Erasing the Past

Five minutes into Music class, Zeke got a bathroom pass and walked out of the classroom. He needed to be quick- if the police came barging up the steps of this school, he couldn't have anyone suspecting he had anything to do with Ellieane Hoffman's disappearance.

The way Zeke saw it, the only way to escape his past was by getting rid of it altogether. So that was what he was going to do.

Zeke saw small scuff marks on the floors at the end of the hall. High heel marks. The tracks turned to the left, where they led towards the parking lot. Zeke sprinted up ahead, being grateful that this part of the parking lot was under construction, and that it didn't have a single security camera.

And there she was. Hiding behind a black porsche was Ellieane, punching numbers onto her phone with shaky hands. "Dad, please pick up," Ellieane whispered. She didn't even notice that Zeke was standing just a few feet away from her. After repeating the same message to half a dozen other people who were equally as busy, she took in a deep breath and dialled three numbers. 9. 1. 1. Ellieane was about to press the call button when Zeke cleared his throat.

Ellieane twisted her head around so sharply that Zeke was surprised her neck didn't break. Her eyes widened. She slammed her finger onto the call button, and started edging towards the side.

Ellieane was definitely smarter than most of the students at this school, there was no doubt about it. She had been level-minded enough to press the call button first, then run away. And instead of sprinting full speed elsewhere, she had chosen stay here and use the porsche standing between the two of them as an obstacle.

Too bad she had the worst luck in the world. This black porsche just happened to be Zeke's car.

Zeke reached into his pocket, and pressed his car keys. The porsche blinked to life.

Ellieane's eyes widened. Zeke jumped up with his hands pressed against his car's roof, using the momentum to jump up and over the porsche.

Ellieane began running away, but didn't get far. Zeke scanned the area for security cameras- nothing. He almost laughed at the amount of luck he had on his side today.

Zeke smashed his fist against Ellieane's wrist, forcing her to drop the phone. It shattered to the concrete floor, and Zeke stomped on it, causing the call to end. Without a word, he shoved Ellieane into his car trunk, after gagging her, of course.

He threw a blanket on her squirming body, and locked the car door. He then picked Ellieane's phone up from the ground, and threw it in the car with her.

Hoping the car's walls would be thick enough to drown out the sound of Ellieane's muffled screams, Zeke raced back into the school building.

"Charlotte?" a voice called out. Charlie jumped up to her feet. "In here!" she said, as loud as she possibly could. "I- hold on," the voice- a male voice- said.

About three minutes passed by, and Charlie was beginning to wonder if she had imagined that voice, when she heard the familiar sound of Brooke's voice. "Charlie?"

"Brooke!" Charlie called out. She heard the sound of the locker room door getting slammed open. "The hell are you doing here, Char?" Brooke said, jamming open the door from the other side. Charlie walked out of the stall. "The stupid door shut itself!" Charlie said, kicking the door for good measure.

"Whatever, c'mon, Char," Brooke said, pushing Charlie out. It seemed Brooke had pushed a little too hard, though, because Charlie tripped and fell straight onto- "Zeke!" Charlie said, realizing the male voice she had heard earlier had belonged to him. "God, I'm sorry, I-" Charlie said, getting flustered. "No, it's fine," Zeke said with a nod. "Right," Charlie said, running her hand through her hair. "Well. Thank you for calling Brooke," Charlie said to Zeke.

"Seriously though, Char," Brooke said, leading her out of the dark hallway of the empty school, "Call Ellie. Didn't you and creepy boy say you were going to meet?" "Creepy boy?" Zeke said, raising his eyebrows. Brooke scoffed, and speedwalked away, after telling Charlie to meet her by her car. "Brooke has this crazy theory that your some psycho stalker serial killer just because Ellie was a little bit freaked out earlier- I'm sorry," Charlie added, realizing how much she had hardened the blow. "It's okay," Zeke assured her. "Trust me, I've been called a lot worse."

Charlie shrugged as they walked out onto the parking lot. "So, what, you and Brooke were just hanging around the school although nearly an hour has passed since all the practices and detention classes have ended?" Charlie asked Zeke. He shrugged. "I was waiting in the library, and as for your friend, I think she was- well, never mind- you do not want to know."

Charlie laughed at this, thinking of all the crazy things Brooke could have done at school for an entire hour while the entire building was abandoned.

"I don't think Ellie can come- you want to grab something to eat anyway?" Charlie asked. Zeke looked at her. "Just the two of us?" he asked. Charlie rolled her eyes. "Don't make it weird, White. I think I'm feeling sorry that I made you feel like I left without you," Charlie said, grinning. "Fine, then, since I'm guessing that means you're buying," he said, returning the smile.

"Charlie!" Brooke yelled from her car, honking on the horn. "You coming, or what?" she called out. "You go ahead, Brooke. Me and the creepy newbie are gonna hang out for a while," Charlie yelled back. "Don't do anything I would do," Brooke replied, driving off. Charlie rolled her eyes, and turned towards Zeke. "You do have a car, right?" she asked, smirking.