The Listening: A Tale of Friendship and Courage

Tab 1

(22) Sarah walsh

(52) Mckenna Walsh

(22) Mackenzie Cooper

(53) Sasha Cooper

(21) Charlie Finnegan

(22) Jonathan Cambly

(22) Wesley Taylor

(Looks near 53) ???

(Looks near 32) ???

(Looks near 29) ???

The Listening

It was a normal Sunday evening in the small town of Kent, Connecticut, a small breeze carrying through the evening. Stars were starting to shine as it slowly starts to get later into the night and started to illuminate more people walking the streets. The street lights were slowly popping on as neighborhood kids rushed home before their parents hopefully noticed. The cooler atmosphere started to stalk through the darkening town, the full moon starting to shine through as the dark sky as night was taking over the day. Couples and people coming home from work started to fill the streets as it was becoming prime time to walk around. The colourful leaves falling off the trees as cars passed along on the roads with low hums of their engines being the only real ‘disturbing’ to the peace noise. But slowly the low hum of music from the fall festival was carrying over the town adding the peace back a bit in the beautiful small town. ..

Sarah Walsh who was a known lowkey germaphobe, And Mackenzie Cooper who was known to pick a fight with anyone who even set their sights on Sarah. The two girls were childhood best friends just like their mothers were. They had grown up together due to accidentally being born on the same day, it was a long long tiring story for the girls that neither were fond of telling. Sarah was in the bathroom brushing her teeth as they were getting ready to go out to the new horror movie that was playing tonight. They always went to see new movies together no matter how crappy they seemed to be. It was a little tradition to get drunk, watch shitty movies, and go eat food afterwards since the snacks they packed were never enough. Mackenzie came in with just a towel wrapped around here, stepping in the shower as the harsh clinking of synchronized metal rang out as she shut the curtain. Sarah almost instinctively stopped and held out her hand and soon Mackenzie's plush black towel was in it as the shower turned on. “So we are going to my place and then to the movies?” Mackenzie asked while starting to wash her body. “Yeamph” Sarah replied, folding the towel neatly and placing it onto the toilet, then she spit out the toothpaste and rinsed her mouth and quickly dabbed it with a rag “is your brother there are we going to be able to have fun?” she asked while pulling her brunette strands back behind her ears. “Yeah! He should be out tonight so we can drink without judgment of Mr.judgy pants!” Mackenzie said excitedly “so hurry upp so I can get out and get ready!” Sarah laughed and said her okays and left the bathroom.

It was around 8:15, so about an hour and a half before the movie starts, the girls were already walking down to Mackenzie's. They looked compared to models in the small town, Sarah was wearing a black long sleeved, mid-thigh dress, and she even had her hair curled slightly so it was better than her usual fluffy hair. She had also done a light smokey eye make-up to compliment, and a pair of light almost purple lips to match. Mackenzie’s long blond hair was out, you could see her black under dye if you were paying more attention, but her hair had a slight natural curve to the ends of her hair. But as far as her outfit goes, she was wearing a long sleeve blue and black matching shirt and skirt, along with a pair of black heels that were strappy and along her calf. She had also done a light smokey eye but with blue and a bit more exaggerated eyeliner than Sarah's simple one. Her lips were only glossy as it reflected in the streetlights they passed. The girls were leaving Sarah and her mom’s house to head over to Mackenzie and her brother's shared house. Mackenzie and Johnathan were step siblings, but even said they never let that stop them from acting like blood siblings. Always constantly getting into fights, picking on each other, and even stupid pranks. They soon reached the cute gray and white house at the end of the cul-de-sac Mackenzie and her brother lived in.

Sarah was laughing pretty loud at the stupid joke Mackenzie was making about a certain someone who also happened to live with Mackenzie. The two girls entered the kitchen, and Sarah was wiping away the tears from her eyes, careful to not mess up the light smoky eye she had on. “So what are we-” And before she could finish her sentence three masked men all 5 '8 and up appeared before them. The shortest one had on a bunny mask with an eerily creepy smile, red fluffy hair peeking out over top. His outfit consisted of a red and white letterman jacket, dirty blue jeans, with a pair of matching dirty work boots. He held his hands out like cat claws trying to seem scarier, which was working in his favour at the moment. The second tallest one who seemed to be around 5 '10 in height just stood there with his sheep mask, almost a Michael like aura from him. His black hair seemed to peak out a bit as his hair was pulled back into a neat man bun to go along with his neatly put together outfit it seemed. He wore a dark blue sweater with no design, a pair of darker kind of stained blue jeans, and a pair of black clean work boots. He kept his hands in his pockets, the empty eye sockets of the mask staring daggers through the girls. The tallest reached a height of 6 '2 with his blond tipped ends peaking out, he wore the scariest mask, It was a creepy boar and its smile ran almost to its eyes. The eyes were no kinder, having blood to be dripping from them. The males outfit consisted of a dark gray shirt, a kind of too small leather jacket which almost was scarier as it outlined his muscles, a pair of darker blue jeans like the second male, and a pair of dirty work boots. In his hands was a broken phone, the cord dangling down to his feet. The girls screamed even louder and ran out of the room and as soon as they were gone all three men broke composure. They were all on the floor laughing, tears filling their eyes, the sheep's mask dude went to grab his set up phone “oh duuuude they screamed so loud!” the sheep mask said. But before they could enjoy it any longer the two girls busted into the room, each with a shotgun in hand as they pointed them at the boys. It was so quiet you could hear the boys increasingly breathing in their masks. They all pulled off their masks as fast as they could and got on their knees, Charlie who was in the bunny's mask spoke “PLEASE NO SARAH WERE SOOOORRRYYYYY”. Charlie was usually the first to break in these situations, but he was terrified, but that soon changed as they heard the girls stifled giggles. Charlie, Johnthan, and Wesely all whipped their heads up “HUH?”. “We pfft knew it was y'all after you guys celebrated too early!” Mackenzie laughed out “HAHA they aren’t loaded, we made sure” Sarah giggled. The girls looked at each other and both emptied their actions, and shot it at the floor, no bullets. Mackenzie grabbed Sarah's and went to put them up as Sarah went to the liquor cabinet. “You guys..are the..worst” Wesley said and picked up his sheep mask “You almost had char char pissin em self” Johnathan snickered, only to receive a sharp elbow from Charlie “They had guns! We said we wouldn't use weapons cuz that's too far” Charlie said and pouted, throwing himself on a chair. “Apparently the girls are animals, willing to go so farrrr” Jonathan gleamed, only to then have to catch a roll of paper towels that hit his nose slightly “oh c’mon Sarah you know you love us” Jonathan smirked at her, only to receive a slight huff and Sarah turning away from him. “Well at least now y'all can't judge how much we drink and will drive us to the theatre!” Mackenzie smirked and she hopped on the counter, grabbing and looking at some bottles “Now we have to take at least two shots since y'all cost us valuable time” Sarah grabbed two shot glasses. “Right she is my boys, since I love you all so much~” Sarah teased as each of them looked away and grumbled, going off to the garage till the girls were ready to leave.

After probably too many shots later, the girls were in the car and looking out the window of Wesely’s soccer mom van as the other two joked. “Aaaare we theeeere yettttttt” Mackenzie groaned and was watching the scenery go by “You asked me that 10 seconds ago, has my answer changed or have I- Oh god damnit. Yes were here” Wesley sighed at getting proved wrong, Mackenzie giving a sheepish smirk as he blushed a bit and looked away “out will ya? We got valuable time gaming or something” Wesley said softly as he was looking around, some older guys catching his attention. “Yea yea, bye boyzzz” Mackenzie grabbed her purse before getting out and waving, flipping off Jonathan with a smile as he returned the favour “Bye! Thanks for the ride” Sarah gave her signature smile which made all three guys melt a bit before hardening up. They all waved goodbye as Wesely looked at Jonathan who climbed into the front seat “those guys, I don’t like the look of them.” Wesley said flat out, Jonathan scanned them and gave a nod “Yea they already smell like bad news, I don't recognize them. And you know how mom and dad always had monthly barbeques” Jonathan watched them, having grown up going to everyone he’s learned just about everyone who lives in his town. “Are we gonna stalk the girls are what, c’mon” Charlie said with a small smile, he meant it as a joke but also was serious about watching them at least tonight. “Those guys look like people that bastard used to deal with, so if y'all are dipping I'm gonna stay.” Charlie never usually got this serious as he was usually full of more anxiety and cringy jokes, so Wesely and Johnathan hardened up a bit seeing how serious he was. Wesley circled around a few times and found a parking spot near the one with two easier exits just in case things went wrong. The boys all took deep breaths and put on some kind of baseball cap, Charlie wore regular glasses, Wesley wore his hair down, and Jonathan put on a pair of sunglasses. They embarked on going to find the girls in the movie theatre.

Mackenzie and Sarah, blissfully unaware, were in their movie and rummaging around for the snacks they packed up in Mackenzie purse she grabbed from home. Sarah sipped on her soda, totally engrossed in the movie along with Mackenzie. It wasn’t long till the three boys found them and sat at the top of the movie theatre so as to not be noticeable, after all they weren't here to watch the movie. Soon the movie started and the three older men sat a few rows behind Sarah and Mackenzie, they were between the boys and Sarah and Mackenzie. Wesley was watching the three men intently, he glanced over at Charlie who didn't seem to take his eyes off of the men, then he glanced over at Jonathan who was watching the girls. Wesley just kept watching between the two, all three boys ready to jump at a moment's notice. They hadn’t even realized how much time went by as the movie was soon coming to an end, the youngest guy left the theatre, the other two just sitting there, seeming to watch the ‘movie’. It wasn't soon before the movie was fully over, Charlie's eyes never leaving the oldest man, Jonathan watching both the girls intently like they may just disappear if not watched. The youngest man never came back, so Wesley went to go check it out. He walked around the entire theatre but didn't even see him at all, the last place he went was the bathroom which he had to use anyway so he went into a stall. He unzipped his pants and was thinking about where the guy could be as he heard footsteps enter the bathroom so he tried to just be quick with what he was doing. “Yea yea, don't worry boss, I'll get you those thigh highs you wanted.” The sound of that was almost too innocent, but also just so sinister it made Wesley's heart drop, he silently grabbed his phone and texted the group chat. ‘Guys get the girls out.now.911.i don't give a f.’ but just before he sent it his phone fell to the ground with a sharp crack. He cursed himself, pulling up his pants, of course now would be the time he drops his phone. His phone has got a huge crack, he gets the message sent but not before he slices his thumb on the crack. Wesley walked out and was soon knocked out clean, not even knowing what hit him, but it was the youngest guy with a bathroom door “Yea he’s taken care of. Get the other two.” Wesley gave a weak groan, his body in pain as he was going to definitely have a bump on his forehead. The youngest guy hung up, releasing the door and wiping Wesley's blood off of it, and walking out.

Meanwhile the girls are too absorbed in their conversation about the movie, heading into the bathroom together. They soon had a moment of silence but then they heard a sudden loud bang outside the bathroom. They had no clue it was that loud bang was Wesley, the girls jumped “what was that?” Sarah asked a bit paranoid, the horror movie jumps “It was probably a guy slamming the door shut, drama queens” Mackenzie shrugged and finished up. Mackenzie exited the stall and started to wash her hands “yea you're probably right, as always” Sarah smiled, feeling a bit better that Mackenzie had reassured her. Sarah finished up and came out as well, she washed her hands and then started to fix some strands on her face. “You ready to go get our grub on?” Sarah smiled eagerly, reapplying lip gloss as she looked in the mirror “1000% yes girl,i neeeed that food in ma tummmmaaaaa” Mackenzie said and giggled, the girls got back to being oblivious as they were leaving the bathroom. As soon as they stepped out smoke was filling the room making it nearly impossible to see, the girls started coughing and looking around as all they could hear was the blaring alarms in their ears now “What the fuck?!” Mackenzie yelled, coughing hard and covering her mouth. She grabbed Sarah's arm “Where did this come from?!”Sarah asked in fear and held onto her best friend for dear life “I don't know we just have to-” But before Mackenzie could finish her sentence the roof came down beside them as the girls screamed. Almost before they could even think about trying to run out, they were picked up by the three now masked older men and were taken outside, the smoke almost making them untraceable.

Smoke was coming from the small arcade that was in the local theatre, it had no more than 3 game machines, but it was now just being used to fuel the fire. Jonathan rushed into the male bathroom after the smoke started coming through the theatres, he saw Wesley and scrambled to pick him up. They were almost the same weight so Johnathan had to pull his friend over his shoulder like a fireman hold. Jonathan got Wesley's weight distributed properly and started to carry him out to the exit, getting cut off by the masked men and nearly falling back. He tried to follow but got lost in the smoke and had to take a different exit. Charlie was already outside a few cars down from the masked men’s car, he set up circular rocks and glass a few more cars ahead of the car he was hiding behind. Charlie had hoped it would trip them up or slow them down at the least. He then looked down at his hands, tracing around the scars on his hands and his knuckles. Then he pulled a white silk cloth out of his pocket, it held two iron brass knuckles, looking at the polished-up iron he sighed and put them on and slipped the cloth back in his pocket. Some of the scars on his knuckles matched up with the knuckles, making it a smooth fit, he looked at his now starting to shake hands and took a deep breath. “They are worth it. The girls are worth this.” He said softly to himself as he heard the men's heavy footsteps approaching along with Mackenzie’s and Sarah's muffled screams. Soon he heard two men hitting the pavement with heavy thuds and loud groaning .The sound of the girls getting up quickly and their heels clacking, but soon their bodies hitting the pavement with a slight sickening crunch. Mackenzie's rib was broken, and Sarah broke her wrist as Mackenzie knew how to fall but Sarah tried to catch herself. That was more than enough, Charlie burst out and hit the only dude standing which happened to be the oldest one square in the jaw. The sickening crunch of a jaw popping out of place along with muffled screams, Charlie smirked and then looked at the girls “Please, close your eyes.” Mackenzie did as she was asked without question, but Sarah couldn’t take her eyes off the gruesome scene in front of her. Not soon enough the sound of Jonathan and Wesley coming over was growing louder; they simply didn't say anything about Charlie almost getting beat. Charlie was holding his own pretty well, just taking his fair share of hits. Wesley carried a shivering Mackenzie, and John had Sarah who just looked purely traumatized. Mackenzie’s eyes were filled with tears and Sarah just looked almost numb as her usual bright blue eyes were a dull blue.

The police and EMTs were called, by multiple witnesses to the fire and even the fight that was happening in the parking lot. The three men were put into handcuffs and were being carted off to a medical facility for their extensive wounds. Charlie looked pretty beat up himself though even if he did hold his own in the fight. He had two bruised ribs, a split open lip, to be forming bruises already over his body, and some minor cuts here and there. The three men were in a lot worse condition as the two who took the initial beating have multiple things broken and split open. Charlie looked proud of himself though, shaking like a leaf, but proud as he dropped to his knees. The girls both rushed over to Charlie and were hugging him and thanking him. Charlie was hugging them back softly, trying to not get blood on them as he was telling them it was ok, at this point running on the adrenaline that was pumping through him. Wesley and John looked proud but so defeated they let this happen in the first place as they both blamed themselves. Wesley joined the hug and Johnathan gave a sad smile and looked at Charlie, gently taking his hands and taking off the knuckles that dripped blood, putting them in his pocket and joining the hug gently. Once EMTs were on scene they immediately got Charlie out of his bloodied shirt and examined him quickly, he was then rushed off to the hospital after passing out in one of the EMT’s arms. John and Wesely gave their police reports of what they witnessed separately as they had to be through. Sarah and Mackenzie gave their own statements to the female officers on scene, having to be within eye shot of each other otherwise they would start to become antsy about the other. The poor girls had cuts and bruises from the road and the glass they happened to fall on, but nothing would compare if the males were able to get ahold of them. The police took pictures of the girl's injuries to add to their reports. As soon as they came back together they both hugged each other, they got checked out in the same ambulance as the EMT’s weren’t going to get in their way of that. The girls expressed not being able to ride in separate ambulances and be away from each other, the overstressed EMT’s just agreed and took the girls to the hospital for their injuries. Johnathan and Wesley found each other and got in Wesley's car and made the quiet drive to the hospital. There would have never been enough words or actions to have prepared the girls or the boys for going through a night as crazy as this.

Later they were all at the hospital, Jonathan and Wesley were in the waiting room, very impatiently to hear back about at least Charlie or the girls. Mackenzie was on the left side of Charlie and Sarah was on the right, they each held one of his bruised up and bandaged hands gently. Jonathan and Wesely stood outside of the room and gave sad smiles, going in and John comforted Sarah and Wesley comforted Mackenzie. They were all silent, just praying this would never happen again and that Charlie would be ok. The hospital staff got the four each a cot and they all fell asleep in the room with Charlie, none of them wanting to be alone after what had happened or wanting to leave out of each other's sites. They were always family; something just tells me this brought them a bit closer.

(Ps: If you were worried about Charlie don't worry! He will be A-Ok :) )