Aly covered her eyes. She heard Andrew’s body land on the ground and his yells in pain. She couldn't bear to look.
“He’s alive!” Aaron said.
Aaron edged his way to the roof’s ledge. Andrew lay sprawled below, certainly with a few broken bones. His arm was bent out of shape, and his chest was bleeding from the recent graze from the chainsaw.
Speaking of…
Psycho with a chainsaw still couldn’t fit through the window gracefully, though he was trying. His weapon was too heavy and his shoulders were barely making their way through the frame.
Aaron lent a hand to Aly, “I’ll lower you down as close as I can.” He was about to use his left hand but cringed. He too had a nice grizzly gash on his arm from the chainsaw. Aly grasped his other hand and let him lower her off of the edge. Her feet dangled unable to feel anything. She would have to drop.
“Try to roll,” Aaron gave his parting advice.
Her organs squirmed as she fell. This was going to hurt, Aly thought. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she let her legs relax and she rolled to the side. It went somewhat well, however her ankle still received a shocking pain.
Aaron followed after her, landing heavily. He groaned but managed to get back on his feet.
“Hey…” Aaron leaned over Andrew’s sprawled body, “What hurts? Can you move at all?”
Andrew didn't respond right away. He hadn't blinked since hitting the ground.
“Hey!” Aaron tried again.
Aly staggered, recomposing herself. Andrew didn't look like he was in good shape. Though unblinking, his face was twisted with agony. Unfortunately, Aly knew too well about broken bones, being an adventurer or accident prone she wasn't quite sure and understood his suffering.
“We can’t stay here,” Aly said, “We have to help him up.”
Both of them attempted to lift Andrew by the arms, but he gasped in pain instantly. One arm was definitely broken. Aly hadn't considered his back or neck areas and what condition those were in. Moving him could kill him, but leaving him would too.
“What can we do?” Aly asked Aaron.
Aaron’s eyes were dark and filled with concentration. He nodded, as though making up his mind, and headed back towards the house.
Panicking, Aly yelled, “What are you doing!”
“That basement was full of toys. I’m sure we can defend ourselves with some of them. I’ll be back.”
“Don’t leave us here!” Aly begged.
“Drag him somewhere, hide him, and stay out of sight until I get back. I won’t be long.”
Aly couldn't believe him. Her chest was tight, knowing she was alone with only the crippled Andrew and possibly several killers. She whirled around looking for a good place to stash themselves. They were literally in the middle of nowhere. This house was surrounded by trees.
Aly carefully pressed her hand underneath his neck.
“Feel anything?”
Andrew clenched his eyes shut, “It’s my head, my arm, my leg…”
Ok, he wasn't paralyzed.
“Put more weight on your good leg, I have to drag you out of here.”
Andrew groaned. Luckily, Andrew wasn't a great big heavy guy, Aly thought. She tried to be delicate but efficient and grabbed under his armpits, steadily dragging him towards some trees. He tried not to scream or make a sound, but he muffled some gasps.
*****
Katie was running so hard her throat felt like it shredding. Bad men, bad men, bad CRAZY men!
There were no signs of busy streets, no light pollution from far off towns, no sound. They were out here with the crazies all alone. She’d been taken by one of them, and he started to drag her out into the forest. With luck on her side, she managed to escape just barely. He was still chasing her, following her with this massive kitchen knife.
Katie wanted to return to the people she was with before, but she also didn't want to go back to the house. If she kept running she had to find help eventually. She just had to…
Suddenly, a hand grabbed hold of Katie’s shoulder. She was quickly pulled down behind a thick tree that had fallen over.
It was over, she thought, she was dead this time for sure!
“It’s me!”
Instantly, Katie felt relief hearing a feminine voice. She turned around to find the blonde afro girl crouching in her hiding spot, with Andrew laying completely flat.
“Oh, “ Katie almost hugged her, “Oh… he’s bleeding. What happened?”
“What happened to you!” Aly asked, with slight accusation.
Katie forced her breathing sobs to subside, which was very difficult, but her pursuer was about to pass them.
The man carrying a knife walked right by them, kept going, and realized he’d lost her trail. He roared and started slashing at the trees and foliage. It was like watching a very upset child throwing a fit, but far more disconcerting.
“Pretty…red shiny hair…fire…red like…blood…my pretty…”
He was muttering incoherently.
Don’t turn around, Katie begged. Don’t let him turn around…
The crazed man flailed and snarled, but luckily headed left instead. Katie was shaking so badly, she wrapped her arms tightly around herself to keep steady.
“That was really close,” Aly whispered.
“When we split up he found me… and brought me out here. I don't know why.”
Katie wanted to cry again. Remembering his soulless eyes and hard expression as he pulled her, screaming and kicking, with that knife in his hands… Katie closed her eyes. Stop. Stop. Stop.
“We were drugged and kidnapped just to be brought out here to Farmville to be chopped to pieces?” Katie said.
“Honestly,” Aly said, “I have no idea… I don’t understand what a Thanato Project is…”
She stopped dead for a second. Katie nudged her.
“What?”
Aly shook her head, “Nothing. These guys and I were chased upstairs. We escaped through the window, but… Andrew fell.”
“Where’s Aaron?”
“The dummy decided to go on a solo mission to look for weapons in the basement.”
“What!”
Aly put her hands up, “There was no stopping him.”
Katie swallowed hard. This couldn't be happening to them! As hard as she tried, she ended up crying anyway. Her breathing was so sharp it hurt.
“Ah!” Aly swatted the side of her face.
“What!” Katie’s heart was about to burst from all the excitement. One more scare and certainly her organs would erupt.
“Sorry, I think it was just a bug.”
There was a faint buzzing sound, but that didn't faze Katie. She remembered the inside of the house and how rank and disgusting it was, not to mention a dead body. There were bound to be flies everywhere around here.
A twig snapped.
Both of them froze, Andrew still a stiff. Katie could hear more buzzing. Bees this time? They heard another crunch of footsteps. Whatever it was was coming this way. Katie clenched her eyes shut. Aly grabbed her hand tightly. Strangers or not, they were all they had.
The closer the footsteps got the louder the bees became. There had to be a hive somewhere, Katie gulped. When Aly clenched her hand even tighter, Katie knew she must’ve spotted something. Katie barely got a glimpse of a dark figure, and his skin was moving.
Katie thought her eyes were tricking her so she blinked a couple times. The figure was moving in the opposite direction of them, blending in with the trees. He wasn't raging like the men with weapons. His steps were elegant and slow. And she wasn’t wrong.
His skin was moving.
“He’s…” Aly whispered, “He’s covered in…bees?”
That triggered something in Katie’s mind. The image of a man covered in bees reminded her so much of some weird movie she watched in high school with some friends. It was definitely some horror flick.
Thunk. Thunk.
It sounded like something was hitting a tree trunk. First thuds, and then scrapes.
Scrape. Scrape.
“Candyman…” Katie spoke.
“Shh!” Aly hissed, “He’s still close.”
“The bees…” Katie was getting frantic.
“Girlfriend, be quiet!”
“The knife, the chainsaw, the burns…” she kept going, “the bees…the hook.”
The thunking stopped. Aly shushed Katie by shoving a finger to her lips. Both of them stopped breathing.
Scraaaaaaaape.
The sound was right next to them. Katie’s blood went cold. An angry buzzing started to surround them in an eerie crescendo. A fuzzy bee casually landed on her shoulder. She desperately wanted to swat it away, but she was too afraid to move. More bees landed on Katie and now Aly too. Andrew had lost consciousness and was unfazed by the bees gathering around his face. Aly looked like she was going to puke or cry, or both.
“I can’t…” Aly cringed slightly, “Ugh…!”
Katie was freaking out, but Aly suddenly appeared to have lost all of her cool. They’d been squatting for a while, but not enough to make them shake like Aly was now. Katie caught a glimmer of sweat on Aly’s forehead.
“Aly…” Katie tried to sound comforting.
She wished she’d kept her mouth shut.
The dark figure that had been lurking around with the bees was now behind them, standing over them not making a sound. Just the continuous buzzing of the bees.
Bees coated this man’s dark body. Katie almost couldn't see his clothing until she realized his chest was completely exposed. And not just that, but wide open, rib cage and all. No blood, just meat, bones, and bees nesting where his organs should've been.
Katie gaped at the grotesque image. And Aly…
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!”
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