Westly lowered his head as Jordan pounded the barrel of the gun into his neck. He closed his eyes and waited. The silence was broken by the echo of sirens ringing out through the mountains. Jordan pulled the gun off his neck and looked back at the hotel. She spat blood.

“Get up.”

She returned the gun to his neck. He held his hands up and rose to his feet. The pair quickly moved down the hill, Jordan constantly looking over her shoulder. She moved slowly, dragging her leg behind her. Her eye socket slowly dripped plasma down her cheek. Her bloody hand dripped large pools of blood on the dirt. She jabbed him in the back again. They made it halfway down the hill when Westly looked back at her.

“You seem to be holding up well, considering, well, everything.”

“Shut up!” She snapped.

He chuckled under his breath.

“Holly got you good. I gotta say the disguises and having Brock pretend to be you, pretty smart.”

“I said shut up!”

She pushed him down the hill. Westly tumbled over himself, falling down the hill, landing in a pile of dirt. Jordan was quickly upon him, grabbing him by the collar, and pushing him further into the brush.

“Where is Robert and Debra?” He moaned.

“They will live. Both will share a massive migraine for the next couple weeks, but he will live. Keep moving!” She groaned.

They hurried down the path for half a mile, Jordan constantly looking over her shoulder. Westly slowly reached into his pocket, fishing his phone out. Scrolling through his texts, he found Holly’s and began to type. Jordan turned and spotted the phone. Westly quickly typed “- 6” and hit send. Jordan pistol whipped him. He fell to the ground, dropping his phone in the mud. She tucked the revolver under her arm, snatched up his phone, and flung it into the river. It shattered against a rock, sending shards of glass and plastic whirling into the water. She grabbed his jaw and stuck the barrel down his throat. He closed his eyes and waited. She held the gun for a moment and pulled it out of his mouth.

“No, he wants to see you alive,” she muttered.

“Lucky me.”

She motioned him to his feet, and they kept walking. Westly’s ear started to sting and he rubbed the irritation with no luck.

“I get why you hated Summer. But Autumn sounded like she like she legitly wanted to be your friend.”

“You don’t know anything about me,” she murmured.

“You wanted to kill Summer. That’s what this has always been about. I am not sure why. Maybe it’s because she blinded you. Maybe it’s because you were in love with Brock or maybe it was because they could feel things and you couldn’t? How am I doing so far?”

Jordan looked away trying to fight back a tear in her eye.

“Autumn wasn’t supposed to be there. This was her day and I…Keep moving we’re almost there!”

“So, you lured Summer out to the mountains to kill her. After the rehearsal dinner everyone was drunk and confused. You were going to kill her, and she would be discovered after the wedding looking like she stumbled out in the woods and was mauled by a bear or something-”

“No! I wanted her to know what she did. The monster she made me. She was the prissy princess who got everything, the boys, the support, and I was just the ugly girl who everyone mistook for a boy!”

“So, what was the plan? Kill her and make her family suffer? How does that hurt her?”

“I just wanted to take her eye. She had everything and I wanted her to lose something, so she wasn’t so perfect.”

“Ah, so how did you rope Brock into this? He loved Summer and would hate if anything happened to her.”

“She dumped him. Threw him in the trash like a used tampon. It’s what she did to everyone. She would put on her damn cutesy voice and everyone would flock to her, even Brock. Until big burly men were no longer fashionable, and she needed to keep up appearances, then he was garbage like the rest.”

“Seems like you really cared for him. So why did you kill him?”

“I didn’t want to. He forced my hand. It was all supposed to go so smooth. I kill Summer, he and I get our revenge and disappear into the night. But Autumn had to be her nosy little self and got it all screwed up.”

“See, Brock was an idiot for sure, but I can’t see you convincing him to kill his ex-girlfriend, no matter what she did.”

“I told him I was just going to remove her eye and she would be ugly on the outside like she was ugly on the inside. But when it was Autumn…it got complicated. I convinced him to take her body up to the room and leave it there and we would stage it like an accident. He agreed and helped. But then when you started digging around, I had to convince him to be me to throw you off the scent and he couldn’t even do that right.”

They turned down a corner to the mouth of a dark cave. Jordan pushed Westly over to a rock and made him sit down. Westly looked up at the ridge, the sun was falling down over the trees, leaving them almost at dusk.

“Did you tell him you were going to dismember her? Like some sacrificed virgin?”

“No. that was for you. He said you hate ritualistic horrors.”

“I knew you had a partner. So, what is this guy’s beef with Summer?”

“He had nothing against her. He wanted me to reach my full potential in his glory.”

“Seems like he knows me. What did I do to him?”

“He’ll tell you when he gets here.”

“He got a name?”

“I just call him Mr. Snowfall.”

“He sounds like a Christmas cookie.”

Jordan scowled at Westly, pistol whipping him again.

“He convinced me this was the only choice! She had to pay for everything!”

“I understand you are angry, but do you really believe Autumn needed to be removed of her senses?”

Jordan turned away from him.

“Oh, you didn’t think I caught that? That is how I knew your little ritualistic charade was a fake, most cults believe you need your eyes to travel over to the next plane of existence. You removed all of her senses, so she couldn’t feel anything. Like you.”

“Shut up!!” She screamed.

“I think Summer was your main target but when you realized that it was Autumn in the coat with the curly blonde hair it was good enough, if you couldn’t feel anything, these bitches weren’t going to either! Isn’t that right?”

“So, what if it was! You don’t know what it is like to not feel anything, not the wind on your face or the touch of someone you love! Not even a bullet through the hand!” She screamed, shoving her bloody hand into Westly’s face, continuing.

“But he was right. As I removed all of her pieces, I did feel something. I felt part of a community; I was not on my own anymore. Someone else couldn’t feel anything either.”

“She didn’t feel anything because she was dead, not because of your symbolic carving. But she did feel something for you. She felt pity. She wanted to help you and you treated her like garbage to get back at someone who had something you didn’t.”

“What do you expect? I can’t feel anything.”

“Bullshit! You may not be able to feel anything on your skin, but I know it is eating you up, what you did to Autumn, the only person who saw through all of your sickness to the person underneath.”

Jordan sat on the ground and put the gun between her legs. She held her head as a fountain of tears flowed from her eye, pooling at the corner of her lip. Westly stood up, slowly making his way towards her.

“It wasn’t always like this. We were friends. “The Flowers of War,” they brought me in, and it felt like a family. Why did she have to ruin it?” She sniveled through the tears.

“How did she ruin it?”

“Autumn had Jeremy, Forest had his girl, and Summer had to take Brock from me leaving me alone again. That is what we fought about. I just wanted her to understand how I felt, to understand what it meant not to feel something and then to have it all taken away. Then she took my eye and out of all of this I didn’t even get one apology.”

“That must be rough,” Westly said, moving closer.

“You’re right, Autumn didn’t deserve this. She always tried to make me feel at home, but she couldn’t do everything and now I…I took everything away from her.”

Westly bolted, reaching for the revolver. Jordan jumped back and snatched the revolver, pointing it at Westly’s head. Westly quickly sunk to his knees.

“You piece of shit! I should kill you right now!”

“Jordan, you need help. Medically, you may not be able to feel anything, but your body is slowly shutting down!”

“He knows all things. When he arrives he will heal me. Just like he promised.”

“Mr. Snowfall?”

“Yes, he found me after I lost my eye when I was in the hospital. He told me about a new life connected to the earth where I can feel everything. I just needed to follow him.”

“Jordan this guy sounds like he has hit the dispensary one too many times. If he is asking you to kill people to achieve nirvana, I am telling you now that will only make your situation worse. Let me help you! I can talk to police about your condition and Mr. Snowfall’s influ-”

“No! I don’t need to kill anyone, just those who wronged me! I killed Brock, I will kill Summer, and I will kill you. When that happens, he will give me the secret to unlocking pure feeling in the world. You will see.”

Westly ran his hand through his tangled and mud covered hair. Jordan’s hands were shaking on the gun, he could see her body going into shock. He looked up at her and sighed.

“How did he know about the Order of Dying Star? That group disbanded seven years ago. I was there when they did.”

“So was he. He said you likely wouldn’t remember him, but he was there.”

Westly’s brain was racing. He didn’t want to think back to that time. The screams, the butchering, the hacking, and the laughing. He tried to push all of those thoughts out of his head, but they were there as if the last seven years didn’t exist. He looked up the ridge to his glimmer of hope as Holly peered her head over the side, looking down at the scene. Westly quickly looked to Jordan who did not seem to notice her, so he decided to draw Jordan’s attention.

“I told Star that I would make it my goal in life to be sure his followers were wiped out and I did. Now you’re telling me I missed one?”

“He never followed the rhetoric of Star. He perfected what Star’s followers wanted, which was to obtain a different plane of reality. Star looked at it all wrong and brought his followers nearly to that goal, but Mr. Snowfall has discovered the way. You are just too blind to see it.

Holly had made her way down the ridge and had hidden herself against the rock looking at the exchange between the two. Westly smiled.

“I might be blind, but I can count to six. Holly! Now!

Holly ran from her hiding spot, preparing a full assault on Jordan. Jordan lifted the revolver and fired. The hammer snapped down with an empty click. Jordan fired again to another empty click but by then it was too late. Holly was upon her and wrestled her to the ground. Jordan reached for the 45 she had stolen from Debra that was still holstered in her belt. Westly grabbed at her hands trying to get them off the trigger. The trio rolled on the ground, kicking up sand and gravel. Westly unholstered the gun and it tumbled to the ground. Jordan pinned Holly to the earth and attempted to bite her face. Holly struck Jordan repeatedly, keeping her face out of the Jordan’s reach, Westly hooked his arm around Jordan’s neck putting her in a half nelson and attempting to pull her off Holly. Jordan violently thrust her head back, striking Westly in the nose, shattering it on impact. Westly tumbled back, clutching his bleeding nose. Jordan was again on Holly, gnashing at her face. Holly clutched the 45 in her hand and with a quick swing fired a shot into Jordan’s forehead. The power of the bullet burst the cranium, leaving Westly and Holly covered in the last remnants of Jordan Vernal.

The empty-headed corpse tumbled off Holly. She wiped the blood off her face and rushed over to Westly. The pair didn’t speak, simply staring at the mess, doing their best not to breathe. The police arrived shortly afterward, zipping up Jordan’s body and cleaning up the pair. Robert met up with Westly, they both gave a brief summary of their interactions with Jordan. They parted amicably. Night had fallen and Westley and Holly made the slow drudge back to their hotel room. Upon arriving in the hotel, they were greeted by Beth. She seemed more together, her eyes were dry, her hair was done perfectly. She shook Westly’s hand vigorously.

“Thank you, Detective Gibbons. I couldn’t stand to lose two daughters.”

Westly smiled politely and nodded. He and Holly boarded the elevator, still in silence and traveled the brief ride up the to the 3rd floor. The heard the ever-familiar ding from the elevator and made their way down the hall. With a quick swipe of the key, they entered the hotel room, no horror, no fear, just a plain hotel room. They quietly shut the door. Westly tossed his coat on a chair, went to the refrigerator and grabbed some ice. Holly kicked her shoes off and collapsed into an easy chair next to the fireplace. She shot him a glare.

“- 6? Not “help” or “come save me?”

“It is all I could type before she destroyed my phone.”

“If you knew she was out of bullets, why did you let her torture you. You could have gloated at the police station.”

“Summer. She didn’t feel pain, and if I tried fighting her, she would have gotten the upper hand and likely killed Summer. I couldn’t risk that.”

Holly rubbed her eyes.

“Wes. This reckless behavior isn’t always going to go in your favor. I understand your motives, but we could have handled this better.”

Westly took the chair opposite of her.

“I know. It’s why Robert constantly reminds me of Albuquerque.”

Holly nodded.

“Well, I am going to shower and then go to bed. I want to be back in Colorado Springs early tomorrow.”

She pulled herself out of the chair and walked to the bathroom, closing the door and leaving Westly in silence. He stared blankly at the fire, trying to silence the sound of Star’s laugh in his brain. A brief knock sounded out, startling him from his trance. He set the ice on mantle and made his way to the door. He peered out of the hole, yet no one was there. Glancing to the floor he saw a letter had been slipped under the door. Written in cursive on the envelope was “Straight Razor.” He reluctantly picked it up and opened it. His brow furrowed as he read.

“First, Autumn, followed by the Vernal spring, and soon it will be the end of Summer, leaving only the chill of winter at the first Snowfall. I must congratulate you on a job well done. Jordan would have been such a burden in the coming days. I suggest you prepare your spirit as we will all be joining her soon enough. Summer can shine a little longer though, as I have grown weary and need to keep my strength. Sleep well Straight Razor.”

Mr. Snowfall.

Westly crumpled the letter, marched over to the fire place and threw it in, watching it become engulfed in the flames.