Happy New Year! After what felt like an eternal year, 2021 is now upon us, so let's hope for some good things for the future. But for now, here's another chapter of LOM! It's a shorter one, though. It's gonna get sad again as we see the next victim of the killers. Coupled with the reaction of said victim. But this time... will the boys get closer to finding out who the murderers might be? Let's find out!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 14: Shocking Find

After looking at the flowers for what felt like a lifetime, Rudy and Melba joined the rest of the guys in the clubhouse. It was there that they showed Melba the victims board they had set up. With pictures of the victims, and any connections they had to any of the guys. And now, Rudy's father was added as the latest victim.

"This is insane..." The girl said as she stared at the board, "All of these people... and they all are related to you guys in some way? Someone really is out to get you."

"We know, and that's why we're trying to figure out who it is, and why they're doing this." Albert responded, "All we know so far, is that whoever it is, they know us, we know them, and apparently... we took something from them... but what...?"

Now Rudy had something to say, "I think it has to do with the Junkyard."

"What makes you say that?" Bill asked.

"I remember my Mom telling me about the note the killers left her after they..." He couldn't bring himself to mention it, but continued, "... it said something along the lines of 'Should've shared the junkyard'... or something like that."

What did that mean?

"So, did we somehow... 'steal' the junkyard from these guys?" Harold tried to piece together, "I don't get it. We don't even own the junkyard, we just hang out here."

'Wait, so your Mom actually saw the killers?" Russell asked.

"They attacked her too." Rudy replied.

"So she must know what they look like? We should ask her." Bucky suggested.

The rich boy shook his head, "She tried to recall their appearance to the police, but when they knocked her out, she had a hard time remembering. The only thing she could recall... is that they were wearing masks. So she couldn't even figure them out if she had remembered."

The rest of the gang groaned. They were so close. However, they figured out that the junkyard has at least something to do with the killer's motives. Now they had to connect the dots... only they needed more information. As the kids continued to speculate and think, there was a knock on the door. Albert went to open it, revealing Harold's uncle, Marcus, who was in town visiting.

"Hello, uh, is Harold here?" He asked.

The tall boy immediately stood, "Hey, Uncle Marcus. What's up?"

The expression on the older man's face was grim. And that alone was enough to tell Harold that something else was terribly wrong, "I think you'd better come home, Harold."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"It's your sister... she..."

Marcus was unable to finish his sentence, as not only he couldn't bring himself to say more, but Harold had pushed passed him and sprinted out of the clubhouse, out of the junkyard, and down the street. His friends and uncle were quick to follow him. A million thoughts were rushing through his head right now. He already knew that the murderers took another victim just by his uncle's expression alone, but when he brought up his younger sister, Tiffany, now he had to see. There's no way. Those monsters wouldn't have killed Tiffany. They wouldn't have.

Sadly, as he approached his house, he saw something he hoping he wouldn't. A crowd outside, police cars and an ambulance parked. By the time everyone caught up to him, he could faintly hear his mother crying uncontrollably inside the house.

"No... they couldn't have..."

Uncle Marcus approached his nephew, "Harold..."

"They didn't!" Harold tried to get through the crowd, and inside, but was pushed back by an officer, "Sorry, son. No one is allowed beyond this point." He said.

"But this is my house! I hear my Mom! I need to be there with her." The tall boy protested... right before he saw something else that he was hoping he wouldn't...

Two paramedics walked out the door, and on a stretcher... a small body bag that was partially zipped up, revealing Tiffany... little Tiffany... her face was completely burned like charcoal. Despite that, she was somewhat still recognizable. Harold could not believe what he was seeing. The fear that he hoped wouldn't come true... was now true...

"They... they..."

Once again, the boy pushed through to enter the house, despite the officers' protests. He made his way into the living room, to see his distraught mother, his father trying to comfort her, his younger brother Waldo also trying to help, and Officer Jackson also with the family. Mr. Simmons looked up to see his eldest child standing there, "Son..."

"Uncle Marcus came to get me..." Harold said, "What... what happened?"

"Harold, Tiffany appeared to have stepped in some water that was near an exposed electrical cord in the bathroom." Officer Jackson informed him, "By the time your mother her... it was too late..."

"SHE'S GONE!" Mrs. Simmons wailed, "MY LITTLE BABY!"

Harold's heart immediately broke. It was all too true. His little sister was indeed gone. And he instantly knew... that this was no accident. There was no way there would just be a randomly exposed cord unless it was cut. But even if he didn't know that, it would further be proved as the officer was holding a note in his hand, "We have a reason to believe that this is another result of the ongoing murders going on. As they appeared to have left another note." He said.

Harold decided to take a closer look at it.

Poor Tiffany. Quite the shock, isn't it? We warned you what would happen.

He clenched his fists at the fact that the sickos were... well, sick enough to make a joke about the way they murdered his baby sister. But he also realized just how serious they were about all of this. He needed to tell the others, "Um... I'll be right back. I need to get some fresh air."

With that, he left back outside. After rejoining his friends, he dropped to his knees in despair, "They got Tiffany... they got my little sister. First Violet... now her!" He grunted, punching the ground beneath him. The boys and Melba gasped in shock, and it was especially horrifying for both Melba and Russell, who knew Tiffany a little better than everyone else, being the same age.

"My god..." Bill muttered, "This is nuts..."

"I think this is what they were talking about when they mentioned not to go to the police. They warned us what would happen."

"But the note they sent us said that they would kill the next person right in front of us." Bucky brought up, "But that didn't happen."

Melba was confused, "What note?" She asked.

Rudy explained, "The other day, we got a note on our clubhouse door from the killers themselves. They told us not to go to the police after sending it, or else we'd have to watch someone die before us... but... we did go to the police, but they didn't kill my Dad in front of me."

"And they sure didn't kill Tiffany in front of me." Harold added, "I wonder if that part in the note was a lie..."

"What if... instead of killing in front of us... t-they meant they'll kill our family members." Donald suggested.

That seemed to be the most logical explanation. The murderers were directly targeting their family members. This suddenly made everyone scared. Who was next? Which one of their family members would become a victim? Sensing an upcoming panic attack, Albert was quick to keep it calm, "Let's cool it, dudes. No sense in freaking out. Let's go back to the clubhouse to clear our minds..."

Harold sighed, "You guys go on ahead. I gotta be there for my family." He felt a tear slide down his face, "Tiffany... she may have been an annoying big mouth... but she was still my sister... I'll see you guys later..." He started to walk back to his house as his friends bid him farewell."

"I'd better go home too." Rudy said, "My aunt, uncle, and cousin Rick are coming into town. They're gonna help with planning the... funeral..." He frowned deeply, before looking down at Melba, who was standing by him, "You can come if you want..." He offered her,

The little girl smiled softly, "I'd be happy to meet your family."

"Good. Let's go. See you later, dudes..."

With that, he took Melba's hand, and together the two left. As everyone went their separate ways... they were once again being watched by you know who...

"Those fools... they're close to figuring us out..." The leader chuckled, "It's only a matter of time before we get to confront them directly. But for now... we gave a little girl the shock of a lifetime..."

The others snickered as well. It wasn't hard at all to pull the hit on the youngest Simmons member. All they did was sneak inside the house early this morning with a random extension cord. They cut the cord, plugged it in a nearby outlet, spilled some water on the floor, and laid the cord in the puddle, making it a sparky mess. And not long after, little Tiffany walked in to use the bathroom, only to step in the puddle, leaving her completely fried. When her mother found her, she was long gone, completely with a note on her burnt body.

It had to be a quick one, just like with Mrs. Breyfogle.

"C'mon, dudes. Time to plan our next one. Those dudes aren't gonna know what'll hit them..."

And so, the mysterious group left. However, they didn't account for one more thing. After they had set up the electrical kill... one of them has left something behind. Something on the bathroom floor that the officers had found while investigating the area.

... A piece of blue cloth...

Uh oh.

Looks like the killers might have slipped up a little there. Wait 'til the boys learn about this literal piece of information. But anyways, poor Harold has lost his little sister Tiffany (from episodes 'The Newcomer' and 'How the West Was Lost'), but you gotta give him props for how well he's been taking all of this. It's not easy, but we all grieve differently. Next chapter will be a time skip to almost a week later. No murders or such, but we will sew Violet's homegoing briefly, and Albert will be absent on account that he'll be heading to Pittsburg to attend Mrs. and Mrs. Camden's homegoing. But until then, I'll see you guys later. And as always, don't forget to review, please. Thank you.