ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ M A S T E R P I E C E
➥ chapter FOUR
| a dark turn of events |
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"OH MY GOD, JAYMES! I can't believe this is your first time going to the Harvest Festival!" Enid squealed loudly, clinging onto Jaymes' arm as they walked towards the carnival, surrounded by other Nevermore students.

"Obviously it's her first, Enid." Yoko, one of Enid's friends who had tagged along, spoke up. "She just moved here."

"I know, it's just...it's so exciting!" Enid gushed. "I love doing things that I've done a million times with someone who never has, it makes me feel like it's my first time all over again!"

Jaymes laughed at Enid's excitement. "Well, I didn't have much of a choice to come or not anyways. You paid for my ticket and then dragged me out of my dorm."

"You need to stop sulking around in your dorm every night." Enid clicked her tongue, waving off the accusations. "Don't you get bored? Or lonely?"

"Not really, no." Jaymes shook her head, her high ponytail bouncing with the motion.

Enid pouted, earning a sharp laugh from Yoko. "Not all of us are bubbly, outgoing, rays of sunshine like you, E."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment." Enid ended the conversation with a big smile as the group stepped up to the ticket booth.

Once inside the festival, Jaymes let her eyes wander all around the setup, taking in all the colorful lights and flashy rides.

"We totally have to ride every-" Something grabbed Enid's attention, making her freeze in her tracks. The smile instantly dropped from her face, her mouth settling into a scowl.

"I'll be right back." She said quickly, hurrying away from Jaymes' side. She quickly crossed the grassy area, approaching a girl with dark colored bangs and braids, speaking to her in a hushed voice.

Jaymes pulled her coat closer to her body, shivering against the cold night air. She watched Enid from across the way, and after realizing that she wouldn't be back for a while, she began to look around for something to keep her busy.

Spotting a booth with a dart board a few feet away, she made her way over to it, looking over the prizes, seeing if anything was worth playing for.

"Do you want me to win you something?"

Jaymes glanced over to the familiar voice, smiling softly when she saw Xavier approaching her.

"Isn't that something that people on dates do?" She felt her stomach do a flip at her own words, taken aback by her own boldness.

Xavier raised his eyebrows, seeming stunned as well. He came up beside her, resting his hands on the counter, leaning forward slightly.

To Jaymes' relief, his response had a similar, playful undertone as her remark. "I don't think it's exclusive."

"Well, I can win my own prizes, thank you very much." She said, turning her body away but keeping her full attention on him.

"I'm sure you can." He held his hands up in surrender. "I was just...offering."

A quiet moment passed as they both smiled to themselves, mutually looking down at the grass. Jaymes was the first to look up, and a small, red booth a few feet away caught her eye.

"Is that a photo booth?" She gasped, hurrying over, Xavier on her heels.

"Yeah...?" He laughed at her eagerness.

"They got rid of the only one in my hometown years ago! I haven't been in one since I was little!" Jaymes peeked past the curtain, confirming that it was vacant. "You have to take pictures with me."

"Isn't that something that people on dates do?" He shot her earlier words right back at her, a playful smirk on his lips.

"Shut up and get in the booth with me." Jaymes laughed. She almost reached for his hand, the instinct coming over her due to the easy banter between them, but she stopped herself at the last second.

She flushed at her near mistake, sliding into the booth, hoping that Xavier didn't see her red cheeks. He slipped past the curtain shortly after her, taking a seat beside her on the small bench.

"It's tight in here." Jaymes murmured, her confidence from moments ago rushing out of her body as their legs brushed against one another lightly.

"I can get out, if you want-" Concern was written on Xavier's face, but Jaymes was quick to cut him off.

"No, I, um..." she swallowed hard, having to force the words out of her throat, her voice barely above a whisper. "I want you to stay."

He nodded slowly, eyes trained on her face, trying to read her emotions through her pupils. "Okay." He breathed, keeping his gaze on her.

The tension was so thick inside the crammed booth that Jaymes felt like she could barely breathe. She hoped that he didn't notice how her hand trembled when she reached out and pressed the timer on the screen.

"How should we pose?" Xavier asked, his voice at a normal volume once again, seemingly unaffected by the tension that was choking Jaymes.

"I didn't think that far ahead." She admitted, staring at the count down on the screen, mind coming up blank.

Xavier laughed loudly at this, and Jaymes couldn't help but to laugh as well, and the flash went off, signifying that a picture was just taken.

"Oh my God." Jaymes continued to giggle, unable to stop. "These are gonna turn out so shitty."

"Yeah, well," Xavier exhaled sharply. "It's your fault for just jumping in without a plan."

"I know it is!" Jaymes was hit with an especially strong wave of the giggles, and she found herself doubling over as she laughed.

Her arm shot out as an involuntary precaution to catch herself as she slowly toppled over, but she sat bolt upright once again when she realized that her hand had landed directly on top of Xavier's.

Immediately her laughing stopped and she yanked her hand away, tucking it into her lap. Her cheeks quickly turned hot, and she could feel the embarrassment creeping all the way up her face to her ears.

"S-sorry." She murmured, wincing as the flash went off once again, capturing her humiliation in a photo.

"Don't worry about it." He responded, and Jaymes took notice of how his voice wobbled ever so slightly.

The camera went off for the fourth and final time, catching Jaymes' embarrassment as Xavier stared at the floor, face solemn. A robotic voice came from the screen, telling them that their time was up and that the photos would be printed shortly.

The two climbed out of the booth, their moods having been killed. They found themselves only able to stare at the ground as the tiny machine in the side of the booth worked hard on printing out the string of photographs.

Jaymes wanted to speak, but she didn't know quite what to say to break the awkwardness. She decided just to bite her tongue and keep quiet.

Finally, the pictures were finished, and Jaymes pulled them out of the slot, holding them out so that both she and Xavier could see them.

"They are shitty." She breathed, chuckling softly as she stared at the candid pictures.

"Yeah," as all that Xavier said, and Jaymes could feel the uncomfortableness oozing off of him, and she started to rack her brain for an excuse to walk away.

Before she could, Xavier was roughly shoved by a passerby, who's face was hidden as they hurried away. "Hey, man! Watch where you're--" His angry tone quickly gave way to recognition. "Rowan?"

"Rowan's here?" Jaymes' head snapped up from the photos, watching her classmate run further away, the girl with the braids that was with Enid earlier right on his heels.

"Why is he running?" She furrowed her brow, worry flooding her chest. "Is he okay?"

"I'm sure he's fine, just-"

"We should make sure." Jaymes tried to push past Xavier but he caught her arm, attempting to pull her back.

"Jaymes, don't-"

"I have to help him." She yanked her arm out of his grasp, picking up her pace into a run as she went off in the direction that she had seen the two others go.

"Rowan?" She called out, coming to a halt in front of a wooden bridge. Looking around for any sight of him, she came back with nothing. She tugged at the roots of her hair, staring into the woods that lay right across the bridge, mind racing with countless possibilities of what might be happening past the tree-line.

Suddenly, a loud scream echoed from the cavernous forest, and this was enough to give Jaymes the bravery to sprint straight into it.

"Rowan!? Rowan, are you okay? What's going on?" She continued to yell as she ran past tree after tree, still no sign of Rowan or the strange girl.

Finally, after passing nothing but pines, Jaymes stumbled upon a clearing. The girl with the braids was there, crouched down in the piles of fallen multicolored leaves, hovering over something on the ground.

Trying to catch her breath, Jaymes carefully stepped closer to the girl. "Where's Rowan? Is he-"

Then she saw him.

Rowan was the disfigured, bloody mass that the girl was looking down on. His chest was unmoving and his head lulled to the side, covered in deep wounds and scratches.

Jaymes felt her stomach drop and all of her muscles froze in place. She couldn't do anything but stare, horrified, at the lifeless, torn-up body of her friend.

"O-oh my God." Slowly, she found her voice again. With trembling legs she was able to make her way over to Rowan and the girl. Tears blurred her vision as she dropped down onto her knees to get closer to the body.

Her chin trembled as she raised a shaking hand up, letting her palm hover above Rowan's still chest, afraid to touch him. "Ro-Rowan..." she sputtered, feeling a sob come up in her throat. "Did you...did you do this?"

The girl's dark eyes widened at Jaymes' accusations, and she shook her head quickly. "No!" She urged, her voice cracking. "No, he tried to kill me and then there was this monster and then-"

Her rambling was cut off by the sound of footsteps crunching against leaves. The two scared girls turned to see Principal Weems approaching them, a horrified look on her face.

The headmistress rushed over to Jaymes' side, grabbing both of her arms and helping the crying girl to her feet. "Oh, Jaymes." She clicked her tongue. "Jaymes, it'll be okay, sweetie, just...just go back with your friends."

"No!" Jaymes choked out, shoulders starting to shake with her sobs. "No, it's not okay. He's dead! He's-"

She broke down, Weems supporting her as her legs gave out from beneath her. More footsteps were heard faintly over the sound of Jaymes' sobs.

"No!" Weems quickly faced the curious students that had followed her. She held up one of her arms to the best of her ability while still holding onto Jaymes, motioning for them to leave. "Take Jaymes with you, please. Get out of here, all of you. Don't mention this to anyone."

"Except for you, Miss Addams." Weems angrily faced the dark-eyed girl, who was still sitting in the grass, her eyes wide with fear. "You are coming with me."

Jaymes just continued to cry as the other unfamiliar students helped her walk out of the woods with them. She could barely keep her eyes open as salty tears stung them, but she couldn't help but to look up when she felt a familiar hand on her arm.

"Jaymes, oh my God." Xavier sounded worried, Jaymes could tell that even though she couldn't make out his face through her tears. "Are you okay? W-what happened?"

Jaymes opened her mouth to explain, letting herself be supported by Xavier's warm arms, but one of the students that had been with her in the woods cut her off.

"Weems said don't speak of it." The girl whispered in Jaymes ear as she walked past her. "I'd advise we listen to her."

"W...what?" Jaymes tried to ask more questions, but the girl had already walked off.

"What happened?" Xavier pressed her for answers, still holding her up as the two made their way across the bridge back towards the festival.

Jaymes sniffled, weighing her options in her mind, listening to her own pained breathing and the cracking of the fireworks overhead as she thought it over. After a moment of silence, she parted her cracked lips and said, "It's nothing. I thought I saw something."

She wiped her eyes, taking a deep breath to pull herself together. "I'll be okay."

Xavier wasn't convinced. "Are you sure? I mean, you're really upset. You can tel-"

"I said it was nothing." She cut him off, staggering as she found her balance again, moving away from his side. Brushing off her pants, Jaymes offered him a sad smile.

"Everything's fine."

•••

HII GUYSS!!

i hope you liked the update! the drama has begun mwahahaha!! 

i do feel really bad for jaymes though. she had to see one of her friends' dead bodies and then act like nothing happened. i wonder how she's gonna handle that burden 🤔🤔 (spoiler alert: not well)

ANYWAYS THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING! & big thanks for all the support on all my books and my profile lately, it means so much to me!!

follow me to be notified when i update, and vote and comment on this chapter if you'd like, both are much appreciated.

i hope everyone is having a great day!! i love y'all!! mwah mwah!

~ catie