Chapter 6
The Killer's Move
Kim had just pulled her head through her shirt when they reached the room,
"There was someone sleeping in here, right?" Ron asked Kim,
"Yeah." Kim said, looking around the empty room,
"It's three in the morning, where are they now?" Ron asked,
"No clue, but the door was closed all the way, and if the killer were to come through it, they would've woke up, the hinges squeak." Kim said, moving the door, allowing Ron to hear the loudly squeaking door hinges,
"And the way they reacted, it's more likely that the killer caught them by surprise." Ron recalled,
"Probably while they were asleep." Kim replied,
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, K.P.?" Ron asked,
"Secret passage?" Kim asked,
"Gotta be." Ron said, knocking on the wall, listening for a hollow sound, but it was Kim who found the entrance,
"Got it, now, I just need to find the trigger." she said, feeling across the wall for some kind of device that would open the hidden passage,
"K.P., over here." Ron said, standing next to a lopsided, age blackened painting, the canvas looked as though it had been recently moved aside, he lifted back the canvas, and found a switch of some kind,
"Convenient." Kim said, pushing the button, the false wall moved, rumbling so loudly that Kim was sure it would wake up the whole house,
"Any idea where it goes?" Ron asked,
"No," Kim replied, "but I'm gonna find out."
"I'm going with you." Ron said, now joining Kim at the entrance,
"Wouldn't have it any other way." Kim said, walking through the entrance, and into the badly lit corridor, when the door closed, they were thrown into total darkness,
"Ron, you got that penlight on you?" Kim asked, Ron reached into the pocket of his cargo pants, and pulled out a small flashlight, Kim took it from him, and pushed the button, throwing light out in front of them,
"Stairs, they must go into the basement." Kim said, looking at the long stairwell. Ron was the first one to mount the steps, Kim following close behind,
"This is too freaky." Ron said, walking down the stairs, and stopping at a wall,
"Yeah, now we need to find a way to open the door so we can get through." Kim said. Once again, Ron began tapping the wall around him, until his hands found an old torch bracket,
"Got it." Ron said, turning the bracket over, the wall moved slowly, and silently, revealing a chamber of horrors, the likes of which, Kim and Ron had never seen before,
"I think I'm gonna hurl." Ron said, looking around the room, he was getting paler by the second, but it wasn't half as bad as how Kim felt,
'If this is what's in store for anyone who crosses this madman's path, then God help us all.' Kim thought.
The room was straight out of a mideval dungeon, complete with an Iron Maiden. In one corner of the room, a rack had been built, in the other, manacles had been suspended from the ceiling, and in the center of the room, there was a table, with thick leather straps for the wrists and ankles. Along one wall, there were all manner of objects, several swords, and even an axe. To the right of where they came into the room, there was a large fire in a central hearth, a fireplace poker was sticking out of it,
"Wonder what he has planned for that?" Ron asked,
"I, for one, don't wish to find out." Kim replied.
An audible gasp came from directly behind them, Monique and Josh were standing in the passageway,
"How did you two get down here?" Kim asked,
"We followed you." Josh said,
"Yeah, we heard Ron say that the killer struck again, and when we saw you running by the room, we decided to see what's going on ourselves." Monique agreed,
"And who's idea was it?" Kim asked, looking at both of the new arrivals,
"Both of us." Josh said,
"Oh, great," Ron said, "now we got to worry about you two as well?"
"I can take care of myself, Ron." Josh said, looking at Ron, and smiling slightly,
"Don't you worry about me, Ron," Monique replied, "I even see the nutcase, and I'm running the other way."
"Slight problem, Monique," Ron said, "this is one of what's probably an entire maze of secret passages."
"That's why the killer hasn't been seen," Kim said, "he's been here before."
"That means," Josh said, "whoever it is, their either a school staff member, a former student, or a member of the Ryerson family."
"Yeah," Kim said, "and we need to stop them, before his appetite for death catches up to all of us."
It took about twenty minutes for the four friends to find their way around the large, and somewhat disturbing room, until Monique found what appeared to be a door on the other side of the room,
"Hey, guys, come look at this." she said, pushing the door open, almost immediately, she regretted it, the two missing students were in the room, strapped to two beds, their heads missing,
"This motherfucker is picking us off like fish in a barrel." Josh said, looking at the bodies, trying his best not to lose his dinner,
"This is sick, and wrong," Monique said, "we need to find a way out of here, now."
"I'm not leaving the house 'till this sicko goes down." Kim said, she had a very determined look on her face.
The friends had decided not to tell anyone what they had seen in the basement, with a few exceptions, Bonnie, Brick, and Tara,
"The last thing we need is a full scale riot on our hands." Kim said,
"What did you do with the bodies?" Bonnie asked,
"We put them with the others." Josh said,
"Up on the third floor?" Tara asked,
"Yeah," Ron replied, "we needed to get them out of there, I don't think the killer will be too pleased with us though."
"Why?" Brick asked,
"We left him a little message," Kim said, "'If you want us, come and get us.'"
Kim and Ron had searched the house that afternoon, rather than enjoy the time outside with the remaining occupants,
"We have searched this place for the last half hour, K.P., and what have we found, nothing." Ron said, his voice, and temper rising in equal volume,
"Amp down, Ron," Kim replied, looking back at her boyfriend, "We've got until six o'clock tomorrow morning to find this nutjob, and send him to meet his maker."
"Any guesses as to where to look?" Ron asked,
"We need to find out more about the Ryerson family," Kim replied, "My hunch is that it's a member of the family, a direct descendant, who knows all about the house."
"Every inch of it." Ron added,
"Yeah," Kim said, looking at Ron again, "and if you wanted to know something about a family, where's the first place you'd look?"
"Family Bible." Ron said,
"Yep, and I think I know where to find it." Kim said, earning a raised eyebrow from Ron,
"Where?" Ron asked,
"Remember the large family room on the first floor?" Kim asked,
"Yeah." Ron replied, some curiosity filling him,
"I think I saw a large Bible in the room, hidden in that large glass shelving unit near the fireplace." Kim replied,
"Which one, there were two of those big honkers, I should know." Ron said, rubbing his shoulder,
"Yeah, you ran into one of them, didn't you?" Kim said,
"Yeah, the first night we were here." Ron said,
"Well, it's the one on the other side of the fireplace." Kim said.