Chapter 8: Chapter 8: The Feeling of Kicking Someone’s Teeth In

As I approached the school, I couldn't help but think about my first day here, before everything had been thrown into chaos. Back then, I was worried about making friends and fitting in at my new school. Now, my worries were much more serious - I was worried about whether or not people were going to live or die. It was kind of funny, in a way - the difference between those two worries.

As I walked into the classroom, I saw Emily chatting with her friends, just like she always did. She gave me a quick glance, then looked away with a disappointed expression. I took my seat next to her, not saying a word.

Soon, our homeroom teacher, Mrs. Thompson, walked in and asked me to introduce myself to the class. Just like last time.

I stood up and cleared my throat as I prepared to introduce myself to my new classmates for the second time. "Hi, everyone," I began, smiling confidently. "My name is John Fairfield, and I just moved here from the city. I'm excited to start my new school life and get to know all of you."

There were a few murmurs of greeting and some curious glances, but for the most part, everyone seemed indifferent. Just like last time.

"Welcome to our class, John," our teacher, Mrs Thompson said with a warm smile. "I'm sure you'll fit right in."

I nodded and sat back down.

I looked over my shoulder and saw Lily, sitting at her desk with her long, raven hair and pale skin shining in the sunlight. She looked different than she had before - more reserved and distant. I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed by the change.

I decided to try and talk to her anyway, hoping to get to know her better and maybe even build a friendship. "Hey, Lily," I said, trying to engage her in conversation. "Do you have any clubs or activities that you're interested in?"

She turned to me with a polite smile, but her eyes were distant. "I'm just focusing on my studies for now," she replied. "I don't have much time for extracurricular activities."

I couldn't help but feel a little discouraged by her response. In the previous timeline, she had been much more outgoing and friendly. 

"Oh, okay," I said, trying not to sound too disappointed. "Well, if you ever want to hang out or talk, just let me know. I'm always up for making new friends."

She gave me a small nod and turned back to her work, effectively ending the conversation. I felt a bit disappointed about how distant she was being. But, well, there's nothing I can do about it. The only reason we even became friends in the first place was that I helped her with Sarah. If I didn't do that, then we wouldn't have ever gotten to know each other in the first place, and I would have remained ignorant of the dangers of the cult lurking in our town.

I turned my attention away from Lily and instead I walked up to Sarah, the popular girl in our class, feeling a little nervous. I had a feeling that she was connected to the strange events that had been happening in town, and her strange behavior and absence on Wednesday only confirmed my suspicions. I needed to get to know her better and figure out what was going on.

"Hi, Sarah," I said, trying to sound friendly. "I'm John, I just moved here from the city. It's nice to meet you."

She looked up at me with a disinterested expression, barely acknowledging my presence. "Hi," she said shortly, before turning back to her phone.

I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed by her response. I had hoped to make a good impression and maybe even become friends, but it seemed like she wasn't interested in talking to me.

"So, do you have any clubs or activities that you're interested in?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

She gave a small shrug. "I was on the cheerleading squad a while back." she said, still not looking up from her phone. "But, I don't really have time for stuff like clubs."

I nodded, feeling a little frustrated. She was being incredibly distant and unresponsive.

Just as I was about to give up and walk away, Sarah suddenly looked up at me with a serious expression. "Listen," she said, lowering her voice. "I don't know who you are or what you want, but you need to stay away from Lily. She's not a good person, and you don't want to get mixed up with her."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"What do you know?" I said in a grave tone.

"Huh?" She looked up at me, a bit offended.

"You're the one who's bullying her, what gives you the right to decide if she's a good person or not?"

"How do you kno-"

"You're just trying to turn me against her because she stood up for herself against you," I interrupted. "You're the one who's not a good person, Sarah. You should be ashamed of yourself for treating people like this."

Sarah's face turned red with anger and embarrassment. "You don't know what you're talking about," she spat out. "You're just a newcomer, you don't know anything about our school or the people here."

"I know enough to see that you're a bully and a coward." I said, not backing down. "I'm not going to let you or anyone else treat the people I care about like this. You can try to send your psychotic brother after me, but it's not going to change anything." 

Sarah's eyes narrowed as I spoke, and I could see the anger and hurt in her expression. "What did you just say about my brother?" she growled, her voice low and dangerous.

"I said that he's psychotic," I said, my voice steady. "And in a few days, he'll be nothing more than a murderer who killed two people that didn't deserve any of it."

Sarah's face went pale with shock and disbelief. "That's not true," she growled even harder, shaking her head. "Jason would never do something like that!" 

"Believe what you want." I turned and left the classroom, feeling a heavy weight leave my shoulder. I'll have to find out what happened to Sarah another way. 

I walked aimlessly down the hallway, my thoughts racing as I tried to figure out what to do. Sarah weighed heavily on my mind, and I couldn't shake the feeling that she was connected to the strange events that had been happening in town. But I didn't know how to prove it, or what to do to protect my friends. 

She'll probably try to send her brother after me again. I'll have to find a way to deal with him this time. You know, without getting my ass kicked.

"Not everyone would stand up to Sarah like that," I heard a voice behind me say. It was a familiar sentence accompanied by a familiar voice.

I turned to see Lily. She was looking at me with a mixture of surprise and admiration.

"You eavesdropped on us, Lily?" I asked, a little surprised.

"I just overheard it," she replied, a hint of a smile on her face. "You were pretty loud, you know."

Great, I've caught her attention. That's one step down. Now I just have to do what I did last time and our relationship should go back to the point it was before.

I shrugged, feeling a little embarrassed. "I couldn't just let her badmouth you like that," I said. "It's not right."

Lily's smile faded and she looked at me with a serious expression. "I appreciate what you did," she said. "But you need to be careful. Sarah's not someone you want to mess with."

"I know," I said, nodding knowingly. "I'm counting on her to do something drastic."

Lily looked at me quizzically. "You're... counting on it?" she asked slowly, confused.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Interesting," Lily said, looking very curious. "Why would you need her to do something bad to you?"

"It'll help me with what I need to do," I explained. "There's something going on here, and I have to figure out what it is. For all our sakes."

"'For our sakes' you say. Well then, I'm looking forward to your future endeavors." She said.

"Thank you, I won't let you down," I replied. 

Not this time...

And just like that, Lily and I parted ways. Things were proceeding smoothly, now I just had to figure out what to do about Jason.

Jason...

The memories of the time when he beat me to death with a baseball bat came flooding back. The pain, the fear. Would I be able to face him again after that? What if I died again? Would I come back? Or was this truly my last chance?

The rest of the school day proceeded as normal, except that Sarah seemed to be looking at me with a mixture of anger and hatred every time our eyes met. Then it was lunchtime. This was the point in the previous timeline where I had defended Lily from Sarah and we had met for the first time. But in this timeline, I had already made that development happen earlier. Lily was now interested in me, and Sarah hated my guts. This meant that I could avoid dealing with the bullying event and focus on something else during lunch instead.

"Hey, Emily, was it? Sorry about this morning. I really mean it. I wasn't in the right state of mind and I'm hoping we can still be friends." I approached Emily, who had been avoiding looking in my direction for the entirety of the school day so far. If I was going to protect her, we needed to be close enough for that. I had to make friends with her again.

You are reading story A Cycle of Death and Rebirth at novel35.com

"D-don't mention it. You don't need to say sorry again, I get it," she said, an awkward smile plastered on her face.

"So... are we cool now?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure, we're cool," she lightly chuckled.

Really?!

"Really? Well then, would you like to eat lunch together?" I asked.

"Uh, not today, I think. I promised to eat with my other friends today. So, Imsorrybutmaybenexttime!" She said, before running away from me.

Why did she have to run?

Well, our relationship might be a bit awkward right now, but I'm sure it will be fine, right? Right?

I ended up spending lunchtime alone again. I had thought that my days of eating lunch alone were over after Tuesday, but apparently not. Well, I guess it's not 'after Tuesday' yet.

As the school day came to a close, I gathered my things and went to my locker. There, I found a letter sticking out. 

I took the letter and unfolded it.

"John, I know you're probably busy, but I really need to talk to you. Can we meet up near the storage room at the back of the school? It's really important. - Lily"

I walked nervously to the storage room, my heart racing as I searched for a weapon to defend myself. I scanned the wall of tools and finally settled on a hammer, its weight reassuring in my hand. Just as I was about to turn around, I heard the door slam shut behind me and the sound of the lock clicking into place.

I spun around to see a familiar face standing in front of me, his piercing blue eyes filled with anger and hatred. It was Jason, Sarah's brother.

"You're the one who hurt my sister," he snarled. "Sarah told me everything. You're going to pay for what you did to her."

I shook my head frantically, trying to defend myself. "I didn't do anything to her."

"Liar!" Jason charged at me, tackling me to the ground. He raised a fist, ready to strike, but I was quicker. I swung the hammer and it connected with his skull, causing him to cry out in pain and curl up into a ball.

"Oww! Why did you do that?" he moaned, holding his head in his hands.

I stood up, panting heavily. "Now you know how it feels, you bastard."

I kicked him in the stomach and he rolled over, groaning in pain. I straddled him, ready to deliver more blows, but before I could land another punch he begged for mercy.

"Okay! Okay! Stop, please stop!" he cried out in panic.

I hesitated, my hand hovering over him with the hammer. "Is that all you can take?" I taunted him.

"Shut up! Don't think this is the end..." he growled at me, his voice filled with hatred.

I held up my hands in surrender. "Woah, I don't want any trouble. I just want some answers."

Jason seemed to understand what I was getting at. "What do you want from me?"

"Why did you come after me?" I asked him.

"Why wouldn't I come after you?! After what you did to my sister. Those bruises..." he said, his expression turning sad.

So there really were bruises. My previous theory of them being self-inflicted seemed far-fetched now. Someone must have given them to her, and she had blamed me. But why?

"How did you find me here?" I asked him. I had been careful to watch for anyone following me on my way here, but I hadn't seen anyone.

"I found a letter in my locker, telling me to meet you at the storage room," Jason replied.

"What?! Who sent it?!"

"I don't know!" he yelled.

I frowned, trying to piece together the puzzle. Someone must have told him or sent him my location, but I hadn't told anyone I was coming here. The only way they could have known was if they had found Lily's letter or if they had written it... themselves.

Lily?

Could it be that she had betrayed me? But why would she want to fight the cult with me if she had a grudge against me? So many questions swirled in my mind. I knew I needed to confront Lily and get some answers.

"Do you have a grudge against Lily?" I asked Jason firmly.

"A grudge against Lily? No, we're childhood friends. I could never have a grudge against her," he replied.

"What? You're childhood friends?" I asked, confused. If that was the case, then why would Sarah despise Lily so much? Why would she hurt the childhood friend of her brother?

"You're lying. There's no way," I said, skeptical of his story.

"I'm not lying, douchebag. You can go ask her yourself," he growled at me. "What does Lily have to do with this anyway? Did you hurt her too?"

"No, I didn't hurt her," I replied, confused by his accusations. "But then, why would you kill Lily? What possible reason do you have that could justify killing your childhood friend?"

"Killing?!" He shrieked. "I never said anything about killing Lily! Why would you think that?"

I had heard enough. I turned on my heel and began walking away, determined to put as much distance between myself and Jason as possible. But before I could take more than a few steps, I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head and everything went black. Did he tackle me?

When I came to, I was lying on the ground with a throbbing headache and a sharp pain in my face. I opened my eyes to see Jason looming over me, his fists flying as he landed punch after punch on my face.

"You bastard! What do you mean by 'killing', are you planning to kill someone?!"

Panicked and disoriented, I reflexively reached for the hammer I had dropped earlier. I swung it wildly, connecting with Jason's head over and over again. I couldn't hear anything over the sound of my own heart pounding in my ears, and all I could see was a red haze of rage and fear.

Eventually, the blows stopped coming and I realized that the room had gone quiet. I looked down to see Jason's still form lying on the ground at my feet, the hammer lying next to him.

"Jason?" I called out, my voice shaking. I knelt down next to the body, my hands shaking as I checked for a pulse. But there was none. Jason was dead.

I couldn't believe what I had done. I had killed a person.

It's fine... this is fine right? I needed to save Lily. I couldn't let him kill her. He would have done it if I didn't stop him...

I knew that was a stretch. I didn't need to kill Jason. I could have just defended myself and run away. But it was too late now. What's done was done.

Shaking with fear and guilt, I stood up and looked around the room, trying to think of what to do next. I knew I had to get rid of the body and get as far away from this place as possible. But where could I go? And how would I explain this to anyone who might ask questions?

I knew I couldn't stay here any longer. I had to run. So I grabbed my bag and fled from the storage room, my mind racing as I tried to figure out my next move.

---

You can find story with these keywords: A Cycle of Death and Rebirth, Read A Cycle of Death and Rebirth, A Cycle of Death and Rebirth novel, A Cycle of Death and Rebirth book, A Cycle of Death and Rebirth story, A Cycle of Death and Rebirth full, A Cycle of Death and Rebirth Latest Chapter