He saw me.
Well, he saw most of me. I worried he saw more, but he was so concussed he didn’t get a good look. I risked it all to make sure I saved him.
It’s hard to fight and keep your face hidden, but obviously I managed.
I still wonder what he would have said or done if he’d seen me and knew the killer of one’s nightmares was the one to save him because she loves him.
I take the side door, and no one even questions me, considering my costume. No one ever asks questions in this town. They just go with the flow, as their conditioning tells them to do.
The throngs of people divide for me, screaming as I split through them. Everyone loves a good scream, and as I pop out of the shadows, more of those screams find my ears.
It takes me a moment to find the corner Jake has set up, and I nudge a girl out of it, letting her think I’m taking over as part of the plan. Gotta love disorganization. Popular as it is, it’s still just put on by the high school, and has no organization extending beyond the original setup.
She leaves, carrying her fake axe with her, and I plug in my power saw.
Trevor is the first one I see, and I rev the saw, listening to some of the ones in front of him scream in terror, even though they think it’s all fake.
The dingy room is lit by a strobe light that flickers amongst the fog machines and red lights in the background. Trevor steps aside, waiting for Kyle and the others to catch up. I smirk behind the mask before grabbing him.
“Let go, fuckstick!” he snaps. “You’re not supposed to put your hands on people.”
Oh, how I wish he could see me smile.
Screams erupt from all around as I slam a knife into his chest and toss him into the corner. People burst out laughing as he gurgles on blood.
“That’s so fake!” one teenager shouts. “Nice try, Deputy Byron. Stick to your day job.”
As the deputy continues to bleed out, I catch a glimpse of Kyle in the back, unsurprisingly lingering by the ‘whore house’ stand that’s off to the side. My current box is labeled the ‘liar’ box.
We picked it on purpose.
I toss a sheet over Trevor as blood continues to plume and spread across his chest. He stares up in shock as I cover his head, tucking him in for a long sleep.
He’ll bleed out in front of everyone.
But that’s not my main event.
Chad Briggs comes into view just as I rev my power saw, and more screams erupt all around me as I pretend like I’m getting too close to the line of people. I cock my head from side to side, going with creepy overload.
Just as Briggs nears, leaving Kyle to dawdle at the whore house box a little longer—watching two girls make out while fake blood drips from their nipples through their white shirts—I rev the saw again.
Briggs eyes me, confused as to why this particular costume is in play. I walk up to him, and he smugly holds his ground while more people rush by, screaming like I’m an insane serial killer.
Well…
With one fast, unexpected yank, I toss Chad to the ground, and everyone around us erupts into frenzied screams. Chad’s eyes widen, and a curse spills from his lips when realization sets in seconds too late.
“You can’t see me,” I tell him as I dig the saw into him, turning it on full power.
A bloodcurdling scream erupts from his lips as the saw powers across his chest, slicing through flesh and spraying out blood that splatters against people in the line.
“Holy shit! That looks so fucking real!” one guy hoots.
I smirk, digging the saw in deeper, slicing it across his abdomen, spilling his intestines for all to see.
Everyone starts rushing by us, screaming as they point and take pictures. It’s sad that the world thinks visual effects are this good. Little do they know they’re witnessing a murder.
As Chad chokes on his blood, Kyle nears, and I lean down to whisper my favorite part.
“I’m Victoria Evans. The daughter of the man you killed. The sister to the boy you let die. The victim you turned into a monster. And I’m going to fucking kill you all.”
He tries to form words, but I stand, watching with sick fascination as he makes a pathetic attempt to hold his intestines inside his body. Kyle pales, the girl on his arm stumbles back, and I walk right toward him.
He’s seen the real stuff. He knows this isn’t fake.
He tries to turn and run, but I sling out the saw, catching him right in the back of the head.
Pity it’s not on.
It hits him hard enough to knock him to the ground, and his girlfriend screams and sprints through the massacre.
I grab a bottle of lye as I drag Kyle by the foot toward the door.
“Best. Liar Box. Ever! Holy shit! We’ll never top this next year!” one teen shouts in complete awe as Chad continues to silently mouth for help.
I toss the lye I brought onto the sheet by the door, drenching Trevor in it.
More screams erupt from under that sheet as the scent of rotting flesh and lye collide and permeate the air.
My eyes start burning, but the mask I’m wearing under the mask—yes, a mask under a mask—prevents most of the fumes from getting inhaled.
Others, however, start rushing out, screaming in real fear when they feel the burn.
With all the commotion, no one notices me dragging the unconscious Kyle to the box, where there’s a hole cut into the floor. No one sees me push him down in it as the screams continue from Trevor.
No one notices who it is the person in the mask is dragging down under the traveling house of horrors.
I drop down into the hole, seeing no one’s feet rushing away. Yet. Wheels roll up from behind, and I check my phone, watching the cameras as Logan speaks to Leonard.
The two deputies at the end are suddenly rushing into the house when the girlfriend runs out alone. It’s now or never.
I quickly roll out from under the trailer, and I drag Kyle with me. He’s out cold when I see the backdoor of a car opening. A few eyes swing toward us, and I hold my finger over my lips, the universal hush sign.
A woman pales and turns away, her entire body freezing. She doesn’t make a move or say a word.
Jake’s mask is on, and he turns around in his seat, grabbing Kyle’s arm and helping me shove him into the vehicle. I shove the syringe into his hip, making sure he stays out.
We don’t speak, and I let him go as I turn and walk away like I didn’t just help kidnap the sheriff’s son. I can’t wait to have five minutes alone with him.
As sirens wail and the craziness gets crazier, I hear Logan shouting for someone, and I know they’ve figured it out.
Now the fun begins.
Like the killers do in the movies, I disappear calmly into the woods, and no one follows me.
Something tells me Delaney Grove will never view a Haunted House the same again.
Chapter 11
Common sense is not so common.
—Voltaire
LOGAN
“How the fucking hell does a killer walk by us, come inside, and kill two officers, before stealing the sheriff’s son, yet no one sees a damn thing?” Donny hisses, covering his nose.
If our unsub wanted to ruin the crime scene, she did a damn good job by dumping out a tub of lye.
I’m not sure what was here before Kyle Davenport stupidly went in, and what the killer brought with her.
“You sons of bitches go see my son today, and now he’s missing!” the sheriff bellows as I try to piece together the gruesome attack.
Chad Briggs. I spoke to him earlier. Trevor Byron is—was—familiar as well.
Chad was sawed open right in front of a crowd who watched with rapt attention, assuming he was just part of the show. Trevor was stabbed then doused in lye.
“He’s now targeting anyone in the way,” Lisa says as she pulls off her glove, staring in disgust at the parts of the body of Chad Briggs we were able to retrieve. Trevor’s body can’t be touched until the hazmat suits arrive.
Chad Briggs has been hollowed out, all of his insides spilling when we had to lift him to carry him outside for proper examination. We don’t have a M.E. here, but they have their own coroner—who I don’t trust.
The sheriff has already called in a canine unit, and most of his deputies are in the woods, trying to follow the blood trail the unsub left behind.
“I think this was planned,” Leonard interjects. “Chad Briggs was an officer ten years ago. So was Trevor Byron. They were a part of what happened to Robert Evans.”
“Just a coincidence,” Lisa says dismissively.
“She could have hurt the girl with Kyle, who alerted the other two what was going on. She didn’t. So she’s in control of the kills,” Leonard argues.
“She? Now you think it’s a girl too?” Lisa groans. “We can’t do this to our profile, or what’s the point in profiling.”
“Not adjusting the profile makes it just as pointless, and you start thinking like Johnson,” I point out.
She glares at me, and I shift my attention to Elise. “Anything?”
She shakes her head. “Nothing of any use. People saw a guy in a Michael Myers mask in the ‘liar’ section, and thought Trevor Byron was part of the show. Same for Chad Briggs. Some even thought Trevor was a terrible actor, not even realizing he was dying. Others thought the ‘special effects’ with Briggs was amazing.”
“Michael Myers?” Leonard says, stepping closer.