Chapter 80 – The Fate You Can’t Escape Part 2 – Erica Henson

I turned my head to see a figure stepping out of the shadows on the far end of the hallway. Once they stepped beneath the light of the closest apartment room door I saw them clearly for the first time. This person was wearing a cat mask with glowing blue eyes and a mouth that had stitches across it as if it were being wired shut. This person was wearing a black hoodie, black shorts, black leggings, black shoes, and black gloves. The hood was over their head with the cat ears of the mask jotting through the top of the hoodie. I knew, for a fact, that this was the person that called herself Nyx.

“It’s her…” I whispered in horror.

“W-Who the hell is that?!” Vivian asked, gripping her hand in pain.

“That’s the Killing Cat.” I said, “She’s the one that killed Ms. Logan! Which means…”

I looked down at Vivian with newfound horror. This was all a ruse. I wasn’t sent here to find answers! I was sent here to lure out Vivian! I was the bait! We both walked right into a trap! Vivian seemed to be realizing this too. We were both stunned.

Suddenly the figure in the distance shifted gears. They drew another knife from the pocket of their hoodie and started running straight for us.

“Run!” I shouted.

Vivian was still kneeling in intense pain. I had to force her to her feet and help her head for the elevator. The knife still plunged into her hand was slowing her down. The stranger was gaining on us quickly. As much as it pained Vivian, I had to force her to move faster by pulling her along. I made it into the elevator first and slammed my fist against the 1st floor button!

Vivian jumped into the elevator behind me, but was hit in the back by another knife! She collapsed to the ground and screamed. The stranger didn’t bother trying to beat the closing elevator doors. She was too far away. Instead, she put one finger over her stitched mouth and stared at us as the doors closed.

“Shh…” The stranger whispered.

She remained in that position as the elevator door closed shut all the way.

Vivian was pierced in two places. One knife was buried deep into her hand. The other knife was in her back, although not as deeply. Vivian gritted her teeth and pulled the knife out of her hand slowly and painfully. She cried out in pain as the bloodied knife begrudgingly slid out of place. I couldn’t bring myself to watch.

“We were set up.” I said quietly.

Vivian groaned in pain as she finished getting the knife out of her hand. She cradled her injured hand against her stomach.

“Yeah, no shit…” Vivian said in a grunt. “You say this is the person that killed Abby? How do you know that?”

“I was there.” I said, “I didn’t see the person as clearly as I did just now. They were dressed differently and it was dark in the woods outside the school. The mask is what I recognized most. Those eyes…”

“The mouth…” Vivian said. “Her mouth was stitched… Just like…”

“Malorie…?” I asked curiously.

Vivian looked up at me.

“Help me get this damn knife out of my back.” She said.

“I don’t think I’m cut out for…”

“Just do it!” Vivian shouted, “I don’t want it getting lodged deeper in there as we make a run for it. You’re all I’ve got right now.”

“Okay.”

She turned her back towards me and I kneeled down to help her.

“Do you have a car we can use?” I asked.

“I left my keys in the door… I also left behind my pistol.” Vivian said with a sigh. “Do you have any other ideas about who that was?”

“No,” I said and sighed myself, “I’m certain now that it’s a girl from my school. There was this stupid doll at my school that called itself the Killing Cat… I didn’t take it seriously when it told me that it wanted to prove something to me.”

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I tightened my grasp around the handle of the knife in Vivian’s back.

“What did it want to prove?” Vivian asked, prepping herself for the pain.

“That it was the real Killing Cat.” I said.

I pulled the knife from Vivian’s back with all my strength. Fortunately this one didn’t hit close to her spine. This could’ve been far worse. She cried out in pain but seemed to still be in control of her facilities. Blood was dripping from the wound on her back, but not as badly as the wound in her hand. That knife had managed to go all the way through her hand.

“We need to get you to a doctor.” I said.

“There’s a busy convenience store around the corner.” Vivian said, “If we can make it there we’ll be in the clear. I’ll get a ride to the hospital from someone there.”

“I still have my cell phone. I should call the police.”

“No police!” Vivian shouted, “There are warrants out against me. If we call them then it’ll just backfire.”

“You can’t be serious.” I said.

“No police.” She said firmly.

The elevator door opened at the first floor and I helped Vivian walk out. I showed her the strange looking knife that was in her back. The crude knife was amateurishly made. The blade itself was like a kitchen knife that had been sharpened beyond all reasonability. It looked like the blade was grinded down on both sides to form a diamond-shaped tip stabbing point. The handle of the knife was literally just part of a wooden ruler with some wire fastening the blade to the ruler. There were common river rocks glued to the upper part of the ruler for additional weight.

“This is no professional assassin.” Vivian said as we walked out of the elevator, “I’ve seen middle school students make better daggers back in a workshop class.”

“Maybe not,” I said, “Look at this. This is purpose-built as a throwing knife. These small stones glued to the handle are meant to keep it flying in one direction without spinning out of control. That’s how she was able to hit you from so far away. Also, there’s something else…”

Vivian was limping dramatically, and leaning on me heavily. I had to support her just to keep her upright. It was confirming the suspicions that I had about this knife.

“Poison,” I said, “There’s a greenish slime lightly coating the surface of the blade. I wasn’t sure at first because of the blood obscuring it. Now I can see that you’re slowing down. If things go on like this…”

“Shit!” Vivian shouted.

She kneeled down and started breathing heavily. I tried to get her back up.

“We can’t stop here! We have to get out of this building! Let me call the police!”

“No!” Vivian shouted, “We’ll continue to go for the store! Someone will help us!”

“You may not make it that far!” I warned grimly, “We don’t know what that poison is or how it will affect you.”

“I know a shortcut.” Vivian said while forcing herself back up, “We can go down that alley we were in earlier. Once we jump the fence it’ll be a short run down the street to the store.”

She already looked to be in poor shape. How long could she go on before collapsing? We needed to call the police.

“We need to…”

I was interrupted by a door banging open somewhere behind us. I turned to see the masked stranger appearing from out of the staircase doorway.

“Run!” I shouted.

Vivian found the strength to go on, but she was slipping behind. In an effort to keep her going I put one of her arms across my shoulders and burdened some of her weight. Together, we made it out of the apartment building entryway. Vivian was moving erratically in a way that seemed like a limp. It was almost like she was deep in a drunken stupor. Was this the effect of the poison?

“Down this way,” Vivian said as we came upon the alleyway.

I carried her forward, looking back occasionally to see if we still had our lead. We came to the fencing in question. I was never good at climbing but this was a life or death situation. We both put our hands on the chain link fencing and began to climb. I was up and over the fence far faster than her. In fact, she was barely making any progress by the time I was over. Her injured hand was slowing her down, not to mention this debilitating poison.

“Don’t give up!” I said in encouragement, “You’re almost there! Just push yourself over!”

She made it to the top of the fence, and then froze in place as she let out a sudden exhalation. She slid back down her side of the fencing and fell to the ground. As she fell, I saw what had happened. A new knife had been thrown into her back! In the distance, the masked stranger stood at the entry to the alley.

The mysterious stranger began walking slowly towards us. I backpedaled out of fear. Vivian tried to do the same down on the ground, but she could barely move now. Even as she tried to pull herself away from the approaching stranger, the fencing was still behind her. There was nothing I could do from this side of the fence but watch as this stranger took their time approaching. Vivian’s eyes swelled up with tears.

“Malorie…” Vivian cried, “Malorie is that you…?”

The stranger wasn’t deterred from this and didn’t change her pace.

“Malorie…! It was never meant to be like that!” Vivian shouted, “You know Abby and I didn’t want to go through with it!”

The stranger was only a few feet away now. I was paralyzed in fear. Part of me knew I should turn and face away. Yet, I couldn’t bring myself to ignore what Vivian was crying out. Everything she was saying reminded me of Ms. Logan’s final words. This couldn’t be Malorie! Yet, both Vivian and Ms. Logan sounded so convinced.

“I’m sorry…!” Vivian shouted as the stranger pulled out another knife, “Malorie, I’m sorry! We shouldn’t have…”

The stranger put one finger over her stitched mouth and brought her knife down against Vivian’s neck. The moment I saw blood spill from her body I turned away. I could still hear Vivian’s shrieking cries, still hear the sound of the knife stabbing repeatedly, and still visualize the scene going on behind my back. There was nothing I could do for her. Nothing except get to that convenience store and call the police. I fled the alley with a single goal in mind. I ran without looking back or paying any further attention to the cries of pain.