The Carter Hollow Murders

Lily Le - Challenge Two

User: FindTheSilverLining

As I entered the theatre with the police officer behind me, my eyes scan around the room. Everything was in chaos. Police officers were sprinkled in the audience, trying to get as many students as they could to settle down. Small groups of students broke off from the main crowd and stuck into various tunnel openings around the theatre room. I kept searching for Clove among the crowd and eventually spotted a familiar flash of black make its way past an officer and slip into one of the tunnels. I made up my mind to go after her.Within the blink of an eye, I jump back and head-butt the officer who was standing directly behind me. I swiftly turned around and gave the officer a kick in the crotch. Then with my bound hands, I rip off the ring of keys attacked to his pants. I gave him two more kicks for good measure before dashing into the same tunnel, chasing after Clove.The moment I step into the tunnel, a dry smell hits my nostrils and I taste the dust in the air. Old shelves were propped up against the walls, covered by thin white sheets. Old plastic mannequins were piled on top of each other and large wooden chests were over-stuffed with different colored costumes. Foot stepped which I presumed to be Clove's echoed off the concrete tunnel walls. I started to follow the sound of her footsteps, trying to keep my own in sync with hers. The lights began to flicker, causing me to feel a bit uneasy, yet at the same time excited. I felt like I had stepped into some kind of American Horror film. It was so thrilling. I suddenly noticed the sound of footsteps coming from BEHIND me. Who every it was sounded they were trying to imitate Clove's footsteps as well. I turned around and saw the flash of a tall figure before the lights in the tunnel went out completely.I let out a surprised yelp and start running in the opposite direction of the figure. I can hear the soft thud of my shoes against the floor of the tunnel. The sound of my beating heart is quite loud, and I feel each beat climbing closer to my throat. The tunnel is dark and I can't see where I am going. I crash into another warm body and the both of us tumble to the floor. Thankfully I was the one on top since I have no other way of softening my fall, being cuffed and all."OH MY FU-" Clove voice erupts from the person under me and she pushes me off, causing me to roll onto my back."It's me, Lily." Clove groans. "Oh my GOD, Lily. What the fuck are you doing in here?""Following you.. sorry." I reply apologetically. I struggle a bit to sit up but finally succeed. "Clove, can you help me with these?" I shake my wrists. The cuffs and keys make a mixture of jingling and clanking sounds as they move.It takes a few minutes for Clove to unlock the cuffs in the dark, but my wrists soon find its metal grip release."Man that feels really good." I rub the marks the cuffs left on my skin. "Anyway Clove, I wanted to ap-"There is a sudden piercing scream echo through the tunnel system. Followed by a bang of doors and a locking sound."No.. no.. no, thins can't be happening. Lily, do you know what this means? Oh my goodness, this can not be real." Clove desperately reaches for me and pulls me into a tight hug. Her whole body is shaking from fear. It takes me a while, but finally the same realization finally hits me. We have been locked in. "I just realized." I whisper suddenly. "This is really bad for us. We are locked in the tunnel system. We might have to stay here for a long time. We don't have any food or water. Or we might die of lack of oxygen to our brains, or maybe-"Clove smacks her hand across my face, and a sharp slap echoes through the tunnel. "You fucking idiot! Thats not the point. THERE IS A POSSIBLE MURDERER IN THE TUNNEL WITH US! WE ARE GOING TO GET KILLED!" Clove begins to cry. "I really don't want to die here!"I slap a hand over her mouth and whisper harshly. "Yeah smart-ass, why don't you scream a bit louder? The tunnel system is only as big as the theatre, therefore not that big. I don't think its very hard to find someone in here if they are making a lot of noise."Clove's sobbing slowly comes to a stop. She lets our a final whimpered 'sorry' before falling completely silent.In the dark, a grin slowly begins to spread on my face.This is hardly real. I feel the laughter bubbling up inside me. "Clove you stay here. I will go on ahead. Check stuff out. Alright?"Clove makes her hold tighter. "NO!" She then remembers about yelling and transitions to a whisper. "You can't leave me here alone! Please stay with me. I don't want to die alone."A scream erupts from around us as it travels down the tunnel. The victim, presumably a girl, pleads for her life and screams in fear. Each scream we hear is more toe curling than the last. This only frightens Clove more, causing her to start digging her fingernails into my back."Clove let go. That hurts. Listen, I will be back as quick as I can. I promise." I pry her arms off from around my body. "You just stay here." I then tip-toe towards where the screams were coming from.As I move closer, my heartbeat gets faster and louder. I take slow deep breaths to try and calm myself. As I walk, I keep my back pressed against the dry, rough concrete wall. I stop moving when I hear someone ahead of me taking in a ragged, painful breath. The girl had stopped screaming for a while and I had assumed that the murderer had killed her already, but at this moment, I concluded that he or she kept her alive. For fun. Its a pretty cruel style. Some time passed as I stood there........I was nervous, apparently enough that I did not notice the strong smell of oxidizing iron until just now. Or the dangerously close footsteps that suddenly halted.Shit. I wasn't paying attention. If the victim was close by, what about the killer?A soothing voice whispered in my ear. "Boo." The voice was quite velvety, quite lovely. But such a beautiful voice was followed by a strong pain that jolted up my left arm. Warmth spread from this point of pain and slowly made its way down my arm. The owner of the voice grabbed hold of my neck with one of their hands and tried to choke me."Shhhh...."I don't know why I didn't fight back. They began twisting the knife in the wound. I heard screaming.But it wasn't my screaming.Clove was screaming in the distance. For some reason I woke up. Clove was in danger. Some sort of red alert had went off in my mind. I had to get out of this situation somehow. I didn't have my knife now. That had been confiscated at the police station. Damn metal detectors. They pushed the knife in harder. It was quite painful, and I didn't have enough energy to cry out. I struggled to grab the pinkie around my neck, but I succeeded. And then proceeded to break it. Apparently it was enough to cause then a moment of pain. Whoever it was dropped their knife and it made a clattering sound as it hit the floor. I quickly bent down and felt around desperately for the knife in the dark. However the murderer found me somehow and grabbed my hair. I got kicked in the face and felt my nose crack. At this moment, I found the knife and stabbed the murderer's leg. They stumbled and fell, a long chain profanities coming out of their mouth.I quickly struggled to get up and forced myself to run. To get away from there. I don't know for how long had I been running, but I tripped over a crouched form in the dark and luckily it was Clove. I was too weak to move once I had hit the floor, so Clove picked up my head and rested it on her lap.Clove gasped. "Lily! Oh my god, your bleeding." Clove's voice got shaky. "SOMEONE HELP US!"I panicked. "No, Clove, stay quiet. There is a murderer. Don't give away out position.""No no. Lily, don't you worry. Help will come soon. Just stay awake."I was feeling a bit sleepy. I had lost quite a lot of blood."Clove, I'm sorry I left you." I began to sob silently. "I know you were afraid all by yourself. I tried to come as soon as I heard you scream.""Lily-""No, Clove I am really-""Lily! I didn't scream.."What?"Lily? Lily! Stay awake. Hey Lily!"I passed out.