The Garden of Eden || Canis Canem Edit / Bully [ #WATTYS2018 ]

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Uncovered

Time had stopped. The clocks had stopped ticking. Eden's heart skipped a beat. All of her chaotic, incessant thoughts came to an instant halt. The pangs of distress, the crashing waves of nausea had fluttered away. It was all replaced with raw, pure, unfiltered fear. The sickening bone-chilling noise of glass crunching and metal beams creaking resonated throughout the entire school grounds. The sound repeated on an endless loop in Eden's mind, sending her heart into a frantic state.

"They... they fell." She whispered in a meek tone. "No... this, no, it can't- no!"

She felt distant, as though she was not even awake. Eden wished this was all just a dream, a nightmare that she would eventually wake up from and laugh, and laugh, about how real it felt. But it wasn't. She would never wake up. She could hear people calling for her, but it all just sounded like faint whispers, as though they were miles away.

Her vacant eyes were fixated on where Gary and Jimmy had once stood. What was left of the metal flooring swung gently in the wind, groaning as it swayed. Eden herself was quivering like a leaf in a violent hailstorm, but yet her legs refused to move a single inch. Her mind was screaming at her to move, to run, to find Gary.

"Eden... Eden!" Mandy shouted, sprinting over to the crestfallen teenager.

The tall girl refused to acknowledge her, or anyone else for that matter. Eden's frazzled chocolate locks acted as a veil, shielding her watery eyes. Her feet start shuffling at a slow pace towards the main building, her body struggling to drag her aching legs.

"Stop Eden!" Her best friend hollered, grabbing the taller girl's wrist. "Do not go in there! Dr Crabblesnitch will sort it out."

"T-they..." Eden's body started to tremor, and sobs threatened to wrack her body. "They fell. Gary... he's hurt."

"Eden, please don't go in there."

"Let go of me."

"If he's hurt, what are you going to do?"

"Anything!" She spat out, glaring coldly at Mandy. "Whatever it takes! I will make sure he's okay! I promised it that to him!"

A deep frown marred the cheerleader's full lips, but her grip only tightened on Eden's wrist. "You're not thinking straight."

"I-I..." The words died in her mouth before she could even whisper them. "I've never thought more clearer before. Please, let me go."

The two stood in utter silence for what felt like a millennium. Eden knew her best friend had the right intentions, but all that remained on her mind was Gary. She could care less about the Bullworth students that had crowded around the both of them, staring in awe at them. She could care less about her anxiety taunting her. Gary, he was all she cared about.

Mandy huffed out a sigh and dropped her hold on Eden. She couldn't even begin to imagine how her best friend felt, but she was trying her best to empathize with her. Eden needed to know that her boyfriend was okay. She could tell it was eating away at her.

"Thank you." The taller teenager murmured.

The cheerleader merely nodded wordlessly, watching as Eden immediately sprinted in the direction of the main building. Her sneaker-clad heels kissed the ground as she dashed towards the entrance. Her lungs were screaming in resistance, as was her entire aching body. Everything around her was a grey blur. There was no colour in Eden's world. It was as though someone had drained all the life out of her surroundings. The skies were grey, the grass was grey, everyone's faces were grey. It was a pit of nothingness that she was slowly descending into.

Eden was stubborn. She wasn't going to stop. Not now, not ever. She burst through the door, the force of her whole body weight slamming into it causing it to smash against the wall. She felt as though there was a huge amount of pressure on her chest like she was being crushed by a boulder. It was her anxiety, tormenting her once again. It was an endless mantra that saw no means in stopping for even a moment just to let her breathe.