On the verge of insanity, one had to be to even consider killing someone. But for the four teens lurking in the shadows, it meant freedom. Retaliating against the humanity that held them down and accepting the painful truth. In the end, we are all just monsters forcing ourselves to be good. At least that is what they thought as they watched the old man sleeping on a bench at one of the parks they had scouted out.
"Do you really think we should do this?" asked Susie quietly over to the group.
"Don't wimp out now Sue, we have been planning this for months." Julie stated. Susie clutched onto her hoodie she had stolen from the lost and found from the school the day prior. Now that the man was there and her hand tightened around the knife handle, it felt real.
"The guy is alone, if we are going to do this we should do it fast." Joey said in a voice that sounded a bit shaky. Out of place for the normally confident man. He ringed his hands together and put his mask on trying to pump himself up.
Frank was the only one who was unphased. He was the first to quickly walk to the old sleeping man under a single street light that flickers on and off. Frank was ready, unlike the three that clammered about behind him. He took out his blade and looked up to his group. They were together in this. So they too raised their own blades.
The homeless man twitched, stopping the group. Frank seemed to snort in agitation but noticed his frozen team. The man then took in a deep breath and without a second more started to convulse.
"Oh my gosh! Is he dieing!" Susie panicked at the shaking man. Julie was the second to react as she turned the man to his side quickly.
"He's having a seizure! Joey, call 911!" Julie shouted as the man's eyes rolled to the back of his head and his drill leaked from the corner of his mouth. His beer stained beard was caught with saliva as his mouth hung hopelessly open. Frank stepped back as he watched the man suffering. It wasn't fun to kill an already injured prey. He clenched his knife and then put it in his pocket wordlessly watching the group in a panic.
"Joey!" screamed Susie. Her voice snapped Joey out of his shock and forced him to nervously dig in his hoodie pocket for his family's phone. A Nokia his mother normally had on her during work. But, since he told her he was going out to a party she had given the clunky thing to him for safety reasons.
He finally hit the large numbers on the phone and heard the phone ring loudly.
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! What are we going to tell them!?" Susie said as she continued to panic and pace nervously.
"We didn't do anything we will tell them we were out trick or treating-"
"A bunch of teens? They know we would be up to no good!" Susie cut off Julie's calming words.
Frank firmly grabbed Susie's shoulders and shook her.
"Susie, calm yourself." he ordered. If her mask wasn't covering her face she would be able to see tears running down her cheeks. But since he couldn't, Frank was about to keep himself at least slightly composed towards her emotions.
"I-" Joey turned to Frank to ask what he should do or say to the 911 operative. Without a word, Frank snached the phone and took charge.
"Wow, I feel pumped!" Joey said as he jumped up and down slightly his nervousness slowly fueling his adrenolyn.
"I know, me too, this feels exhilarating." Julie agreed and Susie just shook her head as Frank continued to calmly talk on the phone.
"I feel like I am going to puke." she said and Joey went to her and took both of her hands.
"Be excited Sue, we are going to save this man's life. Think positively." Joey tried to calm her and Susie made a face filled with disgust. Here he was, acting excited about the entire thing. Julie was also seemingly unphased. Susie shook her head. Is she the only one with an ounce of sanity in her?
"Joey, we were going to kill him." Susie told him and Frank hung up the phone with a loud click.
"Yeah, and what if we did? Then the man will be relieved from this mess of a world." Frank said with a stern tone.
"Guys, he stopped having a seizure. But another one could be coming." Julie said her voice early, cutting through the night.
The teens stared back at the old man. A man they were going to kill now they saved the life of. Strangely, the teens found a way to be proud of themselves even with the twisted nature of it all. All except Susie, who held tightly to Joey's hand even when the ambulance showed up.
The group wasn't the same after that. Something had snapped in all of them. Meeting at the lodge, Frank showed the group his commission he had done. He had asked a man to spray paint "Legion" on the back wall. He hoped that it would allow the group to gain more excitement for their next adventure, the staged kidnapping.
"What is that for?" Julie asked as she looked at the graffiti art.
"The killer's name. I wrote a letter to an employee at the movie store. Gave him the address and left money and a twelve pack for him." Frank stated and Julie nodded as she looked at it. To her it seemed kinda flashy not her style.
"That looks dang cool man." Joey said and Susie nodded.
"So, football season is over. Who wants to watch a movie at the theater on Friday?" Joey asked.
"We should sneak in." Julie said with a smirk and Joey high fived her.
"That's the spirit Jules!" he said and Frank also smiled. Good to think the group was still on board to do some misfit activity. Frank was scared that they would chicken out. If they had, he would be alone and everything would be boring again.
"Only if you guys help me break into the school tomorrow." Susie said quietly. Everyone turned to look at her in shock. Julie grabbed her and gave her a side squeeze and playfully pulled on her cheeks.
"Awe, our sweet Susie is finally growing up!" she said with a baby voice. Susie shoved her away but Julie couldn't help but giggle.
"Sure Sue, we can help you. But what for?" Joey asked and Susie's shoulders dropped a bit.
"I only have night free this week because of my dad, and I still want to do art." Susie said quietly. She was being honest. Every day of the week she had to leave straight from the school to check on her father. That, and check on the homeless man in the hospital. She had felt such guilt since that Halloween night. She should have realized the man had a similar problem as her own father. In a way that made that night worse for her. Somehow the comparison made her feel more guilty about how she treated her own dad.
"Sure, sounds easy enough. Besides, we can start scheming about this fake killer and kidnapper. Put weird things in our locker." Julie said and Joey nodded excited at the thought.
Frank leaned on the wall with a smile on his face. Finally things are looking up. This time they won't fail. He will make sure of it. If anything else happens out of their plans he will force them to stay on track.