"Okay...Okay, breathe"Craig tried telling himself, but the panic was too much for him. His legs shook so much he almost fell into the hole himself, "What is this...? D-Did Jason kill someone...?".
Craig looked down at the dead woman one more time, he analyzed her features from her unwashed and thinning blonde hair and rotting flesh. Suddenly, it came back to him...That woman, the woman lying dead in there was...
The sound of a whistle screamed behind him followed by angry panting.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"Jason screamed, his voice cracking everywhere until it chipped and shattered before him. Craig quickly spun around and saw Jason at the sliding door, his legs shook, face pale, eyes full of shock until the sight crashed down on him and he was filled with rage. "J-Jason, please I can explain but I think you should really-"Craig tried speaking as his voice shook with fear, but Jason wasn't having it.
Jason's teeth clenched and his hands were rounded into fists, he grabbed his frog water gun that was sitting against the purple kiddie pool next to the sliding door drowning the mini toy soldiers. "That's it! You're gonna get soaked!".
All Craig could think to do was run, and that's what he did. He started running and running from Jason, it wasn't as if he had an actual gun but Craig ran like he did anyways.
Soon Craig ran so much he found himself at the creek, he panted and looking up. A treehouse...This wasn't any tree house, but the unstable tree fort. "I'm gonna soak your butt!".
Shit, Craig ran up the treehouse. His fingers digging into the ladder that was helping him climb up. He caught his breath at the top and looked around at the treehouse, he panted and his mind forced itself to flash to the sight of the blonde woman there. Her rotting flesh, her messed up blonde hair and the large gash from the forehead, to temple and finishing on her cheek. Wait, was that a maggot he saw eating her skin?
The memory was too much and he threw up.
Jason searched some more looking around frantically, his eyes searched for Craig as his anger bubbled and exploded like a volcano ready to erupt. "Where is he?!"Jason groaned picking up the pace while looking everywhere he could, soon, his feet took him to the front of a treehouse. If he knew who owned this treehouse he'd write them up for it, but then, from up above in the top of the treehouse he heard gagging and vomit falling from the top. "Got you now..."Jason cletched his water gun avoiding looking at what lend him to finding Craig.
He felt sick, his stomach was empty now but it was useless to Craig to bury the mental image. Maybe he could stay here for a bit, away from...That. "Aha!"Craig heard Jason climb himself up the ladder and on the top of the tree house, shit. Craig let out a shrill scream and started running the opposite direction from Jason, around around, on the wooden top of the treehouse.
"Come back here, stand still! I can't squirt you when you're moving!"Jason shouted chasing after Craig, fuelling himself with his own anger. "Jason, stop! I'm sorry I didn't know...She was buried there! I just wanted to know how the ancient kids of the creek were fighting each other!"Craig pleaded in a vain attempt at mercy "Well maybe some jerk kid showed up at some lonely kid's house like he wanted to play, but really he just wanted to go grave robbing!"Jason said, his breath tense and tears almost in his eyes. His anger blocked his senses and his foot stepped on a loose wood board and he fell through.
His anger was replaced by panic the moment he kept himself fall, he held onto the stable boards he walked on. Soon, Craig met the same fate.
Craig held tightly on the wooden boards looking around frantically for a way of landing, as he looked around his ears let the sound of Jason's whistle pass. "Help! Help! Oh who am I kidding?! Whistles can't save me now!"Jason's, Craig could guess, sobs made Craig surprised he understood him. He looked back at the ladder and got an idea "Jason, when I give the signal I'm gonna need you to jump!".
Jason sniffed but then he was snapped out of it once Craig proposed his idea "What?!". There was no time to think, Craig jumped on the ladder and his weight broke the other wooden boards. The boarder broke one by one and the ladder swung around to Jason "Now!"Craig screamed reaching his hand out for Jason's hand and braced himself for the landing, Craig tightly closed his eyes as the ladder spun and broke, but those tightly shut eyes made him remember what made him vomit eariler.
The mental image made Craig shoot his eyes back out just when he and Jason landed on soft ground. Craig slowly got his white shoes on the green grass but Jason didn't wait a second to jump down from the ladder almost kicking Craig in the head on the ladder, but his anger blocked his intentions and he was already kicking the ground and screaming. "Ugh! I told you, I told you and your friends you couldn't come in my backyard! But nooo! You just had to go behind my back and ruin my own mom's grave?! You hate me! You hate me, you hate me, you hate me, you hate me! I get it, I understand, was ruining the rhododendron I put my blood, sweat and tears to take care of even those my dad would nag and me to 'Stop being a little sissy' But I didn't see him put a single flower on the grave he claimed to have worked so hard on!"Jason screamed and ranted, his lispy voice cracking and breaking with sobs and heavy breaths.
Craig stood there shocked, oh, oh now he had done it. He had crossed the line, he had always thought his past rudeness towards Jason was no big deal or atleast that was what Kelsey said...He needed to make this right, tell him it will be okay and that he had no idea his mother was down there dead. Craig took a few steps towards Jason, whose teeth were gritted, fists securely clenched, messed up blond hair running down his face bearing a crestfallen expression.
When he saw Craig walking towards him his anger spewed out him and he picked up the water gun he had dropped when his foot fell through that wooden board "No! Stay away!".
Jason screams set Craig back a foot, before he knew it Jason was squirting his water gun everywhere. You wouldn't even tell if he had a goal of where he wanted to wet, Craig wasn't upset with he was soaked and dripping with water from his curly black hair to his socks wet and soggy. He let the discomfort sink in, he had deserved this, right? Craig held in his nonexistant protesting to look up at Craig who was fell to his knees to hang his head low using his hands to cover the back of his head and the water gun sitting next to him.
Craig launched his second attempt to walk towards Jason. Jason didn't look up as the only sound from the scene were Jason's loud sobs and Craig's foot steps. When Jason looked up he saw Craig sitting next to him soaking wet, unlike before, all Jason did was sniff and he slowly got up to sit like Craig. The cry helped a lot as the sun dried his tears, Craig turned his head to Jason who still refused to look at him. His running nose and dried tears made Jason uneasy, Craig did not blame him.
Craig, staring off into the shining river in front of them spoke "I'm sorry Jason, but please believe me when I say, I had no idea she was there. I wanted to get the vault I thought was down there with the notebooks. I wanted answers to the capture the flag war, I wanted the vault, I wanted the notebooks, I didn't want to hurt you or anyone. But I did...Jason, I messed up bad, I'm sorry for being so mean to you Jason, I'm sorry for lying to you about the ice cream, I'm sorry for saying no one cared about your whistles that I was too blind to see meant so much to you and I'm sorry for ruining the grave below the flowers...".
Jason let the heartfelt apology sink in, he blinked away tears pricking his eyes and threatening to run down again "I-...I don't know if I forgive you, or at least right now...I did work really hard to plant those flowers, theres no way you could have known she was down there...I know you didn't mean to ruin the grave"Jason sighed wiping the dried tears. Craig smiled once more, "Well, if you don't mind me asking, how did she die? Did you want her to always be with you so your dad buried her in your backyard?".
Jason didn't mind, instead a peck of happiness shined that Craig was slowly starting to care "I don't mind you asking, really...Well, it happened when I was 7, I had gone on this camping trip with the fellow scouts but when the trip was over and I had to head home, I didn't want to go home. So I went straight to the creek with Tony and Boris. When I finally came home I was expecting her to be in her room or making me dinner and my dad came home late as usual. But no, my dad was home early and my mom wasn't anywhere to be seen, he didn't sit me down to put it easily for me he didn't even try to say everything will be okay. He just bluntly said while I was away she was crossing the street and a trunk hit her blah blah...Dragged her by the arms to the backyard, they dug that hole and buried her raw just like that. He didn't care that I was crying in the backyard by a rock for half n' hour, he just blabbered to his coworker over the phone with the photo of her facing down on his work desk. Soon Eleanor showed up, my step mom I mean..."Jason sighed.
Craig hung on every word of Jason, Craig almost threw up again knowing the story. But he wasn't sick of the tableau, he was sick of himself.