Jake

"I want to go," I said. 

He didn't seem to hear me. 

"Jake, we have to go!" 

He looked over at me then, his eyes blank. His gaze made my skin crawl. 

"Okay, then. Let's go." 

2 

I couldn't sleep that night. Every time I closed my eyes I saw her. Twice during the night I had to rush to the bathroom to throw up. The next morning I sat at the breakfast table pushing my food around but not eating. I was tired, but I didn't think I'd ever sleep again. 

"Is everything all right, Jeremy?" my mother asked. 

"Yeah, everything's fine," I lied. 

Her eyes said she didn't believe me. 

"You look pale as a ghost. Maybe I should check your temperature." 

"No, I'm okay, Mom. Really." 

Later, at school, I couldn't concentrate. My weariness grew greater, and a little past ten o'clock I proved that I could indeed fall asleep again. My teacher woke me up with a shake. 

"Jeremy, what do you think you're doing?" 

"I'm sorry, Mister Gunderson. I didn't get any sleep last night." 

"No excuses. I have no tolerance for students who don't take class seriously. Go to the Principle's office." 

"But---" 

"No 'buts', just go." 

Giggles from my classmates. I left Room 236 and headed toward the front office. As I passed by the door to the boys' bathroom it opened and a hand reached out and grabbed me, pulling me in. It was Jake. I didn't wanted to see him, had even taken a different route to school to avoid him. The way he had stood there, looking at the body, had unnerved me. It occurred to me that something was very wrong with Jake. 

"How'ya doin' Jeremy? Where've you been?" 

"Uh, I've been around." 

"I didn't see you on the way to school today." 

"I woke up late, so I had to take a short cut." 

"Good. For a minute there I thought you were avoiding me." 

A small smile spread across his lips, and I wondered what exactly he found humorous about the situation. 

"I have to go see Kinney. What do you want?" 

"Kinney?" 

"Yeah, Mister Gunderson got pissed because I fell asleep in class." 

"Yeah, well, screw all that. We're ditching this craphole. I have something I want to show you." 

I didn't want to see it, I didn't ever want to see anything he had to show me ever again. 

"I really shouldn't ditch. I've already ditched twice and if I do it again my parents'll kill me." 

"Don't be such a pussy. Come on, you have to see it. 

Something in his eyes told me that he wasn't prepared to take no for an answer. For the second time I allowed Jake to show me what he'd found. 

3 

Some part of me already knew that he was taking me to see another dead body, but I was still in for a surprise. This time it was a kid; he looked about the same age as Jake and I. His body was in the woods, but not near the pond. Someone had covered his body with leaves and sticks.