Chapter Five

'Count on Sean to think with his stomach,' Keith thought to himself as he made his way across the street, his makeshift weapon in hand. If Sean had gone there in search of food, he would probably be disappointed. The point was that he was alive; they all were, according to Keith's father. They were looking for him right now, and if anything, he was now responsible for getting them in this mess. Somehow, if they could find each other, they would be able to get out alive together, Kyle be fucked.

It was beginning to rain. The sound of raindrops on the sidewalk was soothing, compared to the echoing howls and roars of the unknown coming from the darkness. Come to think of it, other than the sound of the rain, there wasn't anything else. Everything else had fallen silent.

He wondered if it were a good sign. The rain brought back memories of walking home from school in the rain together the rest of his friends a few years back. Everything had been so calm then, so simple, so clean.

But the rain also brought back memories of a time even further back, back when he had only been five. He and Kyle used to love it when it rained. Regardless of how much they would get scolded by their parents later, getting soaked outside, laughing and chasing each other at their games had been his world before things had started to go wrong.

The door to the diner was left open- sign enough that someone was in there. Shining the flashlight into the darkness of the diner, he stepped in, expecting Sean to see him coming and call his name.

Silence.

The diner was empty.

Most of the tables had been overturned, with broken plates and cups littering the floor.

On the window, there was a message for him, written again in blood.

'his brilliant mind was the only good thing he had, the gluttonous pig.

with that gone what left remains?'

Keith felt a sudden chill run up the back of his spine when he realized that something was standing behind him, watching him. He could hear its excited breath, ragged and beastlike. Clutching the pipe, he turned around slowly-

"Sean?"

Keith stepped back, his eyes widening with surprise. The way Sean was looking at him now, the hungry, insane look in his bloodshot eyes coupled with the bloodstained kitchen knife made the room feel all the more cold, intensifying Keith's urge to just turn around and run.

Drool and blood flowed down his chin, onto his bare chest. There were cuts and bruises all over his body, like he had been tortured into the current state he was in. Or maybe it had been something he had seen?

"God, Sean, who the fuck did this to you?" Keith asked.

"The red king wants his ruby slippers back," Sean replied, almost giggling.

Keith's eyes narrowed. "Sean, what are you talking about?"

"Hahahaheeheeheehaahaahee, is it that difficult to spot? Maybe it's because he gouged your eyes out with a teaspoon? Delicious that was- he fed it to me."

Sean was advancing on him now.

"Oliver Twist says he wants some more."

And before Keith could react, Sean had pounced on him, knocking him flat onto the floor. They fell with the sound of cracking glass, and Keith felt something tear through the back of his jacket, scraping his back. He had other more pressing concerns though, like the knife Sean was now trying to shove into his face.

"Sean don't fucking do this!"

-

"Not like that."

With an annoyed sigh, Sean took the pencil from Keith along with his workbook and continued where Keith had left the formula hanging. "You've been slacking too much, man. Practice and revise more often. It's the only way to save your grades. Mr. Gordon doesn't take bribes."

Keith laughed softly. Then he sighed and took his pencil back from Sean. The library was almost abandoned, save for the table next to them where a few girls were whispering excitedly about the upcoming prom.

"Where the hell are Leo and Claire?" Keith asked. "Weren't they supposed to meet us here?"

"Probably caught up in other stuff," Sean replied simply, not taking his eyes off the chemistry textbook he was holding.

They continued sitting together in silence for a while, until Sean suddenly turned towards Keith and said, "What you did yesterday, don't ever do it again."

Keith's eyes widened, surprised by the sudden firmness and concern in Sean's eyes. Sean hadn't been there yesterday. It had only been Leo. Seeing that Sean knew about it now too, Claire would undoubtedly come after him later as well.

"You scared the crap out of Leo," Sean continued. "And that bastard almost never admits that. What made you even think about doing it, anyway?"

Keith looked down at the table.

"Mother," he said simply. "I've been dreaming of her ever since I moved here. She says I don't deserve to live."

Sean's eyes narrowed. "Guilt," he said. "It's not your fault. It was that bloody serial killer, wasn't it?"

Keith took a deep breath. That was what everyone understood so far- that an insane serial murderer had broken into his house to kill his mother after stalking her for months. But it wasn't until last night that he'd told the other part of the story to Leo, and now he was going to tell Sean too.

"The killer was my brother, Kyle. And yes, it was my fault. I was supposed to stop him."

Silence.

Sean stared at him with a surprised look on his face.

"Can we just forget the whole thing?" Keith asked. "I'd rather not think about it right now."

"One mind can only control one body," Sean said, looking straight into his eyes. "I don't know how close you were with your brother, but if you failed to stop him, it was probably because he didn't want you to stop him. In which case you can hardly be held responsible for what happened."

Then he turned back towards his book. Where Leo had, with a concerned look, bombarded him with questions and words of comfort the night before, Sean had left him with only that.

Somehow, it was enough.

"Thanks."

-

As he managed to push Sean off, he got on his feet, his eyes searching frantically for the pipe he had dropped. By the time he spotted it, it was too late to reach for it as Sean was charging towards him again, roaring like a wild animal. He slammed against Keith, knocking him back, back, back-

And the next thing Keith knew, they were falling out through the window, millions of pieces of shattered glass falling around them in slow motion.

The moment they hit the ground, Keith rolled over to get on top of Sean, trying to wrench the knife from his grip.

"Mine! Mine! MINE! You PROMISED!" Sean growled.

And Sean's left fist found its way into Keith's face, knocking Keith back as Sean hastily scrambled to his feet.

"Sean please!" Keith shouted.

And Sean stopped.

They stared at each other for a while, and Keith saw recognition in his eyes.

"Red," Sean said. Then he started laughing, dancing, twirling around in the rain repeating, "RedredredredredredredRED!"

Then Sean stopped and pointed at him with the knife. "Losssst?" he asked. "The murderer was lossst too, until that bitch came in and spoiled everything. His Majesty had a grand time poking himmm, making him bleed. Then he gave up and went swimming. The water's not red but it was good enough."

And he started laughing.

"Speaking of His Majesty."

Pain. The moment he felt it surge through his entire body, he saw the bloodied end of the sharp piece of metal protruding from his left shoulder, and he knew that it was behind him. And he was fucked.

When the weapon, the spear was withdrawn, Keith fell to his feet, looking over his shoulder to see it towering above him.

He hadn't noticed how human it was the first time around. It probably was a human. Kyle, perhaps? Maybe it used to be a human in a life before. It was a man: that much Keith could tell. This being dressed in white clothes with black and blood red stains, with its face masked by a large, rusted metal pyramid was a 'he'.

"He wants you to sit still," Sean laughed, advancing on Keith, the knife raised.

It, he, watched on, backing off without uttering a word as though giving its permission to Sean.

For a moment, Keith had a feeling that he, Pyramid Head as he called it in his mind, was probably Kyle- or something Kyle had conjured up in this twisted hell reality. Then, as Sean reached him, he decided that he didn't fucking care who or what it was. All he cared was for living. He wasn't about to fucking die here.

With a sudden burst of strength, he caught Sean's hands before the knife fell upon him, rising up for another struggle. Shouting, he pushed Sean back against a nearby lamppost before giving one hard pull.

And the knife was in his hands.

-

"I love this song!" Sean shouted over the music.

"Then let's all fucking dance then!" Claire shouted back with a smile on her face.

It was his third night since he had met them, and they were now at the local hangout place, a club of sorts where rock bands performed, loud music was played and food and tables were a plenty.

"I can't," Keith replied, suddenly blushing.

Before he knew it though, Leo had grabbed his left hand and Sean had grabbed the other.

"Dude," Sean laughed. "You hang out with us; you're going to learn to dance, even if it kills you. Don't worry, I'll show you the moves."

Leo was now laughing too. "Right, learn from him if you want to learn how to look like an awkward, robotic Energizer bunny."

-

The knife was now in Sean's chest.

"Ohmygod."

Sean coughed blood, his eyes looking down at the knife in his chest with horror, which then turned to insane glee.

"Sean, no, no, no," Keith whispered. He had put the knife there. In that one moment of panic, it felt like it would be either Sean or him. In that one moment, he had murdered his friend.

"So you do know how to dance," Sean whispered hoarsely. The light drizzle was turning harder now, and it mingled with the blood staining his half-naked body. As Keith backed off, withdrawing the knife, Sean fell to his knees and outstretched his hands, looking up at the dark sky.

And then he fell lifelessly onto the pavement, never to stand up again.

"OhmygodfucknonononoIfuckingkilledSeankilledSeankilledSeankilledSean!"

Eyes wide with horror, he backed off further, the bloodstained knife still in his hands.

Then, remembering Pyramid Head, he turned around, knife raised-

But he wasn't there anymore.

Keith fell to his knees, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Oh, you found Sean! Good for you, Keith! Now all you need to do is find Claire and Leo, and then it'll be someone else's turn to seek and you can hide!"

-

They were laughing as they left the club together.

"You're okay, kid," Sean told him with a wide grin on his face. "You're okay. I didn't like you much before but I think after seeing the way you made yourself look like an idiot on the dance floor just now, this is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship."