~Chapter Fifteen - When The Lights Go Down~
“Is it wrong to say I’ve never even been in the library before?” River asked, as we made our way through the automatic doors and into the place that had once been like my second home. On my left was the computer bay where I’d spent many hours studying. There were elegant tapestries, automatic book-checkers and check-in desks, as well as numerous shelves. I knew each shelf alphabetically and chronologically; pretty much as well as I knew myself.
How did I even have friends? I wondered to myself. Sure, it wasn't many, but I still had them! Now I wondered how I'd managed that.
I turned to River with a quirked eyebrow. “Never? Not even to study?”
He gestured to himself, with his leather-clad torso, dark-washed jeans and combat boots. “Tell me, Rai, do I look like someone who studies?”
I shook my head with a rueful smile. “My mistake.”
I led the group into the Non-Fiction section, and then specifically to the History section that was full of books on war and America’s history. I searched each title and decimal code until I found one titled:
Mapleton County, California’s History.
I pulled it out of the shelf with a smile, and then turned to the group, waving it in the air proudly. “Found it.”
“I have never seen somebody so happy to find a History book,” River observed, leaning against a white table with an amused smirk, his muscular arms crossed over his broad, expansive chest.
I shrugged. “Are you forgetting who I am?”
River smiled and copied my words. “My mistake.”
“Hey, lovebirds, if you’re done with the touchy-feely crap, can we maybe get back to the matter at hand?” Jason asked peevishly, and I turned to him in surprise.
He didn’t even glanced at me.
I apologized quietly and led everybody to a table, before skimming through the index and finding the page number of the murder in question. I flipped it open and laid it flat on the table, before reading to the group out loud.
“On May 10th, 1998, Mapleton County was devastated by the deaths of ten civilians after ex-physiologist, Malcolm Stark, held them captive in an abandoned shopping center, known popularly now as Mapleton Mall, after he pulled an alarm and evacuated the structure. Ten people were left trapped inside with a killer on a mission.
“He was found wearing an oversized camouflage jacket he found in a vintage store, and a hunting knife from a camping store, and killed off each civilian one-by-one in increasingly horrific and gruesome ways, leaving small notes at the sight of each murder for the other trapped inhabitants to find.
“The victim list is as follows:
-Marianna Grey, 28
-Harold Abernitch, 71
-Gregory Penn, 56
-Billy Calder, 19
-Charlene Redmann, 31
-Harley Wilson, 17
-Robert Johns, 49
-Jay Hinde, 19
-Rachael Louis, 23
-Cara Bellamy, 26
“Families were devastated by the deaths, and five days later, Malcolm was charged and put in prison. His sentence was for twenty-five years to life, and Stark pleaded guilty on all charges.
“Two years later, he committed suicide in his cell after sneaking in a harborage of weapons from the guard weapons room.
“It’s is still unknown if he ever had family, or how he got the weapons.”
I shut the book and turned to the group. “That’s all it says.”
Jason leant forward, staring at the leather-bound cover. “But it says that this Malcolm guy died.”
I nodded. “He did. They had an open-casket funeral and everything. He was laid to rest in 2000.”
“Well, then, who’s doing this? Because it’s obviously not this Malcolm guy,” Jason said, staring at me imploringly for answers.
I shrugged. “A copycat, maybe? I mean, today was…” I sighed, and ran a hand through my hair. “Today was the fifteen-year anniversary for their deaths.”
“It’s May 10th today,” River supplied, running a hand through his unruly, curling mass of dark hair as the answers dawned on him.
I nodded and looked down at my lap.
“Can I have a look at that for a second?” River asked, gesturing to the thick book that sat, dejected, on the wooden table I was seated at.
I nodded and pushed the volume across the table towards him, and he picked it up and began thumbing through it.
“So, what do we do? I mean, how do we stop this from happening?” Donovan asked.
Everyone was staring at me as if I might know all the answers. Sure, I was a history buff, but that didn’t necessarily mean I knew everything. “I don’t know,” I muttered.
“Sh*t!” River cried, and I looked up at him.
“What?”
He held the book down for us to look closer at. “I flicked to the next page to see if there was any more information. Look what’s written on the page.”
The next page was a free page, as it was the beginning of a new chapter in our history, so they left it blank.
Written across there was what looked to be black permanent marker, and made me want to throw up. It read:
2013 Victim List:
-Travis Clear, 19
-Drella Price, 16
-Steve Southers, 45
-Jessica Sloan, 17
-Donovan Pierce, 23
-Brad Winchester, 20
-River Peterson, 18
-Raine Miller, 17
-Jason Harris, 18
WHO’S NEXT?
I dropped the book in shock, and stared at the pages. How did the killer know we’d come here? How were they/it predicting our every move?
“I think we should go,” Jason said quietly.
I nodded. “Amen to that.”
We stood up, and I left the book discarded on the table. I couldn’t bear to look at the crisp white pages anymore. They were driving me insane, and I couldn’t think about it anymore without feeling like my head would explode at any minute.
We hurried towards the exit, and my heart beat fast in my chest as the lights flickered. We were ten feet away from the door, when suddenly the lights went off, plunging us into darkness.
There was the sound of muffled footsteps as shoes struck the carpet, and then all of a sudden two hands wrapped around my waist and began to pull me backwards with a startling amount of force.
I screamed.
******RIVER’S POV******
As we made our way towards the exit, I ignored the eerie feeling in my stomach. Raine ran ahead of me, her dark hair falling in cascaded curls down her back as she moved at a harried pace.
I struggled to keep up with her, and moved forward to speak with her. I wanted to know how she was dealing with everything. This was a lot to take in.
I mean, it was bad enough a killer was on the loose. Sure, fine. I could deal with that.
But a copycat killer whose deaths only grew more gruesome over time? How were we supposed to handle that?
What would my death be like?
Don’t think like that, River, my subconscious chastised. People will be here in seven hours. If you just hold it together, you’ll make it.
I reached out for Raine, when all of a sudden the lights went off.
I reached out with my hands, to find nothing to guide me. The space around me was completely empty.
I spun in a three-sixty, listening for anyone out there, but all I could hear were footsteps.
All of a sudden someone screamed, and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck become erect and a chill ran up my spine.
The scream belonged to Raine.
“Raine!” I shouted, at the exact same time as someone else; Jason. I scowled. He had no reason to scream her name. It sounded wrong coming out of his lips.
Nevertheless, I moved towards the sound of the scream, my arms outright and searching for her.
After about thirty seconds of meeting empty air, the lights flickered back on, bathing the library in a mellow golden glow.
My eyes skimmed around me, looking to make sure no one had been injured.
Jason was looking around wildly, his head whipping back and forth as he looked for whoever had turned the lights on and off.
Steve was leaning against a table, rubbing his elbow where he must’ve whacked it on the sharp wood.
Drella was looking around calmly, and briefly our eyes met before I turned away. That girl freaked me out. With her dyed hair, pale skin and fake name.
Brad stood stock-still, shocked at what had happened. His eyes were wide as saucers, his skin pale. Other than that he looked unharmed.
I noticed that Donovan was gone; nowhere to be seen.
I looked around for Raine, and my heart skidded to a halt.
She was gone.
~ * ~
Uh-oh......
Please continue to give your predictions. Someone in the group? Someone who knows them all? How did they know the victim list?
Dedicated to kaitzishere for her lovely comments and predictions every chapter. Thanks, Ally! :)
Happy New Year, everyone. Best wishes.
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