His Betrayal

Light travelled faster than sound. A searing flash of lightning streaked across the sky, blinding us temporarily, before the deafening thunder shook the cliff to its foundations and sent us sprawling to the ground. 

It was as though God was angered by the sins we committed earlier. He found Owen’s dead body down below and decided that we needed to be punished for his death. I felt like I could see a storm in the distance, with the sky darkening quickly and black clouds gathering above us.

Not long later it started to pour heavily. Ted and I ducked under the nearby tree, before I started to panic.

“God is punishing us for what we did! If we hide under the tree, we’ll get struck by lightning!” I yelled, “Ted, what do we do? We killed Owen, what do we -- “

“Shut up, you moron!” Ted gripped my shoulder, his fingers sinking deeply into my flesh. “What are you saying? You’ve gone insane.”

The rainwater that mixed with my tears tasted salty. I stared at Ted, who showed no signs of sadness or remorse.

“You’re a man. Stop crying.” Ted instructed, finally letting go of my shoulder. I massaged the spot he gripped where the pain was still throbbing.

“Why aren’t you crying? We just killed our best friend.” my voice was shaking. I still couldn’t believe what we did. I had never killed someone in my life in this sixteen years, and the shock, fear and guilt -- it was too much for me to take in. “We’re gonna get caught and go to jail. Aren’t you scared?”

“God, shut it, would you, Chase?!” Ted barked, “We didn’t kill him. He fell on his own.” He paused before looking me in the eye. “And he deserved it, that bastard.”

I stared back at him, speechless.

***

Rewind to an hour ago.

Owen, Ted and I were best mates. Ted and I had known each other since we were five. Our mothers have been best friends since their college days, and we could even be called brothers. We met Owen at the start of freshman year of high school. He came from a wealthy family with a privileged background, but he never bragged about it. He was humble, kind, and never used money to get his ways. That was what Ted and I admired him for, and we all got along like we’d never imagined.

It was Ted’s idea to skip classes today and hit the streets. We never really bothered about school and grades, and it was something we did on such a regular basis that the teachers gave up on us. No, we weren’t smoking and doing drugs at bars, we were just young and reckless, and wanted an adventure.

Ted took the wheel and somehow we got lost along the way. He wanted to go someplace new to hangout, but we ended up in the suburbs where it was just weed, sun and few cars.

“We were gonna go hangout at a mall. How did this become a road trip across America?” Owen complained, “My mum’s definitely gonna kill me tonight.”

“Stop whining, you mummy boy,” Ted snapped, “I’m the one behind the wheel.”

Owen rolled his eyes, but didn’t reply. We both knew Ted had always been the rude and violent one. He had anger management issues and was always throwing snide remarks and insults. 

Ted soon pulled over after an hour and a half on the road. “F*ck it. I don’t know where we are. But there’s a cliff there. Certainly we can get up there and get some rest.”

“Are you kidding me? You want to hike a f*cking cliff in the middle of nowhere? How are we gonna get back?” Owen exclaimed. He was never athletic like me and Ted, and wasn’t fond of heights either. 

“Shut your f*cking trap, you little shit,” Ted hissed, reaching out to grab Owen’s collar. “Or I’ll f*cking kill you.”

He wasn’t kidding.

“Stop it, you guys.” I pushed Ted’s hand away and stepped between them as they glared at each other eye to eye. “Let’s just go, okay?”

We climbed up the cliff. It was actually a pretty small cliff and the hike wasn’t tough. We were up there in fifteen minutes.

“The scenery is amazing,” I breathed, taking a tentative step to the edge and peering into the openness.

“What scenery? It’s all green trees.” Owen grumbled, lingering behind us. 

“Stop your cockiness,” Ted suddenly said spitefully, “You’ve never been like that, Owen.” 

“And you?” Owen retorted, “I once recalled you could manage your anger much better than this.” 

“It’s not anger management issues!” Ted gritted his teeth, and pushed Owen to the ground roughly. He hated being labelled even though he clearly knew he couldn’t handle his emotions well.

Owen got up from the ground and aimed a punch at Ted’s face, which he dodged successfully. Soon they launched into a full on fight, which I was yelling at them to stop desperately. 

“Stop it guys, we’re at the edge of a f*cking cliff,” I shouted, backing towards the tree behind as the two of them continued brawling at each other towards the edge. 

Ted was going over the limits. He kicked Owen’s shin, making him tumble nearer to the edge.

“Stop, Ted! Owen isn’t good with heights,” I yelled, trying to get in between them.

But Ted pushed me aside, crossed his arms and smirked at Owen. “You just gave me a brilliant idea, mate. Listen, Owen, if you’re a real man, get your f*cking ass right to the tip.”

Owen stared at him in shock, unable to say a thing.

“What? Are you chickening out, you asshat?” Ted taunted, kicking Owen’s knee.

“Ted, stop!” I got up and ran towards them, but Ted pushed me away again.

“F*ck you, I’ll do it.” Owen balled his fists and got on two wobbly feet. Sweat was trickling down his temple, an expression of fear registered across his face. 

I wanted to help him. Crawl over and get him to safety. But I didn’t. I just stared helplessly at the scene unfolding before me.

“Let me tell you something, Owen Reynolds,” Ted suddenly said maliciously, and his tone scared me. He had never sounded that hateful before. “I f*cking hate you for being rich.” 

Then everything happened in a matter of seconds. I couldn’t see clearly, but Owen was gone. All I could hear was his screams in the distance, that grew softer and softer, until it was… gone.

***

Ted and I were both sitting under the tree in silence. It had been another hour and the rain had stopped. In the sky hung gloomy clouds that depicted our mood.

Except we were feeling completely different.

I felt lost. Terrified. Remorseful. And terribly upset. I killed my best friend. I didn’t try to stop him. I didn’t save him. I let him plunge to his death. How terrible must he have felt, falling? 

I glanced sideways at Ted. He was… smiling? 

“Ted,” I let out a strangled cry. “What are we gonna do?”

“Look, just relax,” he replied, his smile fading when his eyes met mine.

“Relax?!” I shouted, “We should at least search for his body. Or he might be still alive!”

“No,” Ted snapped, “He can’t be alive.” He said it with such disdain that he almost didn’t want Owen to be alive.

“We’ll just lie,” Ted said smoothly, “We’ll tell the police he fell on his own and we found his body.”

“No,” I immediately said, “It’s not right. Ted…” I paused. “What do you mean by lie? You said he fell on his own.”

Colour drained from his face, and I sensed something fishy. “No, I meant — “ 

“Look, Ted,” I stood up abruptly, stepping into a pile of fallen leaves. “I’m not going along with your lie. I’m going to find Owen.” And suddenly, I saw red. I was mad. It was all Ted’s fault for taunting him. “Get through this lie on your own, Ted. This was all your fault. Owen wouldn’t have fallen if not for you.”

Ted didn’t even try to stop me, which was unlike him. He didn’t even put up much of a fight, as though he gave up. When his smile flashed in my mind again, I had this uneasy feeling that Ted hadn’t given up. He had won.

I ran down the cliff. It was getting dark and I was afraid of what to find left of Owen. I prayed in my heart again and again, that he was alive, as I trudged through the track lined with fallen leaves at the bottom of the cliff. I looked up. It wasn’t an extremely high cliff but neither did that mean his fall wouldn’t be fatal. Owen had both chances of being alive or dead.

Darkness soon enveloped me and my eyes travelled to the bright moon hanging in the sky. “Please, please, let me find Owen,” I begged.

I stepped onto some hard that crunched under my feet, and I shone my phone light, fearing the worst.

I had stepped on the back of Owen’s hand. He was sprawled face down on the ground, and the leaves around were stained with dark red blood. He wasn’t moving. I took a deep breath and gently turned his body over. His lifeless blue eyes bored into mine, reflecting nothing but my own fear.

I screamed, and leapt away.

Owen was dead. It was also my first time discovering a dead body. 

I clapped my hand over my mouth, my heart in my stomach. Before I could react, vice-like grips enclosed my arms and dragged me to my feet.

“Caught in the act,” the old police officer snarled, “You were at the scene of his death. You’re coming to the station with us, young fella.” Then he reached down and handcuffed me, while the other officers grabbed my shoulders. 

“I found him,” I gasped, trying to twist myself out from their grips. “I just found him, I -- “

“Your friend here doesn’t seem to agree,” another male officer snickered as he pushed a figure in front of me.

Ted.

He was grinning.

***

“What were you doing at that cliff on a school day?” a female officer questioned me calmly.

When we reached the station, I was begging for answers. I looked towards Ted for help, but I knew I couldn’t trust him anymore. He was grinning. Like a maniac. Triumphing over me being the scapegoat, and Owen’s death. Why did he call the police? Why was he doing this? Most importantly… did he intentionally push Owen?

“It was Ted’s idea,” I motioned towards Ted, who was seated beside me. “He suggested we go to the new mall, and we ended up lost in the suburbs instead, and he told us to climb the cliff.

“He’s lying,” Ted immediately said, “It was his idea. All his.”

“What are you talking about? It was yours!” I said incredulously.

But Ted acted like he had lost his memory. “Trust me, officer. I know Chase. He likes to skip classes a lot, and always brings us along.”

The female officer eyed us both suspiciously. Then she looked at me. “You were at the scene of his death. Can I trust what you say?”

“How can you falsely assume and accuse me like that?” I shouted, slamming the table. A male officer came over and firmly handcuffed me, making me curse loudly. “I discovered his body. Did you see me kill him then and there?”

“He has anger management issues,” Ted added, giving me a side-smirk. “He’s rude and violent as well.”

I could bash him right there. 

“All the evidence points at you,” the female officer continued, “Hear what your friend has to say first.”

I glared daggers at Ted. 

“We went up the cliff because it was Chase’s idea. You see, the thing was that before we were going there, he was already arguing with Owen. They were mad at each other already.

When we got up to the cliff, the argument became worse. They started to fight. Chase knew Owen was scared of heights and intentionally took advantage of that. He dared Owen to climb to the tip of the cliff, and pushed me away when I told him to stop. I was terrified for Owen when he crawled to the edge… I wanted to help him so badly but I couldn’t. And then…”

“What?” the officer pressed.

“I...I saw it,” his bottom lip quivered, “He did it so fast. As quick as a cat. He pushed Owen’s ankles, causing him to slip, and fall…”

My head was pounding with pain, and I was infuriated. I was being wrongly accused. Ted swapped out our roles, and painted me as the perpetrator. I looked at the officer pleadingly, but her expression told me it was no use. She believed Ted.

“Then why are you the one with bruises, not me?” I managed weakly, feeling blood rush to my head, overwhelmed with anger and shock. Ted was my childhood best friend. Why would he do this to me?

Ted blinked, confused for a second because I caught him there. It was time to drop his fake act. But he regained his composure. “You know it yourself, Chase. You’re a bloody good fighter. You didn’t even get hit. And you turned on me. Chase -- “

“You f*cker!” I roared, “You liar!” I tried to punch him but the stupid handcuffs restrained me. The officers ran forward and subdued me, pinning me to the table while I started screaming in rage, and they had to slap their hands over my mouth.

“You see,” Ted said quietly, “He has mental issues. Please take him in, officer, to avenge for my dead friend.” Then he looked me in the eye. “He doesn’t deserve to live.”