Chains

When I was only fourteen years old, a young 8th grader, I met a girl. She was pretty and had a golden color for her hair. Her eyes were quite rare though, her left eye was a bright blue and her right eye was a bright green. Even in the darkness of the room, one could spot her because of her brightly, colored eyes.

Her name was Austine Toombs. She was the same age as me and the funny thing was, our birthdays were only a couple days apart. She was born on the 24th of May and I was born on the 26th of May. Austine was more of the playful type, as she would want to play with the other kids in her class. Some of them thought she was weird and usually avoided her. Others played with her and strangely later on, avoided her also.

I don't get why they avoided her or didn't want to play with her. She could sometimes be a bit rough when she played whenever I had seen her. I got curious and asked some of the kids she had played with.

“I don't know, she is just really weird.” One kid spoke.

“She got this weird look in her eyes whenever she had played.”

“She had pushed me a little too hard and I hit the ground. I stopped playing with her after that.”

It still made no sense to me whatsoever. So, I went to Austine myself. I went to her during my lunch hour, since we had the same lunch hour. “Hey,” I said, sitting across from her at the table.

Her heterochromic eyes glanced up at me from her lunch, which consisted of turkey with gravy and mashed potatoes and green beans. Her golden-blonde hair had covered most of her face. I must've interrupted her thoughts I think. A broad smile cut across her pale face when she saw me. “Hey!” She said in a friendly way.

I smiled a little bit. “I'm Seth, you're Austine, right?”

“Yup.” She grinned. “Nice to meet you Seth. You're more friendly than any of the other kids in my grade.”

“Yeah, they said you were weird.” I blurted, then realized what I had said.

But Austine didn't look offended or anything. She only shrugged. “Who cares what they say? Being weird is awesome and normal is just... boring as hell.”

“Yeah, I guess I can agree with you on that.” I nodded in agreement. “Hey, what are you up to later?”

“I gotta stay after school for Mr. Shoup to improve my math grade.” She replied and I nodded. She gave me her cell phone number and said she would call after she was done.

Strangely, she didn't.

The next day was Friday, last day of school for the week. I still hadn't heard from Austine at all and when I got into school, I heard a lot of commotion come from one of the math classrooms, specifically Mr. Shoup's room. There was yellow tape in front of the door that said KEEP OUT and police outside the classroom and inside the classroom. Police were telling kids to go to class and I walked up. “Hey, what's going on?” I asked one officer.

“Just go to class kid. There's nothing here to see.” the officer tried to usher me along to class and he moved to where I could see what was in the classroom.

I wish I hadn't.

Inside the classroom... the room was absolutely covered in blood. On the floor, the walls, even up to the ceiling. I saw a white, bloodied sheet over a body and for some reason, I knew it was Mr. Shoup. I shuddered violently and took off to class. For the entire day up until lunch, my stomach churned the entire time. I don't think I even wanted to eat lunch.

Nonetheless, I did get a couple things for lunch. It wasn't good to skip meals. I didn't see Austine at all, nor Monday. When Tuesday came along, I finally saw her at lunch. “Hey!” I said and walked over to her. “I haven't seen you in a while, where have you been?” I asked her.

Austine looked up at me and smiled. “I'm sorry I made you worry Seth. I got really sick.” She replied.

I quirked an eyebrow, but decided to believe her. “It's okay. Did you hear about what happened to Mr. Shoup?”

“Yes. It's awful isn't it???”

I nodded and sat with her. “The police said something about Mr. Shoup being cut by something... I think I heard chains. God, that must've been painful.”

“I'm sure it was. Hey, what are you doing after school?” She asked me, getting a bit close to my face.

“Um... usually I walk home.” I answered.

“Can I show you something after school?” She said. “I promise it won't take long.”

I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind, so I nodded. Austine smiled and gave me a big hug before the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch for us. I had blushed a bit and for the rest of the school day, wondered what Austine was going to show me later today. After school ended, I met up with Austine out by the large bell out front.

“So, where are we gonna go?” I asked her.

She smiled at me and grabbed my hand, then dragged me down the street and to the abandoned park on the edge of town. She took me towards the swings and then turned to me. “So, have you ever believed that people have special abilities or powers?” She asked.

“Well, yeah.” I nodded at her. I really did too.

Austine grinned and I saw her flex her fingers a bit. Then without warning, the chains that held the swing up began to tremble and shake. I watched in shock and amazement as the chains broke and floated around Austine. It was like she was controlling them, manipulating them. “You... how...” I was speechless.

“When I was four, I learned that I could control chains using my mind.” She replied and she showed me her arms and legs. She had chain-like scars on her legs, though they were faint. “I wasn't good at first, but now I've learned how to control and manipulate without any problem.”

That was so cool. But then I just realized something....

“Were... were you the one who???” I began.

“Killed Mr. Shoup?” She asked me and I nodded. She then gave a small, playful smile and nodded. “I did. I had to. There was no improvement for my math grade. He wanted to rape me. He didn't get very far.” She chuckled. “I killed him before he could do anything.”

I stared at her in shock, not knowing what to say or even think. “You won't tell anyone... will you?” Her voice was soft.

I shook my head. “Of course not. You're my friend Austine and friends don't do that.”

Austine smiled brightly and hugged me tightly, her head resting on my chest. I wrapped my arms around her just as tightly, returning the hug. “Thank you Seth... You're the greatest friend ever.” She said softly.

“You're welcome.” I murmured.

It wasn't long before the school year and summer went by and Austine and I entered high school. She grew up a bit, now at a total height of 5'4” while I was at 5'9. We had a few classes together and I found out she was being bullied by the kids in our grade. I asked her why and she shrugged, only telling me that she didn't care.

A couple days later, one of the bullies turned up dead. He had been severed at his waist by something... but I had a hunch of who did it. The week after, another bully turned up dead. His limbs and tongue severed. The police had no idea who was behind it, but I knew who it was. But I didn't have the heart to turn Austine in. I just couldn't.

A few days after the second bully, Austine vanished. No one knew where she went and the school tried to call her parents, but there was no answer every time. So, I finally got the courage to go to Austine's house. Her parents were pretty cool and they didn't know about her abilities. She said she would've rather to keep it a secret.

I walked over to her house and knocked on the door, then waited for a couple minutes. I knocked again and became a bit suspicious when no one still came to answer. I wrapped my hand around the doorknob and was surprised to find out that the front door was unlocked. Even more suspicious. I slowly opened the door and was immediately greeted by the stench of a foul-smelling liquid.

“Oh god.” I groaned and put my hand over my nose, coughing a bit from the smell. I slowly walked in, the stench getting even worse and worse as I seemed to get closer to the source of it. I walked into the kitchen and gasped loudly, backing away. The bodies of Austine's parents were on the tile floor, both of them mangled beyond repair. I noticed the chain-like marks on their skin and my eyes went wide. “N-No way...” I gasped and then ran out of the house.

I had no choice. I had to tell the police.

I ran all the way to the police station and ran inside, yelling at them about what I saw. The chief looked at me seriously. “We know.”

“Y-you know???” I asked in shock.

“Yes, we have hard reports of bodies being found all across town, all of them mangled with chain marks on their bodies.” The chief replied. “The girl was last seen by the courthouse and that's where we're going.” He slid his jacket on and was just about to leave before I stopped him.

“Wait! You're... you're not going to kill her... are you???” I whispered, my eyes begging.

“We do not know, only if we find that it is necessary.” the chief replied. “Stay here, it's dangerous if you go out.”

When the chief and most of the officers left, I left also. I didn't want Austine to get killed, but I had to tell the police. I just had to. I hurried to the courthouse and saw many police cars in front of the courthouse, their guns trained on someone standing on the roof. I glanced up, the wind blowing slightly. Helicopters came onto the scene and trained their lights on the figure.

And I knew it was Austine.

Chains floated around her form and created a walk way for her to use to get down to the ground. She walked down the chain casually, like she didn't even see the police and helicopters aiming weapons at her. She had a playful smile on her face and for some reason, I knew she saw all of this as a game. Whether or not she won...

Austine giggled as she walked onto the ground, the chains floating around her. “This looks like a very fun game. Are all of you going to play with me?”

“Drop the chains and we won't resort to shooting you.” the chief warned.

Austine only giggled again and the chains floated around her more, then they all stopped. The police were confused for a moment and then they all shouted as the chains shot towards them, intent on ripping them apart. I ducked down just in time before a chain could grab me and I watched as the chains wrapped around the officers and tore them limb from pathetic limb.

An officer in one of the helicopters began to shoot at Austine, but she used the chains to block the bullets. She snapped her arm out and two chains grasped onto the chopper, forcing it to come down. Upon impact, the flying vehicle blew up and was engulfed in flames. This happened with the second one as well.

I couldn't let Austine do this! I quickly stood up. “Austine!!!” I shouted out her name and she turned her gaze to me. Her eyes widened slightly and she didn't attack me as I ran to her and grasped her shoulders. “Austine, you have to stop this! Please, I don't want to see you get hurt!”

She looked up at me and smiled. “Why would I stop? I'm having so much fun! Hehehehe, would you like to join me Seth? I can leave some of the cops to you.”

I gaped down at her and then shook my head. “I... I can't Austine... I'm... I'm not a murderer...”

Austine's smile vanished and formed into a frown. I had never seen her frown until now. “Betrayal...” She murmured and I felt a chain wrap around my waist. “But since you were my friend... I won't kill you...”

“Austine, no...”

“Goodbye Seth.”

I yelled out as the chain around my waist picked me up and tossed me away from her. I watched in horror as she walked away, using her chains to kill whoever came near her. “Austine...” I whispered, feeling like I had failed to keep her safe. I hung my head as she walked further away and caused destruction wherever she went.

About an hour later, I was sitting in an ambulance as the paramedics checked me for injuries. I didn't have any though. The chief, who had suffered a broken arm and a bruised face, walked over to me. “You okay kid?” He asked me.

I sniffled softly, having already done my crying earlier. “No...” I shook my head. “I feel like a failed her... I couldn't keep her safe...”

“There was nothing you could've done kid.” The chief sighed softly and placed his good hand on my shoulder. “It's not your fault.”

I sighed softly as the chief walked away and glanced up at the smoky, night sky. “Austine...” I murmured.

I have a feeling though... that I'll see her again.