CHAPTER SIXTEEN!
( DEATH OF AN ANGEL. )

   YOU HEARD YOUR name being spoken and felt yourself being shaken awake softly. You pushed the person off and buried your face back into your pillow. Was it morning already?

You finally decided to look at the person when they didn't leave. It was Charlie. Charlie had tears streaming down his face, his eyes were red.

"Charlie. Charlie, what's wrong?" you questioned, sitting up. You had an awful feeling in your gut. You looked at the doorway to see Knox and Pitts. Violet was already awake and crying with Meeks' arms wrapped around her.

"What happened?" you asked again, panic rising in your throat.

"Neil. Neil's dead," Charlie said shakily, taking your hand into his.

"No he's not. No, he can't be," you shook your head and pulled your hand away from Charlie's. You stared at Charlie for a moment, still shaking your head. Charlie only began to cry more and he stared into your eyes with a pained expression. The look on Charlie's face told your heart that it was true, even though your mind wouldn't let you believe it. A few warm tears hit your bed-sheets, but you hardly noticed. Your heart was pumping in your ears and your vision grew blurry.

You stood up suddenly and left the room, needing air. It was still dark outside, not a person was in sight. You rushed down the stairs and out into the courtyard. The tears were falling freely now. Neil was never anything less than an angel, always striving to make those around him feel loved and included. And he was gone.

His father did this. You knew it. You knew Neil would crack under the cruel pressure of his father, you just never imagined it could go this far. You sank to your knees and stared up at the moon. You tried to control your erratic breathing.

After mere seconds the door opened behind you and Charlie stumbled out. He immediately wrapped his arms around you and held you tightly. You hugged back as you sobbed into his shoulder.

After both of your crying subsided, you decided to go for a walk. The walk was mostly silent, neither one of you wanting to speak. The sounds of the river and the trees were enough to soothe your mind for the time being.

"Did you tell Todd?" you finally asked.

"I did, he just really needed to be alone," Charlie stated. You nodded and took Charlie's hand in yours.

"You're brave," you said.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, telling everyone about Neil. I wouldn't be able to do it," you admitted. As soon as you said his name another tear fell down your cheek. Charlie squeezed your hand tighter.

The sky was slowly becoming brighter. A heavy overcast blocked the sun from view, but you could tell it was coming up now.

"Do you think we should go check on Todd?" you asked gently.

"Yeah, let's go."

❦

Todd trudged through the snow. He had his dark coat draped on over his pyjamas. The rest of you followed closely behind him as he walked down towards the water. He stopped and stared out at the snow-covered surroundings.

You were too afraid to say anything. You didn't want anything to come out wrong. Neil was the first one to make Todd feel welcome, you knew that. You knew Todd and Neil had something special.

"It's so beautiful," Todd said shakily.

Todd suddenly began to gag. He fell down to his knees, and vomited into the snow. You were too sad to be disgusted. Instead you rushed forward and hugged him tightly, quickly followed by the other boys and Violet.

"Todd. It's okay, Todd," Charlie soothed.

"Calm down," Pitts added.

"It's all right, Todd."

"Todd, it's okay. It's okay, Todd."

Charlie grabbed a handful of snow and wiped Todd's mouth with it carefully.

"He wouldn't-- He wouldn't have done it," Todd sobbed.

"You can't explain it, Todd," Meeks reasoned.

"It was his father!" Todd shouted.

"No!" Charlie exclaimed.

"He wouldn't have left us. It's because he- He wouldn't have. His dad was-- his, his father did it."

"Todd," Charlie scolded him.

"His father killed him. He made him do it.

"He's right," you spoke up. "He's right, it was his father." You wanted nothing more than to punch Mr. Perry until he was in worse pain than he could imagine. You were brought out of your thoughts when Todd pushed himself away and stumbled down the hill. He slipped and fell into the snow.

"Todd!" Meeks called worriedly.

"Leave him be," Charlie said quickly, holding Meeks back.

Todd ran down towards the dock by the river, all while yelling and sobbing violently. After a moment he finally seemed to regain control of himself and he walked in silence out onto the dock. You placed your hand over your mouth and your heart broke all over again. You stared out at the icy world, it was beautiful indeed, but the beauty hurt because you knew Neil would never again see it. A snowflake fell onto your eyelashes. Neil would never again see the intricate patterns it held. A sharp breeze whipped against your cheek. Neil would never again feel the wind flow through his hair. Charlie pulled you into a tight hug. Neil would never again feel the warmth of love.

❦

You stood in the assembly hall as the sounds of students singing rang in your ears. You couldn't bring yourself to sing, not now.

"All my life, thy light shall surely follow me. And in God's house forevermore, My dwelling place shall be. Amen."

Mr. Nolan stepped up to the pulpit and cleared his throat.

"The death of Neil Perry is a tragedy. He was a fine student. One of Welton's best," he said. You scoffed, you didn't care who heard. All Nolan cared about was the stupid grades that Neil brought to the school. "And he will be missed. We've contacted each of your parents to explain the situation. Naturally, they're all quite concerned. At the request of Neil's family, I intend to conduct a thorough inquiry into this matter. Your complete cooperation is expected."

You shook your head in disbelief. Neil's father was blaming this on someone else? After all of this how could he still not realize that he was the corruptor, the tyrant, the killer.

All the students were ushered out. You stepped into the hall, the rhythmic sound of footsteps bouncing off the stone walls. The school had never felt so gray. You walked in silence through the dark halls of Hell-ton. Neil was an angel, and Hell was no place for an angel.

❦

"You told him about this meeting?" Charlie asked, looking at Pitts. You were all sitting in the cloakroom smoking cigarettes.

"Twice," Pitts confirmed.

"That's it, guys. We're all fried," Charlie groaned. You took another drag from your cigarette. You knew Charlie was right, Cameron was never really down with breaking the rules.

"How do you mean?" Pitts asked.

"Cameron's a fink. He's in Nolan's office right now, finking," Charlie explained, shrugging his shoulders.

"About what?"

"What do you think, Pitts?" you retorted.

"The club, Pittsie. Think about it. The board of directors, the trustees and Mr. Nolan. Do you think for one moment they're gonna let this thing just blow over? Schools go down because of things like this. They need a scapegoat," Charlie stated. A look of realization fell over everyone's faces.

You heard the door creak open and everyone except Charlie hurried to put out their cigarettes and wave away the smoke. You looked at Charlie, confused. Then it hit you, he had accepted that he wasn't going to stay at Welton. Though you hated the idea of him leaving, you trusted him.

A light flicked on and Cameron entered. You narrowed your eyes at him. He sported an innocent expression on his face. Part of you couldn't blame him, he just wanted to keep himself out of trouble, but the other part was too angry to reason. Cameron put the rest of you in jeopardy all to save himself.

"What's going on, guys?" he asked cheerfully.

"You finked, didn't you, Cameron?" Charlie phrased it like a question, but anyone who looked into his eyes could tell it wasn't.

Charlie got up and approached Cameron, tossing his cigarette away.

"Finked? I didn't know what the hell you're talking about," Cameron chuckled nervously.

"You told Nolan everything about the club is what I'm talking about."

"Look, in case you hadn't heard, Dalton, there's something called an honor code at this school, all right? If a teacher asks you a question, you tell the truth or you're expelled," Cameron exclaimed defensively.

"You little-" Charlie lunged at Cameron but Knox and Meeks held him back.

"Charlie!" Meeks exclaimed.

"He's a rat! He's in it up to his eyes, so he rattled to save himself!"

"Don't touch him, Charlie. You do and you're out," Knox reasoned.

"I'm out anyway!"

"You don't know that, not yet," Knox responded. Charlie turned to look at you and you simply stared back at him.

"He's right there, Charlie. And if you guys are smart, you will do exactly what I did and cooperate. They're not after us. We're the victims. Us and Neil," Cameron stated.

"What's that mean? Who are they after?" Charlie questioned angrily.

"Why, Mr. Keating, of course. The 'Captain' himself. I mean, you guys didn't really think he could avoid responsibility, did you?" Cameron laughed dryly.

"You're kidding," you scoffed. You stepped forward, your anger burning stronger with every word that left Cameron's mouth. Todd placed a gentle hand on your shoulder and you almost shrugged him off, but decided not to.

"Mr. Keating responsible for Neil? Is that what they're saying?" Charlie asked incredulously.

"Well, who else do you think, dumb ass?" Cameron shouted. "The administration? Mr. Perry? Mr. Keating put us up to all this crap, didn't he? If he wasn't for Mr. Keating, Neil would be cozied up in his room right now, studying his chemistry and dreaming of being called doctor."

"That is not true, Cameron. You know that. He didn't put us to anything. Neil loved acting," Todd piped up. Stepping in front of you. You placed your hands on your forehead, letting out a bitter laugh.

"You're a coward," you cried. "You are such a goddamn coward. I can't believe you're the same kid we all spent nights with in the cave or afternoons in the library. Neil took you under his arm y'know? He's the one who let you into all this. I thought you were a friend, turns out you're nothing more than a selfish fink," you spat.

Cameron's expression faltered and his lip quivered for a moment.

"She's right," Violet agreed. This was the first time you'd ever heard Violet go up against someone, and you respected her all the more for it.

Cameron shook his head. "Believe what you want, but I say let Keating fry. I mean, why ruin our lives?" he hissed.

Charlie couldn't hold himself back any longer. He lunged at Cameron again and punched him square in the nose. Cameron fell to the floor from the impact as the boys pulled Charlie away. Cameron lifted a hand to his bloody nose.

"You just signed your expulsion papers, Nuwanda," he sneered, spite dripping from his tongue. Cameron rose to his feet, blood running down his face. "And if the rest of you are smart, you'll do exactly what I did. They know everything anyway. You can't save Keating, but you can save yourselves."

Cameron walked away, shutting the door harshly behind him.

❪ ⋆࿐໋ 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒑𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒎. ❫

AUTHOR'S NOTE.

This was so sad to write and I had to take a few breaks. I'm sorry this took longer than I thought. I was literally dreading this chapter but it had to happen. I love you guys and we can be sad together.

- s