CHAPTER SEVEN
HEADS WILL ROLL
Athena's stomach quivered in delight at the feel of Sam's weight on top of her, moaning as his lips dragged down the skin of her neck. She gasped out words of wisdom, "Okay, we – we really do need to talk about this. Figure out what – this is."
"Yeah, yeah," Sam mumbled through kisses, bringing his lips to hers. His jacket lay forgotten on the floor and her shirt was bunched up next to her head on her pillow. His hands trailed down her stomach, she froze when they landed on the button of her jeans. He pulled back, "I'm sorry—sorry."
"It's fine," she murmured, a bit embarrassed. She sat up as he got off of her and pulled on her shirt, "It's just, I've never had sex with a guy."
"Oh, you're a virgin," Sam realized, standing up. "I-"
"I'm not a virgin," Athena insisted, cutting him off. "I lost it to Dido before everything went down. I've just never been with a guy. It's a different hurdle."
"I don't want to push you," Sam assured her. "And I do want to figure whatever this is out. It's just complicated. You're my best friend's little sister – long lost sister. Ian's protective of you. Just the thought of us together nearly gave him an ulcer."
"When was this?" she asked, giving him a second look as she picked up a sweater and her book bag.
"When we all went out to the movies," he confessed. "He badgered me about what was going on between us and at that point there wasn't anything going on."
"Well, there's no use telling him anything different until we've figured out what's going on for ourselves," Athena compromised. "So, your bromance with Ian is safe for now. I have to get to school, I'm taking Emma today."
Sam grabbed his jacket, "Okay, but we should get together tonight – talk. Actually talk, not grope in your room and put it off until one of us has to leave."
Athena laughed, "Okay, okay, we will. I'll text you, okay?"
"Okay," he agreed, leaning down to kiss her before he walked out of the room. Athena grabbed her bag and sighed – another mundane day that wouldn't be really mundane by the end of it.
Emma seemed a bit off in the passenger's seat until Athena finally asked her what was up. "Kieran and I are... something. It's just confusing trying to figure it out. And then there's Will."
"And it's confusing for you," Athena guessed. "That's understandable. You and Will were together for a long time. But he hurt you. Even if you forgive him, do you really think you'll be able to be with him again?"
"No," Emma answered almost instantly.
"Then that paves the way for you to see what this 'something' is with Kieran," Athena nudged her as she parked. "That's a good thing. We're all young, we don't need to get hung up on the past and forget about the opportunities of the future."
"I just feel so guilty," Emma murmured. "I don't know why."
"It's natural," Athena told her. "Sam and I are trying to figure out what the hell last night was about."
"And then there's Elena," Emma added.
"Not anymore," Athena denied. "When things don't work out, they don't work out. There's no use backing up over the body to beat it up even more."
"So, you're saying I should definitely move on from Will?" Emma guessed, insecurely looking to her friend for direction.
"I don't want to tell you what to do," Athena said as they stopped off at her locker. "But could anything happen that would erase what he did?"
"No," Emma shook her head, "nothing I can think of." Her phone pinged and she pulled it up to look at a text, frowning.
"What is it?" Athena asked, concerned.
Emma flipped her phone around to show her the text from Will. Now, Athena was frowning, "Tried to fix it but failed? Fix what? Failed how?"
"I don't know," Emma replied helplessly. "Will you come with me to look for him? I just... I'm worried but I don't trust myself to be alone with him."
"Of course," Athena readily agreed, following Emma around the High School.
They checked Will's locker, the gym and the quad before finding Brooke and Jake at Brooke's locker, "Hey!" Emma called. "Um, have either of you guys seen Will?"
"Not since practice last night," Jake answered. "But he was feeling pretty rock-bottom. So, I bet he was hella-deep in a bottle of his dad's cheap-label whiskey."
Brooke scoffed, "Which is exactly where he belongs."
"Bleeding hearts, the both of you," Athena sneered. "He sent Emma a weird text."
"He texted me that he tried to fix things last night, but it failed," Emma explained. "I don't know. It was weird."
Jake gave a glance to Brooke, "You said your dad went out last night?"
"Yeah," Brooke murmured.
Jake licked his lips, "I think I may know who he was meeting."
"What are you talking about?" Emma asked, looking between the two, wondering what other secrets her friends could possibly be hiding from her.
Brooke sighed, "Jake found out that Will's been blackmailing my dad. He had a video of him doing something pretty bad."
"Jake found out, huh?" Athena thinly accused, giving narrowed eyes to the boy. "But what does that have to do with where Will is?"
"I don't know. We don't know. Right, Jake?" Brooke said. He didn't say anything so she gave him a look, "Right, Jake?"
All of the sudden, Piper the podcaster wedged herself between Brooke and Jake and looked dead at Emma, "We need to talk."
Next thing Athena knew she was accompanying the others at this dingy warehouse, "What the Hell is this place?"
"This is the place where Will and I did the money drop with the Mayor," Jake answered.
Athena rolled her eyes, "I knew you were playing innocent."
"I can't believe you tried to put all of the blame on Will," Brooke spat at him. "Such a dick."
"I'm sorry," Jake drawled. "But let's look at the bigger picture, okay? Like, if it wasn't for us, you wouldn't even know about your dad. So, I think that that should carry a..."
"Guys, stop!" Emma cut them off. "Okay? We've all done bad things. Can we just focus on finding Will?"
They quieted and Piper took over, continuing her explanation of what happened last night, "So, Will wanted to return the money and the phone with the video on it. He was trying to do the right thing, and he wanted a witness, and I wanted a story."
Brooke glared, "So, uh, you're gonna tell that story?"
"Well, it's kind of what I do," Piper answered. "But let's just focus on finding your friend first."
"Where exactly is he?" Athena asked, looking around the dark place.
"The Mayor left, and then that masked freak showed up," Piper went on. "He tried to kill me, and Will... Will saved my life. I came to, my head was pounding, Will was gone, and I found this." She gestured to a wall with a crude message spray painted on it.
NO COPS EMMA.
"Oh my god," Emma whimpered.
Piper swayed on her feet and grabbed her head, groaning.
Athena grasped her arm, "You okay?"
"Just a mild concussion but I'm okay," Piper assured her, still groaning.
"Brooke, Jake, get her out of here," Athena pushed the woman towards Jake. "I'm going to catalog this place and meet you out there."
Jake and Brooke did as told and Athena started taking photos with her phone of the message on the wall and the area Piper said the killer attacked and she got her. Afterwards, she saw Emma staring blankly at the message and went to stand with her, "What are you thinking right now?"
"The bastard took Will," Emma hissed, staring up at the message.
"I know the wall says no cops, but..." Athena trailed off, cut short by the phone ringing.
Emma answered, turning the volume up enough so Athena could hear the whole conversation.
Will's desperate voice sounded over the line, "Emma? Emma, help!"
"Will?" she whimpered, "are you okay?"
The killer's deep techno voice answered her, "Hello, Emma. Missing something?"
"You son of a bitch, where is he?" Emma growled.
"You broke his heart. He's moved on."
"Oh, my god," Emma cried. "Is he dead?"
"Now, what would be the fun in that?"
"Okay," Emma took in a shaky breath. "Don't hurt him. Where is he?"
"I thought you were done with him."
She hesitated, "That's not what I meant. Just... what do you want?"
"New game, hide and seek. Just like Daisy and Brandon used to play."
"I know about Daisy and Brandon," Emma told him. "My mom told me everything."
The voice snapped, "Your mom's a lying whore! In time, you'll know the truth. But first, you better find Will!" Then Will's voice sounded again, "Emma! No!" and the phone cut out.
Emma seemed to be nearly hyperventilating at this point so Athena had to comfort her, taking her shoulders in her hands, "Emma? Hey, look at me, we're going to go to my house and grab my taser and stun gun – and I may or may not have a knife, don't tell anyone about it – and then we're gonna go to Noah and get him to track Will's phone and we're gonna go get him, okay? Got it, Emma?" The girl wasn't answering, just nodding along while crying. So, Athena shook her shoulders and raised her voice, "I need you to say it out loud, Emma. We're gonna go get him. It's gonna be okay!"
"Okay," she whimpered. "We're gonna go get him. It's gonna be okay."
"Okay, let's go," Athena grabbed her hand and pulled her out. They went to her house to grab the artillery before going to Noah's workplace, all the while Emma was trying to get a hold of Audrey.
Noah smiled when he saw them, "Hey, how are my partners-in-crime? I was just about to start a new Pathfinder campaign if you're up for some non-felonious fun."
"Noah, do you have any idea where Audrey is?" Emma asked. "She's not answering her phone."
"Uh, she's taking the midterm she missed in the clink," Noah told them. "Her phone's off. You okay?"
"No, not really," Emma sighed. "Look, Will needs help."
"Finding his moral compass?" Noah joked.
"No, finding him," Athena cut in, not wanting to waste time. "Can you track his phone before the killer adds him to his kill list?"
Noah gulped, "Yes, I can."
He went to work on his equipment, pulling a whole boy with the dragon tattoo in Athena's opinion until he cheered, "DRADIS contact. I've got the phone. It's someplace out past the crossroads."
They heard the door open and Brook's voice, "We're going with you."
"Guys, no," Emma denied.
"Emma, don't be stupid," Athena stood up, brandishing her stun gun. "Going in alone is guaranteed death sentence even if you are the chosen one."
"This psycho is playing sick games," Emma pointed out. "I cannot ask you guys to come."
"You're not asking, we're telling," Athena retorted.
"We got your back," Jake added. "And Will's."
Noah directed them in Athena's car to this abandoned building passed the crossroads, brick and boarded up. Noah squinted at his phone, "Spotty cell signal, but this is definitely the area."
"Okay," Jake pulled out his backpack, "creepy building, psycho killer. Time to weapon up. I got a skinner and a gut hook." He pulled out two large blades.
Brooke grimaced, "Wait, why, exactly?"
"To skin and gut things?" Jake stated obviously.
Emma pulled out her ringing phone and cursed, "Crap, it's Kieran. We were supposed to have dinner with my mom and his dad – like, right now."
"Well, get him to cover for you and let's get this done," Athena told, gesturing away from the group so she'd have privacy. She then cursed herself, remembering that she was supposed to meet up with Sam that night. She pulled out her own phone, texting him quickly. She apologized, asked for a rain check, and assured him she wasn't flaking on him. She then put her phone on silent, knowing that with her luck, she'd be hiding in a dark corner from the killer just for her phone to start ringing and give her away.
Emma hung up with Kieran and looked at the boarded up doors, "We gotta find a way in. Noah and I are gonna go this way. And we'll meet you around back."
"That sounds like the first of many bad decisions," Noah joked.
"I'll go with you Noah, and protect you," Athena teased, holding out her stun gun.
"You got any weapons for me?" Noah gulped as he followed the girls away from the front of the building.
"I am not giving you a weapon, you'll end up hurting yourself," Athena denied.
"This doesn't feel right," Emma interrupted them. "I mean, why is he changing the game all of the sudden?"
"It's 'cause he's playing chess instead of checkers," Noah theorized. "It started with Riley, and now Will. He's making you responsible for who lives or dies."
"And I have all the pieces to lose," Emma grumbled. "He's hiding behind a mask. There's nothing that I can take away from him."
"Just yourself," Athena responded absentmindedly.
Emma and Noah's heads whipped in her direction. She shrunk under their gazes, "I'm not saying Emma should off herself. I'm just saying that he's obsessed with her, she's the king pin of this whole game, so it proves that he has something to lose. He needs this game, no Emma, no game. But that also means there could be something else he could lose too."
"If we could figure out who he is, we could figure out what he has to lose," Noah answered. "Until then, he'll just keep upping the game. It's like this whole thing, you know, leading us here, it's like he wants you to think you have some power, and then he can just take it all away."
Emma frowned, "Sounds like you admire this guy or something."
Noah balked, "What? No! He's like this crazy, psycho loser, killer guy."
"If he wants me to find Will, why not just leave the door open?" Emma asked.
"Because it's a game," Athena answered. "He can't make it too easy or it's not fun for him."
But then they noticed a side door cracked open. Noah said, "Maybe he'd rather get right to the main course."
"Well, let's get on with it," Athena said, leading them inside the large building. She looked around, pulling out her flashlight, "We're in a bowling alley. Perfect."
"Whoa, that is the most mack daddy jaguar-and-space-shuttle mural I've ever seen," Noah gaped.
Brooke and Jake ran up to them, "Find anything?"
"Not yet," Emma sighed. "This place is big.
"We should split up finding Will," Jake said.
Noah gaped at him, "Said no one who survived a horror movie ever."
"Let's just go, Noah," Athena tugged on his arm. "Brooke, you and Jake stay together."
"This is dumb, but fine, don't listen," Noah grumbled.
"So quiet," Emma whispered, looking around.
Noah scoffed, "Yeah, until all the running and screaming starts." He jumped when he heard a small creaking noise, almost screaming, "Oh! Okay, I'm sorry, but all of this just screams bad idea."
"Look, you can still go if you wanna go," Emma told him.
"No," he denied. "This psycho took Riley from me. I can't just let him take Will from you. Even if he was kinda asking for it."
"Well, thanks for staying," Emma answered him.
There were a few moments of silence before Noah finally spoke again, "Hey, let me ask you something? Do you find Jake's story a little bit odd?"
"How so?" Emma asked.
"I mean, if Jake suspected Will was going to meet Maddox last night, don't you think he would've tried to stop him?"
"Because Jake is so responsible and caring with his friends," Athena responded sarcastically. "He threw Will under the bus with Brooke the first chance he got. He's not bright enough to be the killer."
"Playing the fool is a pretty great cover," Noah theorized. "And he was pretty eager to tromp into danger with the only people who know about what he did. And pack a whole lot of knives."
They hit a wall and Emma sighed, "We looked everywhere."
"Maybe Will's not here," Noah suggested.
"He's gotta be here," Emma insisted. "It's part of the game. I'm missing something."
"What exactly did your psycho say?" Noah asked.
"That this was hide and seek," Emma repeated.
"So, we go to the hiding places in a bowling alley," Athena realized outside.
"The unseen places. Like the guts, the place where you make it all work," Noah tacked on.
"Let's find out," Emma said, following Noah to the guts, which seemed to be an office of some sort. They pushed the door open to see a bloody, roughed up Will with tape on his mouth hanging from his bound wrists. Emma gasped, "Will!" and rushed forward. "Athena, cut him down, please!"
She took out her pocket knife, using Noah's hands as a boost to get up and cut through the tape around Will's wrists, trying to help Emma break his fall. They laid him on the floor, he was unconscious still. They took in his injuries, mumbling about how bad it looked. There was a stab wound in his abdomen, blood soaking his white shirt.
Emma whimpered, "Will! Will, wake up." She gently slapped his face, but he wasn't waking up.
A panting Brooke rushed into the room, slamming the door closed, "The killer is here. And Jake is still out there."
Emma started crying, "Oh, God. Will. Will! Come on. Come on, wake up!" She bunched her jacket under his head, begging him to wake up as Athena lifted his shirt to see how bad his wound as – it was pretty bad.
Noah's phone rang and he stood to answer it, "Audrey!" It didn't seem to be a good connection, but he tried to tell her where they were and that Will needed serious medical attention.
"Emma, do you know CPR?" Athena asked, kneeling on Will's other side.
Emma just helplessly cried and shook her head, "No, no, I don't."
"Okay, then back up," Athena ordered. "Give me room so I can help him."
Brooke took Emma into her arms to give Athena the space she needed. She slipped Emma's jacket from under his head and tilted his chin back, opening his mouth. She then intertwined her fingers and pressed them over his chest, counting to fifteen to herself as she pressed down with all her body weight. She then took a breath and pressed her mouth over his, breathing for him twice. Repeating the process twice before he finally gasped and opened his eyes.
Emma cried out as Athena was sitting him up and rushed to hug him. He easily accepted it, still gasping. Athena turned her attention back to his wound, catching Brooke and Noah's attention.
"Oh my god."
"That's a lot of blood," Noah stated.
"He'll need stitches but this'll have to do," Athena shrugged off her thin sweater and wrapped it around his torso above the wound, tying it as tightly as she possibly could. "I have a first aid kit in my car, but we have to get out there without getting killed."
"I'm gonna guard the door," Noah grumbled as Athena started pinching Will's skin together.
"Wait, Piper," Will grunted. "What happened to Piper?"
"She's okay," Emma assured him as Brooke joined Noah. "She's okay. She said that you saved her life."
"I'm so sorry," He told her. "I didn't want this."
"Try not to breath too fast or get worked up," Athena cut into their moment. "It makes your heart beat faster and makes you bleed faster. I think I have band-aids." She reached into her sweater pockets around him until she found a couple butterfly band-aids. "Better than nothing," she breathed as she started pinching his skin together and pressing a few of them on.
"Thanks," he grunted in pain.
"It's nothing," she answered.
"I don't understand," Will said. "Why didn't he just kill me?"
"Because he knew that I would come and find you," Emma guessed.
"No, Em, you shouldn't have," he said.
She frowned, "Look, I can't pretend that you didn't hurt me, because you did, but this is happening because of me. Not you."
He inhaled sharply and jolted, causing Emma to frown deeper, "What's wrong?"
He groaned, "My back."
Athena pushed him forward as Emma walked around to lift up his shirt, pulling the tail of her sweater up to see 'B4' crudely carved into his back. "Okay," Athena breathed. "Emma, you need to check out what that means. I'll keep an eye on him."
Emma went to do that as Athena leaned Will up against the wall. He jolted again in pain, "What is it?"
"He carved something in your back, another game for Emma," Athena told him. "You know, she really cares about you. Might even forgive you since you're on the brink of death and all. Just don't take advantage of it."
"What?" Will gasped, still in a bit of pain. "What are you talking about?"
"Let her be with Kieran," Athena shrugged. "Or be alone. If you want in her life, be her friend. Be there for her that way. She needs to figure herself out and you come with baggage – her baggage. It's better to be apart now so you both can heal and grow as people than to push yourselves together and just implode later. Like Emma's parents did."
Will was just sort of staring at her when music started playing throughout the bowling alley.
Daisy, Daisy. Give me your answer, do.
"Cue creepy murder music," Noah stated. "I knew I was missing something."
I am crazy. All for the love of you.
"Guys, this is gonna sound ridiculous," Emma warned, walking to the door, "but I'll be right back."
"Are you joking?" Brooke shrieked.
"Hey, seriously, Em, that's like, famous last words," Noah told her.
"No, Em," Will protested, leaning on Athena's shoulders. But Emma just opened the door and ran out. "Help me up," he asked her. "We need weapons."
"Way ahead of you," Noah said, brandishing a knife taped on a staff.
"Here," Athena said, handing her stun gun to Will. "Just don't use it unless you really have to. It has one good charge in it."
"What will you have?" Will gasped, still leaning heavily on her for support.
"I'm a badass," she smirked, pulling out her hunting knife.
The music cut out and almost as if it were planned, a pained howl sounded somewhere distantly. Brooke cried out, "Jake!"
"Help!" he shouted. "Where are you?"
"Jake needs our help!" Brooke said.
"Or he's luring us out, just like he did Emma," Noah suggested.
"Well, we can't wait," Will gasped out as he tried to stand. "I'll go out and find them. And you three need to find a way out, okay?"
"You can barely stand!" Noah pointed out. "But hey, if you wanna make it easier for him," he went over to the door and put his hand on the knob, "just be my guest!" He pulled it open, to reveal the masked killer behind it. Everyone screamed as Noah tried to slam it back closed. They all rushed to press their weight against the door as the killer got an arm through, with a knife.
"Brooke, go!" Will pushed her away, getting her to run off and get away.
"Noah, go!" Will listed of next, the other boy having no problem running off after Brooke.
"Athena, go," Will grunted in pain as they pressed the door against the barging killer.
"Nice try, pretty boy," Athena panted. "You can not hold him off on your own."
"You don't need to help me, I'm sure you hate me," he gasped out.
"I don't hate you," she assured him, trying to maneuver herself so she could get her taser out of her pocket. "You made some crummy mistakes. But I believe you did try to fix it. That counts for something." She finally got a hold of her taser and pulled it out, pressing the button on the side and pressing the charge to the killer's wrist. She heard a muffled cry from him as he pulled his arm roughly back out of the door.
"Okay, can you walk with me as a crutch?" Athena asked him, pocketing her taser and putting her shoulders under his arm. "If he left, he probably is going after the others. We gotta get out of here."
"I'm good, let's go," Will told her, letting her hold him up as they ran the way they saw Brooke and Noah go off to.
The made it to the bowling lanes, hearing Emma's scream. Athena gasped when she saw the masked killer running after her with a knife. Before she could act, Will's weight was no longer on her shoulders and she saw him running and tackling the psycho to the ground. Before he could attack back, officers were swarming the building with flashlights, calling out Emma's name. The killer raced off out a door with a bang. Emma shouted, "In here! We're in here!"
Athena rushed over and grasped Emma's shoulder, "Are you okay?"
Emma nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I think so."
"The killer is still in here," Will said. "He's somewhere back there."
"Emma!" Kieran suddenly appeared, racing up to her. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
"No, I'm fine," she told him, seeming surprised to see him. "What are you doing here?"
"I was driving around. I heard the call on the police scanner," he explained. "I came as fast as I could."
"Help!" they heard Brooke's voice. "Jake's hurt!"
A paramedic ran in to Athena and Will, "Who is hurt?"
"He is," Athena held Will up. "He has a wound on his abdomen, I put butterfly band-aids on. He's been here for hours."
The paramedic nodded and took Will from her as another door slammed open. Some of the officers brandished their guns but it was just Noah, holding his hands up in surrender, "Hey, I'm friendly, I'm friendly. Come on, I found a quicker way out of this hell hole."
They all followed him out where a few cop cars and two ambulances were waiting. Noah called out for the others attention, "Hey! Over here!"
Audrey raced over and immediately hugged Noah. Jake was loaded in the back of an ambulance with Brooke by his side. Maggie helped the other paramedics assess Will's injuries and get him in the other ambulance. Emma stayed in Kieran's arms, still crying.
Athena just sat off to the side, arms wrapped around herself as the police asked her some questions.
Once they were through with her, Maggie approached her, "Will is asking to talk to you real quick before they head to the hospital."
"Really?" she asked, confused. But she complied anyway and climbed into the ambulance. "Hey. Maggie said you wanted to talk to me?"
"I figured I should return this," he laughed a bit, holding out her stun gun.
She sniggered, taking it from her, "Thanks. You think you're gonna pull through?"
"Yeah, I think I'll make it," he smiled. His smile fell a little into an expression of awe, "Thank you for all you did tonight. Helping me. Patching me up. The paramedics said you might've saved my life."
"Aw," she teased, "shucks, pretty boy, you're gonna make me blush."
"Seriously, thank you, Athena," Will repeated.
Athena quieted, taking after his serious tone, "It's nothing."
First big showdown of the story. Let me know what you think of Athena's heroism.
REVIEW!
RegalGirl94
