It was a cool autumn night in early November. The last of the reds, oranges, and yellows of fall were gone leaving trees naked, bracing themselves for the onslaught of cold to come from the inevitable winter. Stray sounds coming from the howls of coyotes echoed throughout the valleys that the rural town of Barring rested in. Branches of the green pines and barren trees dotted across the mountains swayed against the chilly winds blowing up from the valley towards the mountaintops. Barring was a medium-size town nestled out in the countryside, known for its small businesses and tourist sites, its location in a peaceful bucolic area that attracted people year round for the views from strenuous hikes in its mountains, to the laid back but friendly manner of the residents. Around 8pm that Wednesday night, most of the residents of the town were tucked in their homes with parents cooking dinner and their kids doing daily homework.
Antonio Carriedo zoomed through downtown and turned right across Anders Bridge towards the back roads leading to the outskirts of town, rocking out to music blaring from his stereo and bouncing his head along to the beat.
"Ay dios mio, I'm running late" he muttered to himself worriedly. His grandparents were gone for four days to visit family in North Carolina, leaving their oldest grandson to look after their beloved dogs while they were gone. Not entirely sure if he would be paid, but favors were favors after all. He was in a rush after his soccer game to their modest log house in the mountains to feed and let out their dogs. Still in his uniform and warm-up sweats with his sweaty hair in disarray, he looked out of sorts from his usual effortless put-together look. His grandparents' house wasn't too far from town, but they still lived on the outskirts near the top of one of the mountains surrounding the valley.
His phone was blowing up. He already knew it was texts from his teammates making plans for a victory party on the weekend, those could get pretty wild and out of hand fast if the football team got involved. He was especially hoping for a text from a particular cutie he had been interested in for quite some time, maybe he'd check his phone when he let the dogs out. He veered to the left to take the old Bumpy Road and cranked the stereo volume even louder, thinking about nabbing a few tortilla chips as a snack while he let the dogs outside. The Spanish boy felt so upbeat after they won their first post regular season game, he began loudly singing along to the song.
"Believe what I saaaaaayyyyyyy, I waaanttt itt thaaaat waaayyy!" What a good night this will be! Aside from winning their game, he had finished all his homework during study hall block and they were having his madre's famous tacos for dinner, then he could relax for the night. For now, he could play with the dogs before getting to that. He pressed on the gas pedal and sped up the windy road on the mountainside, briefly slowing the car on sharp corners to avoid the trees. Passing the houses on the road he was getting close. He turned on his blinker and pulled left across the road onto a dirt driveway. Parking next to his abuelo's pickup truck, he slid out of the seat and stuffed his keys into his hoodie. Walking over Antonio jumped up and patted the thick wooden arbor at the beginning of the stone path that led to the house, lightly skipping up the porch steps to the door.
"Buster and Baby Girl! Come on down!" He called, occupying himself with picking up doggie bowls and setting them on the kitchen counter to prepare their food. It faintly smelled of plants and wood pellets, his grandparents' house had always smelled like this for as long as he could remember. The sound of paws scraping against aged wooden panels was enough for any soul in the house to hear and the race down the stairs was even louder. An athletic hound dog with a gleam in her eyes and an overweight corgi panting to stay with her sped out from behind the corner, charging at him full speed, tails wagging and long tongues hanging out. "Oi perros! Calm down you crazies, will ya?" As they started jumping. Sometimes he wished his grandparents had it in them to not constantly over spoil their dogs, even he must admit they were so jumpy and demanded too many bacon treats.
Antonio clicked the collars on their necks and held the door wide open. Dashing outside Baby Girl found her usual pee spot by the rocks and Buster tried to follow her until she turned around letting out a malicious growl at him, scaring him off. Dogs, you never how they'll act Antonio thought to himself, twisting open a can of wet beef drenched in salty gravy. Well, at the least the dogs will love this. His grandparents also had a beautiful tabby cat named Tommy who spent most of his time outdoors and acted skittish due to his feral upbringing, so Antonio wouldn't be worried if ever saw the sly cat. One day, he'd finally pet Tommy.
Antonio sat on the porch steps chuckling as the two dogs roughly played, nipping and piling on top of each other. As annoying as they could be, they did have their funny moments. When they finished Buster and Baby Girl ran to the porch and began scratching the door, preening and whining for dinner time.
"Alright alright move you two! Or you'll get no dinner!" He stepped over them and made sure they were in, placing one bowl by the china cabinet and the second bowl near the pellet stove. They ravenously gobbled the beef down and Toni took out his iphone. As expected, the party to celebrate their win is on Saturday at his best friend Francis Bonnefoy's house with full drink coverage provided! Scrolling through the messages in the soccer group chat, everyone was in. He sent a thumbs up as his answer and ignored the messages from school acquaintances and the message from his ex Romano, who he broke up with a month ago. That spiteful Italian still hadn't gotten over it and even accused him of cheating being the reason, although there is partial truth to that thought. Still though, he had not appreciated getting hassled in the cafeteria by Romano on the day of their breakup, the foulmouth had cursed him to hell and back before the teachers on lunch duty practically had to forcefully pull him out of the cafeteria, with his younger brother hot on their heels. That spectacle ran through the school's gossip mill for days afterwards so he had to lay low. Although it was a month later, he still wouldn't put it past his ex-boyfriend to hassle him and whomever he got with. There was someone who popped at the top of his message list that he immediately checked, hoping the message wasn't sent hours ago and annoyed with himself for not checking earlier.
:"Hey! I wanted to congratulate you on the W, you guys worked your butts off and totally deserve this
Antonio cheerfully smiled and rapidly began typing a response.
:Thanks! Glad you thought of me because I was thinking about you before the game, guess I needed someone to fight for;)
Baby Girl knocked over Buster and began circling Toni's feet, brushing her head against his legs. Alright, a few more minutes outside and then he'll get out of here. He waited for a response on the porch as the dogs sprinted around the house in a chasing frenzy, leaving him to stare at the cloudless dark sky alight with stars and a pure white crescent moon. Stargazing had been a favorite pastime of his when he was little, but lately he found himself falling back into it when he was alone and at peace to admire the beauty of it. People just did not take the time to appreciate nature or spectacular views that much. Always looking through the lens of phone cameras, it just isn't the same as the real thing. The sound of notification snapped him out of his thoughts and turned his phone on.
:"now now don't tease me too much, that's my job so you leave it to me;)
He smirked at the playfulness his new love interest displayed and decided it was time to make his move.
:"You know, we're having a party at Francis's would you like to come? We've been texting for a while but we haven't had the chance to hang out yet."
:"I'll be there, can't wait to see you. Is it BYOD?"
His opportunity to message back was taken by Baby Girl barreling right into him, knocking him over and his phone between the space above the step and under the porch. Ay dios mio, he groaned.
"Baby, what was that for?!" Christ, he can't catch a break with these dogs. Something was off about her though. The normally upbeat hound was acting submissive and fearful, her tail right in between her legs as she nervously pawed the ground. She had always been the alpha dog between her and Buster so this behavior was just weird. "What is up with you guys?"
A loud whine pierced the silence of the night, causing Baby Girl to bark back. He stood up and swiftly corralled her inside, speed walking into the backyard to see what all the fuss was about. This backyard wasn't big, far from small and it had an ancient stone wall since it used to be an old cow pasture for the neighboring farm next door. With it being pitch black outside, he kept squinting to see now that he doesn't have a phone for light. Even with the moon casting it's brightness, the long shadow from the back of the house remained and took most of the space in the backyard.
"Buster? You here?" He planted his hands on his hips and let out a small sigh. Where was that dog anyway? He was making a ruckus just a short time ago. "BUSTER!"
He let out a loud whistle and he heard soft whining coming from over where the wall was in the far corner of the property. He got closer and saw Buster crouched on the stones, mewling pitifully. There was something kind of shiny there too. Curling into a crouch by the corgi, he felt around the dog's body until he pricked his fingers on something sharp.
"Argh!" He muttered, wiping the trickle of blood coming from his finger on a dead leaf. "What on Earth is that?"
Toni's heart missed a beat when he realized it was barbwire circled around the poor dog's neck and streams of blood pricked open by the sharp edges of the wire. He cursed quietly in Spanish that would've earned him a hard swat on the butt from his padre if he had been present. "What happened to you buddy? Where did this come from, there haven't been cows on this side of the neighbors farm for a decade. There, there, I'll get you out of this."
As he analyzed the situation and thought of where his grandparents would keep a pair of pliers or calling the next door neighbor for help, he got shivers down his spine. There's never been any barbwire on this wall for a long time, the neighbors were on good terms with his grandparents, and his grandparents would have left a warning about letting the dogs near the wall if it was supposed to be there. He really started feeling like something was off and very wrong about this situation.
Crack!
Antonio jumped, startled at the noise. He turned around and looked straight into the shadow of the house, there was a big swing there that probably got moved by the wind current. He thought he saw something barely move in the shadow that he now felt nervous to go near, squinting to see if he actually had reason to be fearful.
"Calm down Toni" he murmured to himself, just what would have been there anyways? Freddy Krueger? Michael Myers? He was getting himself psyched out for absolutely nothing. Now, time to get Buster out of the tangle and get him to the nearest veterinarian. Fate had a different idea in mind, however.
Thwack! The air rushed out of his lungs and a small part of his spirit left his soul as a blunt object hit him hard across the upper back, sending him tumbling face first into the ground. He barely had a split second to gasp in a breath of air before the object slammed down onto his ribs and he let out a howl of pain. Forcing his eyes open despite his face scrunched in discomfort, his jaw dropped when he saw a figure emerge from the dark shadow clad in black clothing, but scariest of all was the white smiley face mask that covered his assailant's face and the large bat in his left hand. The mysterious assailant took a step forward menacingly, raising the bat higher to get another swing at him.
"W-what do you want with me?!" He choked out, agony in his crushed ribs and his body reacting to the beating. He had to get to his car, asap. No use hiding in the house and the neighbor's house was too far a distance to make it before he got clobbered again. Making a snap decision, he kicked out his leg that was in the prime of its strength due it being postseason and he managed to land it right on the masked attacker's knee cap, forcing him to go down on a knee. This was his chance. Toni crawled up as quickly as he could and clutching his ribs with one hand, he awkwardly began running towards his car. Normally a wicked quick sprinter on the field and track, he was not capable of such speed tonight. He got as far as the stone path but couldn't get further than where the arbor was before his attacker gave him a tit-for-tat by swinging the bat down on his dominant leg.
"PUTA! TU PUTA!" He cursed loudly, not caring about what his madre would say if she ever heard him speak those words. No, no, this couldn't be happening. True dread and fear, the type of fear a human experiences when their self-preservation is at stake roared louder than any coherent thoughts he might've had left. Heart pounding, body banged up and hurting, and freezing in the cool night he couldn't even yell for help.
"Please" he moaned miserably. 'Why are you doing this?"
The assailant paused and gave him a level stare. Placing the tip of the bat under his chin, he forced Toni to look up at him. A second passed. Another passed. Then another. THWACK!
He thought his head was about to come off with the amount of force that bat hit him on the side of his face, twisting his neck. He felt a tooth come loose. The assailant kicked his ribs again, grabbed the back of his head and began smashing his face repeatedly into the stones of the path. His nose broke and was profusely bleeding and his forehead couldn't take it. He couldn't scream anymore because the pain was too much, so much that he blacked out. After seeing his victim pass out the assailant stopped, assessing the violent handiwork on the boy in satisfaction, and taking a moment to wipe the blood on Toni's soft brown hair.
"He deserves this." The assailant thought bitterly. Antonio Carriedo had this coming for a while, feeling no amount of remorse of what was done to the Spanish boy, or what was in store for him next. The other ones would face similar fates too. Speaking of, Antonio began stirring and the assailant took out the rope.
Antonio hurt horribly bad and could barely open his eyes now that he felt dizzy and blood was just all over him. He knew the chances of him coming out alive were nonexistent at this point and couldn't form a coherent thought beyond despair. Although he hardly had his eyes open, he felt himself being dragged by the hood of his hoodie facedown on the stone path until he was deposited under the arbor, and the horror of a noose being tightened around his neck. His assailant threw the tail end of the rope over the arbor and heard Carriedo beginning to plead for his life. The assailant yanked on the end of the rope, pulling it down hard so that Antonio's muscle dense body was dangling in the air and feet high off the ground.
Antonio tried to send last prayers to the above as he was suffocating to death and the death grip of the rope began killing him, he saw his soon to be killer stand in front of him. The person's head was tilted to the side, with one hand off the rope the killer removed the smiley mask, thus revealing the face underneath it.
"YOU!" Antonio gasped out. "H-how-"
Before he finished his sentence his eyes rolled back into his body and he went still. The killer held him there for longer to make sure the deed was done. After some time the rope was let go of and Antonio's body thudded to the ground, no longer suspended on the arbor. Leaving the mask by the feet of the corpse the killer began his next labor, looping the rope around the trunk of a maple tree.
Hi there! Decided to make chapters on the shorter side to get through the editing and creating of the story quicker. Still slogging through the next chapter to the Final Inferno, but it will be coming soon. If you read through the first chapter please leave a review.