Once upon a time two guys met at the gym while lifting extreme heavy weights. After a while they became best friends until everything changed dramatically…

Their names are Kevin and Steve, Kevin is a handsome man with a beautiful wife named Karen and three children. Steve works as a construction worker near the gym. After they had become friends, they started to meet once a week to go tombstoning and Steve also started babysitting Kevin’s children. They always wondered why they looked so much alike and shared the same interests, which led to them thinking they were soulmates. But one night everything changed.

Kevin came back from work earlier than usual to surprise his wife on their anniversary. When he opened the door, he heard suspicious noises from the bedroom. He looked through the window and then he saw it. His wife and his best friend in bed. He was drained and felt angrier than ever before, but he stayed quiet. He stopped meeting Steve and spent a lot of time overthinking. He got an idea, but no - it was too morbid. He could never do this. He came to the conclusion that it would be best for everyone if he talked to Steve. He decided that they should go tombstoning again. The way to the cliffs was long so he packed an extra gallon of fuel just in case he’d need it. They met eventually and started jumping, Steve jumped first. Kevin was about to jump after him and just in that moment he heard a quiet “PLING”. He turned around and there he saw it: Steve’s phone lying on his towel. A message popped up. Kevin knew he should not read it, but he couldn’t hesitate. When he read it he was shocked. A message from Karen: I will get divorced, I want to be with you.

He could not believe what he saw. Why could Karen have betrayed him like that? How could Steve, his best friend, betray him after all they had gone through together? He felt angrier than ever before in his life. And at this moment the thought he had had a week ago came into his mind again. He was sure nobody would see them here, on a cliff so far away from any human population. He heard Steve´s footsteps coming closer and closer, the wet sounds his shoes made on the rocky ground and his right hand moved to the gallon of fuel, while his left hand grabbed the lighter in his pocket. In that moment he felt such an intense anger that he only wanted one thing. He wanted his best friend dead.

30 minutes later he was in his car on the way to Steve’s house. Steve laid in the trunk wrapped in his towel. The smell of burned hair and skin was still very intense. He took the keys out of Steve’s pants and entered the house. He quickly grabbed a trash bag and dressed himself in Steve’s working clothes. He packed the corpse into the bag and drove to the construction site where Steve would be working right now. His co-workers hadn"t arrived yet but he needed to be quick. Kevin took the bag with the body inside and walked over to a half-finished wall. He put Steve´s remains inside it and finished building up the wall all by himself.

After that he decided to go home to take a nap.

Two days later at the breakfast table:

Kevin was reading the newspaper and saw an article about a corpse that was found at a construction site. He immediately knew that those were Steve´s remains. But there were no more hints, so he did not think that they would find out that it was him. Just two hours later he got a call from his mother. He picked up.

“Hi mum, how are you?” he asked.

“We need to talk. I never told you that you had a brother - he was found dead yesterday. I really need some emotional support right now. It"s so tragic! He was found at the construction site where he used to work. Steve"s remains were inside a trash bag walled up. How can someone be so cruel! You must feel very sad too. If you want to, you can come to his funeral. I will mail you the information.”

“Steve?”

“Yes, that was his name.”

He hung up and was shocked. He had murdered his own brother, his own flesh and blood. How could he live with that? So Kevin walked to his car, he moved as if he was remote controlled. After two and a half hours he stood at the top of the cliff again. He felt nothing, he was numb. This was the place everything had begun and would now come to an end. Without hesitation he jumped onto a rock that was sticking out of the water. His last thought was: “Now I will meet my brother again!”

written by Nele, Celina and Sophia, year 10, December 2021