In a complete turnaround from their game plan in the previous match, Kyle and his teammates found themselves going completely offensive in an all out attack style of play. This meant that all of the teams' star players (Kyle included) received plenty of the ball, and as a result they were three goals ahead without conceding any.

However, with only a few minutes left to play, Kyle still hadn't gotten a goal for himself, despite setting up another two for Danny. With time running out, he was desperate to add to the haul. Especially after noticing that Jess was watching.

As he watched his teammates pass the ball around between themselves, he spotted Jess face in the crowd, watching intently. He was surprised at her appearance to say the least, but then again, like his dad said, these were apparently exciting times for the school soccer team and almost everyone wanted to get involved somehow.

"Kyle!" The mention of his name brought his gaze back to his team, who'd now kicked the ball towards him.

Reacting quickly, he controlled the ball with his chest before spinning on his heels and charging forward with the ball seemingly attached to his feet. His pace took him past a number of players from the other side before he knocked the ball into the centre of the field where Zach was now waiting, running almost as fast as Kyle was.

Not content with the progress he'd made so far, Kyle continued running, peeling away from the tiring defender who was trying to block him off.

As he saw Kyle breaking free, Zach lobbed the ball over the remaining defenders, perfectly into Kyle's path, where he was able to swing his right foot at the floating ball and volley it into the bottom corner of the net, past the flailing goalkeeper.

"Yes!" He cried, pleased to have achieved his goal. Literally.

As Zach and some other teammates came over to high five him and celebrate alongside him, Kyle turned to see how Jess had reacted to the goal. He didn't know why, but he couldn't help but feel a little superior about it.

Unfortunately, when he looked back, Jess was gone, as if he'd just imagined her appearance.

*

As the game came to a conclusion and the celebrations continued, Kyle was somewhat pleased to see Jess walking towards him now. He had no idea where she'd gone amidst the celebrations but it couldn't have been far.

"Hey!" He called loudly so that she could hear him over all of the cheering. "Didn't expect to see you here."

"The girls wanted to come and watch," She shrugged. Kyle nodded his understanding but was taken aback when she spoke again. "And I wanted to apologise to you."

"You do?" Kyle was glad that everyone else was too busy celebrating the teams' crushing victory to eavesdrop on them.

"Yeah," She sighed. "Ever since this all started I've been a little all over the place. I didn't mean to take it out on you."

"Time of the month?" Kyle ventured. Jess growled, clearly not amused. "It would have been funny if Katie had said it," He said to himself.

"Don't push it" Jess warned.

"Ok! Thanks. I really appreciate that," Kyle smiled. "So are we cool? Ish?"

"Yeah. Cool ish," Jess laughed. "Are you going to the party tonight? Apparently Danny is having people over to his again to celebrate the win."

"Of course he is" Kyle smirked. "I'm sure I can stop by. At least it's a real reason to celebrate this time. Will you be there?"

"The girls want to go," Jess smirked, making it obvious that she did too.

"Ugh this is so tough to watch," Katie complained, once again appearing out of thin air. "And yet it's still a better love story than Twilight."

"Didn't pick you as a sports fan," Jess muttered, now blushing.

"I'm not. I just wanted to see if Kyle here can run as fast as he did when we were getting chased by the Gorgoya."

"I think you're time would've been better spent at home," Just like Jess, Kyle was also struggling to hide his sudden embarrassment.

"You'd be wrong," Katie replied ominously. "But seriously, I really only came down here to see if you guys had heard from Matt. He wanted to tell me something about the monster thing yesterday but I had to blow him off. I felt bad so I sent him a message online but he hasn't gotten back to me. He doesn't seem to have a lot of, or any, friends so to ignore me like that . . . I think he might be pissed," She winced. Although she wouldn't necessary consider Matt a friend, she still didn't like to hurt people's feelings.

"Yeah he said something to me but I was kind of a dick to him," Kyle guiltily admitted.

"I didn't even let him finish asking," Jess' face fell. "Do you think he's alright?"

"That boy's never been alright," Katie pointed out.

"Should we go see him?" Kyle asked. He was doing that thing again where he was saying things before even thinking about them.

"That's actually a nice idea," Katie spoke in surprise. "Who knew you had it in you?"

"But what about the party?" Jess asked, keeping one eye on the crowd that was shrinking fast.

Kyle thought for a moment, torn. Like Katie, he didn't consider Matt as his friend. But he didn't like the idea of Matt going out into the woods alone and then going missing. What swayed it for him most though, was the knowledge that despite everything, Matt would do it for him.

"The party will be going on all night. Anybody know where he lives?"

*

The answer to Kyle's question was yes.

Not only did Katie walk past it every day, many of the townspeople had paid it a visit and made sure that everyone knew which house was the Maguire's.

"This is nuts," Kyle thought out loud.

"How could anyone do this?" Jess gasped in horror at the same sight in front of them.

What stood before them was a small, nondescript white bungalow with large windows and a black slate roof. In other circumstances this house wouldn't stand out amongst the others just like it in the cul-de-sac. Of course, the others didn't have the words Scum and Killer spray painted across the brick walls and the steel garage door.

"Great. Now I feel even more sorry for him," Groaned Katie.

Shaking his head as if trying to forget the grim sight, Kyle stepped up to the front door and knocked three times. After a few long seconds, Matt slowly opened the door, just a crack.

"What do you guys want?" He asked, scratching his head.

"We wanted to say sorry for yesterday," Jess jumped in quickly. She was doing a lot of apologising today.

"Yeah," Katie reluctantly agreed with Jess' statement. "Sorry".

"What was it you wanted to tell us?" Kyle asked.

"Now you want to know?" Matt replied accusingly. The other kids had no verbal answer for him, choosing instead to look at the ground for answers. "Well it doesn't matter anyway," He sighed. "It was nothing," Matt tried closing the door but Kyle was too quick for him and managed to hold the door open against Matt's will. "What are you doing?"

"What happened last night?" Kyle growled. While Kyle couldn't hide his guilt, Matt was terrible at covering things up.

"Nothing. It was a bust," He lied, looking around the neighbourhood, as if on watch to see if anyone else was planning on defacing his property.

"Come on Matt. I know you wouldn't give up on this so easily," Katie told him, sounding much more sympathetic than Kyle had. "You can tell us."

This seemed to satisfy Matt. He looked around the street once more before stepping out onto the driveway to join them before whispering his story to them, leaving them all in stunned silence.

"Once they were gone, I made a break for it and went straight to the police station," He finished.

"And what did they say?" A worried Jess asked.

"What do you think? They didn't believe me, obviously," Matt snorted.

"Why not?" Kyle asked in shock. He couldn't believe an allegation such as this would be ignored by any law enforcement.

"Take a guess!" Matt cried, pointing towards the slurs that had been written on his house. "I could have told them that the grass is green and they'd have run out and checked. My opinion doesn't matter to them."

"But it should," Jess said incredulously.

"Life isn't fair I guess," Shrugged Matt.

Once again there was silence as Matt waited for the others to say something else.

"Are you one hundred per cent sure that it was a body? An actual dead body?" Kyle asked pronouncing each word slowly.

"I don't know what else it could have been," He confirmed. "It was the right shape and there was blood everywhere."

Kyle nodded his head for what seemed like minutes, the words clearly formed in his mind but only now struggling to come out. "Ok. Come on, let's go" He finally forced out.

"Go where?"

"The police station," Kyle answered. "They might not believe you but they'll believe all four of us".

"Umm there's probably a warrant or something out for my arrest, or at least my friends. So I'll pass on this one," Katie smiled triumphantly.

"I'll give it a miss too," Jess agreed. "Duncan's dad is the sheriff. I don't want to see any of that family right now".

"Come on guys!" Kyle urged. "I'll do all the talking. You've just gotta come along with us. If we put up a united front then they have to investigate it!"

The girls looked at each other before seeing Kyle's pleading face and Matt's puppy dog-like eyes. They didn't know if it was intentional, but it still worked.

*

After attempting to change their minds several times on the way, Jess and Katie were now sitting at a desk in the police station alongside Kyle and Matt. Seated opposite them was a burly police sheriff who, despite radiating the same confidence, looked nothing like his son Duncan.

They had just relayed Matt's story to him and his reaction didn't look that promising.

"What the hell is this, kid?" He asked Matt. "You've brainwashed these kids too now?"

"Sir, he hasn't brainwashed anybody. We believe him," Katie stood up for Matt before he'd even tried fighting his own corner.

"I've seen the people you hang out with girl," The policeman told her. "Not exactly reliable characters."

"But they aren't here."

"Because if they were it would be because I arrested them," He said defiantly. Now Jess took a turn at trying to convince him.

"Mr Riley. You know me. You know that I wouldn't go along with this if it was all a lie."

"I thought I did. I also thought you'd be smart enough to stay with my boy but I guess we can all be wrong, right?" Sheriff Riley said, not even looking at her.

"Look, we've known each other for years. Can't you at least take a look at it? It's not as if you're rushed off your feet here" Jess' hands opened, signalling the fact that every single employed officer was at the station at that moment. This didn't seem to appease the stubborn cop though.

"Ok listen, sheriff," Kyle sighed, moving closer to the man in charge. It seemed as though he would be the only one that he might actually listen to. "I understand why you're sceptical. I do. But look, if enough people report something, surely you're obligated to check it out? I mean, why would Matt make something like this up?"

"You know who this is right?" Laughed the chubby man.

"I'm right here" Matt said, apparently to no one.

"This guy's brother is a killer. He would say anything to get him out of jail."

"That's not what I'm doing at all!" Matt cried. "I know that Cameron is guilty!"

"Rob, if we thought that was what he was doing, do you really think we'd go along with it?" Jess asked, getting more personal in a bid to appeal to the policeman's humanity.

"Sherriff Riley to you," He warned, shutting her up. "Kids, let me tell you a little bit about the police work we do around here. In order to look into something, we need it to be a believable story, which this is not. We need details of any suspect you put forward, and this guy can't even give us a description of any of them. I need the person reporting it to be a reliable source. The brother of a convicted murderer, a delinquent, a girl that doesn't know what's good for her and a deluded soccer player who's trying to play detective just aren't credible enough for me," The chief shrugged. "And apart from anything else, if these guys did throw a body over the waterfall then any evidence of it would be long gone by now. And with nobody reported missing, we've got nothing to search for."

Kyle couldn't believe this. "So that's it? You're just going to do nothing?"

The policeman shrugged once more, answering his question. "And one more thing. You should get better friends," This last parting shot annoyed Kyle more than he thought it should have.

As the teens left the station, they didn't bother to stop and discuss what to do next. They all wanted to get out of there fast.

"Well that was a bust," Katie finally groaned.

"I told you guys that would happen," Matt reminded them.

"Do people always talk to you like he did?" Jess asked disbelievingly.

"Don't sound so surprised."

"And you used to go out with that guys son," Kyle pointed out to her, earning himself an angry glare again.

Katie stopped them before another argument had time to start. "Can we all just take a moment to appreciate that we could have a possible murder in town and the cops aren't gonna do jack?"

"Maybe it's for the best," Matt suggested. "I'm sure they know what they're doing."

"Yeah right. He's just being an asshole because it's us," Jess answered. "We have to prove it to them somehow"

"Are you serious? You want to go back out there? You? Go princess!" Katie falsely cheered.

"No, she's right," This time Kyle was the one playing peacemaker. "The four of us have to go back."

"You guys would do that for me?" Asked Matt.

Kyle and Jess both confirmed that they would, while Katie pointed out that she hadn't promised anything. However, they all knew she wouldn't be able to resist.

"But let's promise to keep this to ourselves. I don't want anyone else finding out about this," Jess begged.

"I agree," Kyle added.

"Yeah!" Matt cried with excitement. "Because if too many people hear about it then we'll let the killers know that we're onto them!"

"Yeah . . . that," Jess muttered, deciding that Matt would prefer this version to the truth.

"Ok, so when are we doing this? And Matt, you need to tell us everything. You said that you figured out where the Gorgoya went?" Kyle pressed. He'd asked more questions already than the police officer had.

"Yeah . . . about that," Matt began. "My theory was that because the summertime is here, it might be too hot for it to hang around. So I thought that maybe it would take the path that leads up to the waterfall. That way it has plenty of chances to cool off. Or maybe even at the bottom of it."

"This is officially the dumbest plan of all time," Katie warned the group. "I'm excited!"

"We don't want to be going through the woods when it's dark," Said Kyle. "It's too dangerous with three of us not knowing our way around. Can everybody be free tomorrow morning?"

They all agreed that they could, but Matt remained silent.

"Are you serious? We're all finally on board and Bear Grylls himself is scared?" Katie couldn't help laughing.

"It's not that," He replied. "I just promised my mom I'd go to church with her and my dad tomorrow."

"You what?" Kyle sniggered.

"Hey, I don't really believe in it either but this'll be the first time they've gone since it happened, you know? They are pretty nervous of what people are going to say so I said I'd go too and show some support."

"This could work," Jess spoke up before Kyle and Katie's expressions became too guilty. "How about next weekend? It'll give us time to come up with a plan and research the forest, and the Falls Peak Beast and everything else, just in case."

They all agreed that they could manage to convince their parents that they were staying at a friend's all weekend, when in reality they'd be camping out in the woods.

"In the meantime, are you guys coming to the party?" Kyle asked them all.

"And ruin my street cred? No chance," Katie smirked. "In fact, I'm gonna go meet the guys for some sweet nicotine. Call it an early scouting mission."

"Don't get eaten!" Matt called to her as she left the group.

"What about you dude? Coming to the party?" Kyle asked.

"Nah I don't think so," Matt sighed. "I get enough people giving me shit at school already. It seems like a waste to do it out of hours too."

"We'll look out for you if you want," Jess offered.

Matt once again declined the offer. As much as he believed that they would like to look out for him, he knew that once they met their real friends, it would be a different story. And so with that in mind, he headed the same way that Katie had, leaving Kyle and Jess alone again.

"You know what's weird?" Kyle asked her.

"Matt?" She joked.

"And Katie," Kyle added before turning serious. "It's weird that until the other night, I can't remember the last time we spoke to each other. And now that's been what, three days in a row?"

"Close encounters will do that to you I guess" She smiled. "You ready to party?"

"Let's do it!" Kyle nodded before leading the way to Danny's house. He was glad that Jess finally seemed to be in a good mood.

He just hoped it would last.

_____________________________________________________________________________

It feels like it's been ages but finally we have a new chapter!

What did you guys think?

I think there's a lot to dissect from this chapter as I tried filling it with some rapid story development but also a few little subtle character traits that perhaps haven't been given enough light yet. Anything special you noticed about this one?

As always, I truly appreciate every single vote and comment and try to reply to everyone! Honestly, discussing the story with readers is just as much fun as writing it in the first place! So keep them coming!