Kitty
We waited until nightfall, the clock striking close to midnight when Chelsea finally started the engine, starting toward the house while Thomas directed her. I strapped my mask on as we exited the car and she stayed behind to be the getaway driver while Jeff, Thomas and I stalked toward the home. I was almost surprised there weren't any cops here waiting for Nina to come back for the kill but I counted it as the good lord of Death shining down on me to do my job properly.
"Locked, they must've wised up after we came busting in here," Jeff whispered, Thomas moving around back while I checked windows. A whistle sounded and we moved around to where Tom was, his arm stuck through a cat flap as he unlocked the back door.
"Take the parents," I snarled under my breath, "I've got the brat."
"Yes ma'am."
I flicked my knives around while I went for Claudia's door, opening it ever so slowly before I let myself in. She slept soundly, probably finding comfort in the delusion that her problems were over now that Nina was missing, but fuck was she mistaken. I grabbed her hair and her eyes fluttered open before I dragged her from the bed, throwing her to the floor and catching her wrist while she feebly swung a knife at me. Rage flared in my body when I recognized the black and red blade, my boot coming down on her chest as I slammed my knife into her arm to make her drop it. Her scream echoed through the house and it was all I could do not to grin.
"Where the fuck is Nina?!"
"There's n-no way!" She shook her head as I grabbed my knife back, "she was lying, she had to be! You're not real, you're not real—!"
"Oh I'm fucking real alright!"
I pulled her up by her hair again and slammed her face into the floor, her nose cracking on the hardwood and painting her face with blood. The boys were too busy at the moment to come check on the commotion but I wasn't complaining. I wanted some alone time with this little predator. She was taller than Nina and myself, with a pretty face that was a lot prettier now that her nose was flattened. The expensive electronics and high-end logos on everything in her room reeked of a prissy, spoiled bitch with nothing better to do than bully kids like my cousin, a cheer uniform sitting out on her desk and boy band posters staring back at us from the walls. Makes me gag.
"Where did you get this knife?" I waved it in front of her face while she wailed in despair. "I gave this to Nina. What did you do to her?!"
"Y-You're K-K-Kitty...!" She trembled as she whined.
"Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner," I purred, "but I prefer to be called Snow when I'm about to slice into ya."
"I don't know what happened to Nina!" She screamed like a banshee while I pulled back on her hair, "she wanted to fight me last night so I showed up and she went berserk!"
"Funny, because I visited her brother Chris in the hospital today," I said as I whipped the red blade out in front of her eyes, "said you and your two dead friends attacked him. I'd say she was trying to even the score."
"I— I—!"
"You messed with my family," I growled into her ear as the floor creaked behind me, "and you thought I wouldn't show up? And they call me the crazy one."
"Damn baby, you really are scary when you want to be."
Jeff moved around to stand in front of her, Claudia's eyes widening when she saw him covered in blood, his knife still dripping with red. She tried to look away but I held her head there as he crouched to eye level and got right in her face. I could see his pale features reflected in her eyes, her pupils no more than black pinpricks of terror as he grinned.
"Now, last time was just to scare you, but you obviously didn't take the hint to step the fuck off," the tip of his knife cut into her nose as he held it there, "now my favorite little mini-monster is missing, and what's this?"
"Nina's knife," I hummed, "same one I gave her on the Fourth of July when we all went down to the river."
"Which means you know exactly what happened to her," he said slowly, methodically as he placed the tip of his knife beneath her chin to raise her face to his, "so you can either tell us and we'll go easy on you, or you can try screaming again and you'll end up just like your parents."
"M-Mom?! Dad?!" She started squirming, the knife cutting deep into her skin while she sobbed.
"I wouldn't worry about them right now, Eyeless Jack's having his way with your mama's kidneys and your dear old dad is smiling from ear to ear." Jeff moved the knife to her throat. "Now talk."
"S-She killed Yoni a-and Malcom," she heaved out between sobs, "she went fucking nuts! I did what I had to do!"
"If I hear that my baby Nina is dead, I'm about to make the last few seconds of your life very, very painful," I reminded her.
"I f-found a bottle of bleach," she started and Jeff paused, horror dawning in his eyes, "I d-dumped it over the railing and dropped a match. I ran before I could see what happened but I heard a crash like— like glass breaking."
"Where?"
"The old mansion north of town! It's run down, you can't miss it!"
"Oh, well good thing, because you're going to bring us there." I got to my feet and pulled her with me. "One wrong turn means you lose one eye. Second one means you're dead. We have a deal?"
Thomas appeared in the doorway with blood dripping down his chin, his mask ajar to reveal his empty sockets. Claudia just about fainted but he hoisted her up and over his shoulder while I went to the front door and motioned for Chelsea to pull the car up. The moment she was close I pulled the back door open, Thomas tossing her into the shotgun seat while Jeff and I piled into the back. She took a look at Chelsea and started on a plea for help but our blue haired beauty wasn't having any of it.
"P-Please..."
"Sorry kid, I'm dating the guy with the big blue mask in the back, so you're not getting anywhere with me," Chelsea stated firmly, "where to?"
Claudia gagged before pointing forward, the SUV taking off while we all did our best to clean up in the back. Jeff ditched his bloodied flannel and pulled his hoodie back on while Thomas wiped his face with a towel, both of them cracking jokes as I played with my knives to keep Claudia focused. Eventually we found the house, taped off with yellow banners and already half burnt as we parked outside. I got out first and caught Claudia as she tried to run, tripping her and grabbing for her hair again before I dragged her inside with us.
"I can practically smell the bleach," Jeff snarled, "Nina?!"
"Nina!"
"She wouldn't come back to the crime scene," I assessed, "she's smarter than that. Which window did she run out of?"
"B-Back, in the kitchen!"
"Perfect. See, it's not that hard to cooperate," I said sweetly as I crouched beside her, "I'd hate to say it but you dug your own grave the moment you touched my Nina-Bean and well, Jeff's not only overprotective, but he's a very, very bad liar."
"I'll check the back," Thomas shouted as he ran for the kitchen while Chelsea checked upstairs. Jeff on the other hand stayed with me, staring down at the girl with a malice I hadn't ever seen before. I just smiled and gave him a wink.
"You put that girl through the same hell I went through—" Jeff scowled, kneeling as he hovered just inches away, "—and I'm going to slaughter you like I slaughtered the boys who did it to me."
"She's all yours beautiful," I sneered as I tossed her at his feet, "give her a big, beautiful smile for me baby. I'm going to go find my Nina."
I left him to it and her scream was cut short as a snap echoed like music to my ears, following the same path that Thomas took and finding myself out in the desert of a backyard, searching between shrubs and cacti for any sign. He was staring at a spot outside the wall and I saw the shattered glass and a small blood trail that eventually stopped the closer we got to a sloping hill. At the bottom of it was a large stream with a swift current, something that could've easily swept her 110 pound body down the track. I swore and Thomas shook his head, trading panicked looks until he focused on something else.
"There's footprints." He pointed further down the hill and I saw what he meant. Damp little converse tracks led right past us and the house until they got back to the road, meaning that Nina had come back through here after the police found the bodies.
"Thank fuck, she's alive!" I shouted, turning back to the house and finding a bloody pulp of a girl left hanging from the rafters. Her eyes were gone and there was a big, gory smile cut into her mouth as her jaw hung wide open. He'd snapped it.
"Where did you even find the rope?!" Thomas called as he walked past but I had to take a moment to admire it, let this whole thing sink in. I could almost feel the rage and despair in this attack and it made my heart shudder in my chest.
"I found it in the attic!" Chelsea called as she descended the steps, "usually I'm against brutality unless it needs to be done, but she deserved it. I hope she choked on her own tongue."
"Foul, evil, nasty girl," Jeff hissed from the balcony above before I moved out to greet him, "don't you come walking out like I called you!"
"I don't know, I've heard the word 'evil' tossed around a lot when it comes to me," I snorted dryly, "Nina's alive. We found her footprints outside, I can only assume she's gone back into the city."
"Let's get going then, I want to find her before the police do," Jeff moved to rush down the stairs but Chelsea stopped him.
"We need to get some rest," she reminded us, "we've been moving since six this morning. Best case scenario she makes her way home and we find her tomorrow. She knows we're here in town, we can afford to take the night and sleep so we'll be ready to go hard in the morning."
"She's right," I nodded, albeit I was just as antsy to find her, "should we find somewhere else to camp?"
"Let's just head to a hotel, get a double bed for a few nights," Thomas suggested, "once we find her we'll take her with us. Make sure she's safe."
"I know how much you want to keep going," I said softly as I reached for Jeff's hand, "we aren't any use to her like this though, bloody and exhausted. We need to rest, she's probably doing the same."
"I...I know," he sighed in defeat before he gripped my hand, "let's go, I'm tired of smelling bleach."