The screams from François' victim have faded now and he allows the limp body to slip from his grip.
The skull man moves to stand next to Jacques and stares down at Stanislav's lifeless body.
"Tu as vraiment cru qu'il va te raconter?" he asks him. Did you really expect him to tell you?
"Tais-toi, Perry," François mutters, stepping over the dead man and making his way over to where both his friends stand. "Ne le provoque pas." Shut up, Perry. Don't provoke him.
Jacques is silent. He looks morose.
"Nous devrions partir," the man named Perry says. We should leave.
"Je suis d'accord," François replies. "Jacques, va démarrer la voiture. Perry, aides-moi avec ces corps." Agreed. Jacques, go start the car. Perry, help me with these bodies.
I can't understand what they are saying and I don't want to. The only thing I want right now is for them to leave so we can get out of here and call the police.
My heart is in my mouth as I watch them drag and dump the deceased into the back of their car. I hold my breath as the engine starts and just as I think we might stand a chance of surviving this, I hear a terribly loud and familiar sound.
'I never miss a beat,
I'm lightning on my feet,
That's what they don't see, That's what they don't see!'
Shake It Off by Taylor Swift.
My phone's ringtone.
Shit, shit, shit!
Panicked, I fumble for my phone but before I have the chance to turn it off, someone grabs me by the hair and drags me out from behind the wall.
Screaming in terror, I drop my iPhone. The screen shatters when it hits the concrete and the singing stops. But it's too late now. I have been found.
Fighting to regain my balance, I twist frantically to get a look at my attacker and emerald green eyes meet mine. François.
"Mon Dieu," he speaks and his bloody lips stretch into a sly smile. "What do we have here?"
"Emmy!" Sofie cries and I turn to see her being hauled out from behind the wall by Perry.
Seeing his hands on her makes anger override my fear and I scream, "Let her go, you psycho!"
"Oh la la," François says in a sing-song voice. "Tu es impoli."
"Let go," I yell, struggling violently.
"I didn't know we ordered dessert," he says. "What a treat."
Sofie screams hysterically as Perry tangles a hand in her hair and yanks her head back.
Eyes zeroing in on her exposed throat, his lips part to reveal pearly white teeth that almost glow against is brown skin.
I gasp in horror.
He's going to...
"No!" I shriek, fighting to escape François' iron grip.
"Wait," he says suddenly and Perry pauses.
I stop struggling momentarily, breathing fast to feed oxygen to my racing heart. My vision blurs as François spins me around to face him.
With narrowed eyes and pursed lips, he studies me for a moment. And I do the same to him.
Being this close, I notice things that I hadn't before - like the dark circles beneath his eyes; the kind you get when you haven't slept in a long time.
Perhaps he hasn't. Perhaps he has been too preoccupied with murder to get a good night's sleep.
"You two saw all of that," he says. It's a statement, not a question. But even if it was I wouldn't be able to answer because it feels like my heart has been lodged into my throat.
Taking my silence as a good enough response, François nods slowly before looking past me to his friends.
I gasp when he shoves me abruptly and I slam into someone. Large arms wrap around me, pinning my arms to my sides.
"You're coming with us." Jacques' voice is right by my ear.
"No," I say.
"It isn't a choce," he replies dryly before picking me up as if I weigh nothing.
"Hey, let go!" I shout. "Put me down!"
I kick my legs, which no longer touch the ground, and try to knee him in the balls but miss and connect with his thigh instead which doesn't faze him one bit.
Approaching the car, I see that François has reopened the boot and my heart drops.
Wait... They are putting us in there?
I struggle and scream, kick and spit - all in an attempt to break free, but it's futile.
Sofie is forced in first and I'm thrown in next, shoved on top of her alongside three mutilated corpses.
The car boot is slammed shut and everything goes dark.
Sofie is hyperventilating and wriggling underneath me.
I attempt to move from on top of her but my leg brushes something warm and wet; one of the dead men's limbs.
I scream in disgust but the sound is drowned out by the engine roaring back to life.
This night really isn't going as planned. We are supposed to be at home by now, eating Ben & Jerry's and watching Netflix. Not in the boot of a car with three murdered men. I knew going to see a musical was a bad idea but since when did anyone ever listen to me?
Where are they taking us anyway? Most likely to our graves.
I feel tears fill my eyes at the thought.
We are going to die.
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