Wearing red will get you murdered in Ezra Beach; at least thats what the locals say. 

It's a bad omen they say. That the murderer who was never caught twenty years ago still roams the streets, staring at every person who wears red and deciding if their blood is worth spilling. They say he, or she, goes into the woods to visit the body; to live in the glory of what they've done. Of the fear they've incited in every person in this town. 

But Athena doesn't believe that.

She only believes in the truth that has yet to be found. She believes that the killer has left Ezra Beach and will never be found. She believes that the body of their victim is decomposed and far away; they haven't found her body in twenty years so it has to be...right? She believes that the color red has nothing to do with being a bad omen. She believes that it is all just a story turned into a ghost tale to scare the children into not misbehaving. The exaggerated tale of the murder of Kristi McRae.

And that's why she slipped on a red crop top and walked down the stairs into the living room. 

"Thea!" Her five year brother wailed the moment he set eyes on her. "Mommy, she's wearing red! She's gonna die!"

Their mother rolled her eyes. "Atlas, your sister is not going to die."

His eyes widened, his dimples setting deep into his cheeks. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. She's just going out with some friends." Mother looked at Athena with a small smile. "With some guy friends."

"Mom! It's Tyler and the girls!" Athena groaned as Atlas giggled and began to sing something along the lines of "THEA GONNA GET MARRIED!"

Mother shrugged. "Your brother has a point. You're going to be a senior and you haven't had a boyfriend yet."

"And?"

"And I'm just glad you're getting out more instead of hiding in your room."

Athena avoided her eye contact as she grab her jacket. With a quick wave and a promise to be home in the morning for breakfast, she ran out the door before they could interrogate further. 

It wasn't her fault she shut herself down; it was how she dealt with grief. Her father had died from cancer and hiding from her friends and family seemed like the best way to come to terms with the fact her dad wasn't coming back. It wasn't until a month ago, when she got the news her childhood best friend would be moving to Ezra Beach, that she crawled out her cave. 

And today her best friend was arriving. 

Her walk turned into a jog as she turned a corner and the beach came into view. 

Standing on the sand next to the road stood a ginger haired girl, a duffel bag swung over her shoulder as she attempted to get service. The thing about Ezra Beach was that there was little or no service. 

"Lay!" Thea yelled, breaking into a sprint across the road.

Layla dropped her bag and wrapped her arms around her. "Thea!"

"I can't believe you're here!" She pulled back to exam her face, which seemed much more lively in person than it did on face time.

"I can't believe I'm here!" Layla laughed. "So this is the infamous Ezra Beach?"

Thea shrugged and bent to pick up Layla's discarded bag. "Sure, so infamous."

"Why do you say it like that?"

"You haven't heard?" She stared at Layla with confused eyes. 

"Heard what?"

Thea's hand tightened around the strap of Layla's bag. She was surprised she hadn't heard the news about Kristi because it had become state wide news. It was the biggest thing that had happened in Ezra Beach since Hurricane Don had hit almost three months ago; one of the reasons there was no service in the town. 

"Nothing." She lied through her smile. "Now, lets go! Taia and some friends want to meet you!" Thea lead the way down Main Street toward the grocery store where her sister and friends were buying groceries for s'mores.

"Ugh, I can't get any service!" Layla groaned as they walked through the door of the grocery store. "How am I supposed to post my beach pics on Instagram?! The people in my old town have to be jealous cause my new home is ten times more fun than theirs!"

A chuckle greeted them the front counter. "Thea, your friend must be from out of town. Everyone knows that the internet and some power will be out for awhile."

Thea waved at Mr. Hendrix, the friendly man who owned the only grocery store in town. "Was it that obvious?"

Layla gawked at him. "Did you say no internet? FOR AWHILE?!"

"Surprise!" Thea laughed as Layla stared at her phone with sad eyes. "Welcome to Ezra Beach, Lay."

"Yes, the same beach where prom queens go missing," a falsetto deep voice said from behind the aisle to Thea's left. "Wearing red is like a beacon to serial killers in the making. Killers kidnap girls and-"

"Can you shut up for once in your life?" Taia, Thea's sister, groaned as she shoved Tyler out into view. "He's so stupid." Her eyes landed on Layla who was staring at Tyler while biting her bottom lip. "Layla!"

"Hey Taia," Layla as the two girls embraced. "I've missed you!"

Taia opened her mouth to respond when Tyler strolled up and wrapped an arm around Layla. "Well, I don't believe we've met. I'm Tyler." He winked. "Y'know I'm single and ready to mingle so..."

"Ah no flirting with my best friend!" Thea snapped, pulling Layla away from him. "She's off limits, Ty! Why don't you go try your luck with Chels again?"

He scrunched his nose at her. "Ha ha so funny Thea. That's not happening because I don't want to get punched in the face again. How was I supposed to know she was smiling at the girl standing behind me?"

"You should've known because how many times has she told you she likes girls?" Taia snarked, picking up a giant pixi stick and attempting to poke him in eye with it. 

Tyler swatted it away. "Don't need to rub it in. While we're on the topic of Chelsea, shouldn't we get going to the campsite?"

"Campsite?" Layla piped up. "I don't know if my parents will let me stay out all night."

"Where are they anyways?" Thea asked as Tyler said, while puffing his chest out, "Don't worry about it, I'll make you sure you don't get kidnapped tonight."

"Umm thanks Tyler, means a lot." She turned away from him to face Thea. "They're unloading the moving van at our house."

"Well, I can work my adorable charm and convince them." Thea smiled brightly at Layla, swiping her friends phone and opening it. "Watch this."

~~~~~

The sun had set behind the horizon, the shadows from the firelight stretching across the ground like fingers. They were camping in the middle of Ezra Forest, about two miles from town. 

"And then the killer grabbed her bruised body and buried it...somewhere in this very forest," Tyler murmured in a hushed tone, a flashlight under his chin which deepened the shadows of his cheekbones. "Some say her spirit haunts this forest, searching for another young girl in red to kidnap and join her in the spirit world. A girl like Thea."

Hands grabbed Thea's shoulders from behind as Tyler let out a hysterical cackle. "You're next, Thea!"

She shoved off the hands of Taia, who was stifling a laugh. "I don't believe in hauntings or spirits, Ty. Get your head out of the supernatural."

"Why do you always have to be such a party pooper?" He sprawled out on his sleeping bag and grabbed the bag of marshmallows he had been using as a pillow. 

"I'm not a party pooper! It's just town lore."

"Yeah, but it really happened!" Chelsea called from her hammock. She raised her hands in dramatics as she sang, "The mysterious disappearance of Kristi McRae!"

"What happened to her?" Layla asked. She bit into her s'more, the shadows of the fire making her face distorted. 

"Murdered. Killer has never been caught and her body never found."

Layla shuddered. "Then why do you still live in this town if there's a killer on the loose?"

"Adrenaline!" Tyler yelled as Taia groaned, "Because my parents won't let a minor move away."

Tyler hucked a marshmallow at her. 

"You'll find out more tomorrow. It's the twentieth anniversary of Kristi's disappearance," Thea said as the two of them started a marshmallow fight. "The entire town is going to gather for the family with a candle light vigil. It's going to be pretty sad but hey, the town has to stick together."

Layla nodded but didn't say anything; she just chewed her s'more in silent thought.

"Alright, this is getting boring!" Chelsea yelled. "Let's play a game, specifically a scary one."

"Hide and seek!" Tyler suggested, rubbing his hands together evilly. 

"That's not scary you idiot!"

"Can be if the seeker dresses as Kristi." He rummaged in his bag and pulled out a red prom dress. "Now, who wants to be it?"

All of the girls stared at him, Thea staring in disappointment. "How long have you been carrying that around?"

"Does it matter?"

"No, it doesn't," Chelsea laughed. "But the question stills stands: how long have you been carrying around a red prom dress? And," she looked at the other girls, hands raised in the air, "for the record, this makes him even weirder."

He rolled his eyes dramatically. "Whatever."

"You can be Kristi." Taia grabbed her flashlight from her sleeping bag. "All of you are so going down! Put the dress on, Ty, and start counting." Her brown eyes glittered in the firelight.

"You're going down!" Chelsea yelled, running off into the woods as Tyler pulled the red dress over his head and started to count to forty. 

~~~

hey guys im back :)

its been awhile since ive been here on wattpad and since school ends this week, im going to be a lot more active over the summer! i rlly hope you enjoy this book cause its going to be full of twists and turns (hopefully my other mystery fans will approve haha)

QOTD: do you like camping?

-emz

word count: 1617