DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Halloween series in anyway =(. But I DO own Katarzyna and my other OCs.
Chapter Four
That night, I dreamt that Derek had come to Haddonfield and took his revenge on me. No matter how hard I fought, I couldn't gain the upper hand and I was defenseless.
When I woke up the next morning, my hand was stinging. Upon examining it, I found a long slice going down my palm, the blood having dried over the stained my skin. I had no idea where it came from and I was more than positive that my hands were unscathed when I fell asleep.
"The hell?" I muttered and looked at my nightstand, thinking perhaps I had knocked my dagger over and my hand had just been the way of its path. But, it was in the same place I had left it, however, a little askew due to one of the picture frames having fallen over. I gripped the edge of the frame, wincing when I saw the glass was broken. Then, a thought hit me: How could it have been shattered when it just fell? It would've had to been slammed down with great force.
I quickly looked around the room for any other signs of disturbance, but found none. What had I slept through last night? My hand didn't cut itself and the picture had to have been physically knocked down.
"Good morning Kat!" I looked over at the doorway where Emmy stood, her hair disheveled and a huge grin on her face. Unlike me, she was a morning person, which had proved to be quite a challenge on some days.
"Emmy, were you in my room last night?" I asked.
"No," she shook her head, confused, "Why?"
"Nothing," I muttered and began my trek to the bathroom.
"What happened to your hand?!" she asked, horrified as I turned on the sink and stuck my hand under the water. I ignored the sting as I cleaned the wound and wrapped it in bandages.
"What time is it?" I asked, ignoring her question.
"7:15"
"What?!" I shrieked; I had fifteen minutes to get both of us read and out the door to school. I looked over at Emmy and took in her messy appearance, letting out a groan. So much for a good first day.
/oo/
By the time I got Emmy to school and all the way to the college, I had already missed most of my first class. I seriously needed to get a car.
After class, I had to go to my counselor to figure out what my major would be. The counselor was a nice woman in her early to mid-forties and always seemed to have a smile on her face. The only sound in the room was the clock ticking as she went through papers.
"Well Katarzyna, it seems you show a lot of promise in creative writing," she said in her candy sweet voice.
"I guess I just have a lot of stories to tell," I shrugged.
"So, why are you not majoring in English?"
I shrugged again, "It's not the easiest profession to break into. Not to mention it can be hard to make good money."
"Do you have any other plans?" she asked.
"No," in the end, after maybe an hour and a half of debating and researching other options, she convinced me to major in Creative Writing after all. Plus, it was all too tempting when I thought about writing stories without really leaving the comfort of my home.
/oo/
When I was finally home, I had two hours to kill before I needed to get Emmy. The usual silence that met me suddenly felt ominous. Uneasiness came over me as I locked the door, dropped my bag on the couch, and made my way to the kitchen, hoping for some lunch. When I saw the piece of paper on the table, I had assumed that perhaps Emmy had left it behind this morning. But when I picked it up and read it, that theory was quickly dismissed.
Goodbye
There was a long tail at the end of the "e" as if the writer had drug their hand down the paper. Despite the formal word, the angry scribbles looked like a child had written it. I looked closer at the word and then it hit me: I recognized that messy handwriting.
"Michael," I whispered to myself and quickly glanced around the room. How had he gotten into the house? More importantly, was he still in the house?
A knock on the door jolted me out of my thoughts. I folded the piece of paper and slipped it into my back pocket. The knocking didn't stop, becoming more insistent and I had to start jogging to get there quickly.
"I'm coming!" I yelled, swinging the door open. An older man stood on the porch, relief evident on his face. His hair was shorter and had become now white, but his light blue eyes gave him away. I had seen him before, many years ago.
"Dr. Loomis!" he looked confused at my surprise for a moment before quickly recovering.
"Katarzyna Bury. I thought that name sounded familiar when I saw who bought the house," he said, "I congratulate you on keeping your visits with Michael for so long. I only found out about you through Sally after you left," he explained.
"Yeah, well he and I were always good at keeping things to ourselves," I said, my voice sounding distracted. I felt my grip on the doorway tighten as I thought of what he was here for.
"May I come in?" he asked. I hesitated a moment before stepping aside and letting him walk passed me. I followed him into the living room when he turned to me.
"You need to leave this house," I jumped at the firmness in his voice.
"I'm sorry?"
"He's not the same boy you grew up with, Kat. He has lost all humanity and is just the epitome of evil now," His eyes were worried and his voice was desperate, pleading. I wasn't sure how to respond as I continued to stare at him for a few moments.
"Dr. Loomis-,"
"Just, hear me out," he begged, "Anyone who has ever lived in this house has never been seen alive again. Their bodies are always found eventually. I do not mean to scare you but if he is willing to mutilate complete strangers, I do not want to think of what he would do to you, one of his oldest friends,"
"I appreciate the concern, but I think I am fine here. I haven't seen anything that indicated Michael's presence," I lied through my teeth. But as I said it, my head was spinning of everything that had happened. The deaths of Derek's friends the night I arrived and how I had seen Michael that night, the appearance of my coat that next morning, the mysterious cut on my hand, the broken picture frame, and now the note. He was making his presence known, but the one question on my mind was if he wanted me dead now too. What about Emmy?
"Kat?" I looked back at Dr. Loomis and realized I had zoned out for a few minutes.
"You said he killed any occupant in his home," I crossed my arms and cleared my throat, "What about children?"
"No families ever moved in here out of fear. Only couples with dogs, kids just starting out on their own, maybe someone who was finally on their own and didn't want an apartment," Dr. Loomis shook his head, "No children from my research, but that doesn't stop parents from keeping close eyes on their kids on Halloween,"
I nodded and walked back into the kitchen, Loomis close behind. I offered him a drink but he declined, leaving me to drink coffee alone. I absentmindedly played with my bandaged hand as I thought about the cut. If Michael was the cause behind my injury, that meant he was in my room last night with his knife. He could have killed me if he wanted, but instead he smashed the photo of us as children and left my hand lacerated. Emmy had been completely unharmed and nothing in her room had seemed to be disturbed. My head started to pound as I tried to figure out what he was planning.
"What happened to your hand?" I heard Loomis ask.
"I woke up with it. It was just a shallow cut on my palm," I pulled out my dagger from my waistband, "This must have fallen over and my hand was in the way," I let out a little chuckle but the look on Loomis's face said that he didn't believe me in the least.
"He won't kill you right away," Loomis warned, "He is like a cat and his victims are the mice; he likes to play with them before striking. Make them live in fear and paranoia, then the moment they let their guard down and feel safe, he attacks. He is extremely patient, inhumanly so,"
"Is there anywhere you can go?" I shook my head.
"No. My only other relatives are Emmy and my aunt. My aunt died last year from a bad case of pneumonia that she couldn't recover from. Emmy is only seven and I am her sole caregiver. I can't go back to California," I rubbed my head and squeezed my eyes shut to try and subdue my migraine, "I don't plan on leaving though," I continued.
"Why can't you go back there?" he asked, softly and suddenly I was annoyed.
"Don't try and use your psychiatrist crap on me, I won't fall for it,"
"I am simply asking questions,"
"No, you are probing; trying to get as much information out of me as you can because I am the big mystery in Michael's past that you never knew. I am the secret visitor for eleven years and the only one who was ever able to break through his walls," I bit out, "Which would make him only want to kill me more," I thought in realization.
"Well that is quite a feat," he said, his voice still casual and light, "But that wasn't what I was looking for. I was simply curious about why you returned and why you can't go back," I looked at him for a moment, wondering how well he could be trusted. But, he looked at me in a way no one other than Michael ever had, like he wanted to hear what I had to say. Sighing, I stood and walked over to the phone and quickly punched in the number I wanted.
"Hello, this is Katarzyna Bury; I was hoping to speak to Emelyn Bury?" I asked, "She is in the second grade," I answered before waiting a few minutes.
"Hello?" Emmy's voice asked from the other end.
"Emmy, its Kat, listen: I know I am supposed to pick you up after school-,"
"Can I walk home?! I know my way!" she pleaded and I laughed, "Please, Kat? All the other kids get to walk home by themselves!"
"Well that was going to be a question, if you could walk home," I heard a delighted squeal and I smiled, stifling another laugh, "But you have to come straight home and not speak-,"
"To any strangers," she finished for finished me. Did it make me a bad guardian to let a seven year old walk home alone? I had always done it, and Haddonfield was such a small town, everyone looked out for everyone most the time.
After saying our goodbyes, I hung up the phone and returned to my seat across from Loomis.
"Fine," I gave in, "As long as you promise this will stay between just us,"
"You have me word,"
"Then I will tell you the truth about why I had to leave California,"
Review! Next chapter we find out the truth behind Derek and Kat's life before she returned to Haddonfield! Sorry for the long wait, blame school.
But the good news is, in 6 days I graduate and will have time to actually focus on writing! Until next time, read and review!