Police tapes closed an area in the woods. Pictures were taken before officers zip up the body bags. Cries turned to bawls when the body bags were brought out of the woods, trying to get close to them and reaching out.
Kylie took a deep breath on her cigarette and puffed out smoke. An officer approached her with a clipboard in hand.
“What do we have?” She asked.
“Three headless bodies. Females. Two of them have no skin while the third one had her nails ripped, legs and arms broken, teeth pulled out and her vagina was violated with both sharp and blunt objects…”
She tried to keep a calm demeanour but her heart beat fast. This wasn’t the first time she heard about these kinds of reports but it didn’t help that it got worse and worse.
Four deaths were recorded in Woodsbury.
The first victim was Carson Doyle. His headless body was found half devoured by wolves months ago and until now, there was no news of his head. The autopsy suggested he was chopped off by a blunt blade from how jagged the cut on his neck was. Whoever killed him had wanted him to feel pain to the end.
The mayor kept the case hushed to avoid panic. He was afraid that people would leave Woodsbury and ruled it as an accident; the boy wandered into the woods and got attacked by a pack of wolves. However, ever since his death, a rumour surfaced between the townspeople.
“The Stitched-Mouth Man is back…” A man whispered.
Kylie had heard of the Stitched-Mouth Man. An urban legend spread around when a mysterious man with a strange mask appeared to stalk at night. The mask he wore had a stitched mouth and one X mark on the left eye. He would appear randomly at night, stalking anyone he found interesting. But that ‘anyone’ wasn’t just any stranger.
The victims were notoriously known for bullying and tormenting others.
The boy, Carson, was known to harass girls to the point of assaulting them if they ever reject his advances. If it were a murder - at least to Kylie - anyone of his victims had a motive to kill him. But the townspeople believed it was Carson’s spirit cursed to become the Stitched-Mouth Man and get rid of anyone that harms others to atone for what he did.
Kylie never believed in urban legends and rumours. She knew these were murders.
Her only lead from these murders was that the victims were students of Woodsbury High.
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Students dispersed to their classes. The morning assembly had been a memorial for the three girls that were murdered. Miss Vivienne, the school’s headmistress, had assured them that the police were on the case but it didn’t dispel the worry that a murderer was on the loose.
Skye scanned through the crowd. It wasn’t hard to find Amy’s pink hair among the common dark hairs around her but her blood immediately boiled when she found her surrounded by students.
“Out with it! I bet it was you who killed them!”
Amy flinched and trembled, “I-I didn’t-...”
“Anyone that talks to you either disappeared or dead! Who else but you that was behind it?!”
Not even a thought crossed Skye’s mind other than charging towards them and shoving them away. She stood between the students and Amy. Her teeth bared like an angry dog.
“Why can’t you just leave her alone?!” she yelled.
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“What the hell is wrong with you, Skye?!” One of the girls cried, brushing off her blouse where Skye had shoved her. “Ever since you’re friends with this freak, you changed!”
“You used to be fun, but now you’re just a bore,” A boy said.
Skye was about to retort but then a tug on her shirt distracted her. She looked over her shoulder; Amy shook her head with a scowl across her face. She knew Skye would throw hands with those kids anytime but doing so would send her to detention or suspension.
With a huff, Skye turned, grabbed Amy’s hand and left them. Not before listening to some more jabs. Skye didn’t care what they said about her but her ears burned from the insults they threw at Amy.
“You don’t have to do that…” Amy muttered.
“Hmph! They’re jerks anyway! Besides, my mom likes you more than them!” Skye exclaimed proudly.
Amy fell silent, letting her best friend’s words sink into her. She looked down, smiling to herself and squeezing her hand. It was the softest of squeezes but Skye’s heart fluttered, almost felt like she would faint or burst. Her face flushed red but when she looked at Amy, she gave her the biggest grin she could muster.
“Come on! We’ll be late for class!”
Amy just smiled.
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Kylie parked outside Woodsbury High right after the school period was over.
She watched the younger students leaving together while the older ones stayed behind, smoking or playing basketball. She would take out a cigarette herself, but she didn’t want the teachers to reprimand her for being a bad influence.
She leaned against her car, arms crossed and continued to observe the crowd of teenagers scattered in the courtyard. Her eyes scanned around for bullies; the only clue she has for the murders. It didn’t take long for her to see a pink-haired girl being followed by two boys with a slingshot on one of them. She scowled and immediately marched towards them. Neither of the boys noticed the woman as they snickered and aimed for the girl’s head.
A shot was fired but the pebble was caught right in Kylie’s palm. The boys jumped at her sudden appearance and the pink-haired girl stopped to turn around, surprised to see them.
“I will personally report you to the principal for attempting to harm another student,” she growled and flicked the pebble to their feet, barely missing them. They jumped again when the pebble reflected off the ground and scurried away. She huffed and turned to the girl. Her brows raised at her hair colour.
“You’re not from here, aren’t you?” Kylie asked, only to receive a blank stare from the girl. The woman raised a brow and approached her. “Are you alright-...”
The moment she reached her hand out, the girl pulled back with a gasp. She looked at Kylie’s hand and then at her eyes. There was fear and caution in them.
“It’s okay, I’m not-...”
“Amy!”
The blonde woman looked up towards the source of the voice and saw a brunette boy, girl, or person, approaching them. The pink-haired girl, Amy, immediately lit up and turned to them with a smile.
“Jane!”
Kylie watched Jane. The briefcase in her grip caught her attention. She didn’t see any backpack on Jane either which seemed odd for a high school student like her.
When Jane looked up, her gaze was sharp. It threw the officer off guard for a moment. That gaze… almost like a predator looking at their prey. Then, the gaze quickly turned silly; eyes grow wide and Jane froze like a statue for a good second.
“Hoh! Pretty lady!” She exclaimed.
Kylie had never seen someone slide on their knees other than on televisions and yet, here was a high school student sliding on her knees and opening the briefcase to reveal roses and a… metal dice. She raised her brow and peeked over the briefcase to Jane, who was grinning.
“Pretty lady like you should have something shiny to compliment your hair!”
“Cheesy,” she huffed, “but sorry, I don’t date kids.”
And just like that, Jane’s grin dropped and Kylie could see her heart breaking into pieces on her face. She snorted at her reaction, slightly entertained by her shenanigan. Amy just face-palmed.
“How many pants you’re going to ruin, sis…?” Amy said.
“Hey, this is just my fifth one!” Jane exclaimed and brushed her knees which, to Amy’s relief, weren’t torn. The older girl turned to the woman, “Never seen you before, ma’am. Who’re you?”
“Kylie Davis. Police officer. Came here because of the murders.”
Kylie watched their body language. They both perked up. It was almost common to see the townspeople have similar reactions. No one wanted to believe that there were murders going around, after all.
“S-so, is it true?” Amy muttered, “T-the Stitched-Mouth Man is real…?”
“It’s only an urban legend, Amy! There’s no such thing as Stitched-Mouth Man!” Jane quickly said.
The Stitched-Mouth Man again…
“What can you tell me about that legend?” Kylie asked.
The siblings fell silent. They looked at each other and then back at the woman. Jane had a creepy smile stretched on her lips.
“Why, I’m glad you asked…”