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Chapter 6: Child's Slay
Drew
Drew would sigh, and back away from the glass, he began to wash the shampoo from his hair as he spoke,
"You people...So predictable." He said and as he looked down he saw the color from hiss hair swirl down the drain,
wow, it really did only take ten washes. he thought to himself, he wasn't expecting to lose the platinum so soon. He was despised his dark hair, it signified his roots, his blood born connections. It made him look more like the other.
Eli balked, not expecting to be offended, but...well, offended.
"You people? The fuck does that mean? You know what's fucking predictable, it's you saying predictable, just to put me down and get your rocks off. Christ, it's people like you who are the predi..."
He narrowed his eyes, noting the streaks of dark in Drew's hair, gradually spreading.
"...ctable," he finished lamely.
"It..." he paused, "It's fake?"
Drew
Drew would laugh as he finished washing his hair, and all the platinum gone from it, he turned off the water and shook his hair, getting most of the water out as he grabbed his towel and began drying his hair.
"I would have guessed everyone knew my hair wasn't naturally a silver like color."
"Well...I mean I did," said Eli, though the conviction wasn't as convincing as it ought to be, "It's just..."
The resemblance was more than uncanny now. He felt a shiver on his arms.
"Why do you color it at all?" he asked, reaching for the tap himself, shutting the water with a squeak, "You look a little less douchy this way."
Drew
"Why does anyone ever change their appearance?"
He asked as he moved the towel to dry off his chest, and arms, before moving it to dry off his more private areas with no shame.
"We all want to be a different person sometimes, for me, I wanted to be a different person when I came home."
He said keeping up the lie he and his dad had originally agreed upon.
Eli propped himself against the side of the stall, watching the wily bastard's thin arms move in arabesques.
"To hide something," he shrugged, "Or to convince everybody they're their dead brother's ghost."
He moved out of the stall, bare feet moving with soft, delicate tread on the slick tiles of the floor.
"Guess it depends who's hiding."
Drew
"Don't talk about him..." He stated in a sharp dark tone. His stare dark and fixed on the boy near him.
"Ever since I've been back in town, everyone is always comparing me to him, is always talking about him, what a hero he was in the end, can it just stop!" He yelled.
Eli cocked an eyebrow, "No offense, man, but you aren't doing yourself any favors dressing up like him and pulling a Scooby Doo."
Drew
Drew grabbed the boy by the throat and spoke through gritted teeth.
"Listen to me closely, don't you ever assume you know my reasoning, or make the assumption that I am blissfully unaware of what my actions can make it look like." He said as he pushed the boy back by the throat.
"Dressing up as that idiot served a specific purpose, scaring the shit out of that insufferable little twink!"
Eli suppressed a gasp as his throat closed between Drew's fingers.
"Wow..." he breathed, panicked eyes moving swiftly up and over his attacker, "And, uh...what's the purpose of strangling me in the showers while our manhoods flirt with each other?"
They were separated only by inches, and closer the lower Eli looked.
"Eliminating Kieran?" Emma cocked her eyebrow, curious. "I thought he was powdering his nose in the men's room." Her eyes widened as the pieces clicked. "You're telling me he escaped?"
"And either his little sister helped him, or she's a hostage."
Pedro took a deep breath, and continued, "The sooner I am out of here, the sooner I can get on with it. So, por favor, help me."
If this didn't work...well there was always Plan B.
Emma crossed her arms, seriously considering the decision. As of just a few hours ago, she had cut off all ties with that bastard, exposing him for the pathetic whelp he was. What danger was he going to do with his moody sister? Though it was a tempting proposition to end him herself...
"Here's the thing...Pedro, was it?" She squatted down, pressing her hands together as she quite literally talked down to him. "Here's the thing: I want Kieran dead. I mean, it's like curb-stomping an ant at this point but hey, he'd be out of the way. But..." Emma raised her finger, introducing her counterpoint. "The killer--the currently active, dangerous killer--dug this hole. Meaning he wants clueless victims--people like you--to fall into them so he can eventually return and finish you off. Which means that when eventually he'll come back to kill you, I can just wait behind an inconspicuous tree and take care of him myself. Basically, you're pretty great bait if you stay in the hole..." She stroked her chin, truly stumped. "...and pretty shit bait if you leave."
Emma remained pensive, weighing her options. "What a sticky situation this is."
"For one, I'm not clueless, unlike most of your friends," Pedro said, pinching his nose.
"Two, I've also been told to kill that pendejo too. And how exactly do you plan on doing so? Why don't we work together, get what we both want?"
Reaching into his back pocket...he retrieved his wallet. Time for Plan B: Bribery. Teenagers ALWAYS needed money.
"In this wallet, I have," he retrieved the bills, "5 crisp one hundred dollar bills. All of which can be yours, if you let me help you."
"Five hundred dollars?" Emma replied. "Why, that's wonderful! I can go off on a shopping spree at the mall in the middle of this godforsaken swamp and then save the rest of it for college. That's genius!" She made to step away before adding, "That was sarcasm, if it wasn't clear. Look, you seem like a nice man, sir. And we do want the same thing. Problem is, this is personal for me while you...well, you seem to be just a goon. It has to be me who carves up that pendejo. Me. Because in the end, this has always been about my family. I was just too blind to see it before. So the only way you're getting up here is if you work on my terms. Can you work with that?"
"Tell you the truth, Seniorita, I suppose you're right. I am just a gun for hire."
Pedro considered his options. He could stay down here. That'd be the smart play.
But...his task, as unwilling as he was to do this for Kellerman...this girl seemed to be the Final Girl, from the sound of things. Perhaps...
"IF I agree, you need to agree that we play this smart. NO idiota decions that'll get us both killed."
The common hall began to come clear from the mist of the rain. Brooke quickened her pace, silently supposing it was pretty neat that she'd been able to manage this whole way and back without needing to fear for her life.
She saw her quarry on the path, heading toward her.
"Looking for me?" she prompted, folding her arms, "Kindly spare the gloating."
Noah
Finding Brooke coming back towards the common hall, Noah gave a sigh of relief,
"Well every noir flick needs a detective and a dame." he flashed an awkward grin.
He rubbed the back of his neck, looking around the woided area,
"Louisiana really is the creepiest place at night."
Aleks looked over at Zach, reaching out and taking his hand. "Together...because we aren't parting again during any of this."
She started to head up, pulling Zach along with her as she looked around them.
"Ryan...how long until we can get out of here?"
Part of her wanted to run, run as far and fast as she could right now.
"What if we don't go back to Lakewood you guys....what if we made our way somewhere else? I mean what does Lakewood hold besides horrible memories? We could start over...get a fresh start where nobody knows what our past consists of?"
***
Deanna looked at him, shaking her head as she listened to her brother. Right now things were chaotic enough and she only wanted to get them out of here, to be as far away from this as possible. "Kieran...should anything happen to me...I need to tell you where I stashed the money...that way you can get out of here." She said, walking up to her brother, placing a hand on his shoulder for a moment.
"In my room at the house...under the floorbloods in the closet, there's at least two grand stashed. And weapons." She commented to her brother, tilting her head a moment as she nodded towards the tracks. "And they are headed back to where we just escaped from...the hall where everyone is at..." She groaned, not wanting to face anyone. "We aren't exactly welcome there, Kieran..."
-Aleks, Deanna
Emma smirked. "Alrighty, senor. You got yourself a deal." She extended her hand for Pedro to take.
***
Kieran was silent. Money to get out of here...what was next after this? Move across the country? Out of the country? Across the world? And do what? He was only good at one thing and it just so happens is what he's wanted for. Maybe Kieran was better off with Nicodemus in jail, singing out his problems in his incense-filled office. The chances of walking out of one shithole into another where people are copying his...Piper's...Brandon James's shtick were perhaps a sign that his story was done. That prison marked the finite end to the tale of Kieran Wilcox, stud slasher and overall pawn in a game he didn't start and he sure as hell wasn't finishing.
"I'm not, that's for certain," he replied, contemplating their next move. "You, though, are the prodigal daughter to that group. As long as you act like it, no one will be suspicious. Then, you can lure him out to somewhere isolated. That is, if you're good enough." Kieran shrugged. "It's that or we lure him out with grass."
-Emma and Kieran
Deanna rolled her eyes, "They would rather have me strung up...no pun intended on how you found me and all." she said, looking at her brother a moment. She had this feeling in her gut, something gnawing at her and she felt like she wouldn't be able to run from her fate. "Big bro...if anything happens...run, and don't stop...even if it means leaving me behind." She said, frowning a moment as she ran a hand through her hair before slipping her knife into position.
She made her way towards the hall once more, shifting on her feet as she walked next to her big brother.
"Oh," Zach blinked, "Together. Wow, so..."
"It's three. Fucking. Stairs," Ryan stared at the both of them, aghast, "Fuck's sake."
Zach hurried up the steps.
At Aleks's question, Ryan scoffed, "Faster the less you ask."
Zach considered Aleks's question, "You mean...just run away? Leave?"
"We tried going on the run before," said Ryan, "Didn't work out."
"It was fun, though."
Ryan glared.
"Kinda."
"Bet you'd like to ditch your Dad, though, right man?"
Zach tensed, thinking at first Ryan was talking about Aleks's Dad, the ugly, horrible story she'd told him. But, of course, that's not what he was talking about. Zach sighed, "Well, I mean, I...I guess it would be...it'd be..."
"Aw," Ryan cut him off, lifting his head from some opened hatch under the dashboard, "No wonder the old boys couldn't figure this thing out."
"It's busted?"
"It's blocked," Ryan retrieved his phone from his pocket, turning on the flashlight, "Something in the injector."
"What's that? Like a needle?"
"Funnels fuel into the engine. All this banged up shit is just cosmetic. The engine oughta at least start up. Only explanation is somebody's cutting off the fuel supply."
"How do we fix it?"
Ryan bit his lip, "Easy. You unclog it."
"Okay," Zach nodded, "What do I do?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing."
"But...but I want to help."
Ryan blinked, "You see this hole, Zach?" he indicated the hatch he was kneeling over, the shallow recesses of the bus's underbelly.
"Yeah?"
"Think you can squeeze inside?"
"Well...I mean, maybe if I held my breath..."
"Yeah, we're already in deep enough shit without me having to pry your ass Winnie-the-Pooh style because you wanted to be a hero. No dice."
"But if I can't fit in..."
"You're not gonna like it."
Zach's face fell, "No. Nope, that's not right, man, you can't..."
"She wanted to come along!"
"Dude, we can't just make her do..."
"I'm not making anybody do anything!"
"I'm sorry, Aleks," Zach told her, "You don't have to, not if you don't want to..."
"Do you want to get out of here or not, Platinum?" Ryan asked, "Honest question? Promise I won't get mad."
Zach turned to her, "You really don't have to do it."
"But you really should."
***
"Yes, it's very upsetting," said Brooke promptly, "And I'm upset enough."
She had no time for any candor or jokes or "hee-hee, we're all in genre fiction, lulz", not from him nor anybody else. She slowed down, letting out a short breath, "I did it. I read your...dossier. And I went to Stavo about it."
-Zach, Ryan and Brooke
Aleks shrugged her jacket off and looked at the boys, shaking her head.
"Down I go, how hard can it be?"
She was scared yes, but she found herself easing towards the hatch, and slipping down into it.
This wasn't what she wanted to do, but she knew that she had to in order to get them out of there.
"Ryan, it shouldn't be too hard after that...."
Slowly she found herself inside the hatch, knowing that she could unclog it easily enough.
As she saw the problem, she slid down further and began to unclog it.
A bit of grease and whatever was clogging it spilled onto her clothes, and her hair.
It only took her a few seconds before it was unclogged, and than she looked at the mess on her clothes, skin and hair. Than it hit her, and she let out a shriek as she started to hastily climb out of the hatch.
"Get me out of here! Now!"
She didn't like what she was covered in, it was blood and something else most foul, entrails from one of the dead people.
Her hands reached up, covered in the disgusting red liquid combined with grease and a bit of the entrails.
She was pale, and she felt absolutely terrified, but the job was done and it was unclogged.
"Atta girl!" Ryan clapped her on the shoulder, watching her descend.
Zach folded his arms, "That was wrong, man."
"She wanted to do it!"
"Because you made her feel bad!"
"Damn fucking straight I did! What, you think I was gonna throw her a parade for pussing out and leaving us stuck with the killer?"
"You could've been gentle about it."
"Gentle?"
"Nice."
"I am nice!"
"I'm not totally stupid, Ryan. You've got a problem with her."
"Oh, that's rich," but Zach could see the hesitation in his face.
"What did she ever do to you? Seriously. She's, like, the most normal person we know."
"I don't have a problem!"
"You treat her like garbage."
"I treat everybody like garbage!"
"You don't treat me like garbage."
"Because you're my friend!"
"Aleks is my friend!"
"Dude, Aleks is trouble!" Ryan spat.
Zach leaned back, "Aleks? Trouble? You're not serious?"
"I'm dead the fuck serious, man."
"Why? Why's she trouble?"
"I've got a bad feeling."
"Oh, come on, dude! That doesn't..."
"It's true. A bad feeling!"
"Do you not like her because you have a bad feeling, or do you have a bad feeling because you don't like her?"
"What kinda Iyanla: Fix My Life bullshit..."
"It's psychology!"
"You can't even spell psychology, Zach!"
"Don't bring that up again! Aleks is nice, and she's good, and she must be pretty brave too, because she just crawled in there just to help us out, and that's got to..."
Zach was cut off by a scream. Several screams, from right below them.
"Oh fuck," said Ryan dryly, before Zach barreled him over, hurrying to the crawlspace.
"Aleks? Aleks, you okay down there? Aleks! Take my..."
Aleks beat him to it. Her hand was oily, sticky and...
"Blood," Ryan panted, "Shit, girl. What happened?"
"What happened?" Zach turned to Ryan, "She listened to you."
Ryan blinked, "Were...were you just being...sarcastic?"
Zach turned back to Aleks, "That's...that's all, like..."
He picked a bit of viscera out of her hair, "Somebody else, right?"
"Did you see who?" asked Ryan in a tone of forced casualness.
-Zach and Ryan
Aleks gripped Zach's hand, pulling herself up and shaking as she moved to the seat and sat there shaking more.
"It was someone's entrails! And the only person dead with nothing left of their body is Miss Atler! I'm wearing Miss Atler you asshole!" She spat at Ryan as she looked at Zach with fear in her eyes, she wanted out of here.
She couldn't get this stuff off of her body, not without a hot shower and a ton of soap.
"Zach...I don't like this one bit...get me out of here..."
Hesitantly she reached for his hand, but pulled it back almost instantly at the state her hand was in.
She was afraid for everyone, for Zach because of what she knew the most.
Entrails and viscera covered her, and her face was stained with blood and grease flecks everywhere.
"I want to leave this awful place..." She muttered gently.
She didn't care if Ryan hated her, and of course she had heard him talking.
Ryan blinked, "...who?"
"Calculus teacher," said Zach automatically.
"Well..." he sighed, "That's fucked," he looked Aleks over, "Good job."
It only sounded half resentful. He got to his feet and resumed toying with the engine.
"Uh..." Zach looked Aleks over, "Are you okay? I mean...I know you aren't, but...that's was really cool. Going down there. It...it was brave," he paused, feeling his face heat up, "You, you're brave."
He pondered what he might say next, only for the bus to rumble to life around them.
"Ha!" Ryan cheered, lifting his arms aloft, "Damn straight!"
"It works?"
"Hell yes, it works, baby!" he sank into the driver's seat, "Hold onto your tits."
Zach moved halfway to his pectorals before lowering his hands, sheepishly sinking into the seat right behind the driver's. He turned to Aleks, tentatively patting the spot next to him.
-Zach and Ryan
Aleks moved to sit next to Zach, pulling her jacket over and pulling it on.
She leaned against him, gripping onto the gun steadily as she sat there.
"Get us the hell out of here, Ryan."
She mumbled gently, shaking her head as she reached over and gripped onto Zach's hand.
At least she had Zach with her right now, and she was thankful that despite her current condition she had at least managed to fix the bus.
"Thank you...for saying that I was brave...I was scared out of my mind..."
Kieran watched her walk ahead, following slowly but keeping his distance. He crept around the building, looking for some indication of the stoner.
You can't lead her the way entirely. That's on her charisma to get him out of there. Funny. It was like the bird left the nest. He instilled values in someone and now they're maturing. Murderous values, yes, but values. He slid back into the treeline, his eyes tracking Deanna for as long as he could.
***
What was formerly Dave's biggest mistake that night was now his biggest luxury.
The bourbon was barely half-spent from that night's drinking game--good God, that was hours ago. Hours ago, they were acting like children, giggling and sharing stories and regrets only for that evil--the evil which Dave sensed that afternoon. He knew, dammit! He knew! But he didn't do a thing, as always.
It's like you don't exist, Evans. You don't even exist at all!
Yet he did. The only marker of his existence that humankind could behold were the young girls who died on his watch. Dave took a hard swig, wallowing in his own self-loathing.
-Kieran and Dave
Deanna made her way to the front of the hall, stopping as she looked towards it for a moment. She knew Kieran was back there, knew that he wouldn't run off until she had done her task and accomplished what he had set out to help her do. Exact vengeance on her ex for his betrayal, and she would do just that right now. She pulled out the singular joint she had in her pocket, the one Smoke had given her for the trip.
She smirked, sparking her lighter and bringing the flame to the joint and lighting it before puffing on it and blowing the smoke out quickly. She didn't need to be inhibited for this task, but she could draw him out with the stench of the weed, because she knew he would be able to smell his own weed better than anyone else.
"On it," Ryan gripped the wheel, pulling back on the gear. The bound ground and ground like some giant, breathing monster, but it did move.
"That's what I'm talking about!" Ryan for an indulgent whoop.
Zach couldn't suppress a smile of his own. He turned to Aleks, surprised at her touch, "Well, that's...normal."
He paused, "I mean...you did it, even though you were scared. Not everybody..."
He stopped, wincing, "Not everybody can do that."
There was a long silence. It felt like he should say something, maybe mention what Ryan said...
But how do you do that? Ryan was an asshole, but he was his friend, and Aleks was his friend, and they were both helping this whole escape thing happen while Zach tagged along. It didn't feel right to go after one for the sake of the other...
So, instead, he heard himself saying, "Know anymore Vaporwave?"
***
Losing an eye really made a fellow realize just how much stock he put into his depth perception.
Fitz picked his way through the trees, having lost track of the path some time ago. The rain continued pounding on, which did very little to help his vision. What's more, his shoes were all soggy by now.
"The things you do, Smith," he grumbled, "To be a good chap. Why, they might as well canonize you right now. Self-righteous smug pricks. None of them are going bushwhacking after that dolorous drunk gorilla. No sir! Where's my Rootin' Tootin'? Where's my accolades? Where is my love? Blast and bother..."
There was a distinct sound of someone sobbing. Drunken sobbing. Fitz knew the sound too well. It was the sort of undignified blubbering the working classes indulged in when they drank their swill.
He peered out through the trees, spotting his quarry.
"Evans!" he began, in a tone of great authority, before promptly realizing he didn't know what to say.
He stood there in the rain for a good while longer, before managing, in strained tones, "...how's it going, sport?"
-Zach, Ryan and Fitz