Winds Of The Apocalypse (8 page)

‘Did she do that?’ Morgan shook his head and again looked down at
himself. 'Must have forgotten to change them last night before I crashed.' He figured rubbing his head, yes, it was a very confusing morning.

'Crashed…That doesn’t sound good…Well; better go to the lunch room if I'm already awake. I'm not that hungry but maybe Casey is there…'

Morgan thought as he walked to the door, momentarily wandering why it was on the wrong side of the bedroom and then he walked out, leaving the closed door, closed as it was, untouched, without a single noise to indicate that someone had gone through it or even tried to open it at all.

“Morgan?” Casey woke up once again, lifting her head from the pillow, she could almost swear that someone was standing over her, someone was whispering over her head but then he walked away but when she looked around the room she saw that she w
as alone, she was sure of that.

 
“Casey…” Came the whisper from the door.

“Morgan?” Casey snapped her head at that direction but there was no one there by the closed door.

"Morgan…?" Casey looked at her brother's bed which hadn't been slept in, still made as the house keeping left it the day before; Morgan didn't come back last night.

"Something…Something is wrong…"

Casey whispered, realizing that her twin was in fact missing. “Din…” She jumped out of the bed and stumbled up to the door. “I have to find him.” She didn't know that after she left she was the one that was being searched for, searched by her grieving mother, bearing the most terrible news.

 
                                                                    ---

"What is going on here?"

Casey asked herself, quickly getting down the steps. She didn't even bother to put her make up on, the one thing no one but Morgan saw her without as she ran out of her room and down the stairs Morgan had fell from.

The blood that was there that morning had been already cleaned away so Casey still didn't know anything that could have tipped her off to her brother’s misfortune and last night’s events.

"Morgan!" She heard Toby shout her brother’s name as she entered the lunch room.

“Morgan?!
Where?” She asked, turning around and a second later she was caught by Colin and Toby in a tight embrace. 

"Good morning to you too…" Cas
ey squeaked, trying to breath. 

“
Ohh! Casey! It’s you!” Toby exclaimed. “We thought you were Morgan! Why don’t you have your make up on? If it wasn't for the hair…”

"You're ok!"

Colin interrupted Toby’s mumbling after they had let go of the poor disoriented kid.

Casey nodded slowly. "Yes…I'm fine…what's going on? Did you see Morgan? I need to talk to him, and Din, where are they?"

Colin shrugged, looking at Toby for support. "Well, we were kind of hoping you would tell us that." Toby said.

Casey blinked, looking even more confused. "Why would I know something? I just woke up and he wasn't there…"

Colin and Toby exchanged worried looks.

“Then it must have been Morgan.” Colin mo
uthed to Toby who sadly nodded.

“What?” Casey looked at them annoyed. “What is going on you guys? I demand to know! If it’s something about my brother…” Casey gulped. “Is he ok? Ple
ase…don’t tease me about this…”

"Well…"Colin started, looking at Toby; he did not want to be the one to say it, especially when they weren’t even sure that Morgan had been hurt.

"Well, when we woke up this morning there were bunch of cops and paramedics here and we thought that you already knew why…errm…” He bit his lip, expecting Toby to pick up.

"But why did you think I know something? Why me?" Casey asked again, irritated. “What would I have to do with the cops and the paramedics?! I told you! I just woke up!”

"But your mom was here with some man, probably your step dad...I think, and she was crying…she was talking to the cops and then there was this..."

Toby answered, refusing to call his friend ‘a body’.

Colin shook his head; he now seemed more confused than Casey was.

"She didn't…you didn't see her? Din went to talk to her…we thought she would go find you after that."

"I just woke up!" Casey snapped again more quietly, she had definitely enough of this.

"I didn't see anyone yet beside you two! Not my mom, not Din!” She got louder, her temper rising quickly with the weight of not knowing and the bad felling she was tormented by since the night before.

"I didn't SEE ANYONE! I DIDN'T EVEN SEE Morgan yet…"

Her voice died out.

"Morgan…"

Casey gasped, breathing in a little too fast, her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. "Where…Where is my brother?!" Casey suddenly looked terrified. "If mom's here…" She felt a great stone crush her heart. ‘That is why his bed was made, he didn't come back…He is never coming back…’ Her thoughts ran amok as her brother’s did earlier.

"Oh god…"

"No Casey! Don't think that! Please!" Colin and Toby eminently tried to calm their friend down. ”Casey! Please breath! Please, don’t think like that! We can’t have you fainting now!”

They brought her to a nearby chair; both remembered the only time she had reacted like that when they were around her. The first time she had a panic attack.

It was the day they turned eleven and they were allowed to go by themselves to play by the river in their hometown.

Morgan, being the clown that he was, laughed at Casey for not being brave enough to climb a big tree that shadowed the water and in his laughter he lost his grip and fell in, nearly drowning to death in the process.

Luckily, a group of older boys that were swimming nearby pulled him out and brought him to shore, but even after Morgan was safe out of the water and smiling at his twin Casey was having trouble breathing, she was practically hyperventilating.

"If anything happened to him…" Casey whined out, her lips going blue by her lack of breathing.

“Nothing happened, nothing happened, Casey, just please calm down…” Colin pleaded.     "Casey…”

"Casey!" Casey looked up to see Din run towards them.

”Casey! Oh my god! Thank god you're here!” He let out, halting in place, breathing out to calm his raising heartbeat.

"I was looking everywhere for you! Your mom is
searching for you like crazy."

Casey stared at her friend with hollow e
yes, ready for almost anything.

"What happened?" She asked in a low tone. “Is it Morgan? Is he hurt?”

"C'mon…" Din tried to pull her out of the sit but Casey refused to move.  

“No! Tell me now! What is going on?! Please!”

“Ca
sey.” Din looked into her eyes.

Those brown beautiful sad eyes th
at he was about to make sadder.

“Please just trust me and come with me, ok?” He ma
naged to pull her up and aside.

“Is it that bad?” Casey asked as they went to the door of the lunch room and Din leaned forward, half holding her as he quietly said something to her.

“What is he telling her?” Colin asked Toby who shrugged. “You think Morgan…”

“I hope not.”

"He is, isn’t he…?" The question remained hung in the air.

They watched as Din pulled back to say his final words and then Casey’s face got completely pale and a moment later Colin and Toby heard and saw Casey scream in horror, they were sure that even the neighbors on the other side of the lake near their school heard her.

"No!!! No!!! He didn't! You're wrong!!"

"Casey, please…I saw…"

“NO!!!NO YOU didn't! YOU ARE LYING!”

Din tried to calm
her but Casey pushed him away.             

“WHY?!WHY DID Y
OU HAVE TO DRAG HIM WITH YOU?!”

She screamed at Din who looked like he wanted to be buried alive rather than to stand ther
e in front of the enraged girl.

“Casey…please…I’m sorry…” Din tried to reach out to her but a ringing slap was heard throughout the now silent hall and Casey, with her hand still raised was staring at Din with furry.

"It's your entire fault!!! You shouldn't have dragged him with you! It's your entire fault!" She screamed again and again, her voice breaking under the heavy stone that crashed her heart. Casey began crying, screaming even louder but it wasn't enough to lift the pain she had felt.

Din made another attempt to hug her but Casey wouldn't let Din anywhere near her.

"Just stay away from me, YOU MURDERER!"

Casey screamed at him, crashing through the doors they were standing by.
 

“I never want to see you again! Ever!” They heard her scream and then she was gone, running to an unknown destination with Din watching the door as it closed behind her, his whole being eaten in morbid feelings of guilt.

Colin and Toby exchanged worried glances and then without saying a word they both hurried to Din who by then slid to the floor, he too, on the verge of crying.

"And what the hell was that?" Colin demanded, crouching next to Din with Toby standing above them, looking utterly disturbed. 

"It's Morgan…" Din whispered.

No one spoke, Colin and Toby waited for him to continue.

“I killed him."

Chapter four: Not so dead yet

“YOU DID WHAT?!” The eyes of those few students in the cafeteria that were not yet staring at them were now
trained on their little group.

“Please,” Colin breathed in slowly. “Tell me that you are joking!” Din shook his head miserably. ”DIN!” Colin grabbed him by the co
llar and shook him mercilessly.

“What do you mean KILLED HIM?! Tell
me that Morgan is still alive!”

“I…” Din sniffed, looking in Colin’s strong arms like a wrecked puppet. “He is but…I don’t know for how long…” Colin looked at Toby who crouched beside them.

“Din…you better start explaining.” He said in a low voice, this whole thing was getting way out of hand and he wanted to know exactly what was going on.

Din coughed and choked." Last night…" He managed. "After we separated to go to sleep…He…He…" Din felt the tears strangle him.

"He what?"
Toby asked quietly, encouraging him to go on.

“It was my entire fault, I wanted to race him, and I left him alone and…and…” He started sobbing. Both Colin and Toby felt ve
ry awkward by this development.

“Calm down.” Colin gritte
d his teeth. “What did you do?”

Din managed to take a
ragged deep breath.

"Is Morgan going to die?" Col
in asked, staring at the floor.

He covered his own mouth with his hand. 'Did those words really just rolled down his tongue and came out of his mouth??'

Din shook his head. “No…” He whispered. “I don’t….” He huffed, wiping his tear struck face with his sleeve. "I don't know, his mother just said that they took him to the hospital…the night guard found him lying in a pull of his own blood at four am…"

His voice died out. “Someone…something…” He couldn't go on.

They sat silent until Toby finally spoke, his voice barely a whisper.

"All that blood we saw…"

"Morgan's blood…"

Din nodded, looking completely distraught “He fell…” Din looked up at his friends.

"The cops don't think it was an accident either. His head…it was practically cracked open…Someone pushed him down those stairs. Someone pushed him by force…and Casey…" He choked again. "She thinks that I tried to kill him."

Din sobbed. "It's my entire fault. She is right…I wasn't there to stop it, he was alone, it’s like I did kill one of my best friends…I’m just as good as the killer, I’m no better than the monster who did it, Casey will hate me forever….She will never forgive me for this."

Toby breathed out, he wanted to make this all go away but he couldn't, he laid a hopefully assuring hand on Din's trembling shoulder.

"We don't know if he's dead, Din. Please don’t blame yourself. There was no way for you to know something like that would happen. No one knew no one is at fault but that beast that pushed him." He said, not knowing how accurate his description was.

Din shook his head.

"Me and my stupid ideas.
I should have never suggested going and checking the hag's age. That was so stupid, me and my brilliant plans…"

"So what is it?" Colin interrupted him, sounding as if nothing had happened and they were in the middle of an ordinary school day.

Din blinked in surprise. “What?”

“What is it?” Colin repeated.

"What's what?" Din asked his eyes dried out from crying.