Chapter 6: To Prey, Slay and Display
Bo drummed his fingers against the side of the pick up truck staring into the forest clearing at the six teenagers. The song he recognized as Spitfire penetrated the air in a truly annoying fashion which he could only submit as teenage fanaticism. Beside him sat Adriana who looked as though she could be sleeping.
"How long are we going to sit here?" She yawned, "Does it take this much time to scope out pieces? Or are you checking out the blondes?"
"Hmmm, blondes? I like the short one." He declared after a long period of silence.
Adriana closed her eyes and tried to drift off. Staying up after midnight for many nights had taken its toll on her. She yawned again until her eyes shot open hearing screams.
"Hey, yo, man, you need something?" Yelled the black boy loudly.
"Finally, it's getting interesting." Adriana sat up.
"He really expects me to kill my headlights?" Bo laughed, "Idiot, I'll kill him."
"Hey, can you turn off your lights, please?" Now spoke loudly the boy with the strange bowl-looking haircut.
"And now speaks the pushover boy." Adriana commentated, "It seems like everyone just walks all over him, doesn't it? Except the short girl. That must be his girlfriend."
"Turn them off or I'm whupping someone's ass." The shorter white boy said, pulling his hood over his face.
"The boy with obvious power issues. Those are the hardest to deal with. To kill." Adriana continued, "Why is it we always watch strange, bizarre teenagers? I know you have a thing for blondes but teenagers? My God, it would be cheaper to drive into another town and collect some people!"
"Stop it, Adriana." Bo said coolly, "You know as well as I do that few people pass through this freaking town. Remember that news broad? Jennifer or something? I ran her over good."
"So good that Vincent is still trying to patch her up together," Adriana rolled her eyes, "Can we not do that this time? It's hard putting together fragments of skull."
"Yeah, yeah." Bo replied.
Adriana looked at the punk looking guy who was holding a bottle and smiled when he threw it right at the truck.
"That bitch broke my headlight!" Bo exclaimed with a surreal grin on his face, "He's just asking to die."
"See? I told you these hoodlum gangster dressing types have a lot of zest." Adriana said with another yawn, "Let's get out of here. We already know what happens next."
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Vincent paced back and forth in front of the smashed girl wondering exactly how he should start to put back her body together. Wax alone was extremely fragile. He had already tried that. She just kept falling apart. Vincent heard the truck come back and his heart lifted thinking that Adriana had also returned home.
Plasticine? Yes, that might work, he thought glumly.
"Vincent?" Adriana called from upstairs.
Vincent put down his mixing spoon and began his trek upstairs. He entered the kitchen and saw his brother, Bo, drinking juice from the bottle.
"I hate it when you do that!" Adriana exclaimed, "I absolutely hate it!"
"Well, deal with it." Bo said plainly, "Freak's here."
"Guess what? Vincent?" Adriana began while clearing the dishes from the rack, "We have six more potential figures to add to the House. There's a tall boy for the piano. How's the newsgirl? Did you figure out how to salvage her from the mess Bo made? I think the tall blonde will be excellent in the ballroom."
Although Vincent could not speak, Adriana continued her rambling because she was accustomed for the last fifteen years to speak to him. He knew she was comfortable. Whereas Bo ridiculed him and Lester ignored him, Adriana would embark on whole conversations despite only getting few raspy replied and head nods.
"Listen, freak, you're coming with me. We have to sabotage them to keep them longer in town. I know, I'm going to slash their tires." It was completely like Bo to get right to the point.
"Slash tires?" Adriana asked looking up from slicing apples, "That's so obvious. Psycho guys slash tires. They'll know you did it. They will know something's up and then they'll call the police. They'll run away."
"Fan belt, then? Fine, I'll cut their fan belt. That forces them to come to the gas station, now don't it?" Bo said viciously.
oOoOoOoOoOo
Vincent walked along the bouncing trail, over pine needles and Lester's animal parts, to reach the makeshift campsite those damn teenagers had made. Bo did not say a word but rather relied on ambiguous hand signals. Vincent had the cutters in his pocket and Bo attempted to open the hood of the blue pickup. Vincent watched his brother pull but to no avail.
Bo quickly began working on the other one. Its hood easily lifted and Vincent shone his mini flashlight to see the brand new fan belt inside. He cut it. Bo again attempted to open the blue pick up. Vincent, expecting no luck, crept around the campsite and randomly picked a tent and peered inside. A boy, with a curly mop of hair, laid sleeping and drooling on the floor.
Vincent let his hand inside the tent flap and picked up the video camera. He was intrigued if nothing else on the types of memories this little device held of the outside world. Was it different than his memories growing up?
"Let's go." Bo whispered and Vincent immediately lurched forward not wanting to anger Bo.
They headed back when a voice stopped them dead in their tracks. Vincent knelt beside the blue pickup watching the tent.
The tent flap opened and the short blonde girl stepped out in thermal socks and sweater. Laughable, Vincent thought looking at her socks with an amusement. He looked and saw his brother standing by the tree ogling at her.
The girl walked around the camp fire and around the pick up. Vincent dodged her closely. She looked scared and timid as she bravely made the round. Vincent fought the urge to step in front of her and scare her to death. His face alone could do that, he was aware.
Vincent stared up and saw her boyfriend came out from behind her. Three, two, one-
"What are you doing?" He asked her and she jumped.
"You scared me!" She said groping to clutch his arm.
Vincent crept back into the dark trees as they continued their conversation. Bo was already walking back but Vincent stayed behind to see. The camera was rolling.
"What are you doing, Wade?" She replied back to him. Dumb blonde, Vincent thought letting his mind wander back to Adriana. Adriana never depended on any of them. If there was danger, she was front line center with fervour.
"Getting you back to bed. Come on. Let's go to sleep, Carly." Wade said, planting a kiss on her forehead.
"I heard something." Carly beckoned. Typical, Vincent thought, of certain women to complain relentlessly to their male counterparts. It was what his mother did and it drove him mad.
"Get in that tent." Wade said with a small grin pushing her along into the small tent.
Vincent and Bo walked along the trail in silence back to the famed House of Wax.
oOoOoOoOoOo
Adriana wrinkled her nose as she stared down at her black tank top. The stink of Lester's wretched truck would be forever pressed into the seams of her shirt. Dead animals smelled bad, she admitted, but not as bad as dead human. She breathed out noisily as she saw Lester hauling out a dead deer from the back of the truck Thank God he was not going to take it home, Adriana thought. She was getting quite tired of cleaning out the kitchen everytime Lester attempted to cook his roadkill. Not that anyone else actually ate his garbage anyways.
"Hey, is there a gas station around here?" Asked the one called Wade, as described by Bo.
Adriana juggled the idea of telling Lester to get rid of the truck. She hated riding in it as she had today from Ambrose. She had walked five minutes to make it seem as though she and Lester did not know each other. She was standing, leaning against a tree, hidden, as Lester did his best to lure them to Ambrose.
Originally, Bo had decided he would be the one to do it but Adriana refused. Bo would blow his temper and they would have to start all over again. Either he would blurt out his purpose or run them over. Putting together a broken skeleton was very very hard. Even for the medically trained Vincent.
"Well, I got some gas in the truck if-" Lester was answering.
Adriana's head shot up. No, no, they did not need gas. The older car needed a fanbelt. That's what was sabotaged in the night, wasn't it?
"I need a fanbelt." Wade replied shrugging in that boyishly charming way. Adriana turned around to get a better view of the guy. She smiled devilishly. Vincent loved her and so she would not stray from fidelity, not even for a boy that good-looking.
"Bo might have one. Runs a station in Ambrose. It's not too far," Lester smiled, a lopsided hillbillyesque smile. Adriana groaned. Don't overkill it, Lester, she thought. Teenagers nowadays were more and more aware of the happenings around them than ever. They could sense coercion anywhere.
"You can start walking there." Lester continued, "It's just around a bend an hour and half from here. I have to take the truck around the other pass. Check for roadkill. I'll meet you up road and give you a ride the rest of the way. Or you can hitch a ride with me while I do my round."
"It'll be fine. We'll start walking." The blonde, Carly, replied nudging at Wade.
Lester only nodded.
"We'll get the tickets from the scalpers. Kick-off starts in a few hours. You fix your fanbelt and meet us there? All good, Wade?" The black boy said quickly eyeing the blonde standing closest to him.
"Fine, Blake. Yeah, that's good. The game's not why I came anyways." Wade replied looking again at Carly. The surly boy with no shirt just stared impassively at the whole procession.
"Okay, I'll phone you guys. Come on, Paige, watch it baby." Blake said holding the tall, much too thin Paige's hands.
Adriana took this as her cue and bend over stretching her legs. She began sprinting through trees. Carly and Wade would intersect her path and she would woo them both into staying in Ambrose. Beautiful pieces of young art. It was what the House of Wax desperately needed.
oOoOoOoOoOo
Some fifty minutes had passes and Adriana watched the road patiently for any sign of the slow duo. They finally showed in the distance and Adriana pretended to tie up her laces. She stood up and blocked the sun from her eyes with her hand.
"Are you from around here?" Carly shouted while waving.
Adriana walked slowly towards them.
"Hi, are you from around here? We're from out of town and we're looking for the closest gas station." Wade said with another mushy grin. He didn't intend that smile but Adriana enjoyed it anyways.
Adriana smiled at Wade and Carly frowned.
"Yeah, I live in Ambrose. The closest gas station would be in town." She laughed, "Come on, I was just out for a stroll but I'm going back. I can walk you there."
"That would be nice," Carly said finally.
They walked in silence under the hot sun. Carly and Wade would share the occassional whisper amongst each other and Adriana walked ahead. She pushed her hands into her cargo pants and yawned. Damn those long nights of chasing people. Adriana looked down at her belt glittering in the sun. The silver was chipped off one of the metal shapes during their latest catch of Jennifer, the drama queen newswoman. Bo had to eventually run her over with his truck. Adriana winced at the thought. But Jennifer did have a trendy suitcase filled with casual clothes, business suits and lots of makeup.
It was in this manner that Adriana amassed a lot of things for her wardrobe. Belts, lipsticks, skirts and dresses- even those movie stars in Hollywood would be jealous. That was the thing about this town, the name alone attracted people. Ambrose - nectar of the Gods, was running with the blood of its visitors.
Adriana woke up from her thoughts as she heard the unmistakable rumble of Lester's truck.
"Hey! You guys still want a ride?"
Wade nudged Carly.
"Do you trust that guy?" Carly asked Adriana, perhaps out of some womanly confidence.
"Well, I've never seen him before." She treaded carefully on her next words, "Walking the rest of the way will take us an hour at least."
"Yeah!" Wade called out to Lester, "If you don't mind."
"Not at all." Lester answered with a chuckle, "You can come on in as well. It will be a little tight but we'll survive."
Adriana shrugged. Lester stopped the truck and hopped out. They all waited as he opened the passenger side door.
"Just hop on in!" He exclaimed jovially.
They all climbed in. Carly and Wade looked intimidated. Adriana followed along. Lester revved up the engine and accelerated.
"Can you open the window, please?" Carly asked suddenly as if conscious that she was seated closest to Lester who even looked like he stunk.
Adriana sat crammed on the side closest to the disabled door with Wade beside her. He looked agitated and scared all at once. Adriana moved forward so that his shoulders lay flat against the seat.
"Thanks." He mouthed.
Adriana nodded.
"Sorry about that, truck's seen better days."
"Do you mind rolling down your window, then?" Wade said suddenly, changing his voice from polite to assertive.
"Not at all." Lester replied nonchalantly, "Sorry, I kind of get use to the smell."
Adriana nodded while raising an eyebrow. This part might about him might have been completely honest.
"Really, I don't think I could ever get used to it." Carly said curtly with a look of smug satisfaction that teenagers often have.
"Well, you can get used to anything if you're around it long enough." Lester finally spoke and his voice shook.
Adriana looked at him and certain sadness washed over her face. She knew it was wrong. This whole kill-people-and-pump-them-with-wax thing. It was utterly unforgivable. All of them continued this menacing, heart wrenching procedure to keep a dead woman happy? Adriana thought on Lester's words long enough to see that it was profound. Lester never showed this side of him.
She remembered many times before wanting to leave Ambrose, this bizarre life. Adriana could no longer consider herself normal. She could not walk into a movie theatre without thinking of the one in Ambrose. She could not look at people without wondering how their wax counterparts would look. Adriana hated herself for this. She wanted to change it. She looked up at Wade and saw his perfectly chiselled face staring at ornaments hanging around the truck. Did he deserve to die?
"If you get roadkill in the early morning before the sun bakes them up – they're not so bad." Lester said definitely, "If they're fresh, though, I just take them home. Why waste the meat?"
Adriana sighed deeply. The uncouth Lester again resurfaced. Carly and Wade exchanged disgusted looks.
"Are we almost there yet?" Wade interrupted.
"It's just up the road. Ambrose used to be nice town before-"
"Before the interstate came in." Adriana finished, "Still nice though. Where are you guys headed anyways after the gas station?"
"Huge college football game between Louisiana and Florida. We're going to Florida," Carly said with a small smile.
"Florida sounds nice." Adriana said with a simmering smile and then a sultry laugh, "Football, I don't know."
"Looks like the roads washed up ahead." Lester said eyeing Adriana this time and she silently nodded.
"I thought you said there was a town here. When's the last time you've been here?" Wade demanded. He was getting annoyed and scared.
"You don't believe me? Well, I just got to flip my hubs into four-wheel."
"That's okay, we'll walk the rest of the way. Thanks. You've done enough." Carly said.
"Mind if I walk with you?" Adriana asked knowing they would not refuse.
"Uh, no." Wade said quickly while Carly gave him a jealous look.
"Try and do something nice for someone..." Lester's voice trailed off as he continued to take something out of the trunk.
"Look, it's not like that. We really appreciate it." Wade shrugged as the three of them walked over the puddle and onto dry ground.
"It that guy looking? He's such a freak." Carly said finally.
Adriana looked at her and smiled.
"He collects knives, I wouldn't piss him off." She laughed and continued.
They walked along the trail before reaching the outskirts of the town so famously known as Ambrose. The great House of Wax loomed over them and Adriana had a fleeting urge to yell and tell them to run. Run far away. But her voice remained silent and game on.
Dendara100: Wow, that was a long chapter… I tried to incorporate a lot of dialogue from the script into the story. I promise it will get more action next chapter. And also, I promise to include the other four characters. ^_^ Reviews always welcome and help always welcome…give me ideas!