Bentlee Mullins stood beneath the tree where Jacob Shaw's eyes were buried, hopping from foot to foot in an attempt to stay warm. He waved when he saw Eric moving towards him through the woods.

"Thanks for meeting me," Bentlee said, running his hand through his orange hair which had become uncombed and matted over the past few days. Eric's hands were in his pockets, a dark green scarf pulled up over the lower half of his face. Bentlee looked terrible, if someone was asked to illustrate a person half an inch away from a complete mental break down Bentlee would look the part. Heavy bags lay beneath his eyes and the usually prim and proper boy currently looked completely disheveled. Eric didn't especially seem put off by his appearance, in fact the tall boy didn't even bat an eyelid.

"It was no trouble for me. Are you alright?" Bentlee shook his head, almost violently.

"No, I've never been this far from alright. I think....I think I might be going crazy. You're the only one I can talk to or trust Eric, you're the only one of us who hasn't killed someone. I need you to help me..." tears had welled in his eyes and they slowly began to stream down his cheeks.

"I can try my best. You said you felt like you were going going crazy, elaborate."

"Everytime I'm in my room I feel like it's fucking closing in on me...like I'm about to be crushed by the four walls that had always seemed so familiar and normal to me. I keep feeling like everyone watching me...like they know Norman's dead and that they know that we did it. I can't sleep and I can hardly eat. Every time I shut my eyes I can see Norman and Jacob's face and every time I eat whatever is in my mouth tastes like goddamn saw dust. I think I'm...Christ Eric I think I might be losing my mind. Even breathing is hard, if I even start to think about it then it feel like there's a weight on my chest or....or... I'm fucking drowning. I don't know what I'm supposed to do." Eric continued to stare at him, his expression never changing.

"That is unfortunate."

"What I need your help with Eric is...fuck...I think we should turn ourselves in." Eric didn't react and Bentlee swallowed hard. "I would keep you out of it. You're a good person Eric and you never hurt anyone. I'd just say you weren't there. Me and everyone else though...we deserve to rot in jail. What we did was fucking awful. Sure it was was fun at first, with Jacob. He had been a jackass and he used to pick on me even before his drinking problem started. It felt great to fucking stick a knife in his back but even then...he was still a person with parents and family. I'm sure he had friends or a girlfriend back home that are feeling the same way I'm feeling about Norman right now. We did a despicable thing and if that wasn't bad enough we did it twice. I thought it was going to end after Jacob, we got lucky we didn't get caught the first time and we had...y'know, still gotten the experience of a real human kill. But now that they killed Norman too...fuck Eric when does it end? The ball is rolling, it's turning into a goddamn addiction and we need to stop it before it gets even more out of control. God knows I don't want to spend the rest of my life in jail but I deserve it and so do they. So, Eric will you help me? They listen to you. You could try to suggest to them that what we did was wrong and we should pay for it, I want them to at least have the opportunity to do the right thing. If they say no I'll go straight to the police." After a beat Eric gave him a nod.

"I will do what I can." Bentlee let out a small sigh of relief. Then suddenly he moved forward, pulling Eric into a tight hug and burying his face into his shoulder.

"Thank you Eric...shit...thank you. I don't know what I would have done without you after all these years. You're the kindest person I've ever met, you've always been like my conscious getting us to do community service and to look out for each other. You're like a brother to me. Hell it was practically your voice in my head telling me that I should pay for my sins and turn myself in." When Eric spoke it was as softly as always.

"I am honored that you think so highly of me. You should go back to your room and sleep, hopefully you will finally be able to catch some shut eye now that you have made up your mind to stop giving in to the darkness inside of you." Bentlee nodded eagerly.

"You're right. You have a good night Eric..." he bowed his head. "And again...I don't think I can ever thank you enough." Eric smiled kindly.

"Goodnight my friend." As Bentlee disappeared into the darkness towards campus Robert Reed stepped out of the shadows where he had been standing, silently watching the entire time. As Robert approached to stand beside him, Eric didn't even turn to look at him, his smile immediately dropping.

"We need to kill him," Eric said in his typical, gentle voice.