>>5723967Unsure of how to proceed, you sit there quietly as the girl trembles. So, you venture, how did, uh…
“<span class="mu-i">Jake</span>...” Pepper sobs as she wipes some wayward tears on her sleeve, “He jumped in and saved me… got me back to shore…”
Chancing a glance at her brother in question, you’re relieved to see him talking to Bill instead of staring in your direction. He saved you, huh?
“Yea…” Nods Pepper, “He saved my life…”
Shit, you sigh as you struggle to process everything, so what-
“Jake was just in time.” Explains the redhead as she wipes another salvo of tears off her cheeks, “The doctor said I’d be gone if he was a minute later… my parents were just happy I was alive, but…”
Her expression gradually shifts from sad to angry.
“But they didn’t believe my story… the park owners paid my hospital bill so as far as my parents were concerned, the matter was settled…”
Pepper’s lip starts to tremble as a glare forms on her face. “But every night I was there again, Diesel… being dragged deeper into that muddy water by some… some <span class="mu-i">claw</span> wrapped around my ankle…”
Let me guess, you interrupt as she falls into another sobbing fit, that’s when she started snooping.
The redhead nods. “I checked the internet, canvassed the neighborhoods around the park–it turned out that kids went missing around there all the time. Local police attributed it to rip tides and waves, but I just couldn’t get it out of my head… until one day we got a knock at the door…”
Was it the cops?
“No,” she sighs, “It was one of the park workers… he invited himself in and told my parents that if they caught me snooping around again they’d make life hard for us… the next day my dad’s car had its tires slashed and brake lights shattered.”
So what happened next, you ask, still not 100% sure you believe her or not.
“My parents were <span class="mu-i">furious</span>.” Pepper replies. “Home turned into a prison–if I was late from school or wasn’t in bed by a certain time they’d punish me more, but no matter what they did I just couldn’t stop thinking about what happened to me… and what probably happened to other kids.”
Taking another steadying breath, the redhead looks up at you. “So I picked the nuclear option, sandcrab… I got all of my notes, testimonies, everything together and sent it all to a local news station.”
Bet the park owners didn’t like that, you smirk.
“Nope,” Pepper smirks back, “They burned our house down.”
<span class="mu-s">WHAT!?</span>
>CONTD. 