CHAPTER NINE

He couldn't explain why hearing her confess that she had indeed gone to bed with another man made him so angry. What she said was true. She was a grown woman who had every right to fuck whoever she wanted. It wasn't as if she was even a virgin anymore. She had had boyfriends before. And sure, he never liked any of them, but the fury within him now was frightening. He didn't like it because it felt as if he was losing control of himself and the situation around him.

Sleep was difficult. He dreamt of his mystery woman, again. He enjoyed everything about it while he slept, but awake, he was frustrated that he still didn't know who she was and the hard on that always ensued was rarely satisfied.

He was glad, however, that Madison was still slumbering in front of him. He knew that she had fallen asleep still angry with his unreasonable behaviour, but she was here – safe. Yes, by his side, he could make sure that she was never going to be hurt.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his phone and he quickly picked up to hear Scarlett's voice sounding rather sheepish. She had just come back from Disneyland with her grandparents and decided that she wanted to bake cookies with them instead of going trick or treating with him like they had initially planned.

He was immediately disappointed. Today was supposed to be their day together. He knew that his relationship with his daughter was also strained after he left to stay at the hotel. He could only imagine what Alex must've been feeding her. He couldn't believe that he had to practically beg for her to stay with him. "O-Of course it's alright, honey," he told Scarlett. "Stay safe and have fun, okay?"

"Okay."

When he hung up, he let out a sigh. He could still remember a time when he had been completely content with his life. Everything had been going so well. How did it all come crashing down around him so quickly?

"Are you alright?" Her quiet voice was a welcoming distraction to his thoughts.

"Yeah," he replied, setting his phone down. "Yeah, I'm fine. Scarlett just decided that she didn't want to go Trick or Treating anymore. It's fine. It's natural. She's growing up."

He didn't like the way she was looking at him. He didn't need her pity.

"She's happy, though, isn't she? We can… We can do something else, today. There are probably a lot of Hallowe'en parties. I'll go look one up that's nearby." He appreciated her offer despite how poor of a company he was and the feeling of guilt nagged at him.

He apologised for the night before, but by the way she smiled at him, he knew that he was already forgiven.

"I have to go to work. Kaden's already on my case about being late all the time. I'll see you later?" She rolled over to hug him and he was almost glad that Scarlett had called to give him the disappointing news because it had gotten rid of his morning condition.

He nodded, hugging her back.

"Find a costume. If we're going to party, I want us dressed up!" With a grin, she disappeared into the bathroom.

It wasn't long before she was gone, leaving him alone in the hotel room. When had it felt so empty whenever she was away?

Running his hand through his messy bed hair, he frowned when he noticed something strange on his wall. There was a trail of red running down his cork board of photos – ones of his cases, friends, family, and Holden. He curiously touched the liquid, feeling the familiar viscosity of blood. What…? Where was it coming from?

When he looked up to search for the origins, he saw that the entire wall was slowly becoming drenched in red as if he was suddenly thrust into a horror movie.

He walked up the stairs, trying to figure out what was causing the obscene leakage. Never in his life had he seen blood soak through like that. It was abnormal. It was impossible. He had to find out what was going on, especially if it was possibly related to the Ten Commandment Killer or… Holden.

When he arrived outside the room right above his, he could hear a distressed woman through the doors and immediately began banging on the door, wondering if she was alright.

It wasn't long before a red headed middle-aged woman in an old maid uniform greeted him. He had seen her many times before in the halls, but other than a head nod and a smile, he never spoke to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, spotting the telltale signs that she had been crying.

She quickly wiped at her face and tried to play it off as nothing, but with a soft nudge, she spilled the cause of her distress. It was her son's death anniversary. The reveal hit close to home. He knew exactly what she must've been feeling. Almost every day reminded him of Holden – his birthday, his first day of school, when he first invited friends over… The list went on and on, but the day he went missing was the one that hurt the most.

"I'm sorry," he gave her his condolences, knowing from experience that there was nothing he could've said to make her feel better about her loss.

Suddenly, she stood up as if that moment of weakness never happened and began to fret about some sort of party for tonight.

His first thought was on what Madison had said. His second was on Wineville where Ms. Evers was informed of her son's possible remains. Even now, she was never given the confirmation that he had really died there. Perhaps he could find something to help her find some closure.

And so, he decided to look up the case himself when he arrived at the station. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find anything on it. It wasn't until Andy came into his office questioning his odd behaviour did he get the lead he needed. The Wineville Chicken Coop Murders... It wasn't a recent case as he had first assumed. No, this occurred eighty-five years ago. The old black and white photo made his blood run cold. There in the image was Ms. Hazel Evers, but that couldn't be. She looked exactly as she did when he saw her in the morning. They couldn't possibly be the same person.

It made absolutely no sense. She looked as if she was in her fifties in the photo. That would make her over a hundred-thirty years old, now. That couldn't be. It was as if she was physically frozen in time. Not a year had gone by since the death of her son.

The rest of the day past by in a blur. He couldn't stop thinking about what he had found out. He needed to ask her more questions. He needed to find out the truth. Would he find her at the party? He could kill both birds with one stone if he was able to get invites for both him and his sister.

By the time he left the station, he knew that he was too late to get a proper costume. It wasn't as if he even wanted one, but he knew how much she loved Hallowe'en. She wasn't going to be happy with his lack of effort.

As he was going up to their room, he was interrupted by a strange woman who dragged him to the bar. Liz was there as usual, giving him a wary look.

The woman sounded as if she was high. Her strange, unkempt appearance roused warning signs, but he patiently listened to her ramble on, until he realised who she was pretending to be. Who in their right mind would dress up as Aileen Wuornos? Granted, he had to admit that the woman was very convincing, especially when she stayed in character even when he expressed his exasperation and disbelief.

She laughed when he showed her his police badge and leaned in close. "I kill men like you," she whispered. "You're all pigs!"

He quickly came to the conclusion that she wasn't all there. She was in some delusion that she was truly Aileen Wuornos and that could be very dangerous for everyone else. He took her up to his room and cuffed her to the foot of the bed before going back down to the bar to speak with Liz. He thought it was best to inform a member of staff that he was going to call the police on the lunatic.

"Don't bother," she told him. "She'll already be gone from your room. Mr. March would've made sure of it. He takes care of his special guests."

"Mr. March?" he replied in a tone of disbelief.

Madison had mentioned the same name before.

"You mean, James Patrick March?" he asked her.

No, this was becoming more ridiculous by the second.

"The very one." Liz smiled at him. "He is throwing one of the most exhilarating soirée. Devil's Night is très exclusive! Invitations are only for those who – " She pulled out a clipboard and her eyes widened. "Well, how did I miss that?"

She turned around and slid out an envelope from the box labelled "64." His name was written clearly in elegant cursive. Inside was a simple card, less extravagant than the one he had received for the fashion show.

You are formally invited to Devil's Night. I hope that I shall see you there. And please, feel free to bring a date.

The invitation sounded suspicious, but he knew that this was the missing piece that e needed. He was, however, worried that it was going to be dangerous. This was why he was living here, away from his family. Of course, his stubborn sister just had to interfere as she always did and it was too late to say that he had something else to do, now.

Just as he thought that, she came strutting into the lobby in a shimmering red and gold dress that made her look like a human personification of a phoenix. Her hair was pinned up in a messy up do. Her eyes were smoked, bringing out the blue of her irises.

"My… Would you look at that?" Liz chuckled.

"John!" Madison exclaimed. "You're not in a costume!"

He gave her a half shrug, his eyes fixated on her attire. "Didn't have time, but I found us a party." He waved the elegant card in the air.

She plucked it out of his hand and with a quick scan, she beamed at him. "Devil's Night… Sounds spooky. You're forgiven! Let me head up to our room. Then, we can do."

He nodded, swallowing hard. The blood was rushing to his head. He was feeling a little faint.

As he quickly went to follow her up, he could hear Liz laughing quietly behind him.

He raced up to check his room first, wondering if the deranged woman was still inside. He didn't want to find that she had gotten out and attack the first person who walked through the door. Fortunately, or unfortunately – he really couldn't decide which – Liz was correct. She was missing as if she had never even been there.

When he notified her that the party was actually hosted by James March, her excitement faltered, but she didn't say anything regarding it. He suddenly had a feeling he knew who she stayed with, last night, and it left a bitter taste in his mouth.

He had never met James March, but the name sounded familiar.

"Okay, I'm ready. Let's go."

They went up one floor to Room 78. The door was unlocked, but everything was quiet. What kind of party was this?

He felt Madison inch closer to him as they walked into the dimly lit room. There were two men conversing in the hall. Curious glances were thrown their way, but no one spoke a word to them.

Suddenly, the strange woman from the bar appeared in front of him, apologising as if the earlier altercation was nothing more than a bump of the shoulders.

He backed away from her, taking his sister with him as the manic woman continued to try to engage him in a conversation.

"Who is she?" Madison whispered.

Good question. He still didn't believe that she was the late Aileen Wuornos. HE also didn't know why she was here. Liz had mentioned that the imposter was a "special guest" of March, but why? All of the people here looked as if they belonged in prison or a mental ward.

"What kind of party did you take me to?" Her hand tightly gripped his arm.

Looking at her, he saw the way the dozens of candles made her look as if she was truly a phoenix in the red dress. She was the dash of colour in the room of muted black and white.

"We should go." He gritted his teeth, dodging Wuornos' hand before quickly threatening her with his police badge, again.

Luckily for her, another man interfered. A soft gasp came from his sister and he instantly knew who this person was.

"John, you and your date are welcome to sit at the table where your name cards are." March smiled, gesturing to the dining table. "And may I compliment your lovely lady? She is looking positively divine."

His sister smiled awkwardly back at the host.

They sat down. Madison was seated between him and March on the left side. There were a total of eight people in the room, each one of them, save for Madison, gave him a bad feeling. It made all the hairs on his body stand on end and years in the police force made him trust his natural instincts.

He took a tentative sip of the red wine. He was going to need a lot more than this, later.

He glared at March. "Who are you? What is all this?"

"I'm James March. I built this hotel," was the reply. This entire day wasn't making any sense, at all. First, Hazel Evers and now, James March. These people shouldn't be alive anymore. The builder of this hotel had died more than eighty years ago when there was an anonymous tip to the police regarding a long line of murders. The police had stormed through the building and found a murder-suicide between the owner and the… maid.

The maid…

Had it been Ms. Evers? He couldn't recall an identification for her, but he knew that the two of them were linked, somehow.

Things became even more bizarre when March had everyone introduce themselves – John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Aileen Wuornos, Richard Ramirez, and even the oddly dressed and masked one who was supposed to be the Zodiac Killer. Their introductions were all so quirky, but he didn't need any of their background information because he already had them all memorised.

"What is this? A Hallowe'en stunt?" he demanded.

"I want to leave, John," Madison hissed at him. Her hand had his in a bone crushing grip. There was a slight tremor running through her body.

James' eyes flitted to her. "No. No, my dear. Stay! Think of this as making up for the entire night when you left me sitting by myself." His eyes darkened before they travelled downward, feasting on the low neckline of her dress.

John growled. "Keep your eyes off her."

The other man laughed. An echo of chortles followed around the table.

"I'm leaving." She stood up and stormed towards the door. He was about to follow, but hands kept him down. His vision flickered. No, the wine? Had they spiked the wine?

Through blurry vision, he could see someone grab his sister. Her scream made every cell in his body echo her. How dare they? How dare they touch her?

He shouted and tried to struggle away, but it was no use.

"When are you going to accept that we are all dead?"


AUTHOR'S NOTE

Sorry, this may seem a little rushed! I didn't want to go over everything that you guys already knew, but please tell me if perhaps putting in a little more detail for Devil's Night would be more enjoyable to read.

Also, let me know if there are any mistakes. I accidentally left this waaaaaay too late to complete. Sorry!

Thank you kai-baekyun98, guests (anonymouscsifan, Guest, Guest, Guest) for reviewing!

kai-baekyun98: Thank you! There is definitely more of that to come.

anonymouscsifan: I will reveal more regarding James and the Countess, soon! From what happened to Tristan, I believe her to be possessive even to things and people she had cast aside. She never seemed truly happy with anything after Rudolph disappeared and perhaps that's why she doesn't want anyone else to be happy. I'm not really sure why exactly they used Finn Wittrock for both actors… Maybe that was why she was extra jealous of Tristan and Liz... I'm totally going on a tangent, now!

Guest: Welcome back! Whenever I see Guest, I always wonder if it's you. I find it funny that you always identify yourself as the confused one and I love it! I definitely find the Countess very, very selfish. Regarding if anything bad happens to her, well…

Guest: They're all better! At least, their relationship is. I can't really guarantee anything else. Teehee…

Guest: Thank you!

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourite and followed this story.

Please, leave a review if you enjoyed this chapter!