The knocks on the front door startled the five inside at first. The first thought that crossed Evan’s mind was - did it happen? Did the killer just get done slaughtering the police and stroll up to their door to politely ask for a few more blood samples? The knock was immediately followed by Davie identifying himself to the temporary residents.
Seeing Davie was a pleasant surprise, given the chaos of the situation. The closer Davie was to them, the further away death by some anonymous slasher would likely be. Seeing Mel trail in after Davie was a less pleasant surprise for the undergraduates. His face was solemn, however. Their gazes met his, seemingly devoid of energy after what must have been a huge burst of adrenaline.
The five friends piled closely on the couch in the middle of the room. Mel occupied a chair off to the side, sinking into the cushions. Davie paced slowly, distractedly. He finally looked up from analyzing the floor. Once his eyes met those of the others’, he jerked slightly as if surprised at the discovery of their existence. “So,” Davie began before slightly trailing off, “seems we find ourselves with a… shift in this situation. We found a body next door and it doesn’t quite resemble what we’ve seen up to this point.”
“Really now?” Six pairs of eyes turned to Mel. He was looking at his own feet. This less energized demeanor made him look meeker than usual. Despite his weaker status at this time, his words still had a bite to them like a wounded dog bearing its teeth at potential irritants.
Davie gave him a quick glance but it returned to the younger individuals. “You kids don’t need to get filled in on the details. To be blunt, I’m not convinced that anyone in this vicinity is safe anymore. Before it looked like someone was just taunting you kids, but now… this? It’s erratic and it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense yet, but there is one thing that should be obvious to us all.
We have got to get you six out of here. I’ve been informed that we’ve managed to contact a hotel. It’s about fifteen minutes away. That should provide some cushion from all of this, especially if what’s going on is isolated to the immediate area. The bad news is that the rooms won’t be available until later in the morning. It’s 4 AM right now and we’re going to have to wait until about 8. Some visitors to our fair town are going to have to be ousted from their rooms, but they’ll be fine.
You guys can drive in your respective cars with a police escort whenever we head out or you can be taken by one of our squad cars. Either works. Until then, I’ll have a couple of officers here to wait out the time with you.”
The, now, group of six looked around at each other and began to subtly nod in agreement with this course of action. Evan raised his hand, an action that, in tandem with his lack of control over this entire situation, made him feel smaller than he had in years. Davie gave him an approving look.
“So,” Evan produced a small grunt to clear his voice, “there’s a reason why we’re still here in Colorado. You mentioned a while back the snowstorm that’s coming. When is that supposed to happen?”
Davie flatly replied, “It’s looking like 11 is when things will get rough. This won’t be the strongest storm in the world, but it is still bringing some power with it. Things will be rough from anywhere between 12 and 24 hours.”
Evan picked at his lower lip with his teeth for a moment. “Ok, so… a day of blizzards in a hotel. I don’t think I feel comfortable with that.” This response was like a shot of adrenaline to his friends. Confusion was smeared all over their faces.
Mel spoke up before anyone else could interject, “What makes you uneasy about it?”
Evan wanted to shoot him a glance of animosity, but by the time his eyes focused on the man, his gaze had softened. “I can’t really place my finger on it. I get it, it’s stupid to stay here. It feels like whoever is doing this is winning. It feels like we’re being driven out by a singular fucking person. There are seven of us in here contemplating how to outwit and outman one… ONE person.”
Davie raised an eyebrow to this, “I get your frustration with the situation. I’m not going to lie to you and say that I’m not irate myself. But we have to work with the hand we’re dealt.”
Evan shrugged his shoulders. He was halfway into an anxiety attack and halfway into a surge of aggressive energy. “I’m not fucking leaving.”
Tyrone put his hand on Evan’s forearm, “Evan, think ab-”
Evan jerked his arm from under Tyrone’s hand, “NO. No. I’m not going. We’re just running and running. And guess what? I’m betting whoever is doing this is already three steps ahead. They’ve been ahead this entire time. They’re so fucking far ahead that you and I talked about the idea of it being a godamn cryptic, Ty. We don’t have a clue what his motive is and how he’s coming at us.”
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Mel spoke up, masculine abrasiveness slowly resurfacing, “If you hadn’t noticed I’m the only one here that’s been specifically targeted. Maybe you’re not the center of attention here, kid. None of you kids are. You just happened to be around. Go to the hotel. Be safe and go back home where people give a shit about you guys. For better and for worse.”
Evan looked at him flatly, “I’m not going. If he doesn’t give a shit about us, then I’m fine here. I just happen to be around. If he is targeting us, then my ass thinks the hotel is just a grave with more rooms. I’ll stay here, where my body will at least be easier to find.”
Jessica was quiet this whole time, a small pile of fingernails on the ground increasing in size. Anne seemed to be in a daze. Her eyes transfixed on the ground as her head leaned on Tony’s shoulders. Tony was fully engaged, eyes darting back and forth between Mel, Davie, and Evan. His eyes moved from person to person, regardless if they were speaking at the time. Tyrone had nothing else to contribute at the time.
Davie had grown irritated as Evan spoke, but the words he now expressed were softer than he had ever spoken to the group, “Evan, I can’t stay here with you. I have a wife at home, I need to be with her during this storm. I can’t guarantee your safety and the force is stretched thinner than it has in a long time. It’s an unnecessary risk.”
Tyrone looked at Jessica with concern. She nodded and spoke up, “Tyrone and I can stay here. Three on one is still a pretty competitive advantage, huh?”
As she spoke two new figures appeared from the front door. “Davie!”
The detective jolted and turned around to see Janet and Carl standing there, “How did you guys get in??”
Janet replied, “Front door comes in handy when it’s unlocked.”
Carl added, “Handy for us and anyone else. We locked it back up.”
The detective spoke over the two, “Why are you here?”
Carl replied, “Well, we were eavesdropping outside for a couple of minutes and found an opening. We can stay here to watch the kids.”
Janet interjected with a solemn smile, “After seeing… well, I’m not sure if the kids know so let’s just say what was next door. After that, I can’t let these kids fend for themselves.”
Carl added, “I don’t think I could go home and actually sleep after tonight. Things kinda got recontextualized. If that makes sense…”
Evan let out a genuine smile while hearing this. However, a surprising voice spoke dissent into the air. “I want to be at the hotel.”
The room collectively brought its attention to Tony. He was confident in his demeanor. “I don’t want to be here. Too much has happened here for me to feel safe. For Anne to feel safe. Keeping our distance so close that this person is constantly grazing us tells me that if we stay put then eventually those grazes are going to turn into cuts. I’m not going to wait around for that to happen.”
Evan weakly raised his voice, “Tony c’mon are you serious?”
“Absolutely. I don’t think you’re wrong for wanting to stay, Evan. You’re smart. This is your wheelhouse, despite your lack of real world experience. I respect your opinion on this, but I believe differently. I don’t think this person is playing chess with us, I think he’s an animal. I think he’s smart, but he’s not a genius. I think staying here is just keeping you in his crosshairs.”
Davie sighed and then followed up Tony’s tangent, “Like I said, our forces are thin. Lots of different pieces trying to accomplish our goal of finding this bastard and putting him away. We can’t dedicate four officers to protect both of your groups split like this.”
Carl once again spoke up, “I can go to the hotel with them. I can take the car, stay at the hotel, watch over things until the storm dies down. Janet?”
She replied confidently, “One hundred percent. I can stay here. I’m assuming this mansion has an unused room, right kid?”
Evan nodded. Mel stood up in his seat, “So it looks like it’s four of us at the hotel and four of you here. What now?”
Davie stood up himself, “Now we wait. I’m not done with your house, Mel. Janet and Carl will stay here. Maybe catch a couple hours of a nap before some of you head off to the hotel.”
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7:45 AM
Tony, Anne, Mel, and Carl began to load up the vehicle. Carl naturally got behind the wheel and, almost as naturally, Mel assumed the position of front passenger. Tony and Anne were by the back seats, doors unopened. Evan, Tyrone, and Jessica stood closely by after the rash of hugs ended.
Tyrone spoke, “Please be careful you two.”
Tony chuckled, “Be careful? You guys are staying at ground zero, if anyone needs to be careful it’s you three. You’re sure this is the right thing for you guys?”
Evan weakly smiled, “No. I’m not sure that either is the real right answer.”
Tony smiled in return, genuinely and largely, “That makes zero fucking sense. Do your best to relax, man. We’re going to see each other whenever this storm passes. We’re gonna get on that plane home and we’re gonna find a hike to get blasted on. It’s quite literally only up from here.”
Jessica chimed in with a grin, “I like that right now. It’s only up from here.”
Anne spoke up as well, wanting to contribute to the conversation in a positive way, “Only up from here.”
The two lovebirds climbed aboard the squad car and held hands tightly. Anne turned to Tony, “Are you sure?”
Tony cocked his head, “What do you mean? The hotel?”
She shook her head, “No, I mean… only up from here?”
He subtly nodded, one that came across as dubious, “I hope.”