CHAPTER 5
Mac and Bloo ran as fast as they could out of the house and down the sidewalk. Luckily, they were only a few blocks from Foster's; they would have called first, but Fredericks had apparently cut the phone lines to the house in addition to the power. As they were running, Mac was scanning through the book quickly. "Listen to this," he said, reading a passage aloud: "'I feel like a different person when Rainbow is around. We share many of the same feelings; whenever they change in me, Rainbow matches it with his changing color. Sometimes I wonder if these are my own emotions, or if I'm reflecting how Rainbow feels. Or perhaps he is the one mirroring me. But these feelings remain even after he leaves. Why, then, do I not feel like me? I can't even tell what's real anymore.'"
"He and Rainbow felt the same as each other? All the time?" Bloo asked.
"Must be," Mac said, still reading. "Listen... 'The times I feel the most hatred, when I want to kill, Rainbow is almost always there, and always red. He feels the hatred too, and I can see it.' What if how Rainbow feels affects others around him? When he hates, so does Fredericks... you see?"
"So he can force his feelings onto people?" Bloo said. "Wow... if I could do that, I'd make it so that when Herriman and Frankie were ever mad at me, I'd just make them happy again."
Mac nodded, "Exactly! And Rainbow could push Fredericks into enough hatred so that he would kill for him! Or he comes to Foster's and... that would explain how come people are acting so strange! Wilt and Eduardo... oh my gosh! Bloo, what if he's doing the same to them?!"
Bloo cringed, "What are we going to do?"
"I don't know," Mac replied, "but we've gotta hurry up before something bad happens." He tucked the book under his arm and picked up the pace; he hoped he was wrong and that Rainbow was merely a tagalong to Fredericks' crimes, and not the cause of them...
Mr. Herriman shut the door to his office, hopping over to the desk and starting to go through his files. He felt particularly weary from the day's events, which was perfectly understandable, given the circumstances. The incident with Eurotrish would create a lot of paperwork, not to mention he would have to announce the loss to the rest of the house, and of course, inform her creator. The loss of an imaginary friend was a rare and sad occasion, and one he did not look forward to dealing with, but it was his duty, after all.
First, however, he had to call the police. Scooping up the phone, he pulled the antique receiver and held it to his ear. Before he could dial, however, he noticed there was no dial tone coming from the line. "Curious," he remarked to himself. Setting the phone down, he looked around and decided it would be best to see if any of the other phones in the house were out. It wasn't terribly unusual for the phones to have problems because of the house's age, but still...
A knock came at the door, and Mr. Herriman called out, "Come in!" The door opened, and he said, "Ah, Master Wilt. My apologies, but this really isn't a good time..."
Wilt stepped inside and said, "It'll just take a minute. Are you alone?"
"Yes, of course," Mr. Herriman replied.
Wilt narrowed his eyes slightly; he said, "Good," and closed the door behind him...
Eduardo moved down the hallway of Foster's; unlike his previous sneaking around, he no longer had any apprehension and walked straight down the middle with confidence. That isn't to say he wasn't being cautious; he was carefully listening alertly for the slightest sound of trouble, ready to defend himself at a moment's notice. The halls were quiet, since everyone had returned to their rooms; if he was being followed, they were doing so from someplace hidden. The shadows seemed to be following his every move, masking the location of his assailant. Part of Eduardo wanted to be afraid, but he knew that if he showed any fear...
A crash came from downstairs; it sounded like breaking glass. Eduardo thought furiously, unsure how to react; if it was the killer, he could go a put an end to it right now. But if it was a trap, he would be blundering right into it. No, he thought, there is no trap which can hold me, I too strong for it... I too smart for it, I know it is coming! He carefully moved towards the door leading to the stairwell...
"There you are, Ed," came a voice behind him; it was Frankie, who seemed to have come out of nowhere, causing Eduardo to freeze in his tracks. She continued, "I finally found you. I've been looking for you all day!"
The hair stood up on the back of Eduardo's neck as he dared not turn around. Everything seemed to fall into place at once. Frankie had plenty of reasons to want to do away with him; he was constantly a huge burden, and he suspected the stress of it had finally gotten to her. She had to have been the one to kill Eurotrish, because why else would she have gotten so defensive when Mr. Herriman had suggested the possibility of the "accident" being intentional? Then, all it took was a loud noise to distract him, and she had gotten the drop on him. The fear of knowing he was seconds from death tried to rise in him, but he would not allow it. He had to act now, just as Rainbow had told him, or it was all over...
Growling, Eduardo spun around and backhanded Frankie across her torso, the strength of the blow lifting her off her feet and sending her flying backwards. She hit the ground and slid to a stop against the wall of the corridor, wincing from the impact and clenching her eyes shut. The wind was knocked out of her; with a cough, she clutched her midsection opening one eye back up and wheezing, "Ed... w-what did you do that f--... whoa!" Reacting as fast as she could, she rolled to one side as one of the end tables in the corridor smashed against the wall where she had just landed.
Frankie strained to breathe, looking incredulously at Eduardo standing there after he had thrown the table; his face was filled with anger and hatred. She didn't understand... What did I do? she thought... Why is he trying to hurt me? Before she could catch her breath, he lowered his horns and charged. Without much time to react, Frankie dropped down under the attack. The giant horns hit the wall, impaling a painting of Madam Foster; it occurred to Frankie that had she not lowered herself just then, it could have been her impaled on the horn. Eduardo wasn't just trying to hurt her... he was trying to kill her.
Now in a panic, Frankie scrambled out from underneath the horns and tried to get away. Eduardo grabbed her ankle before she could, and lifted her up, throwing her against the opposite wall, smashing through a potted plant that was against it. The force of this impact was greater than before, but she was unable to cry out, still winded and trying to recover from the first hit. She crumpled to the ground, coughing some more. A few drops of blood fell on the carpet from a cut on her cheek, and she strained to lift herself back up. Wheezing, she said hoarsely, "...s-somebody... gasp... pl-... please..."
Eduardo stomped towards her... Frankie could see his eyes, which looked upon her almost without recognition. There was no mistaking his intentions now, no matter how unthinkable it seemed for him. She realized that this was her last chance; if she didn't do something now, she was dead. Her hands felt around frantically, looking for something to defend herself with, and her fingers closed around a shard of clay from the pot she had be thrown into. As Eduardo reached for her, she thrust it out, plunging it into the fur on his side.
Eduardo yelped, stumbling backwards and staring at the shard sticking out of his fur. It didn't look like he had been hurt much, but he was shocked nonetheless, and began pulling it out. Frankie hurriedly picked herself up and ran, getting away from him as quickly as possible. By the time he was paying attention to her again, she was long gone. He dropped the shard on the ground and narrowed his eyes.
Frankie made plenty of distance and made sure she was safe before she stopped, leaning up against a wall and panting as she tried to sort everything out. Was Ed the one who killed Trish? she wondered. That couldn't be... but then, why... why'd he attack me...? I've got to go find Herriman! Gathering her strength, she moved on, hoping Eduardo wasn't still following her...
Mac swung open the door to the house. It was getting late, so there wasn't anyone around, the shadows of the old place creating a rather dark and foreboding scene. Mac didn't have time to be scared, however; instead, he made a beeline to Mr. Herriman's office, with Bloo close behind. He knocked on the door and called out, "Mr. Herriman!" but received no reply, so he opened the door and went inside.
He gasped as he immediately noticed something was wrong. The rabbit was nowhere to be seen, but one of the windows behind the desk had been smashed, as if something large had been thrown through it. The drapes on the side of the window blew ominously in the wind. "What happened in here?" Mac wondered aloud, a feeling of fear beginning to creep into him again.
Bloo edged over by the desk and said, "Maybe... m-maybe he's... redecorating, or..."
"Come on, Bloo," Mac said. "You're thinking the same thing I am, and you know it." He went closer to the window and examined it; there wasn't much glass inside, which means whatever had crashed through it had initially been inside and was thrown outside. "Maybe if we go outside, we'll find whatever it was..."
"Gggk!" came a surprised yelp from Bloo, and he stumbled back, looking at the ground. Mac turned and saw what he was looking at, and was similarly shocked. There appeared to be a small splatter of blood on the ground next to Herriman's chair, and near the blood rested the rabbit's monocle, a large crack showing in it. From the look of things, there had definitely been some sort of struggle, and more small blood drips lead towards the window. "Wh-... what happened to Mr. Herriman?" Bloo stammered.
"I-I don't think we wanna know," Mac replied, eyes fixated on the blood. It began to dawn on him that the possibility of a roaming murderer being in the house was very real. He started to fear for his safety, and part of him wanted to grab Bloo and run out of the house as quickly as possible... but he also realized his friends at the house would likewise be in danger, and he could never live with himself if he left them to be more possible victims. If there were only something he could do...
He suddenly remembered the paper with the address on it that officer Edwards had given him. Quickly pulling it out, he flipped it over, and just as he recalled, the officer's number was written on he back. He quickly grabbed the phone from Mr. Herriman's desk, but as he started trying to dial it, he realized the line was dead. He hung up and turned to Bloo, saying, "Bloo, I know you can never resist making prank calls, so you've gotta know where all the phones in the house are; where's the nearest one from here?"
"Down the left hallway!" Bloo immediately answered. "C'mon!" The two of them emerged from the office and started quickly crossing the foyer, heading for the hallway on the opposite side...
They barely made it past the stairs when a hand reached out and grabbed Bloo, picking him up. Mac skidded to a halt and spun around to see what happened; he saw Wilt emerge from behind the steps, holding Bloo up by the top of his head. His face was filled with anger; even at a glance, Wilt looked strikingly different than the last time they saw him. Mac was startled at his sudden appearance and asked, "What are you doing?"
Wilt seemed more focused on Bloo, who was struggling in his grip, and he said, "You're the worst of them... you, and everyone else... but especially you... you, Trish, Herriman..."
On the mention of Mr. Herriman, the blood drained from Mac's face. His mention of Eurotrish didn't bode well either. "Wilt!" Mac exclaimed in disbelief, "You didn't...?"
Wilt was breathing quickly in a mixture of fatigue and what seemed like desperate rage. "You don't know what it's like," Wilt told then, his voice shaking. "I... I can't take it anymore... you... they... everyone always pushing me around, taking advantage of everything I do... and never, ever give... give anything back..."
He's lost it, Mac thought... We've got to do something! "Wilt," he said carefully, "we're your friends. Of course we'd do anything for you, and we have. Don't you remember that time you ran away from Foster's? We dropped everything and went after you, because we care about you."
Bloo, still struggling, said, "Yes! What he said, what he said!"
"N-no," Wilt stammered, "you d-don't. You... a-and the others... I was t-told..."
Mac took a step towards him and said, "You've been talking to Rainbow. Has he been telling you all this?" When Wilt nodded, Mac continued, "Wilt, listen to me... Rainbow's been lying to you, and changing how you feel. You can't trust him, understand?"
"Why... why not?" Wilt asked, looking a bit shocked.
"Because he was with the killer!" Mac explained. "We all thought the boy at the house was his kid, but he wasn't. Kevin was the name of the killer, and he was Rainbow's creator. He's been trying to control you the same way he was controlling Kevin!"
"But..." Wilt said, "but I... h-he was so... no, I was angry! I felt it, I really did... I h-hated..."
"Was he angry when you were?" Mac interrupted. "When he turned red, did you begin to hate the others? He can make people feel the same as he does; he was making you feel hatred." Wilt's face was frozen as he considered this, and Mac added, "I know you, Wilt; you could never hate anyone. You're the nicest, most caring person I know. I know people sometimes take advantage of that, and I'm guilty of it too sometimes. But I never thought of you as anything less than my friend, and if you feel bad because of that... then I'm sorry. And I'm sure everyone else feels that way too." Bloo had stopped struggling by now and tried to nod, difficult from the way he was being held.
Wilt looked like he was starting to break down, and he released Bloo, who quickly scurried back over to Mac. With a heartrending cry, he turned and ran from the two of them, disappearing down one of the halls. Mac knew that Wilt most likely came to his senses just now and realized what he had done, and he felt bad for him. He wanted to provide some sort of comfort, anything to help him feel better, but there were more pressing matters: the police needed to be called, and Rainbow needed to be stopped.
"Bloo," he said, "go after Wilt and see if the two of you can find Eduardo. I'll call the police!" Bloo nodded and ran off in the direction Wilt went, while Mac turned and continued down the hall to locate a phone. His mind raced with all the new info Wilt had given him.
Frankie held her midsection, struggling to breathe as she moved down the hall. Whatever had happened when Eduardo had hit her the first time, it must have injured something; pain shot through her sides with every breath she took, and with every beat of her heart. She still couldn't get enough air in her lungs to call out for help. Briefly she wondered if she had broken a rib or was bleeding internally, but she couldn't think about it too long; Eduardo might still be after her.
She came up to a set of doors, leaning up against them and wheezing. She wished she could just take a break and rest for a few moments... but then, the distant sound of Eduardo's heavy footfalls began to grow louder. In desperation, she pulled the door open and threw herself inside, closing the doors quickly behind her.
The library was usually quiet even during the day, but now that it was dark, the silence seemed unearthly so, not a sound anywhere except for the echo of the shutting doors reverberating through the chamber. Using some more of her precious remaining strength, Frankie quickly slid a waist-high bookcase in front of the doors to brace them, although she knew that would do little to slow someone as fiercely strong as Eduardo. Panting, her legs gave way and she fell down to a sitting position, clutching her midsection tighter. She crawled away down the length of bookcases, putting as much distance as she could between her and the door.
Once she got to a relatively safe position, wedged in a space under one of the shelves, she relaxed, trying to recuperate and get her breath back. To her dismay, it wasn't getting any easier; she would definitely need medical attention after this... if there was an 'after this' anyway. The sound of Eduardo's footsteps got closer, and for a moment, they came to a stop, right outside the doors. Everything was perfectly quiet once again... Frankie cringed and listened intently, the only sound now being the ferocious pounding of her own heart, still sending jabs of pain with each beat. Go away, she thought... Just keep going, don't look in here don't look in here...
With a crash, the doors slammed open, the bookcase being knocked aside like it wasn't even there. Eduardo, still enraged, stomped into the room and looked around, trying to catch sight of his target. Frankie pulled herself further into her hiding place and clamped her hand over her mouth to stifle the sound of her pained breathing. She listened carefully, but did not hear anything. Eduardo had not moved an inch. He was waiting and listening as well, the silence of the library hanging maddeningly in the air...
A faint sound interrupted the quiet around them: tiny footsteps, almost inaudible, came into the library and for a moment, Frankie was concerned for the safety of whoever had undoubtedly come to investigate the noise. Part of her was relieved to have a distraction, however, and she waited, listening to see what would happen. Eduardo spoke to the new arrival, "You were right; there was somebody. It was Frankie!"
The arrival spoke and she recognized the voice. Rainbow asked, "And she's in here?"
"Si, I almost sure of it," Eduardo replied. Frankie peeked out briefly to see what was happening; Rainbow had climbed onto Eduardo's shoulder as he continued, "You sure about this? Frankie seem so scared, maybe she not..."
"You said it yourself, you found it was her," Rainbow told him, becoming a deep shade of red. "She revealed herself, yes?"
"Si, si," Eduardo agreed appearing to grow angrier by the moment again. "And she try to hurt me, too."
"Then you can't let this opportunity slip," Rainbow told him. "If you let her get away now, she'll only be more careful next time, and strike you down when you least expect it." Frankie was dumbfounded as she listened to the two of them speak. Wh-what on Earth...? she thought. H-he... why is he doing this? What did I do?! She couldn't understand why Rainbow would be telling Eduardo such things, or why Eduardo would even listen. It seemed so senseless...
With that, Rainbow started to leave; Frankie ducked back into her cover, shaking fearfully. After the sound of Rainbow's footsteps faded, the doors slammed shut, and she heard the sound of a heavy bookcase being slid, no doubt blocking off the exit. Her heart sunk as she realized there was no escape from the library anymore. Continuing to listen, she stifled a cry as she heard Eduardo moving down one of the row of bookcases, slowly and deliberately. She clenched her eyes shut, tears squeezing out from them, and waited. Please, she thought, don't find me don't find me don't find m--...
Her eyes flew open in horror as she was pulled from her hiding place. She tried to scream, but her lungs wouldn't allow it; instead, she gave a feeble cry that wasn't even loud enough to echo through the library. The world around her spun as she felt herself begin flung against the side of a bookcase. More pain shot through her, and there was no doubt now that she had broken something. Before she could move, sharp objects pierced her at various points across her body, and she realized Eduardo had just pounced over and had grabbed her between his teeth, lifting her up. From her vantage point, she could see him glaring at her with more hatred she had ever seen before in an imaginary friend. He was going to kill her, and there was no longer anything she could do to save herself. She completely broke down, tears streaming from her face as she pleaded, "E-Ed... pl-... please... d-don't... w-what did I... do...?" She didn't receive a reply, but was violently shaken from side to side before he gave one last fling, sending her headlong into the wall, and with a final loud crack, her consciousness faded away...
To be continued…