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Chapter 3: Fright Night
YOU'RE LISTENING TO WREN LAKE CLASSICS- THE MUSIC YOU REMEMBER, WITH NONE OF THE BAD CHOICES
Still awake, Lakewood? Must be up to no good. But we're about that business here too, ain't we? I've got a request here from some kid says he's got a date to impress. At this hour, let me tell ya, only one thing'd impress me. But you know how kids are... Well...what's this name here?...well, Coral (what kinda fuckin' name...), you have fun tonight. Hope your little lady knows you need her.
***
It wasn't hard to find the place...all he had to do was follow the music.
'Ain't no need to worry/Ain't no use to cry/'Cause I'll be comin' home soon/To keep you satisfied...'
Micah hefted himself over a waist high fence, feeling the hem of his sweater catch on the chicken wire. Sighing in mild frustration, he loosened the wool and continued on his way.
This was a high ridge, probably the highest land around for some time, and the ground was more solid for it. He could only hear the barest of thuds as his motorcycle boots pressed in and out. The fencing eventually gave way to a rusty metal gate, on which somebody in some long ago time had scrawled the words 'Shine like a Phoenix'. Micah allowed a private smile, undoing the latch and passing through.
'You know I get so lonely/That I feel I can't go on...'
"Music, check," Micah announced, nodding to the old, beat up boombox sitting on an overturned metal barrel, "Beautiful vista..." he indicated the wide view of the marshes beyond the ridge, "Check..."
He turned to observe the chestnut-haired figure awaiting him where the hill broke off to the horizon.
'And it feels so good inside, baby/Just to call you on the telephone/I said...'
"You know what a boy wants," he smiled, crossing over to him and taking his hand gently in his.
'Oh baby, I love you/What more can I say?...'
***
'Oh baby, I need you/I miss you more everyday...'
Zach jolted awake in bed, a hot sweat on his face.
'I woke up early this morning/And sun came shining down...'
It was still dark...a quick look at his phone told him it was just past midnight. The other bed was empty. Maybe Carl was on his date. Happy. Having a good time.
Fun. Living. Stuff like that.
'And it found me wishin' and hopin'/Mama, you could be around...'
"Just a nightmare," he muttered to himself, "Just...another dream, that's all it was, man. A dream."
But he had the dreams so often that they seemed realer than most of what happened when he was awake. This time, he'd almost felt his mother close to him, sitting in that chair, inches from him... He might've reached out and touched her, grabbed her hand, pulled her to her feet...
Maybe he could've apologized, told her he'd never meant to be so slow, that he should've minded his own business...
That he never meant to hurt anybody.
'Well, you know that I need you/More than the air that I breathe...'
"Stupid..." he muttered, leaning against the window and looking out into the night, "Just stupid."
How could it all look so...beautiful?
'And I guess I'm just trying to tell you, woman...'
***
'What you mean to me.'
Root beer was nonalcoholic, and Noah wasn't the type to spike drinks. Still, Brooke felt lighter than air as she made her way back to what passed for home in these parts, stepping lightly over the muddy ground, arms swaying as her side, once or twice feeling at ease enough for a dancerly twirl.
'Oh, baby I love you/What more can I say?'
She shouldn't feel at ease...it wasn't like her chat with Noah had accomplished anything but reaffirm that she could trust nobody. Yet, something about it made her want to trust all the same.
Noah would surely like to hear that.
'Oh baby, I need you...'
"Oh, busted," she grimaced, pausing in the doorway of her cabin to look across at her roommate, "What are you doing up at this hour? Good girls should be in bed."
She looked aside at Emma, smirking, "And before you start, I am not a good girl..."
She thought of Noah and laughed despite herself, "Whatever the popular opinion dictates."
'More and more everyday...'
***
Eli returned to his cabin in a huff, realizing only too late that he stood to wake up his roommate...if Stavo was capable of sleeping at all, which at this point in time was tenuous at best.
"I am going to kill my cousin," he announced.
'I try to tell you I love you/In each and every way...'
"But first, I'm gonna kill her shithead boyfriend."
'I'm trying to tell you I need you/Much more than a piece of leg...'
"Wanna lend a hand?"
'Oh baby, I love you/What more can I say?'
***
'Oh baby, I need you/More and more everyday...'
Phyllis stirred sleepily at the sound of tapping, rapping insistently on the cabin door.
Despite her initial thought, it was not a dream, but something more.
She looked around, brushing a lock of hair from her face. Her head was pounding like a drum...
Oh God...
She noted the bottles all over the floor. They'd all gotten drunk! She'd gotten drunk. She'd forgotten how much a hangover, well, hung over.
The knocking continued. The other adults were all oblivious. It seemed, along of their party, only Fitz, Theodora and Edward Teague had made it to their beds before passing out. Tina Hudson was slumpsed against Fitz's bed, his hand dangling in front of her face. Every now and then she'd reach up to sway it away as if it were an insect, but the hand always found its way back.
Howard Jensen was lying in the heap of suitcases they'd stacked up in the back. She didn't remember him having anything to drink, but he was certainly asleep, and fitfully too, tossing and turning uncomfortably. No surprise there, given his choice of perch.
And, right next to her...
Phyllis jolted back with a gasp at the realization she'd been sleeping not next to, but practically on top of Dave Evans. He's snores were stentorian, he may as well have been oblivious. Still, Phyllis couldn';t help but feel her face flush.
'Oh baby, I love you/What more can I say?'
The knocking continued. Phyllis looked around at all the booze on the floor. God help them if the kids got a look at what their supposed betters had been up to. She made a show of kicking bottles under the beds, hefting sheets to cover them up. Finding her mauve dressing gown, she tied the sash and, hoping her breath didn't smell too strongly of cinammon-whisky, opened the door...
'Oh baby, I need your sweet lovin'/I miss you more every day.'
-Micah, Zach, Brooke, Eli and Phyllis
"Well, it helps when said boy told me what he wants," Carl squeezed Micah's hand.
"You know, after the plane crash in '77, Lynyrd Skynyrd was never the same."
It had taken him an hour to come up with a song both of them would like. And even then, he had been iffy about how much Micah would appreciate the song.
"You girls got room for one more?" Audrey asked, standing in the doorway, "Aleks snores."
"For the record, I'm glad you didn't play folk poser and pretend an encyclopedic knowledge of The Carpenters," Micah looked around, "Pretty place. How'd you find it?"
He wouldn't be surprised if Carl had already combed the whole place three times over. Still, he had to give credit where it was due.
***
"Ooh, slumber party!" Brooke beamed, "Don't be mean. Aleks has a deviated septum and she is very sensitive about it," she beckoned forward, "Come hither. We were just talking about nothing in particular."
-Micah and Brooke
"Me and Zach found it, when were exploring," Carl explained. He sat down on the blanket he'd brought and offered the seat next to him.
"I'm not sure which I like the most. Here, or that really nice view of the lake back home...Or...looking at you."
He blushed at the words. God, why did he say that? That was so corny!
***
Audrey smirked and closed the door behind her. Plopping down next to Emma, she asked, "So...did Noah say anything about Ted?"
***
Stavo didn't open his eyes, but asked, "What did Shithead do? Besides be a total douche?"
"That's adorable," said Micah, "Please don't say it ever again," but he was smiling, "So, at the risk of being indulgent, may I say how glad I am to have my very own suitor? And gladder still that it's you."
He cleared his throat, "But I do have to ask...why me? And don't say my cheekbones, we all know they're great, but I want a layered answer."
***
"Noah? You mean tonight?"
Brooke didn't know why she was bristling over it. It's not like she and Noah had been cavorting under cover of shadows. Everybody at that table knew they'd be meeting tonight, and that included the girls.
Still...
"Would you believe Ted didn't come up once? Noah must think he's beneath regard, and can you blame him? The only remarkable thing about Ted is how infuriatingly wholesome he is. Though, in these dark and troubled times, maybe we could all benefit from some wholesomeness."
But considered mentioning the two people Noah had absolved of any suspicion...Emma and herself. She might have said it too, were Audrey not here. She might have wondered why Noah counted her out. But they all knew the things Audrey had contemplated doing once upon a time, and the way Kieran had tooled her around in the spring. All told, it was enough to make anyone contemplate murder.
But if everybody were like that, they'd all be homicidal maniacs.
"What? Should we be scared of him, just because he's some random guy's son? I mean, I thought we were only supposed to be scared of illegitimate children," she winked.
***
"Deanna's missing, man," Eli told him, "Nobody's seen her since those ice breakers, when she bailed out on Audrey. I checked her cabin, she hasn't been back all day. That just leaves her con-artist sidepiece."
He looked Stavo over, "And he is a con-artist. I know. I've asked him. That stupid 1997 MTV Awards gig he's got going on is an act. And not a very convincing one, he seemed honestly surprised that I saw through it."
He shrugged, "I'm gonna find him and I will personally..." he paused, aware that, stringbean though Smoke was, he was no Mr. Olympia either.
Stavo on the other hand...
"You know, you still owe me a favor after I helped out with Noah," he extended a hand, "Wanna help fan out the Smoke?"
-Micah, Brooke and Eli
Noah
It was almost as if Noah had been born a new man, or that he'd won the lottery the way he just oozed confidence, as he walked back to his cabin. Sure they didn't get much of anything done, but he could give her a copy of their suspect list in the morning and they could each do some sleuthing onn the suspects.
Right now though, he just wanted to enjoy the rest of the night in his bed. He opened the cabin door, not paying attention to whether his roommate was there or not, though he didn't smell weed so maybe he wasn't. He climbed into his bed, and stared at the ceiling, this was a good night.
_____
Sawyer
Sawyer who hadn't been able to sleep was reading a book, on homemade anesthetics, and their uses.
______
Drew
Before the trip, Drew had made a few visits to Terrance's room to get a few things, and even bout a wig that looked close enough to his hair. He was going to pull the prank tonight, although he wondered where the fuck Micah was. He could be patient though, and he was getting into character. He had a picture of Terrance stood in front of his as he stared at it, doing push ups, getting a good sweat on to make him look ghostly.
"Because...you're the first guy I've liked that didn't judge me because of my parents. And because when I met you, I didn't feel the need to hide who I am," Carl confessed. He almost considered admitting he'd been in love with Micah since the day he met him.
"And you're probably nicest, sweetest guy I've ever met."
***
"Well, we know how Noah is." Audrey shrugged, though she saw Brooke's point. And all things considered, she expect herself to be on that list too.
"But I'm glad he isn't. The guy couldn't hurt a fly."
***
Stavo kept his eyes closed for a bit longer, contemplating the pros and cons...
He finally opened them and asked, "You thinking Beatdown?"
"Oh, flatterer you are!" Micah tossed his head, "The day will come when you won't have to hide for anybody. Trust me, it's the most beautiful thing in the world."
***
"You'll be pleased to know he's still convinced my boyfriend is a bloodthirsty maniac," said Brooke, "But what else is new?"
***
"Well, I wouldn't have so blunt about it..." Eli allowed a smirk, "I just want to find him, find out what Kool-Aid he's been giving Dee, find out where Dee is...and, sure, if he comes out of it a little dinged up..." he shrugged, "What's the harm?"
-Micah, Brooke and Eli
"I hope it is," replied Carl, standing up, to face Micah, before he pulled him into a hug.
"Why though?"
Stavo yawned and held out an arm, "Help me up. I'll help you kick his ass."
Micah takes him in, relishing the smell of him, woodsy and piney, distinctly male. He was gentle too...not just because of how bony he was. Micah had noticed it early on, when he'd been no more than Deanna Wilcox's shadowy enforcer. It had seemed a job he was ill-suited for.
Now Micah understood why.
"To hearts which near each other move," he began, softly, "From evening close to morning light/The night is good; because, my love,/They never say good-night." he smiled sheepishly, "Percy Bysshe Shelley. He was married to the lady who wrote Frankenstein. They had crazy Victorian poem-sex parties. In...er...layman's terms..." he leaned in closer, "I could stay here forever."
He kissed Carl gently on the lips.
***
"Honey, you're asking the wrong person," Brooke waved her arm dismissively, "Well, there was that thing with him drawing creepily explicit portraits of us, but that was a passing phase and, really, it's no less creepy than inviting your friends to talk about their near death experiences on a monetized podcast."
***
Eli extended his hand, pulling Stavo to his feet, surprised at the heft of him.
"You're a sturdy fellow," he allowed with a grin, "Now, put some pants on."
-Micah, Brooke and Eli
Carl closed his eyes as Micah kissed him...Oh God, was his heart skipping a beat? He kissed Micah gently back, and broke it, "Me too."
"What about you, Em? Any thoughts you'd want to share?"
Stavo waved his hand and pulled his jeans up. Cracking his neck, he grabbed his jacket and said, "Let's start in his cabin."
Micah could well have stood there forever, arms around Carl's waist, their faces parted by the barest inches.
"What's the matter?" he asked lightly, noticing the dazed look in Carl's eyes, "Never kissed a boy before? Well, we'll fix that..."
He kissed him again, this time on the cheek, then again on the forehead, a fourth time on the nape of his neck, where he could feel his pulse quivering beneath the skin.
***
"You're a brave man, Mr. Acosta," Eli advised, opening the door, "I hear this guy's a serious OG. Fo' sizzle."
They moved side by side through the darkness, their quarry a few doors down. Figuring he might as well see if his earlier labors had borne any fruit at all, Eli asked, "So, how fares the Majestic Miss Maddox?"
-Micah and Eli
'I feel my wings have broken in your hands
I feel the words unspoken inside'
Aleks was sitting on her bunk, not feeling like going anywhere right now. How had things ended so horribly with Zach? She was sure that they were having a moment, but than nothing.
She pulled out her phone, looking at it before sending a text.
'Zach, I'm not sure what happened....but I'd like to try and talk about what happened....I'm kind of confused, and actually want to know what's going on. I like you...and I really don't like how things ended when we were together last.'
She sent the message, than dropped back on her bed and stared at the ceiling for a while.
'And they pull you under
And I will give you anything you want, oh
You are all I wanted
All my dreams are fallen down
Crawlin' around and 'round and 'round'
***
Tracy was walking around the outside area of the mess hall, having popped at least two oxys, and was staring at her phone waiting for that stupid message to come through. She was feeling high, and grateful for it. It reminded her of that one night she had last seen Terrance.
The two had been sitting on his bed, having gotten as high as they could on her stash of Oxy's and anything else she could find, she even remembered them taking some Molly at some point too. She was lounging on his bed, looking over at her best friend and rolling onto her back so that her head had been in his lap.
"Terrance...I need new Prada shoes...and some new clothes..." She had whined, and Terrance had only laughed when her head rolled into his lap. He hastily had pulled out his credit card, dropping it on her chest before laughing and falling back against the bed. "Your gonna drain me dry...if it wasn't for those pictures you have...well we'd be broke already."
She wiped her eyes, the few tears that had appeared there before she moved to lay on one of the benched and stare at the sky through her Prada sunglasses right now.
'Somebody save me
Let your warm hands break right through it
Somebody save me
I don't care how you do it, just stay, stay
C'mon, I've been waiting for you'
***
Emma had been completely not paying attention, having been trying to text and call her mother all night.
When Audrey sat down next to her, she looked up and put her phone down.
"What's up? Sorry wasn't listening at the moment...sorry."
She gave her full attention to both Brooke and Audrey at the moment.
"Has anyone seen Deanna since those ice-breakers?
She had been worried about the girl, not just because she was one of the survivors like the rest of them. Not to mention what had happened with her big brother in all of this, and right now she wasn't sure if the girl was alright or not.
'I see the world has folded in your heart
I feel the waves crash down inside
Let your warm hands break right through it
Somebody save me
I don't care how you do it, just stay, stay
C'mon, I've been waiting for you'
***
Deanna wasn't sure how long she had been unconscious for, but she woke up the moment a bucket of ice water was thrown on her bagged head. "The ever loving fuck?!" She screamed out, struggling against the restraints that had been binding her for the better part of over twelve or thirteen hours now, or was it longer?
She heard chuckling, but she couldn't tell if it was male or female, most likely a modulator, which she knew quite a few people had used in the past two murder sprees.
"I get it, the no talking get. Alright, I'll bite...you power hungry? You ready to finally kill me big brother? You going to slit my throat and leave me in the campground to be found?"
That was when the modulation voice abductor finally spoke, "Silly little Dee-Dee, you think this is your big brother...oh no, not by far. But I will leave you somewhere everyone can find."
When that ended there was a sound of something being picked up, and than she felt the blunt force of a bat swinging into her stomach.
Crawlin' around and around...
A scream emitted from Deanna's throat, and she lurched forward in the chair she was being bound in. "Asshole...gonna have to do better than that." She spit into the hood, blood going down her chin for a moment.
The abductor, whoever it was walked behind Deanna and swung the bat against her back and watched Deanna and the chair lurch forward and break the instant it hit the hard ground. Another scream tore through Deanna's throat before she felt herself struggling to breath a bit.
"W-What do you want?!" She screamed out, feeling blood pooling out her mouth and down her chin.
Another final wording came from the modulator. "I want you to scream for big brother before you bleed more and go unconscious again."
Deanna coughed, feeling her body aching, bruises forming and everything nearly choking down her throat and her chin.
"K-Kieran....Kiearan!!!! BIG BROTHER!!! HELP!!!!"
She yelled out, before she was whacked over the head with the bat one final time.
Somebody save me
Let your warm hands break right through
Somebody save me
I don't care how you do it, just stay with me
I made this whole world shine for you
Just stay, stay
C'mon, I'm still waiting for you
It was only a matter of moments after Deanna was knocked out once more, that her body was untied from the broken chair and dragged out of the woodshed that she had been in.
After about thirty minutes, Deanna's body was left neatly displayed for someone to find, anyone really.
She was tied to a tree in the middle of the swamp, arms up above her head and her ankles bound to the base of the trunk. Her waist was also tied around the middle, the bag removed from her face, and the blood and bruising was everywhere present on her.
And that would be how everyone would find Deanna Wilcox, though of course it would take quite a bit of time.
-Aleks, Tracy, Emma, Deanna-
Carl moaned at what Micah was doing, before he pulled his head up, and kissed him deeply.
"She's doing good, Eli, considering we now have a stalker."
"Whoa..." Micah flashed his teeth, tossing his hair from his eyes, "Easy, now. I don't wanna kill you. What do you say we..."
He stopped short, whirling around.
"Did...did you hear that?"
A rustling in the trees a little down the slope, not the side he'd climbed to get here.
Just like that, the magic of the moment was gone, and he was just a boy in the dark, in the wilderness, his tiny heart beating a staccato rhythm in his tiny chest.
***
"You mean Lollipop Guild?" Eli grinned, "She's...er...she's Dee's roommate, I just spoke with her. She seems..."
He thought of the bandage on her foot, the way her hand trembled on the doorframe, "Yeah, there's something off with her. Kinda sad, if you ask me. Probably bad form for Brooke to go off like that. I mean, considering..."
***
"Em, we were talking about more pleasant matters," Brooke smiled thinly, "But, since you asked, no. And good riddance to the pest. What does she have against you, anyway?" she turned to Audrey, "I swear, little maniac bolted the second she sat down with you."
-Micah, Eli and Brooke
Carl's eyes widened and he whispered, "We're too far away from Honey Island for it to be the Monster. Let's get out of here."
"From what I heard, the twerp had it coming. And frankly I'm thinking of paying her a visit after we deal with Smoke."
"Well, her brother did put me in a coma. Maybe she's scared I'm going to take it out on her." Seeing their faces, she quickly added, "I'm not going to, but still..."
Micah stared, "I...you'll just have to tell me what that is later."
He hastened to follow Carl downslope, first snatching the radio as he went. Anticipating a look from Carl, he explained, "Well, I'm not leaving it for the monster. It has two tape decks."
***
"She's, like, 14, man..." Eli began, grimacing, "And a tiny 14. You, however, are a bronzino bull, six feet of muscle and shoulders like a statue. That's less 'teaching a lesson' and more 'officer, I would like to report a homicide: yes, she's been reduced to pulp'."
He shrugged, "And, anyway, I think something's, like...wrong with her. Like, not in the head, but...well, maybe that too. But, like...physically wrong."
***
"Please, you're too smart to try anything in a room full of witnesses," Brooke declared, "And, anyway, who among us doesn't have a grievance against Special K?" she looked at Emma, "What, is she scared of you too?"
-Micah, Eli and Brooke
Carl grabbed the blanket and said, "Let's go."
"What do you mean?"
They moved swiftly down the ridge, picking their way over the chickenwire fence. This time, Micah remembered where his sweater had caught on the wire, and avoided it, feeling proud of himself.
"What do you think it was? If it...was anything at all?"
***
"Well, I dunno...when I went to see her, she was all shaky and...her foot was bandaged. She said she cut it somehow, which...I'm not sure how you do that without having some kind of mush-brain disease. It's not the place you'd cut up normally..."
Eli considered him, "And from what I gather, she's pretty into you. So it would be kind of a moral question if you turned her into spaghetti."
-Micah and Eli
Emma snapped out of it, looking at them and shaking her head.
"I only ask...because nobody has literally seen her since the ice breaker thing....doesn't anyone find that a little strange?"
She frowned a moment, pulling out her phone to check it again.
No messages.
"You know who else I haven't seen since the ice breaker thing?" Brooke prompted, starting a count on her fingers, "Juvenile delinquent, crazy pixie bitch, hillbilly chic, Commie Chick, oxy slut, and F.U.K Smith. Do you know why I haven't seen them? Because I wasn't looking for them, because I'm not the 'And the Rest' police. She chose to run off. Quite, frankly, in the general scheme of things, that means she brought it on herself."
Uncompassionate though it might sound, whatever shreds of sympathy Brooke may have had for for little DeeDee had wilted like crepe flowers that night in the park. Kieran had been calling her, calling her for hours, and she hadn't told anybody until the shit hit. And then who decides to act the little Princess and organize search parties, complete with a live arsenal?
Puh-lease.
"Much as she might like to imagine it, the world does not revolve around her and her suffering," Brooke summed up, "There's more than enough suffering to go around."
-Brooke