Run With The Wicked

Chapter 2: Noose

To my long time Wattpad friend @BarteeSA. Jokes master and editor :)

Unshakeable.

That was the only word that could describe the vision of the girl's limp, lifeless body hanging from the top of the old clock tower. Her hair slightly brushing in the breeze as the bird began to pick at her ashen skin. Her head was jerked at an awkward angle, chilling everyone who gazed to the bone.

I blinked my eyes free of the memory and shifted uncomfortably in my seat, under the intense gaze of the grief counsellor in front of me.

 I picked aimlessly at my fingernails, trying to think of something useful to say. The woman crossed her legs and scribbled notes down on her small pad of paper in observation.

"So, you seem quite shaken up about this whole thing." She stated, her voice even.

Personally I hadn't known a thing about the girl; to me she was another nameless face among a sea of many. Even though the girl's suicide shocked the school, my lack of communication with the student meant it felt like I was watching another news story of a roadway fatality.

It was only the image of the body found hanging ten meters above the main entrance that had well and truly scanned the event into my mind. It was definitely an image that would not go quietly.

After Reece's discovery of the body, the school flew into chaos. Mr Blunt had to keep the crowd of students behind the wooden entrance of the school while teachers flooded around the body, shielding its view from any students who managed to poke their head out. 

Dialling 911 in the process, teachers and students were both yelling at each other, as many students didn't know what was happening.

When emergency services finally arrived, the girl's body was cut free and had to be retrieved from the top of the tower, leaving only the noose hanging chillingly from the top needle of the building.

"I guess that's one word for it" I mumbled. 

The female counsellors face was lined with age, even though she had aged gracefully, her eyes and the worry lines imprinted onto her skin gave away how much she had seen. Her hair was in twisted tightly a coffee coloured knot; strands of her hair fell around her face as she concentrated at her notebook.

"How are you dealing with all this?" She paused, weary of her words. "I also heard your friend Reece had quite a shock as well. Would you care to tell me about that?"

I didn't know how to respond, so I just continued to look down at my hands as if had seen something interesting. I stared down, suddenly noticing the unusually large heels the woman was wearing. I knew that if I said I was by most accord unaffected, they would have labelled me crazy or in denial, neither of which I was.

"I'm fine." I said simply, fiddling with a stud in my left ear.

"I think Reece will be okay, I should go and see him though." I continued. 

She nodded once and passed me a piece of paper with the school initials printed on the front, indicating a date and time for me to return for a session. I left the room silently.

My mind became a tidal wave, and I couldn't help but replay the aftermath in my head.

It took nearly forty five minutes to get Reece off the pavement and into the front desk, where he was given sleeping pills to stall his shaking and whimpering.

Although I was surprised, the girl's suicide did not affect me nearly as much as it had affected Reece and the rest of the school. But the school insisted I see the counsellor, who specialised in mental trauma and symptoms consistent of that with PTSD.