"Something's not adding up," Mike said, thinking aloud in the small, dark space. "How can everyone not notice when one of them isn't there?"
"When there's a dead body lying on the floor not much can take your attention away from it" Ke$ha replied, examining her fingernails.
"You seem unbothered by most of this" Mike said, despondently staring at her.
"Don't even try it you little nipple pincher. I cried for days."
"Who's death bothered you the least?"
"All of them bothered me" she said, rolling her eyes at the asinine question presented to her.
"Pick one specifically"
"Kevin's."
"Why?"
"I hate my black fans."
The fog rolled around the island. A cold spell had been placed on the area, causing the lake to emit an eerie steam. It clung to the trees, wisping around the branches, resting on the leaves. It surrounded the house; it's lights only giving out a faint glow under the power of the mist. The lake sat uncomfortably quiet, the fish not even kicking up so much as an occasional splash. Inside, the group sat uncomfortably quiet as Nicole's body lay in front of them.
Vivian returned from her bedroom. "If this doesn't work, I don't know what will," she mumbled, plugging in a small black box into the wall. She pressed a switch, a beep emitting from the box.
Suddenly, all of the cellphones in the room let out noises of notifications from the past days. Worried texts from their parents, Facebook messages, phone calls.
"It fucking worked!" Vivian shouted, jumping around the room. Everyone ran into their rooms, attempting to phone the police and their parents. However, upon making their calls, an unfortunate and terrifying change occurred.
A raspy, concealed voice rang over the lines.
"Nice try" it baited.
Michelle's heart sank. Claire let out a non-believing 'no'. Jane mumbled 'fuck' under her breath, and Christine threw her phone across the room in fear.
"Bodies are pale, blood is red, come for me, and you'll be dead."
Miranda screamed from the closet, and Steven sank into his pillow. Mary began to cry, and Alex dipped his head in disappointment.
"You think you can stop me?" the voice teased. "I'm going to get every last one of you. You can run, you can scream, you can shoot all you want. Your blood will be the last thing on my hands – that is, unless you kill yourselves while you're at it."
With a final cackle, the voice disappeared.
The group herded into the living room, looking like a disjointed mess.
"We have to do something!" Alex cried. Claire co-signed his movement, while Peter shook his head in agreement. Steven nibbled on his fingernails, while Michelle pouted in the corner, puckering her lips, an empty bottle of Patron in her hands.
"Were not just going to pick up a gun and shoot the guy. It knows the place better than anyone, even Me, Jane, and Mary. Now that Nicole is gone, we're the only ones who know the full layout of this place, or at least the general direction of everything. We need to stick together; no more of this splitting up bullshit unless were in groups. Nicole died because her and Mary weren't paying attention. That death was totally preventable, but it happened and there's nothing we can do about it. We need to find this 'thing' and fast, before it kills all of us. It doesn't have a motive, it's just killing to kill" Vivian said, huffing.
"But what if it does have a motive?" Lauri replied. "What if we did something that would warrant a need to kill us? What wrongs have you all committed in the past? What have you done that someone could deem 'evil' or 'malicious'? What have any of you done that would make someone want to drive a knife through your heart?"
The group thought, racking their brains for clues as to what they could have done.
"There was that time I sacrificed a bunny in the name of Lana, but I'm pretty sure nobody was watching" Michelle slurred.
"What if it's the guys from the Lion's Den?" Claire questioned.
"I forgot to put my swag on one morning" Miranda added.
"One time I didn't full finish grilling a patty," Christine mumbled.
"I dragged Clarisse one time" Jan replied. The group stared at him.
"I leaked Sky's unreleased material" Steven said, looking around.
"Sky would never kill anyone. She's too perfect, and besides, she's scared of blood" Claire quipped, triumphantly glaring at Steven.
"I forgot to buy a Frappe one morning" Alex contributed.
"THAT'S IT!" Michelle screamed from the back of the room, deep in thought.
"I forgot to play Born To Die one night before going to sleep. This is Lana's way of getting revenge. She's going to kill everyone to teach me an important life lesson. I will emerge a better person and she will come down from the fifth dimension and rescue me from this hell." She smiled, popping open another bottle of Svedka.
"One time I let my dog eat me out but I highly doubt that garners death" Jane said, Lauri giving her a look of disgust.
"Something tells me this is Vivian's fault," Alex said, looking in her direction, shooting a curt glare. "I mean, she is the one who owns this place."
"Why the hell would this be my fault? It's not my fault you're a jail bait faggot that any serial killer would be willingly ready to chop apart," Vivian snarled.
"At least I'm not a bimbo who has to suck off her professor for a GED" Alex quipped.
"At least I have a GED" Vivian sniped. "Go back to using mommy and daddies money to fund your Starbucks addiction. Oh! And while you're at it, you should probably get that hair fixed. I'd suggest a yarn weave, but even that would be too high class for trash like you."
Alex sank into the couch, his mouth agape.
"Shut the fuck up Vivian, stop being a cunt." Jan yelled. "We're not here to fight, we're here to stay alive, and you two beating each others asses won't help."
"At least I have an ass," Vivian mumbled. Lauri smacked her arm.
The group had been sitting in the living room for hours until a large crash came from the upstairs.
"Ain't no way in hell I'm finna go up there!" Miranda asserted, putting her hands up.
"Nobody is up there, something probably just fell over" Jane commented, cocking her shotgun.
"Someone's not convinced" Steven muttered. Michelle giggled, tracing her fingers on his skin. The two had become intertwined on the large couch, giggling and kissing over drunken words, feeling a little bit frisky.
"I'll go look," Jane said, making herself believe it wasn't anything threatening.
"Don't go alone!" Mary shouted, her blue eyes twinkling with fear. "I don't want you dying on me," she said, kissing Jane. She smiled and held onto Jane's arm.
"I'll go with you too," Lauri said, standing up from the couch. "I'm bored as fuck and Peter isn't really even trying to entertain me anymore" she said, shooting him a cold glare. Peter had been teaching Lauri the art of moose herding, but she wasn't having it.
"Just don't die" Claire groaned from the couch.
The trio made their way up the two stories. Paintings and pictures lined the walls, and tables and the occasional lamp presented themselves as they continued down the hallway. Light danced and jittered across the floor, bouncing onto the walls in an array of glimmering euphoria, before connecting with the mirrors lining the narrow space.
"Do you hear that?" Mary questioned. A scratching noise was coming from one of the rooms – the one at the far end of the hallway.
"Yeah" Lauri replied, her brow furrowing, trying to make the sound out. Something was digging, or rather, searching, through the bedroom at the end of the hall. Jane approached carefully, making sure her feet didn't make the floorboards groan.
"I'm gonna kick the door open. If anyone runs out of if any crazy killer jumps at me, you guys have to help me out, okay?" Jane questioned, Mary and Lauri nodded.
Before Jane lifted her foot up, Mary grabbed her by the arm, twirling her around, and kissed him with a passion unknown to the two before.
"Just in case" Mary stammered, blushing.
Jane kicked the door in.
"Don't fuck with me!" she shouted, pointing the gun around the room. The rustling stopped.
"The fuck…?" Lauri murmered.
A figure flew out of the darkness. Jane cocked her gun and shot. A squeal emitted from the figure and Mary let out a yelp. A raccoon lay dead on the floor, Jane huffing heavily.
"I'm sorry" Jane said, reloading the gun.
"Is everything okay?" Christine screamed from downstairs.
"Yeah!" Jane shouted back, closing the bedroom door. "It was an animal."
The group had begun to make their way downstairs. Lauri had been caught deep in thought, before a definitive idea hit her.
"Wait" Lauri stammered, her eyes widening. "How would a raccoon get into the house if there's nobody to-"
A slam reverberated off of the walls. A shadowy figure ran out of one of the bedrooms, knocking Jane against the wall, her gun flying out of her hands.
"No!" she screeched as the figure pinned Lauri to the wall. Jane scrambled for her gun, and the figure released Lauri, knocking her head against the wall, stabbing Jane in the arm.
"Fuck!" she shouted as the figure ran towards Mary. Blood spilled out of Jane's arm as she lay screaming.
Mary had already begun running down the hallway towards the stairs. The figure picked up his knife and aimed.
Mary felt a sharp stab in her back and collapsed near the banister, her eyes wild with fear. The pain ran through her body, scalding her nervous system.
The killer leaned over her. It removed the knife from her back as she screeched, and turned her over to face it.
"You're going to look at me when I kill you" the figure said, staring at Mary.
"It's – it's you! I can't believe you would do thi-"
The figure plunged the dagger into Mary's chest, cutting off her discovery. Jane screamed, while the unconscious Lauri laid motionless on the ground.
Mary attempted to crawl away, and the figure laughed, knowing she would not make it far. It picked up her frail body, digging the knife into her back. She let out one final scream before the figure threw her body down the stairs. It ceased at the landing with one final "snap."
The figure ran back into the bedroom. Jane grabbed it by the arm. Before she could shoot, it ripped out of her grip, leaving a piece of fabric in her hand. It jumped out of the window that Alex had foolishly forgotten to lock, that being the only entrance into the house.
The group surrounded the body. Claire cried while Jane locked the upstairs window. Lauri woke from her haze, not remembering anything that happened.
Michelle screamed as Steven tried to console her, and Peter slammed his fists against the walls.
"This is the last time. I'm fucking done. I'm fucking DONE" Mark shouted at the group. Christine sat crying while Alex tried to hug her, tears pouring from his very eyes. The group was overcome with emotion, not aware of their surroundings.
Jane stumbled out of the bedroom, her vision blurred with tears. Lauri reached her arm out, gesturing for Jane to help her.
"What happened?" Lauri questioned, hearing the sobs from the first floor.
"Mary's dead."
The figure stood in the dense fog, overlooking the lake. It twirled the blade in its hand, feeling accomplished after such a successful kill. It realized, however, that it had played it too close – so close to the point that Jane almost got it.
It peered into the windows, watching the friend's scream and cry in a frenzy. They still had yet to notice that one of their own was missing, but the figure knew that would have to change soon. It needed to stop doing its killings so publicly, in order to make it look like they were in the group the entire time.
The figure flicked a lighter, taking a deep inhale on a cigarette, it's name emblazoned on the butt.