"I've figured it out" Mike said, looking up from his notes.
Crime scene photos scattered the table, with bloodied bodies of soon to be victims adorning the cold steel.
"You sure?" Ke$ha mused, smiling at Mike.
"All I know is that it's not a guy" he replied, shuffling through the papers.
The dim light barely illuminated her bleach blonde hair.
"How can you know?" she said, grinning.
"Because all points lead away from any of the guys. Jan was there when Jane got killed, so was Steven. Mark doesn't seem like he has the drive or motivation, plus, he was heartbroken when Jane died."
"You're forgetting something vital" she said, shaking her head.
"And that would be?" he said, looking at her with confusion.
"There are more than two killers."
"Well, yeah… but…"
"No. No 'buts.' You can't place a dart on any of these kids."
"Why?"
"Because any one of them could be the killer."
Vivian stumbled through the forest, becoming tangled in weeds and branches, the sticky leaves clinging to her thin cardigan. Her black bell skirt clung to her hips, torn and matted by the shrubbery. Under her cardigan was an expensive silk corset, also filthy with grime. Her slender, toned legs gave off a soft glow in the moonlight, illuminated in the darkness, and her black Jimmy Choo heels were covered in dirt.
"Too bad the helps not around to do any of this fucking pruning" she said aloud, a tone of sarcasm in her voice.
"Shit, I hope nobody heard that" she mumbled
She had spent the past hour looking for Jane. After the fireworks had gone off, she booked it to the forest, hoping to salvage her own life. She had left Claire and Steven behind, and was in the process of finding Jan.
Coming out of the woods, the house stood tall before her. The front door was wide open, and the lights had been restored to power. The brightness of the house felt strange, and she had a fleeting feeling of nausea seeing the houses lights on.
"Jan?" she called out, hoping for an answer.
Nothing replied but the soft whir of the electricity inside.
"This is a really, really bad idea" she said, walking towards the open doorway.
Michelle had made it to the shoreline. The dock lay still on the calm lake water, a small amount of evening mist visible through the light from the moon.
"Hello?" she called out, attempting to locate the figure she had seen before.
"Michelle?"
Jolted, she turned around and screamed, before being hushed by Mark.
"Lana Del Rey, you scared me."
"What?" Mark asked, puzzled by Michelle's phraseology.
"Lana? Jesus? Same difference? They both died for our sins?" Michelle gestured, attempting to relay her message of faith to Mark.
"Never mind" he interrupted. "How did you get here?"
"I was in the woods for about thirty minutes, after all of the fireworks went off. I saw a figure standing on the shoreline and assumed it was the killer so I snuck over here."
"You didn't really sneak," Mark edged.
Michelle noticed Mark seemed jittery. His usually bright disposition was gone
"How long have you been here?" she questioned.
"A few minutes."
An awkward silence nudged at them.
"Are you o-" Michelle began to ask.
"You need to see what I found," Mark huffed, desperation in his voice.
He opened his palm, and a golden charm bracelet became visible in the moonlight. It's connecting pieces dangled, letting off small gleams of dim yellow light. Michelle picked it up, examining it.
"…What is it?" she asked. She knew she had seen it somewhere before, but she couldn't remember where exactly.
Mark took it back, flipping it around and pointing at the middle, the accessories and pendants jingling from the movement.
Michelle gasped.
Emblazoned on the back was Vivian's name.
"Where are we?" Claire questioned, sitting down on a mossy rock in the woods.
"How would either of us know?" Steven replied, gesturing to Jan. "None of us have ever been here before and it's pitch black out."
Claire groaned, leaning back onto the rocks cool surface.
"I wanna go ho-"
"Yeah. Home. The Motherland. We know," Jan retorted, silencing Claire.
Jan turned to face Steven.
"When do you think the cops will be here?"
Steven glanced around.
"Since I haven't kept track of the time and it's pretty much been day and night for me, I'm going to guess within the next 32 hours? It's been around a day and a half since Vivian got the signal and called them."
"Fuck, that many of us have died in such a short span of time?"
"All the more incentive to find a way to get rid of these assholes once and for all."
The group continued trekking through the vast forest, over small hills and rocks, through patches of thick bushes. They were alone in the wilderness, but not as alone as one would like to hope. They were being followed.
"Wait," Claire said, motioning for the group to stop.
A small rustle came from the dark woods behind them.
"I swear, if one of you says that it's an Animal I'm committing right now" Steven whispered.
"All the more reason to move it" Jan said, motioning to the group. "Go."
They had made it to one of the islands many shorelines. Claire noticed a small building in the distance.
"It looks like a shed," she said, walking towards it.
"It's a huge one if that's what it is" Steven replied.
Jan walked with the group, thinking about ways they could avoid the killer for the night.
"We should just go hide somewhere and wait till daylight. He, or they, or whoever, never go after us in broad daylight."
"That's probably going to change" Claire said, illuminating the shack with her flashlight.
The bolts holding the jet skis and the kayaks had been ripped apart, metal bars littering the floor.
"Vivian showed us this place at the beginning" Steven mused. "This is where they kept all of the lake stuff, like water ski's, jet ski's, kayaks, floats, emergency guns, etc."
"This means we're near the house and the main beach" Claire said.
"It also means the killers have free reign on the lake" Jan replied, looking out into the dark mass of water.
"You don't think they're planning on killing the cops when they get here, do you?" Claire asked, looking at Jan worriedly.
"No. I don't think they intend on keeping them out."
He looked back from the lake at both of them.
"I think they plan on keeping us in."
Vivian's heels clicked on the hard floors inside, leaving dirt behind with each step. An eerie silence filled the house, and she could hear her heavy breathing very clearly. All of the lights had been turned on, and the TV in the living room was emitting a dim, static glow, the sound of white noise coming from the speakers. All of the rooms had been left untouched from the hour and a half that they weren't in the house. The kitchen lights glowed like spotlights, and Claire's unfinished cup of coffee sat on the counter.
She heard a small thump from the room near hers.
She peered down the hallway.
Nothing.
"Hello?" she called out nervously, hoping that if it was the killer, he or she would show himself or herself and she would have time to run.
A shadow emerged from the darkness.
"Vivian?" Lauri called out, stumbling out of the hallway entrance.
Vivian jumped up, startled by Lauri's sudden appearance.
"Shit, you scared me!" Vivian shouted at Lauri.
"Sorry! I've been in the house ever since the fireworks went off. I heard the heels and knew it was you so I came out of the closet where I was hiding."
"Jesus, you must have been uncomfortable," Vivian stated. "Is anyone else here?"
"One of the killers was in here about 30 minutes ago. I heard them leave through the back door. They probably went out to the beach area."
"So you haven't seen the others?"
"Nope."
"Shit."
"But I did see something else," Lauri said, motioning Vivian to follow her.
They traipsed through the long, lit hallways, their steps reverberating off of the large walls. Lauri led Vivian to the end of the hallway, and they turned a corner.
Vivians heart sank.
"No," she mumbled.
Jane's decapitated head lay in front of her, eyes wide open.
"She's dead… she's really dead."
Lauri stroked Vivians arm as she let out a small whimper before collecting herself, sniffling once.
"How did that get here" Vivian questioned, breathing heavily.
"The killer dropped it there when I was hiding. Like I said, he came through the house, walked around, and literally dropped it. I tried so hard not to scream."
Vivian stared at the head for a few seconds, silence filling the hall.
"Where's the body?" Vivian questioned, snapping out of her daze.
"I don't know," Lauri replied, diverting her attention to Jane's head.
"Well I'm going to find out" Vivian stated, turning around to head down the hallway and out of the door.
"You're not going anywhere" Michelle said, emerging from the corner and grabbing Vivians arm.
"I knew it was you from the start" Mark barked at Vivian, pointing his finger at her.
"Me? You think I'm the fucking killer?" Vivian snapped back, pushing him towards the wall. "I just found out my best friend is dead, how the fuck would I be the killer if I was with you when the fireworks went off!"
"Wait…" Michelle said. "Who's dead?"
Lauri gestured towards the hallway corner. Michelle and Mark both rounded the turn and saw the gruesome omen.
"Oh my god" Michelle gasped. She now knew who the charred, headless body belonged to.
"Why didn't you tell me!" she screamed at Mark, her face flushed red, her eyes watering.
"I thought you knew!" he said, his hands going up, surrendering.
"I just found out" Vivian quipped from the corner.
"No you fucking didn't" Mark said, whipping his head around to face her. "You've known all along."
"And how the fuck do you figure that" she retorted, swinging her hands onto her hips, her matted blonde hair swishing with the motion.
"Because I found this by Jane's body" Mark said, yanking the charm bracelet out of his pocket.
"My bracelet!" Vivian exclaimed, grabbing it out of Mark's hand.
"Exactly" Michelle said.
"Your bracelet" Mark continued.
Lauri turned to face Vivian, and moved herself next to Mark, eyebrow raised, hand on her hip.
"I didn't do it, I promise…" Vivian pleaded.
"Get her" Mark said to Michelle.
Just as Michelle was about to grab Vivian, a crash came from the kitchen. The group froze.
"What the fuck was that" Lauri whispered.
"Shh" Mark hissed, nudging Lauri.
A figure appeared at the far end of the hallway, walking in to the light. It turned it's head to the left, and then turned it to the right, seeing the group. It cocked it's head, unsheathing the blade from it's pocket.
"I told you" Vivian said, pushing Michelle to the side and running, grabbing Lauri by the arm.
"All of you, move" Vivian shouted, gesturing Mark and Michelle to follow her.
The figure picked up it's pace, bolting towards the group.
"Faster," Vivian panted, aiming for the door at the end of the hallway.
The group piled in, slamming the door behind them, locking it.
"We'll only be safe in here for a few minutes until he picks up something heavy and smashes the hinges off" Vivian said, gesturing towards the door leading outside.
"I think it's safer to stay inside the house" Lauri said, motioning towards the doors leading to different rooms and a flight of stairs leading to the upstairs hallway.
"Why the fuck would you say that when there's a killer lurking through it" Michelle snapped.
"Because you can hide places. Out there you're visible anywhere. Sure, you can run, but not when you're being chased by somebody with a gun" Lauri replied.
The figure slammed against the door, the sound of wood cracking getting louder.
"I'm going out" Vivian said, opening the door, Michelle following suit.
"And we're staying" Mark replied, following Lauri into a back hallway.
With that, the doors shut. The killer took no notice, slamming against the door until the lock buckled, and entered the room. It stabbed the mahogany desk in fury when it saw that it's inhabitants were gone, and opened the door leading outside, sinking into the darkness.
The second figure stood by the beach, watching Claire, Steven, and Jan stumble through the woods. It realized that taking three of them on at once was a bad idea, no matter how weak any of them may be. It would have to isolate them and kill them one by one, per normal procedure.
Out of the corner of it's eye, it saw Michelle and Vivian running from the back of the house, sprinting through the forest. Minutes later, it's accomplice burst out of the same door. It caught a glimpse of the other figure, and made it's way down to the beach.
"Why the fuck is Michelle with Vivian."
"I blew the cover. They were interrogating her about the bracelet and I walked in. I had no clue they were in the house."
"Well great, now we know where none of them are."
"We'll get them soon enough. I haven't stabbed flesh for too long. I'm determined. They've done too much wrong for me to let any of them get away."
With that, the figure stabbed its blade into a tree, the sound of crickets being the only audience.
"I know what we have to do."