Killers?

"Wake up! Wake up! Hey Princess, wake up!!" My best friend Andy is trying to wake me. She knows better than to call me "Princess". When she reaches for my shoulder I grab her forearm and give a strong squeeze while glaring daggers into her eyes. "The only Princess here is you", I say through gritted teeth. Andy looks at her forearm that's still in my grasp, after another squeeze my hand releases her arm. "If you were awake you'd see that we're finally here", she says trying to act tough.

"Come on Max, you sleep like the dead and the only way to wake you is either by calling you "Princess" or giving you a pinch. Both of which is a death sentence to anyone, including your parents", Andy's girlfriend Natalie yells from the back of the car. "Yeah cause they wake up like a bear, always angry", Andy adds on. I roll my eyes to see Zach beside me, he gives my arm a slight tug. That's code for get out of the car and help already. A smirk reaches my lips while I nod my head at our silent friend, we occasionally call "Silent Bob" for laughs.

We finally reached our destination, my family's old beach house. Andy and I were in elementary when we first met here. My folks were celebrating the purchase of this house and decided to invite the realtors. The couple funny enough had a daughter my age, ever since then we've been thick as thieves. Eventually we met Zach during our freshmen year of high school and then Andy met Nat during our junior year. Before we all went to college we had an amazing party here. By the next morning we all made a promise to come during our junior year of college.

We all kept in contact with each other, mainly during breaks from classes even if it was just for a day. I shake the nostalgia out of my mind, now is not the time to reminisce. After getting all the luggage out of the back we piled it on either side of the door. Finding the hidden was a bit of a challenge, my parents were always hiding it in a different area each time we visited this place.

Opening the door wide open after years of the house not being used was a huge mistake. The air was so stale you could taste it. Andy and myself were within the door's threshold and got a lung full that had us gagging horribly. Nat and Zach grabbed and pulled the both of us out of the way after hearing the first gag. Zach brought me to the edge of the porch, he held my hair out of my face expecting the worse to come. I could see Nat do the same for Andy out of the corner of my eye. After a few minutes of taking deep breaths and chewing gum Andy and I were feeling better. Before any of us entered the house we all put on our reusable masks.

Walking into the house to see white dusty sheets on the furniture proved my theory, the beach house hasn't been used since our last party. An eerie feeling creeps into my mind, something atrocious happened here. I can feel it in my bones, something is very wrong.

Thinking it was just my nerves or my mind playing tricks on me again I shake my head slightly. Zach noticed my uneasiness right away, out of all of us his eyes were the sharpest. He nodded my way, I replied with a shrug and gave him a half smile. Zach and I could always read each other like a book, he reached into his backpack and gave me a bottle of ibuprofen with a water. "Thanks Zach", I say after taking 2 pills.

Andy of course noticed us and nodded my way, Zach and I returned the nod. After she got the unspoken conformation that nothing was wrong, we opened the windows first. With the back door open, fans in front of the living room windows, we even lit some candle to help with the smell. After a few hours of cleaning we were almost ready for tonight, the only things left were the food and drinks.

"Zach and I will be back from the supply run in about an hour or so. Don't do anything I wouldn't do", I yell so Nat and Andy could hear me. I hadn't seen them in over 10 minutes, my instincts told me they were up to something naughty. They rebutted with, "Don't worry, we'll clean up afterwards." Zach and I shared a look while shaking our heads. We both knew it was only a matter of time before those two love birds decided to find a door with a lock.

Driving to the city we stopped to get some food after I heard Zach's stomach growl which was followed by my own. We decided to eat at a 24 hour diner. While there I noticed some people watching us as if we were outsiders. Zach didn't seem to pay any mind to it, so I let it slide for the time being. The waitress seemed familiar in some way to me. I couldn't put my finger on who she reminded me of though, no matter how hard I tried.

Once we were done and paid for the meals we went to the liquor store first and then got the groceries. By the time we came back Andy and Nat were finished with what Zach and I knew was their naughty time. I noticed the take out in the trash and asked jokingly, "I hope you didn't greet the delivery person in the nude you two." "Well I had thought of doing that instead of giving a tip, but Andy beat me to the door", Nat said followed by a wink my way. Out of all of us Nat was a big flirt who loved to tease Andy any and every chance she had. Andy grew out of her jealous phase enough to laugh at that joke, although I still saw a little green in her brown eyes.

Since there was just enough sun left for a quick swim we all decided to take a dip before partying tonight. In a matter of minutes we were all in our bathing suits running to the ocean. The water was cool enough to enjoy the last few hours of sun we had left for the day. When the sun had completely set we left the ocean reluctantly. It felt like an eternity since we swam together. Once inside Andy and Nat took the master bathroom, Zach let me take the first shower while he got the oven ready for a pizza. I did my best to take a quick shower knowing that Nat and Andy would take their time.

Zach wasted no time using what was left of the hot water when I got out. Descending down the stairs in only a robe towel I put the pizza in the over and set a timer. With only a few minutes to spare Nat finally got out of the shower first, she and I got started on making some mixed drinks. By the time Zach was done the pizza was cut and the drinks were ready. With a drink in each of our hands Zach spoke for the first time that day, "Cheers to another amazing party with more years of friendship to come". I had almost forgotten how deep and velvety his voice was, a smile reached my lips as we all clinked our glasses.

Barely a sip of alcohol went down my throat when I start to feel dizzy. My knees begin to shake, unable to stand for much longer I grab at the kitchen island. There's a smell of copper in the air followed by waves of nausea hitting my senses harder with every passing second. Even though I'm no more than a few feet away from all of my friends, I couldn't see or hear them.

My eyes were blurring horribly while a deafening sound rang in my ears causing my body to shake uncontrollably. I look to who I think is Zach and try to reach out my hand to him in vain. None of them seem to notice my uneasiness this time, terror engulfs my mind. My throat had died up like a desert I couldn't scream for help even if my life depended on it.

The nausea increases furiously, my body finally collapses, my eyes close hard to keep the blinding light out. I'm having a migraine I just need to ride it out, is the only thought in my mind. My body instinctively goes into the fetal position waiting for it to end, tears were streaming down my face. I do my best to calm my nerves while my friends are completely oblivious to my agony.

Why aren't they helping me? Why is this happening? I haven't had a migraine in years. Why now?, these thoughts replace the ones I had before. After what felt like hours pass by the ringing starts to dissipate, the nausea eases, my eyes start to relax against the light. When I finally open my eyes Andy, Nat, and Zach are gone. There's no pizza, no alcohol, just me in a dark empty house with what looks like old blood stains on the wooden floor right underneath me.

In a panic I rush to get on my feet to run to the front door, only to see that there's no car. I search the house while calling all of my friends names repeatedly, I remove all of the white dusty sheets covering the furniture, I even look in the fridge to find it completely empty. Tears keep running down my face all the while, my breathing was rapid, my lungs were begging for air, my heart was hammering against the ribs, my mind couldn't form any coherent thoughts. "This can't be real, it can't be!", I yell inside the empty house. Even though all the evidence is telling me there's no one else here. Hasn't been ever since that fateful night...

My mind starts to remind of me what happened during the last part I had here. I remember there was a serial killer during my senior year, the news called them The Beach Butcher. The news anchor mentioned that whenever the killer struck there was barely any evidence to identify the victims. My parents didn't want me throwing the party I had planned for months after hearing the news. I had to promise them that it would just be Andy, Nat, Zach, and myself.

It started out that way, until the door bell rang after we were all there. Before I had a chance to say "no" and "go home", I experienced my first bum-rush. Andy and Nat laughed like a couple of hyenas while Zach was doing his best not to laugh. I shrugged my shoulders while getting up and thought whatever, this was bound to happen anyway. The party continued with the only hitch being that the police showed up around 1 am.

I answered the door, "How can I help you officers?" After they introduced themselves as Officer Barn and Officer Bay, they asked if I noticed anything suspicious going on at this party. When I asked what they meant by that, Officer Ban said that The Beach Butcher has been following somewhat of a pattern. Officer Bay jumped in to say that the suspect has been mainly attacking people at beach parties. Taking in a deep breath to keep my mind from running to worse case scenarios I answer the officers with a "no". The officers said they'd be close by in case anything were to happen, they also said to turn down the music.

By the time I closed the door, I noticed that a lot of people had already left. The police sure know how to kill a party, I thought to myself. Zach came to me with a glass of water, "What did the cops want?" He asked handing me the glass, after taking a gulp I answered with, "They just wanted to scare me about The Beach Butcher. Good thing they did, everyone is leaving now."

After saying that some people from my senior class came to me and asked if I had seen Aaron or Sally recently. I didn't have to think too hard about what they looked like, they were very popular as the cheerleader couple. Shaking my head to their friends was a bit worrisome, "No, I haven't seen them in a while." One of their friends said, "If you do see them can you let them crash here, it's late and we only brought one car." I nodded my head reluctantly, now I had to find some drunk seniors and get them to a somewhat comfortable place to sleep. Hopefully they aren't heavy sleepers or there will be hell to pay. Not just from me, my parents warned me about coming in the morning with breakfast. The last thing I needed is for them to give me an ear full about keeping promises.

Zach and I decided to look outside for Aaron and Sally, we ended up finding Andy and Nat cuddled up on the porch swing. After telling them about Aaron and Sally going missing, Andy and Nat shared a worried look. "We saw them and some other people hanging together looking for a place to smoke", Nat said while getting up. "It was around 11, 12 by the latest when we last saw them", Andy said while taking Nat's hand in hers.

Zach opened the door and nodded his head for all of us to go inside to figure out what to do next. We decided to search the house after I mentioned that the cops stopped by to warn me about The Beach Butcher. Andy and Nat agreed to go down to the wine cellar while Zach and I went upstairs. Before we were out of each others sight I made sure everyone had some kind of weapon in case things took a turn for the worst. Andy got the cast iron skillet, Nat got one of the butcher knives, Zach grabbed a bat out of the closet, and I had the other butcher knife. Andy grabbed the emergency flashlight before they made their descent.

Zach went in front of me while we walked up the stairs, he was holding my hand tightly in his. By the time we reached the last step he let my hand go and held the bat in a chocked position. I opened the first door which was my room to find it empty. He and I looked under the bed and in the closet and found no one. We checked the rest of the rooms until we were at the guest one. Opening the door we saw two sleeping bodies under the covers. "You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here", I say loud enough for any sleeping person to hear. Neither one of them moved in the slightest bit. Zach went to the foot of the bed while I went to the head, "Hey! Did you hear me?! I said you need to leave, NOW".

Still no response, fed up I removed the covers to find a pair of wide open eyes filled with agony. Blood drenched the bottom part of their mouth. Their throat had be sliced open, there was even more blood on their upper chest. My hand released the knife, my own eyes widen in terror, before I could start screaming Zach covered my mouth. The only noise from that room were my muffled screams along with Zach breathing deeply.

Once I calmed down Zach turned me to face him, "We need to get out of here now." I nodded my head not knowing what else to do at the moment. Before we could leave the room, I crouched down to get the knife from the floor, it had just a few drops of blood on it. In a matter of seconds we heard screams coming from downstairs. Wasting no time we ran down the stairs toward the screams. Based on the voice it sounded like Nat.

She was at the cellar doorway dragging Andy by her side. "She's dying, help her", Nat screamed in between sobs. Zach helped Nat lower Andy to the floor while I tried calling the police. With the phone to my ear I go to close the cellar door. Before I could reach it I saw a creeping figure about to lunge through in the darkness. My instincts compelled my leg to kick at whoever was about to leave the cellar. Before my foot made contact with the person they grabbed my ankle in a firm grip. With one strong yank they pulled me into the cellar where I fell down the stairs.

The sound of footsteps coming down towards me sent shivers throughout my body. My body freezes in place my mind goes blank. I could barely make out the person's figure with what little light in the basement shown against their frame. They seemed to have a male's body, average height, average build, with dark bloody clothes on.

My brain screamed orders for my body to follow, get up, cover your face, get up now! I tried to get up off the floor with no luck. The killer was on top of me in a matter of seconds. Both his legs were on either side of my mid section, his arms pinning both my shoulders down, he kept his face just out of sight.

The harsh and dreadful reality hit me in that instance, I'm going to die, The Beach Butcher is going to kill me. He must've seen the fear in my eyes, his head cocked to the side. I could smell cigarette smoke on his breathe and clothes along with something else, something metallic. By the time the realization hit me I felt it seeping through my shirt. It was blood.

Attempting to turn my head to see from who the blood had come from was a mistake. The killer readjusted himself as quickly as he had mounted me. His right hand was holding my other shoulder while his elbow dug into my left one. The slap he gave my cheek made my eyes water. Before the tears could start falling down I got a good look at his face. His eyes were brown with dark circles under them, thin lips, high cheekbones, with a strong jawline. From what I could see of his hair it was just a few shades darker than his eyes. He didn't look much older than me, we could've gone to the same school together for all I know.

The sting from the slap triggered my suppressed rage. My brow furrowed, my eyes narrowed, I half smiled back at him, took a deep breath, and loosened my body from the tension of fear. "I'm going to fuck you up", I said in a cocky tone.

Before he could move an inch my forehead connected his with nose to hear a satisfying crunch. Groaning from the pain his hands released my shoulders to cover his nose. I waisted no time to push my off by raising my hips then pushed him off me completely. While he was still in shock I got to my feet and kicked his stomach. With him on his back I kicked his side for good measure.

My brain shifted from fight to flight in an instant. I ran up the stairs in no time to see the knife I had been holding in the entryway still there. Crouching down to pick it up I heard the killer moving below, turning back I saw that he was at the base of the stairs. I move to the other side of the door to try to keep him down there. Before I was able to close the door he wedged his forearm to create a gap.

I push my body up against the door with all the strength and adrenaline left in me. "Zach I need help", I yell to get his attention. I could barely see him on the floor looking down at Andy. With no response and feeling the killer pushing on the door even more I call for Zach again. Still no response, this time I look at him. Zach's hands are covered with blood, Andy's blood, "Zach, I need help now!" That's when he finally makes eye contact with me to only say, "She's dead" in barely a whisper.

My body slumps against the door, I look Zach in the eye to see tears staining his face. Then I looked down at Andy's lifeless body on the floor just a few feet away from me. The killer pushes with all his might finally opening he door completely. I'm knocked to the floor away from Zach and Andy with the killer towering over both of them. He waists no time in picking up the knife to target Zach while he's still in shock.

The strength that just left me came back, I tackle the killer from the floor. We fought for the knife, even though it was still in his grasp I kept my grip on his wrists. The killer was bigger than me by a few inches, to his advantage he decides to return the favor of a bloody nose. My hands retract to cover my face. The killer doesn't hesitate to stab my left shoulder deeply and slice at my stomach.

With a scream I fall to the floor holding my shoulder while covering my stomach. Searing pain radiates from the wounds, I could feel my blood flow out of me. I used my other hand to put pressure on my shoulder to keep myself from bleeding out onto the floor. My breathing was erratic, my body was trembling, I could barely see Zach still sitting there in shock.

The killer turns from me to him in an instant, "Leave him alone!" He turned to me with a wicked smile. I watched him grab Zach by the hair, stab his eye slowly, that's when Zach started to scream. The killer went from Zach's eye to his neck. He furiously sliced into his neck long after Zach stopped screaming. Once he cuts the last piece of skin that was keeping his neck attached to his head the killer turned to me.

Paralyzed on floor, I could barely even breathe. I had just watched one of my best friends brutally die in front of me. The killer walks towards me still holding Zach's head by the hair. I look into his eyes and see nothing in them, no desire, no joy, just emptiness. While looking deeply into my eyes the killer drops Zach's head in my lap. I'm the one who breaks contact, my hands move to hold Zach's head in my hands. I close the eye that he still had before holding his head in my arms.

My body curled around his head as if to protect what's left of him from anyone. I kept repeating "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" out loud until sleep finally takes over me.

I can feel the tears streaming down my face, my body is curled into a ball again. After saying my last "I'm sorry" my eyes open to the empty house. Slowly I get to my feet only to hear the sound of voice I don't recognize moving toward my house. From my mania earlier I left the door open. Taking a look at it now I asked myself why was it closed now. The sound of the intruders coming up the steps sent a need to hide. I hid behind the wine cellar door waiting.

Based on the foot steps and voice I estimate there are at least 4 intruders. From what I could hear of them I suspected they were teenagers coming to a haunted house on the anniversary of the death of my friends. Feeling my anger start to rise and spread I move down the steps as quietly as possible.

Noticing that my breathing was becoming erratic, I could feel a panic attack about to happen. I started taking deep breathes, in for four out for five. I remembered my mom had taught me that when I started high school. After the last calming exhale I search the cellar floor for a weapon to use on the intruders.

Unable to use the overhead light I started to crawl on my hands and knees to find any kind of weapon. Eventually I find a lighter that must've been left behind by one of the victims. Making my way to the back I found the gas container dad kept in case of the car running on empty. Using the lighter against his tool shed carefully I find the corkscrew he kept down here.

Feeling my lips curl up at the corners, I'll teach those kids to trespass in my house. With the gas container in one hand and the corkscrew in the other I go to find a bottle of wine to open. After popping the cork I listen in case anyone from upstairs heard me. A minute or two pass by and no one opens the door. Taking this chance to drink about a fourth of the wine to make enough more to pour gas in the bottle. With a slight mental buzz I cut at my short sleeve shirt to stuff it in the bottle. All that's needed is fire.

With the soon to be Molotov cocktail ready in my hand I walk back up the stairs. As far as I know this is still my house and I will defend it. There's going to be another story regarding more teen deaths in this house. Flicking the lighter on to light my shirt on fire sends chills throughout my body. Opening the door in a quick motion to throw the bottle at the first person I see was exhilarating.

Finding that I was right about there being four intruders I tackle the tall boy in my path. The other two are in shock watching their friend die in one of the worst ways possible. Being on top of the tall boy I punched his throat hard enough to hurt my knuckles. Getting off of him to kick his throat this time to keep him down. I turn to the other two who haven't moved even though one of the friends is screaming at the top of their lungs and the other one is clutching at his throat. Setting my eyes at the one who looked like he was apart of some sport team. I run to him with the corkscrew in hand. He fights back while shouting orders at the other one who runs for the door.

My foot makes contact with his crotch, he drops to the floor in second. As I turn to run after the other one I see that he's already on the floor bleeding out. Thinking that I was wrong about the number of intruders my body continued to move to the one standing. Before I can touch him, he turns and pins me to the wall. I recognize him in a matter of seconds, it was him. The Beach Butcher came back to my house.

I froze in his grasp, my breath hitched in my throat, my mind was running at least 10 miles with every passing second. He moved my shirt to see the scars he left me years ago, as if admiring his work. When he let me go my body sank to the floor, the adrenaline was making its way out of my body. While on the floor I looked at the one that tried to leave to see that he's no longer breathing.

The Beach Butcher left me there to go after the one that was still alive. He had a knife in hand I knew what he had planned for the last intruder. Only this time he stood behind the last one to look me in the eye while he took his head. Seeing him take another boy's life in the same way made me remember the first time I saw him here. Once he was done decapitating the boy he threw the head in the fire of what remained of the first intruder.

Finally getting up from the floor I walked to him slowly. He never took his eyes off me, not even for a second. When I was within arms length he put his knife away then placed his hand on my shoulder yet again. His thumb started tracing my scar. "What's your name?", I asked. While keeping his hand on me he said, "Justice."

"I'm Max", I replied.