only one place that came to mind, but it wasn't a fond memory that was shared there.