Chapter 7
The Missing Link
Night began to fall on Middleton like a velvety blanket, inside Ryerson Manor, most of the occupants had retired to their rooms for the night, everyone except seven teenagers, who had their heads bent low over a dusty white book,
"It's got to be in here somewhere." Kim said, flipping through the pages at top speed,
"I think you need to stop, and look at what you're reading, K," Bonnie said, "this is the Ryerson family Bible. Do you really think that Jack Ryerson would write his family tree in it if he intended to kill everyone in it off?"
"I sooo believe that he did, Bonnie," Kim replied, looking back at her former competitor, and smiling slightly, "it wasn't always Jack Ryerson that kept records in it, his father did, too."
"And just maybe we might find some sort of clue in it." Ron added,
"Hey, guys," piped up Alan Platt from the corner of the room, "look what I found." he was holding onto an old, dust covered piece of paper,
"Whatcha got there, Alan?" Monique asked, looking at the age spotted parchment,
"Don't know, yet." Alan said, now opening it, revealing a sprawling family tree, dating back at least three hundred years,
"Jackpot!" Kim said, looking at the paper, and smiling, she slid her finger down to the last entry, under the name of, Allen Ryerson, there were two other names, John, and Roger,
"Who is this Roger Ryerson?" Josh asked, looking at the family tree, scratching his chin,
"Jack Ryerson's brother." Tara said,
"I don't even see Jack Ryerson's name on here." said Brick, in his usual absence of brain,
"D'oy," Bonnie said, slapping Brick in the back of the head, "it's right there, Jack is a pet name for John."
"I knew that." Brick said, his voice low,
"Jocks." Bonnie muttered, low enough so that only Kim and Ron could hear her,
"Least of our worries at the moment," Kim said, bringing the rest of the group to reality, "we need to find a way to get everyone else out of the house."
"I got an idea," Ron said, a manic smile lighting up his face, "Kim, did you grab your dad's bolt cutters?"
"Yeah, why?" Kim asked, her eyebrow raised,
"Here's the plan," Ron said, looking over at Kim, "we use the bolt cutters to cut a hole in the back fence, and get everyone out through there, it's just a chainlink fence back there , so it should be easy to cut through."
"Y'know, Ron," Kim said, "that might just work."
"Yeah," Bonnie said, "I'll go knocking on doors, and get everyone to meet up with us in the back yard, near the weakest part of the fence, then you can do your thing, K."
"But what about the killer?" Brick asked,
"I've said it before, and I'll say it again," Kim said, "I'm not leaving this house until that scumbag is wiped off the face of the earth."
"Me neither." Ron said,
"Then it's just the seven of us." Alan Platt said,
"Alan, you don't need to do this," Kim said, "Why don't you go out the fence and–,"
"NO!!" Alan said, his voice full of rage, "that shitball killed my sister!!"
"Alright, Alan, amp down," Ron said, then, turning back to Kim, he said, "we need all the help we can get at the moment."
"Agreed." Kim sighed,
"We're all in this together," Josh said, looking around at the group assembled before him, "all we need to do, is just keep a clear head, and let him come to us, he can't fight off all seven of us at once."
"Right," Brick said, the gleam from the football field in his eyes, "we knock him down, then each one of us grabs a leg, and says, 'Make a wish.'"
It was midnight by the time Bonnie had gotten everyone together, they had all assembled in the back yard, near the center of the fence, and were awaiting Kim, and Ron's arrival.
"Alright, here's the sitch," Kim said, then counting the remaining people, she looked back at Bonnie, "Where's the rest of them?"
"Gone, K," Bonnie said, "I found their bodies in their rooms, they were decapitated, there's just ten of us left."
"Alright, what we're going to do is real simple, we're going to cut the fence, and allow the three of you to get out of here," Ron said, holding a long pair of bolt cutters in his right hand, "once you're clear of the manor, go get help, we don't care who it is, call out the National Guard if you have to."
"What about you?" one of the other students asked Kim,
"We're not leaving," Kim said, "we're gonna hunt this psycho down, and hand him his head for lunch."
Ron began to cut the fence, working as fast as his hands could allow, once the hole was big enough, he and Brick grabbed onto each side of the separated fence, and pulled it back, allowing the three remaining students to get out through the gaping hole that had been placed there,
"Thank God that's over with." Ron said, wiping his brow with his sleeve,
"Yeah." Brick said,
"Just one thing left to do." Kim said,
"Yep," Josh replied, "get this fuck where he breathes."