“Opal, when I said that I would do anything for you, I didn’t think this was what you had in mind.”

 

Casey hugged herself, eyes scanning her surroundings as she listened to the sound of Opal’s labored breathing. Standing in the middle of the woods in the dead of the night was causing all of her worst fears to dance at the edge of her mind.

 

And the dead body wrapped in a sleeping bag a few feet away wasn’t helping with her nerves one bit.

 

Opal stabbed the shovel head into the dirt, prying a pile up as she spoke.

 

“Well I didn’t think burying a dead body would ever be something that I would ask you to do with me, but life is full of surprises, isn’t it?”

 

The shovel head pierced the dirt again, and Opal jammed it deeper with her foot. Casey tried her best not to look at the sleeping bag.

 

“Look, I’m not going to snitch, but… how did you even get into this situation in the first place? I mean that’s a… ” She cleared her throat and shuffled her feet.

 

Opal scoffed, keeping her eyes on her work as she responded. “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”

 

“I’m breaking the law, so actually, I do.”

 

The young woman paused in her work, and for the first time since they had arrived, looked Casey in the eyes. She quickly turned away again, sighing as she lifted another pile of dirt.

 

“Yeah… um, okay. Do you remember that guy I was telling you about? The one who kept showing up right when I would get off my shift at work?”

 

“The one who kept acting too friendly even though you said you weren’t interested?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“I remember.”

 

Opal gestured at the sleeping bag. Casey didn’t look.

 

“Oh. So… did you like… hunt him down, or…?”

 

The digging pauses.

 

“No! What do you think I am, a monster?” 

 

“Then how did he end up dead, Opal?”

 

She huffed, before hopping down into the dip she created and continuing her work.

 

“Well, when I got off my shift tonight, the guy wasn’t there. Which was a relief, and I guess I just figured that he had given up. I took the bus and the train home, but there was no sign of him. So I thought that the problem had taken care of itself.”

 

Opal paused as the shovel head hit a rock, resounding with a large clang. Both girls stiffened, and fell silent as the sound echoed in the air. They waited.

 

Nothing.

 

Opal let out a shaky breath, before setting the shovel to the side and crouching down. She sunk her fingers into the dirt around the rock and started to wiggle it free as she whispered.

 

“So I got home, and I was going to go make dinner, but then I got into the kitchen, and the guy was waiting there.”

 

“In your house?! How did he even—?“

 

“I don’t know! But he was there! With a knife… ”

 

The rock was ripped free, and chucked over the lip of the ditch, rolling to a stop nearby.

 

“And I wasn’t sure what to do, because I didn’t want to get killed. So I tried to… talk him down, I guess? I dunno, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Trying to get to a peaceful outcome is always the best option, right? He didn’t seem to want to talk though.”

 

Opal raised the shovel again, ready to stab the metal into the dirt, but faltered, and lowered it and set it to the side. She took a deep breath, and rubbed her hands over her face.

 

“I only did it in self-defense… I promise. I didn’t even want to kill him, I just… I just didn’t want to die. And I didn’t know what else to do.”

 

The eerie noise of the dark forest filled in the silence that came from the two friends, masking the near-silent sound of Opal breaking down. Casey slid down into the ditch, but Opal didn’t meet her eyes, looking directly at the ground.

 

“Look Opal… we’ll figure this out. And I’m sorry that you had to deal with all of that in the first place, I can’t even imagine how scared you must have been.”

 

Casey glanced at the sleeping bag for the first time that night, before fixing her eyes on the shovel.

 

“But we’ll figure this out.”

 

She leaned around her, taking the shovel, and placed a hand on Opal’s shoulder.

 

“Okay?”

 

The latter wiped roughly at her eyes before lifting her head, and nodding. Casey smiled, before gently pushing her to the edge of the hole. 

 

“Here, I’ll take over for a bit.”

 

In quick work, the grave was made and the two grabbed the edges of the sleeping bag and laid the man inside. Opal and Casey spared him a final, quiet look, before slowly starting to cover him up. 

 

And quicker than one would think possible with the weight of a life on their shoulders, the dirt was almost completely replaced.

 

“Thanks for doing this for me, I really appreciate it.”

 

“Of course. What are friends for?

 

Opal chuckles, and Casey went to lift the last pile of dirt, when the sharp light of a flashlight shone on her face through the darkness.

 

“Hey! What do you two think you’re doing?”

 

The two froze as a figure stepped into view: a tall woman wearing a uniform.

 

“This is private property! You two can’t be—”

 

The guard’s voice faltered as she drew closer, eyes fixing first on the shovel and then on the quite suspicious hole in front of her.

 

The guard narrowed her eyes, before reaching for the walkie-talkie on her belt.

 

“Alright. I don’t care about whatever treasure hunting games you two think you’re doing, but again, this is private property.”

 

The guard lowered her gaze to her walkie-talkie, getting ready to call it in. And because of this change in focus, she was slow to react to the sound of Casey moving forward, shovel raised, and was promptly whacked in the head with the shovel, sending her reeling. The guard cried out, tripping over her feet in a desperate attempt to get away, and…

 

And fell directly on the forgotten rock Opal threw out earlier.

 

The security guard’s head hit the rock with a crack, and the two watched her for what felt like years, waiting for a twitch or a groan. But nothing happened.

 

Opal slowly kneeled next to her, pressing her fingers against her neck. After a moment, she looked up at Casey.

 

“…so I think we’re going to need to dig another grave.”