It wasn't the the first time I've seen a dead body.

Years ago, when we were stuck living with Mr. Bryson, the body resembled Mandy's. Its pale flesh drained of the flowing life force that no longer pumped through its veins. If I were too young or innocent to know better, I would've easily mistaken the person to be asleep rather than dead. I desperately kept the memories of that day a bay. I shook those images from my mind and focused on the poor, pale body before me.

The whites of Mandy's eyes were bloodshot, a bruised and swollen bulge protruded from the front of her neck, and her mouth remained open as if she hadn't given up on that one last breath. With her arms splayed out at her sides, fallen where they may after an intense struggle, she would have looked like a frightened girl attempting to make a snow angel in the bed sheets if her pants weren't tangled around her ankles.

Owen sat on the floor on the other side of the bed near the lantern in the corner. His open pants were barely hugging his narrow hips. He didn't acknowledge me or Ethan as he breathed heavily and wiped his hair from his sticky, sweaty forehead.

Ethan slumped forward, holding the cold, wet cloth to his bruised temple. "How could you?" He looked to no one in particular, but the anger in his voice was definitely directed to Owen. His jaw clenched and he glared over the occupied bed to Owen.

Owen didn't look up. "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" A loud grunt escaped Ethan as he threw the wash cloth. It went flying through the air to splat against the wall on the other side of the room before dropping to the floor. "That's all you have to say?"

Owen finally looked up. "I fucked up. I-I couldn't control myself. The beer maybe. The things she said. Did you hear what she said?"

"You're blaming the beer? Her? What the hell is wrong with you?!" Ethan stood and his hands balled into fists at his side. "You killed her, Owen! She's dead."

"I was out of control." Owen nervously and repeatedly ran his hands through his hair. "I couldn't stop myself. I didn't mean to hurt her or you. I didn't mean to snap like that. Really, I'm sorry."

"Don't say another word," Ethan warned. "If I get my hands on you I can't promise that I can control myself either."

Owen shook his head with a look of fear in his eyes I never thought I would witness. "I didn't mean to hurt you, Ethan. You or Allison. I'm such an asshole for hitting you. I know it. I can't even look at you, knowing the pain- I'm so sorry. Let me fix it, Ethan. I can fix it."

When Owen came around the bed to approach Ethan, Ethan's face twisted in anger. "Forget about me. What about her?" He glanced at Mandy sprawled on the bed.

"I can fix that. Let me fix us too." Owen nodded, desperate to convince Ethan and maybe himself.

"Stay back, Owen." Ethan wasn't having it. The no nonsense attitude I been looking for in him finally emerged. "I swear, you don't want to get near me."

"Let me show you how sorry I am." A tear fell from Owen's red and puffy eyes and streaked down his cheek. "Please?"

"No!" Ethan shoved Owen back by the shoulders, but it wasn't enough to satisfy him, because when Owen attempted to move in again Ethan threw a blow. He grunted as his fist connected to Owen's left cheek. Shocked, Owen stumbled back and brought his hand to the side of his face.

He stared at Ethan with surprise in his eyes that quickly transformed to acceptance as he dropped his hand. "Okay, if this is what you need. Hit me. Go on. If beating my ass will show you I'm sorry ... so be it. Come on."

Ethan accepted the invitation.

He rushed forward, grabbed Owen by the collar of his shirt, and slammed his fist to Owen's face. I screamed, fearing that Owen would hit and fight back but he didn't. Instead, Owen dropped to the floor and Ethan quickly straddled him. Another blow to the face and another. Ethan didn't stop and I refused to stop him until there was blood.

When Ethan stood, he glanced to the wounded knuckles on his trembling hand. "You deserve worse than that."

"I know." Owen rolled to his side and spit a mouthful of bloody saliva on the floor beside him. "I know I do. I really do."

I ran to Ethan and wrapped my quivering arms around his waist. I wanted to latch on forever and never let go. My quickened breaths matched his out of fear and bewilderment. I looked up into his eyes, searching for comfort and an escape. When he looked down at me I felt the care and love he harbored for me. I tucked my head into the crook of his neck and held on for dear life.

"What are we gonna do now?" I mumbled into his chest.

Owen coughed and stood to lean against the wall. "We have to get rid of the body."

"Why did you do this?" I finally let Ethan out of my tight grip and turned to Owen. "Why?"

"I don't know. I just felt I had to." Owen dabbed his busted lip with the back of his hand. "It just ... happened. She was gonna cause trouble for us."

"Not as much trouble as we're in now." I shook my head, confused and exhausted. "You didn't have to kill her. She didn't deserve that no matter how fowl she was. She has a family and they're going to come looking for her."

"I went too far." Already Owen's cheek was swelling and distorting his once handsome facial features. "She called me a fag. Something inside me said I needed to show her how wrong she was. The beer didn't help." He adjusted his pants, finally clasping the button. "I said I'm sorry. I let you beat my ass. Now I don't know how else to show it. All I know is that we have to get rid of the body."

Ethan scoffed at Owen's response. "And how do we do that?"

I hated Owen. Just looking at him made my blood boil with fury. I stared at Mandy lying lifeless over the sheets in my bed and knew exactly how Owen wanted to expose of her. "The frozen lake."

Owen turned to me, bobbed his head, and immediately dropped his gaze.

"I told you!" I squeezed Ethan's forearm to keep myself from collapsing from hyperventilation. "He killed that dark-haired girl and put her in the frozen lake. I saw him do it. It wasn't my imagination."

Ethan looked to the ground, refusing to make eye contact with me. A look of guilt or shame in his eyes.

Owen mimicked him, staring at the ground. "Ethan already knows. I told him."

I released Ethan's arm and took a step back. "You knew?"

"He confessed on the way to the shop." Ethan gulped. "It was an accident."

"An accident?" I looked to Mandy and narrowed my eyes suspiciously. "Who was she, the girl on the lake? What's her name?"

Ethan sighed. "Allison, we have a much more urgent matter to attend to. That's not important right now."

"It is important." I nearly gasped from shock. "She was an innocent human being. Just like Mandy was."

Owen went to the door. "We need to get rid of the body. Now. Before it's too late." When he walked by, I could make out he fresh, red scratches on his face from Mandy fighting back during the struggle and a tiny sense of satisfaction came over me.

The sun was just below the horizon but produced enough light in the sky to illuminate the snow-covered lake.

Ethan followed Owen outside toward the lake and I tailed Ethan. When Owen was far ahead of us, I whispered, "Ethan, what the hell are you doing?"

"We have to hide her body or we're going down for this," he whispered back. The worried look on his face spoke volumes.

"We're not going down." I pointed to Owen. "He is. He did this. Not us."

Ethan continued walking, one foot slowly dragging over the other. "We were involved."

"No, we weren't." I shook my head. "We're witnesses. We can go to the police right now and tell them everything that happened."

Ethan looked at me as if I were crazy. "Could we, Allison? Really?"

I stopped in my tracks, allowing Ethan to catch up with Owen. For a moment, I forgot we were runaways. Our sole purpose of living out here and enduring the rough wilderness was because we didn't want to be found. Mr. Bryson is the true definition of evil. Ironic how we couldn't escape the similar evil in Owen.

Refusing to participate, I stood in the freezing air and watched as Owen and Ethan walked atop the frozen lake, looking down at the snow-covered ice as if they were examining it. I peered around the dense forest of trees, almost expecting a squad of police officers to come running out of the woods with dogs and guns to arrest us.

Finally, Ethan approached with long languid strides and a bit of reluctance. "Can you bring us the hatchet? It'll make it easier to break the top layer of ice."

I folded my arms over my chest. "I'm not fetching anything for you or Owen. How could you, Ethan?"

He placed each hand on my shoulders and stared into my eyes. "We have to do this. Don't you understand? We can't just allow her to lie there in our bed."

"Make Owen get the hatchet and get rid of the body." I watched as Owen kneeled and cleared snow from the icy surface. "He did this. Let him cover up his mistake. I might not run to the police but I'm sure as hell not gonna get the hatchet." Although I was freezing, I stood firm, refusing to budge.

Ethan shook his head and sighed. "You do realize it's our word against his, right? He could easily blame us for this. He could make it look like we helped him."

"You are helping him if you get the hatchet," I pointed out.

"You need to seriously think about this, Allison. I'm trying to protect us." He moved passed me and continued toward the shack. Moments later, he was back with the heavy hatchet in one hand. He passed without as much as a glance.

Owen took the hatchet in hand and crouched down to begin breaking the ice with the rusted metal.

I turned toward the shack, debating if I should return to its warmth or stay planted. I decided not to return as long as Mandy was sprawled out and exposed on the bed. I pivoted to face the lake and to see Owen and Ethan talking amongst themselves but looking back at me. When they were finally successful at chipping at the ice and creating a hole, they returned.

The look on Owen's face startled me. "You gonna help us carry the body?"

My reflexes took over my actions, and before I could think twice I spat a wad of saliva in Owen's face, missing his eye by millimeters. "I'm not your helper."

Owen responded by wiping his cheek with his hand, a move that surprised me as I was expecting more. "You're gonna run to the cops, aren't you?" Owen shook his head, showing his disappointment. "You're just gonna ruin us, huh?"

"Leave her alone!" Ethan's voice echoed beyond the trees. "We can do this on our own."

Owen lowered his gaze before disappearing into the shack.

They didn't need me. They were strong enough and capable enough to carry Mandy themselves. Besides, Owen practically carried her like a baby on their way back from meeting her. Owen was taunting me, rubbing in the fact that although Ethan was angry at him Ethan still did his bidding.

Moments later, they emerged carrying Mandy's lifeless body like a piece of old furniture that needed to be discarded. The bandana was nowhere near her neck, and her pants had lazily been pulled up to her thighs. As they hauled her across the snow to the lake, I jumped when Owen dropped her body like a heavy bag of trash. I could almost feel the thud from her hitting the ice.

With a pull of her shoulders, her top half slowly sank into the lake pulling the rest of her beneath the ice, too.

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