I was finally drifting off to sleep when there was a thump on my bedroom floor. 

“Hey Harry.” I said and turned to face him. He was laying on his back under my bedroom window wheezing. 

“You good?” I asked him. He just nodded and closed his eyes. He could be dying and he’d still tell me he’s alright, I thought. I shrugged and turned on the TV and crawled to the end of my bed. Cold air drafted in from the window he left open. My room was dark except for the fairy lights strung all throughout my room and the glow of the TV. The light from the TV casted colors onto my wall. 

“So, what brings you to my bedroom floor?” I asked Harry. He sighed and sat up. 

“These guys started chasing me.” Harry said. “I left my board.” he buried his face in his arms. 

“I told you not to stay out there for too long. We’ll get you a new board tomorrow.” I said and layed back down to sleep. Harry reached in my closet for the extra blankets and pillows and began to make a place to sleep on the floor. 

This wasn’t the first time Harry had to seek refuge in my house. It’s like he’s always searching for trouble, but he’d argue that trouble just follows him everywhere. The first time he ever fell through my bedroom window was when he got chased by a cop for trespassing. After a while, I just started leaving the window unlocked for him. The door would probably be more convenient but my mom set up a camera by the front door since she’s gone for multiple days at a time for work. 

Harry and I first met during our freshman year in english but we never became friends until we had chemistry together sophomore year. We joked around so much in class our seats got separated, but even just making eye contact with each other was enough to make us laugh. We started sitting together at lunch and learned we have a lot in common and our friendship grew from there. 

I liked being around Harry because he listened to me talk, and I think Harry liked being around me because he didn’t have to talk. Sometimes neither of us had to talk and we could just sit there in silence doing our own thing and still have fun just enjoying each other’s company. 

Harry and I have enough in common to get along easily, and are different enough to keep it interesting. Sometimes we’d spend our lunch arguing over movies and books and whatever we felt like arguing about. Harry always let me get the last word, even if he’s right (and he probably is). 

“We should run away.” I heard Harry say from the floor. 

“Shut up and go to bed.” I grumbled into my pillow. I heard him sit up from his spot on the floor. 

“I’m serious,” he said. I pulled my face out of my pillow to look at him. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while. I have an aunt who lives in North Carolina, we can go meet her. She’ll let us stay with her.” 

He’s lost his mind. 

“I think you hit your head or something.We’d be brought home by the police before we even made it to North Carolina, and even if we did make it to your aunt’s, she’d call our moms and send us back.” I said and layed back down on my pillow. 

“No you’re missing the point, it’s not about the destination it’s about the journey… or something like that.” Harry rambled.

“This might be the stupidest idea you’ve ever had. I’d expect this from me not you.” Normally Harry was the voice of reason in the friendship. “I don’t want to go to jail.” I said in an attempt to end the conversation. 

“We won’t go to jail. Think about it-” 

“No you think about it, you’re being ridiculous.” I interrupted. 

“Our parents won’t notice we’re gone for a few days, and when they do realize we’re gone they’ll probably assume we’re at each other’s houses. By the time they realize we’re actually gone we’ll already be in North Carolina and my aunt will be dialing their numbers.”  I began to think he was starting to make sense. 

Great, now I’ve lost it. 

“We’ll talk about it in the morning.” I dismissed him and went to bed, and we did talk about it in the morning. We planned our escape in the afternoon, and gathered our supplies in the evening. By 10 PM we were ready to go. 

We packed our book bags with water bottles, clothes, a bar of soap each, deodorant, lotion, toothbrushes and some cash. We were both wearing 2 jackets, and our most comfortable pair of shoes. Harry met me at my house at 10 o'clock exactly with his stuff, and we left.

It was cold out but my jacket kept me warm. I could see my breath every time I exhaled. The night was still and quiet. There was no wind, and no sound except the crunch of our sneakers and our breathing. We moved quickly and quietly until we arrived at our first stop: the train tracks. 

We had been to the train tracks countless times before but this time around we were a lot more nervous. We walked carefully because if we moved too quickly we would trip (we did a few times but not hard enough to cause any bodily harm). To our left there was a steep hill covered in trees and to our right was more tracks. We had been walking for a little over 5 minutes when we reached The Bridge. The Bridge was rickety and old and creaked when you walked over it. There were gaps in the wood you could fall through if you weren’t paying attention. Harry and I had walked over them millions of times before but never at night. Even during the day time going over the bridgen made me anxious. Harry glanced over at me before continuing over the bridge. I let out a shaky breath and followed after him. 

After passing The Bridge we made it to where we’d wait for the freight train. Our hiding spot was right up ahead and I felt my nerves calm a little at the thought. That wasn’t so bad. I gave Harry a smile and kept walking but Harry’s expression was stone cold and his pace slowed. I didn’t think much of it until he grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side. Now we were both crouching in some bushes. 

“What’s wrong-” I began to ask but Harry shushed me frantically. 

“Didn’t you see them? There were two people in our spot up there.” Harry whispered. I looked at him confused and he grabbed my arm again, slowly leading me out of the bushes so I could see what he was talking about. 

He was right. There were 3 people standing where Harry and I planned to hide. It obviously wasn’t that great of a hiding spot we discovered since we could see them so clearly. I could make out 3 figures: 2 men and a woman all huddled together. I could hear their muffled voices and they didn’t sound happy. I couldn’t make out what was being said but they started to yell and one man pushed the other. They began to shove each other. The woman attempted to break them up but they only shoved her out of the way. It was a full on fight now.

Harry pulled us deeper into the bushes but we continued to peer through the leaves. The woman was yelling at them to stop but they didn’t. They just kept fighting until one man just stopped. It seemed like everything was holding its breath in that moment. Everything was still. The leaves stopped rustling,  the men stopped fighting and the woman stopped shouting, the world must’ve stopped spinning. Until one man began to fall slowly onto the ground and time began to move again. I gasped and Harry pulled us back into the trees. I must’ve stepped on a stick or something because there was a loud snap then silence once more. Harry and I crouched still on the ground with our hands covering our mouths. 

“Look what you did, you killed him, you killed him-” I could hear the woman shout. 

“Shut up! Did you hear that?” the man asked. 

“I ain't hear nothing-” the woman began again but the man shushed her and slowly began walking our direction. Harry and I sat as still as possible but he kept approaching. He and I made eye contact. 

“Run.” Harry said and took off and I followed after him. 

“Hey!” the man yelled and chased after us. I ran as fast as I could as the cold air brought tears to my eyes and made the tips of my ears sting. Several branches got caught on me but I kept running. Suddenly I heard the sound of the train. 

“There is it is!” I yelled and Harry and I ran to the train. The train slowed to a stop just in time and Harry and I jumped into a car. We cowered in a corner and held our breaths. I could hear the man’s footsteps and he stopped in front of the car. He stood there for a few seconds but it felt like hours before continuing his search elsewhere. I exhaled with relief and the train began to move. 

We sat there in silence trying to collect ourselves. Harry was the first to speak. 

“I think we just witnessed a murder.”

“You think?”