c h a o s
"I THINK IT'S time we left," Lewis declared.
It had been the third time he'd said that.
"We're not finding anything," Zach announced with finality. In about ten minutes, we'd combed through in a thin parameter just inside the edge of the forest and of course, we'd seen or heard nothing from Cam.
"So what now?" I asked, hoping we were done here.
"Let's head back to the diner," suggested David and Katie immediately heaved a sigh of relief, winding her arms around Kerry's. "Thank God."
"We'll make the call from there," Zach decided and it was on the tip of my tongue to tell him that that wasn't really necessary when Tyler suddenly called out, "Over there!"
He was moving now, as he pointed towards somewhere deep within the trees.
Great.
"I see him," muttered Zach as he followed with David.
Even better.
Moving along with the others, I took in a shadow lying prone at the base of the huge tree that wound its roots far and wide around itself, the roots creeping well above the ground.
"Shit, is he like, passed out or something?" Steph crossed her arms, not looking very happy. "Are we actually going to have to carry him back?"
"I sure fucking hope not," Tyler replied before turning back to the shadow below.
As I neared, I saw the faint outline of what did seem to look like Cameron. The bit of moonlight glinted off his blond hair, making it seem almost milky in the night and I could make out the green of his jacket too. It was Cameron, alright.
This kept getting better and better. I decided to quit holding out on any hope and accept that I wasn't getting home until maybe morning.
Lewis came to stand next to me while Steph bitched at David about Cameron and how annoying he was even when he wasn't conscious (which I'd say was true). Kerry just heaved a sigh and folded her arms, and Katie kept darting quick looks behind us, from where we came.
And Tyler was maybe a couple of feet away from Cameron's body when it happened.
Someone stepped out from behind the tree we were gathered in front of.
Within the mix of confusion and surprised cries, I didn't really see what happened.
What I did see was the clear splattering of blood across Tyler's face in the moonlight.
And then a white painted face, signature red nose and a far more red-stained hatchet than before.
Shit, shit, shit.
The deranged killer all decked out in clown paraphernalia paid none of us any notice as he swung the hatchet back once more and let it down against Cam's neck.
I heard Katie's earsplitting scream with David's, "Fuck," and looked away just as I heard the whoosh of the hatchet being brought down again, instead focusing on Kerry as she covered her eyes with her hand.
Cam had just gotten axed.
In his fucking neck.
What the hell was even happening? What had we just stumbled upon?
I chose not to find out whether Cam's head was still attached to his body, and focused on Tyler, who was maybe just a couple of steps away from all this.
"Do not move," Tyler said to us lowly, as he inched his way slowly backwards with his hand stretched out behind him for us to stay steady. But before he could back off from the tree entirely, the killer looked up straight at us, his shoulders jerking up in a very scoff-like move and he just shook his head, as if he found something entertaining.
And then he took a step forward.
"Move, move, move," screeched Lewis right next to me and despite the ringing in my ear from the sheer volume of his voice, that's exactly what I did.
"Run that way!" Zach pointed towards the deep section of the woods and no one even paused to say that wasn't smart.
I guess that was because of the way we were positioned when we went around towards the tree. Hatchet Man had effectively cut us off from the edge, leaving us no choice but to go further inside the forest if we wanted to get away from him, and secondly because there was no time for a debate on direction due to there being a guy with a hatchet. Period.
Not to mention the little fact that that hatchet had just went through an actual human being we know.
Or knew.
I didn't concentrate on any of that. I pushed myself to run harder, vaguely hearing David and Tyler urging everyone to double it behind me and also not thinking too much about it as Jackson outran us all, hastily throwing a, "Let me know if you're dead!" over his shoulder.
Asshole.
I chanced a look behind me to see Katie and Lewis right after, with Zach and Steph following and David, Kerry and Tyler bringing up the rear. But I didn't see Clownface.
What the hell?
It was only when we reached a part of the forest where the trees started thinning out that I started to slow down. I halted completely when I spotted Jackson standing still ahead, facing something to the side.
I turned too, only to come face to face with the sight of a massive structure, maybe originally meant to be a huge house, but now was just something reduced to the house of terror. It had the dark air, sinister appearance, the works. It had certainly seen better days. There was a withered grill fence and a half open-slash-broken gate. The trees that shielded the entire property from view leaned in from the side, with their branches drooping down towards the house. The windows seemed to be boarded, the front door looked like it would collapse at the slightest touch and the house itself was so dark, I wouldn't be surprised if it was actually black and not just the darkest shade of brown on earth. It practically dripped with vibes from a movie I would so not fucking touch.
Seriously?
"Is he following?" I heard Steph ask and I whirled to see Zach scanning the trees.
"Doesn't look like it," he answered.
"Great," Lewis nodded frantically. "Now that we have a moment, can we actually discuss the fact that we saw that... that clown essentially murder Cameron?"
I swallowed.
There it was again. And we couldn't ignore it either, the proof was right there on Tyler's face.
But we needed to get someplace safe too, before the same became of us.
"Did that really happen?" Kerry whispered to herself and Katie shivered as she rubbed her arms.
"Oh, it happened. I totally saw it. All three times he swung the axe."
"We don't think about that right now," Zach said firmly. "What we think about is getting out of the woods somehow. Right now, there's a crazy guy on the loose with a weapon he's not afraid of using. We need to think about getting safe before we can do anything."
"This clearing we're in," Jackson spoke up suddenly. "Is it good for us or bad?"
"We could see him coming easily from here," offered Steph, as she wiped her tear-stained face. Steph had cried?
"Yeah, and what separates us from his hatchet? Our amazing reflexes?" Zach said dryly.
David nodded. "He's right. At least in the trees we have cover. We can't run as fast there, but it's the best protection we have. Chances are, if we keep going the way we came from really carefully, we'll get out all together unscathed."
"I really don't want to be scathed," Katie piped up at this point in a shaking voice and Kerry just sighed.
"So that's it? The only way? We just have be really careful? What the hell is that?"
"It's the best we've got right now," David snapped at his sister. "The only plan we have at the moment."
"Maybe not," said Jackson as he pointed straight ahead at the house.
"Uh uh. No way. Like, never. That right there looks like the House of Horrors, okay? I'd be dead the minute I stepped in there. I'd honestly rather take my chances outside with a killer clown," Katie shook her head frantically.
"Don't know a lot, but I've pretty much had it with you and your late friend's bright ideas," Tyler seemed to agree, as his statement was aimed at Jackson. Kerry gasped at that.
"Tyler."
"What? He's dead, isn't he? All I'm going to say is, I don't want to be dead too."
Zach looked deep in thought. "You know, maybe he's right."
"Yeah, I fucking know I'm right—"
"Not you," Zach turned his gaze from Tyler to Jackson. "Him."
"Look, as much I appreciate you all taking the time to actually discuss this right now, we may need to hurry before someone else loses a head, okay?" Steph crossed her arms.
"Maybe we—" Jackson cut himself short when the unmistakable sound of a twig snapping brought us all at attention.
"Everyone inside, quick!" David called out. "Stay together and use whatever you can find to block the door."
With no better option at hand, I was all for it.
I ran up the walkway and headed straight for the door. I was ready to do something drastic and kick it open or whatever, but Jackson just pushed me out of the way and tried the knob.
It opened with creak.
"Have some class," he sneered at me before rushing inside.
This coming from the guy who practically high-fived his friend for scoring illegal medication.
Asshole. If we weren't in a hurry for our lives, I would've honestly kicked him where it'd hurt.
Once the door was shut behind us, it was absolute chaos.
Everyone scattered and before I could ask what happened to staying together, I remembered we also needed to block the door. Looking around, I realized it was way too dark inside. There were a few windows to the sides from where moonlight filtered in, illuminating the grimy carpeting in a harsh gray-like glow, but that was about it. It took a moment for my eyes to finally get used to the dark, but I spotted Katie and Kerry stopping next to me.
"What do we use to block the door?" Kerry panicked.
"Anything!" Zach yelled before grabbing a fallen table from next to the stairway and bringing it to the door. Then I spotted David and Tyler lifting the table from what looked like the dining room on the far left. My brain kicked in a second later as I moved to the right and Steph helped me move-slash-drag the sofa towards the door.
Jackson ran a hand through his hair tiredly as David and Tyler pushed the dining table against the door. "Now what what do we do?"
Zach slightly leaned against the table before answering. "We stay together and we stay put."
"Is anyone getting any signals here?" I turned to see Kerry with her phone held out and a worried expression.
Wait, where was Katie?
"No," Tyler stated a moment later and Zach's muttered "Jesus Christ," said it too.
I looked around for red hair in the faint light but came up blank. Then I started a silent head-count.
There were just seven of us, so one was missing.
"Are you kidding me?" Steph demanded as she fiddled with her cell phone. "Seriously, what the fuck? The one time we need to run from a crazy murderer, and we don't have signals? What is this, a fucking movie?"
"It's not entirely unheard of to not have signals this deep in the woods," Lewis offered helpfully, even though his concern was just as evident on his face.
"This isn't the Bermuda Triangle. One of us should have a signal."
"Guys," I interrupted. "Where's Katie?"
A long pause.
"Katie!" Tyler called out.
"Where is she?" Lewis murmured as he looked around.
"I can't believe we didn't see Katie," Steph muttered and David and Zach took a few steps ahead towards the stairs, spreading further out as they looked for Katie.
God, we were such a fucking mess.
Kerry bit her lip. "She came in with us, right?"
I nodded. She did come in. I'd seen her.
So where was she now?
"Katie!" I yelled and Jackson just sighed.
"What is she, a kid? Does she really need directions?"
Steph turned to him. "Hey, you know what? Be the sweetheart we know you aren't and shut up." Then she turned away from him and began calling out again. "Katie!"
"I'm here, I'm here!"
I sighed in relief just as Katie appeared suddenly from the winding staircase.
"Where were you?" I asked as I hurried to her.
"No, where the fuck were you is the question," Jackson corrected, stepping closer to us and in the distance I heard Steph call out to the others to come back. "Did you happen to miss the axe-handling psycho behind us?"
Katie paid him no mind as everyone else entered the fray. "Guys, I found something that could help."
Zach didn't look very happy. "I remember how we were supposed to stay together, not jet off without telling anyone."
David just looked exhausted. "There's a murderer out there, Katie. Do you understand that?"
Katie's eyes widened as she wrung her hands together. "Of course I do. It's kind of hard not to when a guy you know is sliced open right in front of you in woods. Which is why this will help. Come on, hurry, I'll show you."
"Is this more important than us figuring out how to survive the night?" Jackson asked just as Tyler sighed and began trudging after Katie.
I just exhaled loudly. "Do you have a better idea? And stop being a smartass for once, would you?"
"Key word being smart."
Steph scoffed as she passed by. "You mean key word being ass."
She may have been right.
Everything was happening too fast. My head was spinning and I couldn't keep up with the progression of events. Cam was dead. We were now in the middle of the woods. In a house that should've been on the set of American Horror Story. On the run from a murderer. Or a clown. A clown-murderer. I reached up to pinch my arm, just in case this was a really elaborate dream.
But no such luck.
David halted in is steps, stopping most of us behind him. "What was that?"
"What was what?" Lewis immediately inquired.
Katie noticed us stopping and frowned in confusion. "What—"
David silenced her with a finger to his lips, we all stayed hushed for a moment, listening.
Then there it was.
A loud crack echoed through the house, unmistakably coming from the front door. I turned to look at the door behind us and from what little I could see in the dark, there was splintered wood in the middle.
God, when were we going to catch a break?
"Fucker's trying to break the door in," Zach whispered and just like that, it dawned on me that we had nowhere to run.
At this point Katie started tugging on David's hand, "Hurry."
Another crack sounded, and that prompted everyone to get moving. It was no surprise that upstairs was just as nondescript and deserted as below had been. Just as dark. Just as uninviting.
I wanted to get out of this house fast.
"Come on," Katie said, leading us to the left, towards a narrow hallway.
"This fucking better be worth it," Tyler breathed as he followed right behind her.
I followed at the end along with Kerry, keeping my ears and eyes open for anything and everything.
"Hey, look at that!" Jackson pointed to a partially open room at the corner.
"Look at what?" asked Kerry.
"That window," he explained. "It's big enough. If we somehow bust through, we can climb off the ledge easily."
I stared hard at the boarded window. It was big enough.
But would it work?
"Uh, I don't think so," Steph narrowed her eyes. "Not all of us are built like linebackers here."
Jackson raised his eyebrows at her and Kerry spoke up, "What she means is, someone could just as easily get hurt."
"Understatement. It isn't like a ten feet drop," declared Steph.
"It couldn't be more than twenty feet." Lewis piped up.
"Therefore, it's a stupid idea," she concluded.
Seriously. Only my friends could be having an argument right now, at this very moment.
"Guys, I really don't think we have time for an actual debate right now," I snapped.
A crack echoed again downstairs.
"Yeah, unless we want to get chopped up like sausage, we need to move it now," Katie cried. "And I really don't want to get chopped up like sausage."
"What we need to do is break that fucking window and climb off the ledge." Jackson pointed towards the room again. "We'll be home before no time."
"What the fuck?" Tyler burst out in disbelief. "Jesus, get moving! We need cover before Clownface gets us."
"Okay, enough," David cut in, entering the argument. "Zach, you check out the window with Jackson. The rest of us, with Katie now."
"Okay, West, listen to me," Jackson stepped up to David. "You want to be stupid, you go ahead and you follow Dora on her little adventure. You want to survive, you'll consider steering your pack right for once."
"You implying something, Jackson?" Tyler tilted his head to the side.
God, we didn't have time for this.
"Yeah, that Saint David isn't cut out to be the leader right now," he barked. "He may be the best option, but honestly, no one can guide you guys at the moment. Use your heads. We do this my way, we may even get out. Worst that can happen is someone sprains a wrist or some shit. I still say it's better than losing a head."
It was almost odd how I actually found myself listening. He wasn't right, but he wasn't exactly wrong either. What we did now may define what would happen later. And rummaging further inside to wherever Katie wanted to go rather than trying to get out now may be detrimental in the long run with what happened afterwards.
God, we so didn't have any time.
And if we were doing this, we needed to know what was so worth it.
Another crack in the distance. I shuddered. Won't be long now.
"Katie," all eyes came to me as I spoke up. "Where exactly do you want to go? And to get just what?"
That's when all eyes turned to Katie, who stood facing us at her spot at the turn of the hallway. "It's just the last door on right," she pointed to her right. "And guys, it's all—"
She lurched forward.
"Katie?" Kerry frowned as we saw her eyes widen and she went still.
"You okay?" David started to cross the few steps between us towards her when the blood trickled out of her mouth and he stopped dead.
No.
No, no, no. Please no.
"Katie?" Lewis whispered, and just like that she pitched forward, crumpling to the floor like a rag doll.
With a knife deep in her back.
And behind the turn of the hallway stepped out a man with a similarly white-painted face as before, only this one had red around his eyes and lips and was in a bright fucking orange jumpsuit.
I heard Kerry's scream. It would've been hard not to, it reverberated in the air with its loudness. I saw David nearly trip over the shaggy carpet as he backed away. I saw the clown duck down, pull out the knife from Katie in a sickening swish and wipe it on the leg of his jumpsuit. I heard Tyler shout for us to come with him. I noticed all of this, but it was all in the background.
Because bleeding out in front of me on the shaggy carpet was Katie.
I know it hadn't been long since Cam had been violently murdered in front of us, but as selfish as it sounded, this was Katie. Our Katie. The Katie I met in senior year of high school when she transferred from the next town. The Katie that's been with us since then, now lying lifeless on the floor within a blink of an eye.
I looked up then and my eyes met with dark ones rimmed with red paint.
I didn't know what I expected, just standing there like an idiot. But my head was a mess, I couldn't think straight and the minute he started forward towards me, it didn't even cross my mind to run in the other direction.
It was Kerry and Zach who finally got me moving.
And then we got the hell out that hallway.
So, here it is. I'm sorry things were a mess in this chapter. There will be things I cut out and add to polish this, evening out the fast pace in this one and whatnot, but that will be much later on in editing phase. Also, thanks for reading!