Chapter Text
THE COAST
All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. The characters and situations in this story are imaginary. No resemblance is intended between these characters and any real persons. Either living or dead. Reader’s discretion is advised. Following content contains depictions of abuse, animal death, and horror elements.
CHAPTER ONE - TROPEN, MICHIGAN
Riley sat in his bedroom, trying to drown out the insistent slamming of toys from his little brother in the other room, his brow furrowing in annoyance. Hunter looked from the joining of his own cold hands to Riley.
“Whatcha thinkin’?” Hunter asked, glancing at Riley. Gabe remained leaned against the wall, watching the two with disinterest, though Riley froze, caught off guard. Riley leaned back in his desk chair, looking outwards aimlessly.
“Nothin’ much, man.” Riley muttered, sighing in annoyance. He ran his hand through his messy brown hair, pushing it out of his eyes. Hunter raised an eyebrow of skepticality.
“Hey, El says there’s some old library out by the border of town.” Hunter said, a hint of interest hitting his voice.
“Anything to get out of here.” Riley replied, his voice raspy as he leaned forward slightly, the chair creaking under his weight. Gabe nodded in agreement, though he didn’t look too thrilled. “Alright, let’s go check it out.” Hunter said, pushing himself off the floor, urgently wanting to move after being in the same spot with the insistent annoyance of Ben slamming his toys together in the room over. The three boys stepped out of the room as Riley forced his creaky door open.
As the three boys trudged to the library, they were met with an unpleasantly cold breeze of the dark building, a stark contrast to the July heatwave, with a side of Elliot’s usual bright, charismatic grin that had girls swooning over him most of the time. Riley, Hunter, and Gabe were outcasts. It was a wonder that Elliot was odd. Elliot was a fourteen year-old boy with blonde, messy hair down to his shoulders, and bright, vibrant blue eyes.
“Hey.” Elliot said casually, leaning against a bookshelf. Gabe’s face brightened slightly, a smile actually reaching his eyes, unlike the usual small, fake smile.
“Hey yourself.” Gabe said, glancing at Elliot. Hunter just nodded, and Riley muttered a ‘hello.’ Elliot crossed his arms.
“What’s with you guys?” Elliot asked. Riley blinked.
“Nothing.” Riley muttered, glancing out into the darkness of a corner.
“Is it about Mary?” Elliot muttered, glancing at Riley with sympathy. Riley snapped his head to Elliot, his eyes widening slightly.
“Excuse me? None of your business! I do not need your sympathy! I don’t need to be your distraction from Liam!” Riley hissed defensively, his shoulders hiked up. Elliot’s eyes widened, and he froze. Hunter bit his lip, watching the tension grow.
Gabe, usually the most composed, stepped away from Elliot, and towards Riley.
“Riley, don’t be an-” He started, pointing a finger at Riley’s face. “God, you’re insufferable! You are such a jerk! Liam was our friend, and you’re using him as a shield!” Gabe hissed, his face flushing with anger. Riley’s gaze shifted slightly.
“You’re always standing up for Elliot, go marry him if you're that insistent..." Riley hissed. Gabe stepped back, his eyes widening. Even Hunter turned to look at Riley with disbelief.
“Riley, what the hell?” Hunter chimed in, shaking his head. Riley’s gaze darted around the group. He knew he’d messed up. He moved towards the exit imperceptably, forcing the doors open. “Riley!” The voices calling his name echoed through the library as Riley quickened his pace. Even outside, Riley didn’t slow down, running until the treeline covered the sunset. Riley collapsed onto the ground, his hands stinging from the rocks. The air smelled of expensive fireworks and humid air.
“Ugh! Stupid, stupid!” Riley shouted to himself, covering his face with his hands. The only thing Riley could feel was the sweat on his face and the small but annoyingly real tears pricking at the corners of his eyes.
“Hey, you.” A voice came, Riley glared over. His gaze softened immediately. Finn. Finn was always chill. Though he was smart, he was still a normal boy at the end of the day.
“Hey..” Riley muttered, standing up as Finn stepped over to him.
“What’s with you?” Finn asked, raising an eyebrow. Riley paused, contemplating.
“I don’t want to talk about it.. where's the gang?” Riley asked, crossing his arms.
“Clearing.” Finn said, nodding his head towards the woods. Riley nodded slightly as Finn started walking towards the spot he nodded at, pushing through the brush.
“The others are on their way with E, I think. Aight? So we'll have the whole crew together.” Finn said casually. Riley tensed slightly.
“Aight..” He couldn't back out. Not with Finn. As the two pushed through the bushes and branches, as Finn had prewarned, the whole group was there. Elliot, Hunter, Gabe, Ethan, Will, Scout, and of course Finn with Riley himself. Elliot was too busy exchanging over-exaggerated stories with Ethan, but Hunter and Gabe were staring at Riley.