In Memory of Reed Fray

Nineteen

Skylar stared at where he was. He didn’t really know where he could possibly be. He hasn’t been in that place before and it didn’t look familiar to him. He walked through the grassy meadow and managed to see a playground in the distance and he had this vague recollection of a place where he and Reed begged there Dad to bring both of them to but he was too busy to do so.

“Doesn’t really matter anymore when we’re at this age.”

Skylar turned around and it was like staring at a mirror except that he had longer hair and the other guy had shorter and less messy one, “Reed.”

“Hello, brother,” Reed stated and then broke into a huge smile and laughed to himself, “I’ve always wanted to say that.”

“What are we doing here?” Skylar asked.

Reed shrugged and chuckled, “Beats me, but c’mon we’ve always wanted to try that huge slide. Last one to get there is rotten in bed.”

Skylar burst out laughing but sprinted to the playground. Of course he beat his brother. Even when Reed was star quarterback, Skylar was always the faster runner even when they were kids. Skylar climbed the huge slide and then slid down it. It was long and had so many turns and he remembered why they both wanted to go here. Getting down a slide this huge at their young age was the coolest thing a seven year old could ever do.

“Damn, I wonder why Dad never brought us here,” Skylar said, wiping sweat from his forehead. They’ve been playing around the playground for a while and they finally stopped to catch their breath.

Reed stood upright and then studied Skylar quietly. His brother stared at him questioningly and then he just shrugged, “Because besides the fact that he was busy, he didn’t want us to get hurt. He doesn’t want you to get hurt. I don’t want you to get hurt. So you have to keep yourself safe, Sky.”

“Hunny, you don’t want any breakfast?”

Skylar blinked and looked up at his Mom. He had never felt this at lost, “Uhh no. But coffee seems good.”

Barry looked at him with concern, “You know you can always talk to Mom, right?”

“I know,” he replied, accepting the cup of coffee she handed to him, “But it’s nothing, Mom. I’m just tired. That’s all.”

Barry doubted his response. She knew her son and when Skylar was bothered he had this habit of staring blankly into space and furrowing his eyebrows, as if he was thinking too much. Willow entered the kitchen and looked at her brother who was staring blankly at his coffee and their Mom staring at her son with worry.

“So did something bad happen?” Both heads snapped to her and grey eyes stared straight to her blue ones. She tucked her blonde hair behind her ear and looked at her Mom, “You guys quit staring at me like that. It’s creepy.”

It was Barry who spoke first, “Oh nothing’s wrong, hunny. Your brother seems to be in a mood.”

“Isn’t he always?” Willow asked before kissing their Mom’s cheek. She sat across from Skylar who looked so tired she wondered if he ever had the chance to sleep, “You look like a zombie.”

“Stayed up late studying. I have to ace this History test,” he murmured and then sneakily grabbed a piece of bacon, “You have ten minutes to eat breakfast.”

Skylar downed his coffee before trudging back to the living room. He then noticed a huge cardboard with the words “Skyscrapers built to last” pasted on it. It depicted explanations in a one fourth bond paper but he was too lazy to read.

“Science fair project?” he asked when he felt Willow’s presence beside him.

She shrugged, “Yea. You know how much I love these stupid things.”

He snickered, “Such a nerd.”

She rolled her eyes and followed him to the car. He waited as she placed her project at the backseat and when she buckled herself in, he zoomed out of their driveway, “What’s wrong? Mom might let you off when you say you’re tired but I won’t.”

Skylar glanced at her and then sighed, “I had a dream about Reed.”

Willow shifted to face him, “What happened?”

“Remember that playground that me and Reed used to tease Dad about?” he asked quietly, “Well, in the dream, we went there. And then after goofing off, Reed told me to keep safe.”

Willow pursed her lips and was silent until Skylar finally parked the car. Her brother turned to look at her, “Are you going to say something?”

She sighed, “Sky, are you doing something that will ultimately endanger you?”

Skylar had this urge to tell his sister everything. He never withheld anything from her nor did he want to lie to her. He took her hand and squeezed it tightly, “You know that I know how to keep myself safe, right?”

Willow looked away and when she turned back to him, her eyes were suddenly glassy, “That’s what Reed used to tell me too. Now, look at what that got to him.”

“You’re not gonna lose me,” he whispered and pulled her into a hug, “I promise you.”

Willow smiled and pulled away. She wanted to tell him that he didn’t really answer her question but she knew her brother, and he wouldn’t keep something if he didn’t know how to handle it. She had an uneasy feeling about it though but she had enough faith in Skylar and when he says she won’t lose him, then she won’t.

“You better ace that History test,” she muttered before taking off her seatbelt, “You know how much I love graduations.”

He chuckled and ruffled her hair playfully, earning a glare from her, “You just love to listen to the speech of the valedictorian so you can make a better one.”

She shrugged and kissed his cheek, “See ya!”

Skylar’s day went by as if normally did. Ever since Reed’s death and his sudden distance with David, he was just usually alone and dodging his way through the hallways to get to his classes. Sometimes he’d used the library for his free period to do research but since he had enough information that would get him to the next one, he didn’t feel the need to visit the library. Sometimes Tori would hang out with him and though they got weird looks and the random teasing from someone Tori knows, it was usually fun.

And this day went as it usually did, he dodged students, he went to his classes and zoned out most of the time, and he was with Tori at lunch. She said a lot of random things and sometimes whatever he said didn’t seem to make sense but he liked listening to her. And he appreciated the fact that she would sit with him and not with her dancer friends though she would alternate between them, him and Viola.

“Hey.”

Skylar glanced to his right and was surprised to see Viola. They normally didn’t talk. He thought that it was better that way so the killer wouldn’t suspect him. And he didn’t want to talk to her. She reminded him of what he lost, of the brother he used to have and now didn’t because she had to come here with her baggage.

“We can’t even have a random conversation?” she asked quietly when he didn’t respond.

Skylar blinked and realized he hadn’t replied to her yet, “Oh hi. We can as long as it doesn’t seem suspicious.”

Viola pursed her lips and then adjusted the strap of her bag, “So can you quiz me on our way to History class?”

Skylar just shrugged and was about to pull his History book out of his bag when his eyes widened, “Crap! I forgot my book in my car!”

“Well don’t look at me like I can magically teleport from here to there. Run!” Viola said shaking her head and Skylar sprinted out, heading straight to the parking lot. He dodged the students that filled the hallway and thanks the heavens that he was blessed with good speed. He reached the parking lot before the warning bell could even ring.

Quickly grabbing his History book, he locked his car and was about to sprint back to school again when he saw a hooded figure across from him. He furrowed his eyebrows. The guy had a hoodie on and a ski-mask, with a baseball bat in his left hand. He was lean but not very tall. He tilted his head to the left and regarded Skylar evenly.

“Can I help you?”

He walked closer to him. His strides were confident and Skylar felt his heart race. He remembered that Viola had mentioned the killer wearing a ski-mask when he killed her Dad, “It’s you.”

“Hello, Skylar Fray.”

His voice was throaty and deep. Skylar couldn’t place who it belonged to but hearing it made his blood suddenly boil. Without thinking, Skylar pushed him, all the rage he felt for him suddenly surfacing, “You killed Reed!”

The killer lost his footing for a moment but quickly regained it. He narrowed his eyes at Skylar though he could barely see it. He tackled Skylar and they both fell on the hard asphalt with the killer on top. He was swinging his fists at Skylar and the teen tried his best to protect himself and getting even blows along the way too. When Skylar had enough strength, he punched him so hard that he felt his knuckles crack and he pushed the killer off of him and stood.

“You f*****g killed my brother!” he shouted, kicking the killer on his sides, stomach, anywhere really, “He didn’t do anything to you!”

He was about to dash for the baseball bat but the killer somehow managed to kick Skylar’s leg causing him to lose his footing and hit his head hard on the asphalt. He groaned and his vision became blurry. The impact was too much. The killer stood up, a knife suddenly came out of his pocket and he didn’t think twice, he stabbed Skylar in his stomach causing the teen to scream out in pain. The killer grabbed the bat and without pausing, hit Skylar repeatedly.

Skylar tried to roll away from him, kicked him and tried to stand up. But with the killer above him and hitting him repeatedly, his stomach sending waves of pain, and with his head aching from the impact, he couldn’t really get up and defend himself. His head hurt more when the killer started to hit him there and all he could do was curl into fetal position, his arms on his head, helplessly trying to protect it.

“Hey!”

Skylar could faintly hear the voice of a female shouting to leave him alone and then the killer suddenly stopped hitting him. He feared that the killer was going to attack the girl. The killer suddenly let out a groan and Skylar could faintly see a knife stuck on his leg. He growled and looked at Skylar, before trying his best to run away quickly.

He saw another knife whiz by but it hit the lamp post, “Shit.”

Skylar could make out the image of Tori kneeling in front of him but he was starting to lose his focus, “To…ri.”

“Shh, shh, you’re gonna be okay,” she whispered and she was clumsily fiddling with her phone, “We need to call help.”

“To..ri,” he called again, it hurt everywhere and he just wanted her to hold him.

“Shh,” she shushed again and held his hand. He could blurrily see tears streaming on her face, “We’re gonna get help.”

“Open your eyes, Sky,” she coaxed, “Don’t do that. Please. Just stay awake.”

“Please.”

“Skylar, stay awake, please!” Tori was begging already, the helplessness evident in her voice.

But everything hurt and he couldn’t really stay awake no matter how much he tried. He kept losing his consciousness, only to have her shake him back. He faintly heard the ambulance and the sound was getting stronger and he knew it was near or within their radius. He couldn’t stop himself this time, and no amount of shaking did either, when he closed his eyes, he was lost. He thought of how he made his promise to Willow earlier how Reed had been right even if it was in his dream.

So you have to keep yourself safe, Sky.