The Friends

The town of Ash Hollow, Kentucky, was a quiet place, where the biggest drama usually came from the high school football team or the occasional scandal at the Baptist church. 

That changed one chilly November night when seventeen-year-old Emily Carter went missing.

The Pact

Connor and Mason had never planned to kill anyone. At least, that’s what they told themselves. They were just two bored teenagers, restless and reckless, tired of small-town life. But something dark had been growing between them—a twisted thrill in pushing boundaries, testing how far they could go.

Emily was just another classmate. Sweet, naïve Emily, who had smiled at Connor in math class and unknowingly sealed her fate.

“I bet she’d follow you anywhere,”

Mason had said one night as they smoked behind the abandoned barn on Route 6.

Connor laughed.

“Probably.”

A dare. A game. That’s how it started. But once they took Emily into the woods, everything spiraled beyond control.

The Murder

The moon cast silver streaks across the damp leaves as Emily walked between them, unaware of the danger that lurked in their shadows.

“Where are we going?”

she giggled, trusting Connor as he led her 

deeper into the forest.

“Just a spot Mason and I hang out,”

he said, his voice steady, his pulse racing.

Mason walked behind her, silent. The knife was already in his hand.

Emily never had time to scream.

The Aftermath

Blood soaked into the Kentucky soil. 

Her body lay twisted beneath the skeletal trees, her eyes frozen in shock. Connor’s hands shook as he wiped his blade on his jeans.

“We have to bury her,”

Mason said, his voice eerily calm.

They worked fast, adrenaline masking their horror. But the silence afterward was suffocating. The wind carried whispers through the trees, as if the earth itself rejected their sin.

By the time they walked back to town, their hands were clean, but their souls were forever stained.

The Investigation

The search for Emily lasted a week. Flyers plastered telephone poles. The sheriff questioned everyone at school..

Connor and Mason played their parts perfectly, shedding crocodile tears, nodding at the right moments. 

But guilt was a heavy weight.

Connor started seeing her in his dreams.

Emily standing at the edge of his bed, her lips parted in silent accusation.

Mason, on the other hand, remained cold, detached.

It was only a matter of time before everything unraveled.

Justice Comes at Dawn

A hunter found her shallow grave.

The town erupted in horror.

Evidence led straight to the boy's muddy footprints, a blood-stained hoodie Mason had carelessly tossed behind his house.

When the cops arrived, Connor didn’t resist. He just stared at the ground, whispering Emily’s name.

Mason tried to run but didn’t get far.

The trial was swift. 

Their names would be spoken in hushed tones for years. In the end, the town of Ash Hollow returned to its quiet existence, but the ghosts of that November night would never truly rest.

And neither would Connor and Mason.