Chapter 5

 

Josh’s POV

 

“Sonny!” I cried, bending over Sonny’s still form.   I shone my flashlight over him to get a good look at his face.   His eyes were closed, and his skin looked pale.   His lips had a slight bluish cast to them, and I immediately knew he either wasn’t breathing or was suffering from hypothermia from laying on the cold, wet ground for too long in just a t-shirt and jeans.

 

Luckily, I could make out little clouds coming out of his mouth as he breathed, and I sighed in relief.   I put two fingers up to his neck to check his pulse.   It was slow, but steady.   However, his skin was cold to the touch, and I knew that hypothermia was setting in.   It wasn’t too serious yet, but it would be if he didn’t get warmed up soon.

 

“Sonny,” I whispered loudly, shaking him gently.  Sonny moaned softly, and his eyes fluttered open.   “Hey, Sonny, you okay, bud?” I asked.

 

“Where am I?” he murmured.

 

“You’re out in the woods a little ways away from our house,” I replied.

 

“I’m so cold,” he whispered, his teeth beginning to chatter.

 

“I know, buddy,” I said, taking off my coat.   I lay it over his chest, trying to cover as much of him with it as I could.  “We need to get you inside.  Are you hurt?”

 

“My ankle,” he moaned.   “I tripped and hurt it.”

 

“Okay, I’ll take a look at it,” I said, very carefully rolling up his pant leg.  Setting my flashlight on the ground next to his ankle, I inspected it, trying to determine if it was broken or just sprained.   It was already swollen and beginning to change colors, but I could see no bone protruding. 

 

“I’m gonna need to feel your ankle here, Sonny.  I’m sorry if it hurts, but I need to make sure it’s not broken, okay?”

 

He nodded absently, still a little disoriented from the cold.   As gently as I could, I examined his ankle, trying to feel if the bone was broken or not.   He winced with pain.   “Sorry,” I murmured.   “Well, good news, Sonny, it’s not broken.  It might be fractured though, so we’re going to need to take you to the Emergency Room to get an x-ray and see.”

 

He nodded again.

 

I looked around, hoping to see Chad somewhere, but there was no sign of him.   “Chad!” I shouted loudly, hoping he was in hearing distance. 

 

Luckily, he was.  “Where are you?!” I heard him call back faintly. 

 

I continued to call his name, until he finally came crashing through the trees and onto the scene.

 

“You okay, son?” he gasped when he saw Sonny.

 

“I’ll be okay,” Sonny said through gritted teeth. 

 

“He hurt his ankle; it might be fractured.  We’re gonna have to carry him out of here and get him to the hospital.   Call the girls and tell them to call 911, while we carry him to the house,” I instructed.

 

Chad nodded and took out his cell phone.  He spoke briefly to whoever answered and then hung up, turning his attention back to Sonny and I.

 

I gave Sonny a reassuring smile and said, “Okay, Sonny, let’s get you out of here.”

 

***

 

Jess’s POV

 

Abby and I sat upstairs in my room.   We didn’t say much to each other, just sat there, feeling like crap.   Our dads had gone out to search for Sonny, while our moms were downstairs talking.   Hallie was with them.  

 

Sean’s mom Leighanne had come by to pick him up awhile ago, so he was off the hook, leaving Abby and I to get yelled at for our whole séance thing. 

 

I felt more afraid than guilty about doing the séance.   I realized now why Sonny had gotten so upset, but that didn’t bother me so much.  I was more concerned about what had been spelled out on the Ouija board after Sonny had left.   I had never been a big believe in ghosts and all that paranormal kind of stuff, but know I found myself a little scared, thinking that maybe it was possible we had contacted Justin.   If so, what would happen to us?   Had we brought him back for good?   Would he come to haunt us and do evil things?

 

I glanced over at Abby.   She was obviously not thinking about the same thing I was.   She was staring off into space, a dreamy smile crossing her face.

 

“Abby?” I asked, breaking her out of her daze.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“What are you thinking about?” I asked, smiling in amusement at her.   “You had a smile on your face.”

 

She smiled shyly and blushed.   “I was thinking about Derrick,” she confessed.

 

“Derrick?  He’s pretty hot,” I said, raising my eyebrows at her.

 

She grinned wider.  “I know,” she said, nodding.  “He’s a babe!”

 

“He’s got a twin too,” I added, with a devilish grin.  “That means there’s one for each of us.”

 

“Exactly,” she agreed.   We both started giggling. 

 

Our laughter was cut short by the sound of the phone ringing.

 

“That’s probably one of our dads,” Abby said, jumping up.  We both hurried downstairs to see Mom hang up the phone.

 

“That was quick,” I said, but she ignored me. 

 

“They found him, Heidi,” she said, talking to Abby’s mom instead. 

 

“Is he okay?” she asked worriedly. 

 

“Chad said they think he has a fractured ankle.  They’re going to carry him out of the woods, and we’re supposed to call 911 and have an ambulance come for him.   Chad said you’re going to need to take him to the hospital for x-rays.”

 

Heidi nodded, looking relieved that the injury was a minor one.  She had obviously been imagining much worse.

 

Mom got on the phone again and dialed 911, explaining what had happened.  Abby and I joined Hallie on the couch, as we waited for the men to bring Sonny back.

 

***

 

Hallie’s POV

 

“Mom, I’m going outside to wait for them,” I announced a few minutes after she got of the phone, wanting to get away from the tense atmosphere in my house.

 

“Put on a coat first,” Mom said.

 

“Okay,” I said, grabbing my jacket from the rack beside the door and going outside.   I paced around the backyard, squinting through the darkness towards the woods behind our house, waiting for them to come out.

 

Finally, I saw two tall figures emerge, carrying a third. 

 

“Hallie, go get some blankets!” Dad shouted as soon as he got close enough to see me.

 

“Okay,” I called back, hurrying into the house.   I grabbed some blankets and set them in the kitchen.  Moments later, Dad and Chad carried Sonny in through the back door and lay him down on the kitchen floor, wrapping him in blankets.

 

My eyes widened at the sight of my friend.  His skin was pale and almost bluish, and his teeth chattered, as his body shivered with cold.

 

“Hey, Sonny,” I said softly, grabbing one of his hands.  It was ice cold.  I rubbed it back and forth in my hands, trying to warm it up.

 

“Hey, Hal,” he murmured.

 

“You’re such an idiot, Sonny, running into the woods in a T-shirt when it’s almost freezing,” I said, grinning to let him know I was just playing.  

 

He managed a sheepish smile up at me.   “God, my ankle hurts like a bitch,” he complained. 

 

“Watch your mouth, Sonny,” Heidi warned, but I just smiled, glad to see Sonny acting like his old self.  I knew he would be just fine.

 

***

 

It was almost midnight before Jess and I got to bed that night.   The ambulance had come shortly after Sonny had been brought into the house, and he and Heidi had gone to the hospital, while Chad had taken Abby home so she could go to bed. 

 

I was just relieved that Sonny was okay, other than his ankle being hurt.   But that wasn’t a big problem; he would probably just be on crutches for awhile. 

 

Exhausted from my stressful night, I fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit my pillow.

 

***

 

The next day

 

Jess’s POV

 

“Hey, Abby,” I mumbled tiredly to my best friend the next morning at school.

 

“Hey, Jess,” she replied, yawning.  “So how late were you up last night?”

 

“Midnight.  You?”

 

“I went to bed just before midnight, but I didn’t get to sleep until after one,” Abby replied.

 

“Oh, that sucks.  So how’s your brother?”

 

“He had to spend the night at the hospital for observation, but he’s coming home sometime today.   He’ll probably be back at school tomorrow,” she replied.

 

“That’s good,” I said.  “So how’s his ankle?”

 

“It’s fractured, but not broken, luckily,” she replied.  “He’ll have to stay off it for awhile, but at least it won’t require surgery or anything.”

 

“Yeah,” I agreed, shuddering at the thought of surgery.  Even though both my parents were doctors, I couldn’t stand hospitals and all that medical stuff.

 

“Hey, girls!”

 

Abby and I turned around to see Hallie’s friend Derrick passing by in the hall.   We both smiled at him, surprised.   We were just lowly freshman, so it was a surprise to have a senior guy say hi to us, especially one as hot as Derrick. 

 

“Hey, Derrick,” Abby said, giving him her flirtiest smile.  “How’s it going?”

 

“Okay,” he said.  “How about you?”

 

“Oh, fine.  I’m just tired,” she said.

 

Deciding to leave Abby to talk to her dream guy, I announced, “Well, I better head to my locker and get my books and stuff for first hour.  See you guys around.”

 

“See ya, Jess,” Abby replied, giving me a grateful smile. 

 

“Yeah, see ya,” Derrick echoed, before turning his attention back to Abby.  

 

They make kind of a cute couple, I decided, glancing back at Derrick and Abby once before heading on my way.

 

***

 

Hallie’s POV

 

I glanced into the mirror in my locker and grimaced.   My hair looked flat; I hadn’t had time to curl it right.   My eyes looked dull and tired.   I was exhausted, having had only about five hours of sleep the night before. 

 

I yawned and made a face at the mirror, then closed my locker.  When I turned around, I jumped.  

 

Right behind me stood one of the Randall twins, Derrick or Erik.   Glancing at his blue eyes, I realized it was Erik.   Derrick and Erik were exactly identical, except for one thing – Erik had blue eyes, and Derrick’s were brown.  It was really weird; I had never seen identical twins with different eye color before.   But I guess there’s a first for everything. 

 

“Hey Erik,” I replied.  “What’s up?”

 

“Oh, not much.  So, how’s Sonny?  I heard he busted his ankle or something.”

 

“Yeah, he fractured it,” I replied.  “He had to spend the night at the hospital last night, but he’s coming home today and should be back at school tomorrow.”

 

“That’s good,” said Erik.   “Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you something…”

 

“Sure, what?” I asked.

 

“Well… I know you and Sonny are good friends, but… uh, you guys aren’t going together, are you?”

 

I smiled slightly.  Sonny was one of my best friends and had been for a long time, but I had never had feeling for him other than friendship.   The idea of actually dating him was laughable.  “No, we’re not,” I told Erik.  “We’re just friends; nothing more.”

 

He nodded.  “That’s what I thought.  So, are you single?” he asked.

 

I raised an eyebrow, wondering where he was trying to get with all these questions about my love life.   Did he want to ask me out or something?”

 

“Yup,” I replied.  “Why?”

 

“Well… I sorta have had my eye on you for awhile, Hallie.  Like, ever since we moved here.   I was hoping maybe you and I could hook up sometime,” Erik confessed.

 

I smiled.  “Sure, Erik.  That would be cool.”

 

“Really?” he asked, looking surprised.  “Great!”

 

We quickly made plans to go see a movie that Friday night, before the bell rang, signaling it was time to get to first hour.

 

***

 

 

 

 

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