Tony’s breath began to shorten as he tried to remain calm. Anne was whispering in his ear as she tried to calm him down. Tyrone and Jessica both shot up and the latter blurted out, “Why is there an arm outside?” She immediately winced at the stupidity of the question after the inquiry had left her lips. Evan’s temper flared internally until he caught the wince and took the moment to breathe.

“We have to do this quickly. Tyrone, Jessica; you guys head downstairs and just make sure there’s no easy access to this place. Check each of the bedrooms for doors or windows to the outside and lock them, if they have no shades to them, block them out somehow. There’s also a door that leads to the deck with the hot tub back there. That door is basically all glass, aside from the frame; but it has blinds. Make sure to shut those blinds and lock that door. Anne, stay here and keep Tony nice and stable. Close the blinds to the windows we have in this living room and lock the door to the upper deck. I know we had a hell of a view before, but we’re going to need to black this place out. I’ll go to the other rooms on this floor and make sure there aren’t any ways to get inside. When we’re done, meet back in here and let’s regroup.”

Tyrone and Jessica sped down the stairs and Evan ran to the only bedroom on this floor, the master bedroom where his parents would stay. Anne kissed Tony on the cheek and said, “Don’t worry and catch your breath. Everything is going to be fine.” She left Tony lying down on the couch that was in the center of the living room, facing the television and the mounted heads of large wild game. Anne turned on the lights in the living room and closed the shutters to the windows that were a few yards to the left of the couch. The windows looked out upon miles of snow and trees. It really was a hell of a view. She quickly stepped to the door to the outside deck on this floor. The door had a wooden frame with glass taking up the rest of the interior. Opened blinds that were now being shut covered the glass on the door.

Evan passed the front door, internally fighting with himself about whether or not he should check to see if there was still a severed arm outside of it. “Don’t be a dumbass, of course it’s still out there,” he audibly grumbled.

His parents’ bedroom was located down a short hallway that was directly to the right if someone were to come through the front door. Evan opened the door. It was incredibly dark in this room. He fumbled around as his hands moved around the walls; attempting to find the light switch for the room was like a blind person trying to read braille. He shuffled further into the room. It wasn’t on the wall to his right, perhaps to his left. Evan shuffled his weight to the left side. He placed his left hand on the wall and moved a few inches when something pierced his forearm.

“Fuck!” Evan found the lights just as his forearm had been jabbed by something incredibly sharp. He looked in front of him and was face to face with the fairly large skull of a buck. He glanced at his arm and saw a small cut where his arm had run into one of the antlers.

Evan mumbled angrily, “Guess dad wanted to scare the hell out of me if I ever came in here without permission as a kid. Dick move, pops.” He looked around the master bedroom for any openings. There were small windows above the master bed, but nothing that could be opened without blunt force to shatter them. He looked inside the walk-in closet, just in case. He turned on the lights and was met with winter clothing that had barely been worn. He ran his finger on the top shelf of the closet, hoping to feel a gun. He did not.

Evan sighed with disappointment, “Probably a good move, though. Don’t need a gun in a house full of drunk college kids. Unless there’s a deranged murderer on the loose, but hey, hindsight is twenty-twenty.” He peered inside the restroom, but there were no openings to be found.

He exited the master bedroom and scurried past the front door again. Still arguing with himself about whether or not to double check. “What if you just imagined it,” the thought crossed his mind but he shook his head, “quit being stupid. We heard the bang on the door. You saw an arm. That’s not a typical daydream or hallucination to have. Quit second-guessing yourself.”

Directly to the left of the front door was the living room and if one were to take another left after, they would be in the kitchen. Anne was in the kitchen getting some water for Tony, who was now sitting up on the couch. He looked up to Evan and asked, “Is there anything I can do, man? I’m super sorry about all that shit I said early. I love your Law and Order brain.”

Evan smiled, “Don’t worry Tony, you’re completely fine. Just like we’ll all be. Just get that breathing under control.” Evan continued on straight. There was a short hallway that had one room on the left at the end of it. Evan walked into it and turned on the lights. It was only the laundry room, no doors or windows. No worries. He turned around as was facing a door across the hall. It was another door to the outside deck. The deck was sizable and reached around the outside as a large semi-circle. The door was wooden with a small foot-by-foot square to look outside with.

“Don’t want to forget about you,” Evan thought as he locked the door. He went back to the living room and saw Tony and Anne cuddled up next to one another.

“Hey you two, I’m gonna be right back. I’ma go downstairs and check on Tyrone and Jessica.” The stairs were roughly ten yards directly in front of the front door. Evan descended them and looked around as he reached the bottom. To the right of the stairs was a small lounge area with a television that he remembered watching movies with his family and more distant relatives whenever they would vacation here. To the left was a wall with access to the three other rooms and the outside deck. Tyrone and Jessica emerged from the outside deck and locked the door.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Evan inquired, “Was there something out there?”

Tyrone shook his head, “Naw, just felt like looking at that view one more time before we shut all these blinds.” The trio went back up the stairs to meet with Tony and Anne. The five friends sat relatively close to each other. Each having the irrational fear that if they were more than a few feet away from the group, they would be next in line to get attacked by the killer. Perhaps that line of thinking was not so irrational, given the circumstances.

Tony broke the silence, his voice wavering and audibly shaken, “So, this is probably a stupid question to ask, but what the fuck do we do now?”

Jessica put her phone to her ear and began chewing on her thumbnail, “I’m getting some cops here right now.”

Anne nodded, “Yeah, probably a good idea. How did that take so long to cross our minds?” No one answered. Jessica began speaking with an operator and explaining the situation. She stood up and went to the kitchen to speak. The living room and the kitchen were all together in an open room so the group watched her as she paced and held herself together to speak. She returned to the living room and plopped down next to Tyrone.

He asked, “So, uuuuhhhh, what’s the move?”

“She told me that they’re already sending squad cars. Apparently someone called it in.”

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The police had been speaking to the group and looking around the premises for thirty minutes by the time Davie returned. He got the five together and began speaking, “I’m sure the other officers have pretty much gotten you to tell everything, but just to ask again, are you kids ok?”

Evan shrugged, “We’re fine. Just confused now. Why the hell return and target us when he knows that cops are around?”

“Well, this is the part of the investigation where I have to ask you kids about the people you know. Anyone who dislikes you enough to do this? The behavior of this person isn’t making a lot of sense. They removed the arms of these women with some degree of precision and minimal mess. They’re smart enough to not leave tracks or prints. However, they’re just launching arms at your place? They’re risking getting caught. I’m not sure if this person is all-knowing or just damn lucky. Maybe they’re just patient. They had to realize we would find the other body and that you kids would be alone long enough to do this. Is there anyone, anyone at all, who would try this? This place is pretty nice. Lots of expensive stuff, right? Do your parents have any enemies? Someone who would want to hurt them by hurting you?”

Evan surveyed the room, anticipating a response from any member of their group, but no answer came. The others simply shook their heads and Evan repeated that action and shrugged. Davie sighed, “Look, we’ll have you kids under surveillance every hour of every day. If they’ve taken advantage of lapses in our surveillance then they won’t bother trying anything now. And if they still have the spine to try and harass you kids again, we’ll catch them in the act.”

The answer wasn’t the most reassuring, but the police presence was welcome. Davie began heading towards the door, but turned his head to leave the group with some parting words, “If you need anything, two officers will be here at all times. They’ll be taking shifts, there will always be at least one officer in the vehicle out front, and every hour one of them will scan the surrounding area. We’re gonna find out who’s doing this.”

The door shut.

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Thirty minutes had passed and a majority of the group remained stationary in the same positions. Evan had locked the door after Davie left and had plopped himself on top of one of the kitchen counters. The silence was deafening. The group felt defeated, bullied. It was a collective feeling of not only hopelessness, but also disappointment in themselves. The fact that they were a group of five individuals, but were still too weak to combat one harasser.

A small grumble broke the silence. They all looked up and glanced at Tony. He produced a sheepish smile and stated, “I know that we’re super depressed right now, but could maybe be depressed with some food? Your boy is kind of hungry.”

Jennifer piped in, “Depression and comfort food do generally go hand-in-hand.”

Evan chuckled, “Alright, Dr. Phyllis. What sounds good?”

Anne clung onto Tony’s arm as she chimed in, “I’m hungry, but I’m not sure if I could even eat. If that makes sense.”

Tony smiled and produced a small vacuum-sealed bag filled with kush, “Well thank goodness I have just the remedy for that kind of problem.”

Tyrone winced, “Bro I’m not sure about that. We got a killer lurking for us and you want to get us high?”

Tony shook his head, “Nah man you’re looking at it all wrong. We got a killer lurking, sure, but we got the cops right out there. And I don’t think those dudes are gonna be worrying about a little smoke when they’re worried about Leatherface out there.”

Anne tightened her grip on Tony and said, “Babe, poor taste.”

Evan piped up, “Yeah and are you telling me you brought that shit on the plane?”

Tony shrugged, “Vacuum sealed, bro. No one could smell it or find it in my bags. I mean, we’re here aren’t we? Don’t worry about what never happened. All I’m saying is we’re on edge, we’re depressed, we need a pick-me-up. We got all this weed and we got hella drinks in the kitchen. We got protection. I just had a panic attack and I’m not gonna mope around here anymore wasting this vacation being on guard when we got two trained professionals out there ready to murk whoever is trying to fuck with us.”

Jennifer scanned the room and let out a small chuckle, “He makes a good point. I say we just go for it. Fuck a killer, I’m here with my best friends and that motherfucker isn’t dictating my life or my time with all of you.”