When the line had gone dead, Justin knew the same applied for his friend; the second one to die within a day of each other. No, not die, but get brutally murdered.
Early the next morning, his assumption was confirmed. Josh’s car had been found in the parking lot of a nearby park with his body still inside—some of it in the front seat… and some in the back. (Thankfully, Justin didn’t know about that last little, gory detail.)
“You did everything you could have done,” his mom said, trying to comfort him. “We called the police, but with nothing to really go on, what could they do?”
They’d followed his phone signal to his car, which was how they’d found him, but it had no prints or anything to give them any clue as to who was doing this. Even though Justin had his suspicion about who it was, he knew everyone would think he was crazy if he mentioned it, so he kept his fear to himself.
Well, he did tell one person.
“Have you lost your freaking mind?” Mitch asked.
“No, I’ve not,” Justin argued, “but I’m about to. Two of our best friends get killed in a matter of two days! Who’s next? Me? You?” He threw the baseball he was tossing across his room, putting a small dent in his wall. “I heard him, Mitch.”
“You heard who?”
After several seconds of contemplating whether he wanted to share his fears, he knew he had to. “Oxford Manning.” He shivered, hoping Mitch didn’t notice.
Mitch looked stunned, at first, but then started laughing. “The ice-cream man?”
“Yes, the ice-cream man.” He got up and walked across his room, looking out his window at all the cars parked next door. “He’s come back.”
“Yeah, you’ve lost it.”
“Whatever, Mitch. I know what I heard.”
“He’s dead. They all said there was no way he could survive outside that hospital,” Mitch reminded him.
“And if that’s the case, then we killed him. So, tell me how the hell I heard him last night on the phone? He asked me if Josh’s begging sounded familiar. If he’s so dead, how did I talk to him?”
“How do you know it was him?” Mitch asked. “What if it’s someone acting like him?”
“Either way, they know. The only people there that day were me, you, Brandon, and Josh.”
“And Caleb,” Mitch added.
“No, he left as soon as you taped his mouth, remember?” Justin felt sick, now, thinking about that day, wishing it had never happened. “It got way out of hand.” He sat back down on his bed. “And now, two of us have been killed. Tortured. Mutilated, just like Oxford. And quite frankly, I’m scared.”
Finally, Mitch seemed a bit worried. “But how would he be able to do something like that in his condition? He was burned really bad. They didn’t think he’d live, and most likely didn’t. And if it’s not him, then who is it? Nobody knows besides us.”
“I don’t know,” Justin admitted. “But if this does have something to do with… with the ice-cream man, then we’re next.”
Justin was wrong. They weren’t next. He quickly realized that when sirens woke him up the next morning.
Looking out his window to see what was going on now, he saw them—Brandon’s parents. “What the hell?”
They were lying naked in their front yard, or at least they looked naked. Their bodies were so cut up and bloody that it was hard to tell.
“Mom! Dad!”
It was Saturday, so he knew his parents probably weren’t up, since it was their only day to sleep in. As they flew out of their bedrooms as he ran by, his mom opened their door, asking what was going on.
“It’s Brandon’s mom and dad. They’re dead!”
He continued to sprint down the stairs and out the door, despite protests from his mom to stop. He had to see for himself. First his best friends, now this… and right next door while they all slept.
As he crossed his driveway and ran toward theirs, a police car pulled up, an ambulance right behind it. There was a man standing there holding his wife, who cried into his chest. They’d probably come to pay their respects, like everyone else had over the past day, and got a gruesome little surprise.
“Justin!” Officer James yelled. “Stop!”
Knowing this was a crime scene, Justin slowed. He was still close enough to see, though, and immediately knew coming over here, getting so close, was a mistake.
Mrs. Vick was face down, thank goodness, since he didn’t want that image of her stuck in his mind forever. Even so, she looked bad. Like their son, there were holes all in her body. Deep holes. One of the holes in her back exposed her spine.
He quickly shifted his focus to Brandon’s dad, who looked even worse. Not only was his body covered with bloody, meat-exposing holes, but most of his important body parts were completely gone. Justin wouldn’t have even known it was a man lying there if he didn’t know who it was.
His mouth had been torn off. Eyes scooped out. Throat gaping open. It made Justin sick.
“You need to come back here,” Officer James said, pulling Justin back.
Feeling like he was going to throw up, he did as he was told, pulling his eyes away from his friend’s parents and toward the house, almost thankful Brandon wasn’t here. At least he didn’t have to see this.
“What’s that?” Justin asked, noticing something on the walls inside their house.
“What?” Officer James asked, following Justin’s eyes to the house. “Pratt, get over here!” he yelled to the officer behind him. “We need to secure the area. Get everyone off the property now.”
As Justin was forced back toward his house, he tried to see what it was, but couldn’t tell. All he knew was that something red had been smeared on the walls inside the Vick’s home. He had a pretty good idea what it was.
As soon as he got back home, he brushed his parents off, telling them he needed to be alone. He went straight to his room and called Mitch, knowing he’d have to believe him now.
“Slow down,” Mitch fussed. “I can’t understand what the hell you’re saying.”
He told him everything he’d just seen. Surprisingly, Mitch was quiet.
“Did you hear what I just said?” Justin asked, frustrated.
“Yeah, yeah, I heard you.”
“I’m scared, Mitch. They were killed right next door while we all slept.” Mitch was quiet again. “Mitch?”
“Yeah?”
“Why are you so quiet? Do you know something?”
He cleared his throat. “Um… well….”
“Well what?”
“Brandon told his parents.”
“This isn’t a time to bullshit me!”
“I’m not,” Mitch assured him. “Brandon felt guilty. He told his parents what we did because he was afraid. He said we were just pranking him and that it got out of hand, so we all ran. His parents told him not to tell anyone else and that if anything came of it they’d help clear his name.” He was quiet for a few seconds. “They knew and didn’t say anything. Not only that, but they were going to cover for him if anyone found out.”
“Shit.”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think you were right,” Mitch admitted.
He knew they’d be next but didn’t want to say it. He couldn’t fathom it being that weird ice-cream man, back from the dead, but he also couldn’t figure out who else it could be.
“Of course I’m right. But now what? What are we going to do?” He was truly frightened at this point. “He’s going to come after us next.”
“Of course he is,” Mitch agreed, “which is why we have to be prepared. Unlike Brandon and Josh, we’ll be ready.”
There had been a death every night, and they knew tonight would probably be no different.
“Why don’t you come stay with me?” Justin asked. “We have a security system, so we’ll know if somebody tries to get in.”
“That’s probably a good idea, since half of our windows don’t even lock. I’ll head that way after lunch.”
Several hours later, he was pulling into Justin’s driveway, trying not to look at the yellow tape that surrounded Brandon’s house… or the bloody grass where his mom and dad had been found.
“Oh, hey, Mitchell,” Justin’s mom said as he walked in. “I didn’t know you were coming over.”
“Yeah, we thought it’d be a good idea to have a little sleepover,” he said nonchalantly.
“Yes, I’m sure it would. I’m so sorry about Brandon and Josh. I know all of you were close.”
“Yeah, we were.” Were being the emphasized word there. “Is Justin upstairs?”
“Yes, he’s been up there all day. Hopefully, you two can cheer each other up.”
Mitch doubted it but agreed anyway.
“So,” he said as he walked into Justin’s room, “am I gonna have to move in so I stay alive?”
“Maybe. Guess we’ll see how tonight goes,” he replied lightly.
He sat down in his desk chair. “What the hell are we gonna do all day?”
Justin shrugged. “The usual, I guess.” He reached over and grabbed one of his game controllers. “Here,” he said, handing it to Mitch.
Mitch took it, dropping himself onto the beanbag chair that sat by the TV. “So, we’ll just kill time,” he teased.
“That’s not funny,” Justin retorted, causing Mitch to grin. “Why are you such an asshole?”
“Inbreeding, I’d say.”
Justin hated that Mitch made him laugh on a day like today. “Idiot.”
Despite Mitch’s attempts to lighten the fact that their friends were murdered and that they might be next, night still came. The darker it got, the more frightened and on guard they became, even though they wouldn’t admit it.
As soon as his parents went to bed, Justin double-checked the alarm system, making sure they were hidden safely inside. “If any door or window opens, the police will be called immediately if the code isn’t entered.”
Mitch leaned up against his kitchen counter and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “But what if one of your parents enters it, thinking it’s just one of us who set it off?” Mitch asked.
“I hadn’t thought about that.” He sat his drink down on the counter and went upstairs. “Mom?”
“Yeah?” She opened her door. “What is it?”
“With everything that’s going on, me and Mitch are staying inside. So, if the alarm goes off, don’t enter the code.”
She ran her hand over his hair. “Honey, I know you’re scared, but there’s no need to be. We won’t let anything happen to you.”
He nodded. “I just wanted to let you know.”
She kissed his forehead, which she hadn’t done in a long time. “I love you.”
“Love you, too, Mom.”
And then they waited, unable to sleep, anxious to see what the night would bring, if anything. As they watched a movie on the big TV down in the Den, they thought—hoped—that maybe they’d overreacted. It was almost one o’clock in the morning when they finished the second one, so maybe they’d been wrong.
“Well, you ready to go to bed?” Mitch asked through his yawn as he stretched.
Before Justin could answer, an eerily haunting song came through the TV, even though nothing was on it, since Justin had just taken the movie out.
“What the hell?” Justin clicked the TV off, causing the music to stop. “Did you hear that?”
Mitch sat up. “Yeah, it sounded like—”
The song continued, cutting off his words. “It sounds like it’s coming from outside,” Justin said as he walked toward the sliding glass doors, remembering what Josh had said. “Shit!”
“What?” Mitch walked over to the doors, thinking Justin saw something. “Josh said he heard it, right before he died.” Justin looked at Mitch, the fear evident on his face. “He’s here.”
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