I shouldn't have come.
That was the first thought.
But I came anyway.
Because some truths don't wait.
They drag you back.
The road hadn't changed.
Still hidden.
Still isolated.
Still wrong.
The trees blocked the light.
Like the place didn't want to be seen.
Like it remembered.
I stepped out of the car.
The air felt colder.
Heavier.
Familiar.
"You actually came."
Ryan.
Already there.
Leaning against his car like this was nothing.
Like this was normal.
"You knew I would," I said.
A small smile.
"I was counting on it."
Of course you were.
I looked around.
Empty.
Too empty.
"Where are the others?"
"Does it matter?"
"It does to me."
Silence.
Then—
Footsteps.
Emily.
Behind her—
Noah.
Tense.
And then—
Sarah.
From the shadows.
And just like that—
We were all there.
Again.
The five of us.
Exactly like that night.
No one spoke.
Because we all felt it.
That weight.
That memory.
"This is a bad idea," Noah muttered.
"No," Ryan said calmly.
"This is exactly what needs to happen."
"No," Sarah snapped.
"This is what YOU want."
Ryan didn't react.
"Same thing."
I stepped forward.
"Enough."
My voice came out sharper than I expected.
"I'm here."
A pause.
"So say it."
Silence.
Then—
Ryan pushed off the car.
"You want to remember?"
"Yes."
He nodded slowly.
"Then remember this."
And suddenly—
Everything shifted.
The air.
The tension.
The way we stood.
It wasn't just now anymore.
It was then.
"That night," Ryan said,
"you showed up angry."
Flash.
Rain hitting the ground.
"You were shouting," he continued.
"Accusing all of us."
"I trusted you!" my voice echoed in my head.
My chest tightened.
"You said we betrayed you," he added.
Fragments came back.
Sharp.
Unstable.
"You were out of control," Sarah said.
"I wasn't—"
"You were," she cut in.
Silence.
"You hit him," Ryan continued.
"I know that part."
"No," Noah said suddenly.
I turned to him.
"You don't."
My stomach tightened.
"What do you mean?"
He hesitated.
Then—
"You didn't stop."
Everything froze.
"You kept hitting him."
"No…"
"I tried to pull you off," Noah said quietly.
"We all did."
Emily shook her head, tears forming.
"You wouldn't listen…"
My breathing got heavier.
"No…"
"You were screaming," Sarah added.
"Like you needed him to say something."
"What?" I asked.
"What was he hiding?"
Silence.
Too long.
"ANSWER ME!"
Ryan stepped closer.
"That's not what matters."
"Then WHAT DOES?!"
And then—
He said it.
"You didn't stop when he fell."
Everything went silent.
"What?"
"He hit his head," Ryan said.
A pause.
"Hard."
My chest tightened.
"No…"
"And you just stood there," Emily cried.
"You didn't move—"
"I didn't know what to do!"
"You walked away!" Noah shouted.
Silence.
Crushing.
"Stop…" I whispered.
But they didn't.
"You left him there," Sarah said.
"Bleeding. Not moving."
My head spun.
"No…"
"And we had to deal with it!" Noah snapped.
That hit different.
"What do you mean?"
Silence.
Fear.
Real fear.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!"
Emily covered her mouth.
Noah clenched his jaw.
Sarah looked away.
And Ryan—
Ryan just watched.
Calm.
Like he was waiting for this moment.
"You really don't remember?" he asked.
"REMEMBER WHAT?!"
He stepped closer.
Lowered his voice.
"We thought he was dead."
Everything stopped.
"No…"
Emily shook her head.
"He wasn't moving…"
My breathing broke.
"That's not possible…"
"We panicked," Noah said.
"We didn't know what to do."
I felt like I was falling.
"What did you do?"
Silence.
Then—
Sarah said it.
"We moved him."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
"We couldn't leave him there," she said.
"Someone would find him."
"So we took him somewhere else," Noah added.
Everything shattered.
"You WHAT?!"
Emily sobbed.
"We thought he was dead…"
"And if he wasn't?" I asked.
Silence.
That silence said everything.
My legs felt weak.
"You don't even know…"
"No," Ryan said.
"We don't."
I looked at all of them.
Every single one.
"You're all insane."
"No," Sarah said quietly.
"We were scared."
"You destroyed everything!"
"And so did you!" Noah snapped.
Silence.
Broken.
Because now—
It wasn't just me.
It was all of us.
We did this.
Together.
And then—
Ryan spoke again.
"There's one more thing."
My head snapped toward him.
"What?"
That smile.
Slow.
Wrong.
"They found a body… two days later."
Everything froze.
"What…?"
A pause.
And then—
"Not his."
Silence.
Confusion.
Fear.
"What do you mean?" I whispered.
Ryan's eyes locked on mine.
Cold.
Certain.
"They never found him."
My heart dropped.
Because now—
This wasn't just about guilt.
This wasn't just about the past.
This wasn't just a mistake.
This was something worse.
Much worse.
Because if he wasn't dead…
Then he was out there.
And if he was out there—
He remembered everything.
🖤 Poem — Lucas
we buried the night
but not what it became
we shared the silence
but not the blame
and the truth we escaped…
is still calling my name