Amaya was more than thrilled that summer was finally here. After the longest and hardest year, picking up pieces of her life and just barely surviving her final year of secondary school, she was ready to spend the summer sun bathing and bed rotting. It was the first day of summer and she has already made plans to hang out with her best friends at the peaceful beach they lived by. She was wasting no time, soaking up the freedom before university decisions would start rolling in. Amaya wasn’t very confident she would get into her dream school but she had worked harder than she ever did — given the circumstances — and there was a sliver of hope left deep inside her. But she wasn’t going to let those thoughts occupy space in my mind. She was only interested in enjoying the heat and spending the time with people she loved.

Her best friends, Kelsey, was first to arrive at her door. The group was all going to meet and her place, eat then go off to the beach.

“I love being done with secondary school!” Kelsey exclaimed the moment Amaya open the door for her. “I feel like I might as well fly. The freedom is amazing!”

Laughing at her best friend, Amaya gave her a hug. “Pace yourself; it’s only the first day.”

“I literally can’t. The school year was hell, I see myself celebrating every day for the rest of the summer.”

An hour later, the two — now joined by the other three people in the friend group — were making their way to the beach. Spirits were high and energy levels was through the roof as they chatted and laughed. Finn, Melody and Greg were the other teenagers to join Amaya and Kelsey. The group had been friends since the beginning of secondary school and it had shocked everyone how close they all were years later.

“We need to go to the party Kim is throwing tonight.” Finn suggested as the pair neared the beach.

“My mum isn’t going to let me but you guys should definitely go. I will vicariously enjoy through you.” Melody pouted. Her Indian parents were immigrants and still help their strict values. Amaya could related as a child of African immigrants herself and quietly nodded her head in agreement.

“You two could just sneak out,” Kelsey suggested and before Amaya could laugh at the absurdity, a terrifying sight stopped the group in their tracks, silencing them immediately.

A few meters away, a man stood above an unmoving body. Bright red blood colored the sand beneath the body and a shiny knife could be seen sticking out of the body’s stomach.

Melody gasped first, throwing her hand over her mouth too late. The man, dressed in a black suit, turned and saw the group of teenagers staring at the gruesome image he had been responsible for. His face went darker, as if it were even possible, and he looked around as is searching for witnesses then began making his way towards the group.

In an unspoken agreement, the group turned and made a run for it.