Another loud clank, and Quentin’s ankles were locked as well.
“This had better be a publicity stunt, man!” Quentin yelled, but the usher was nowhere in sight. “Hey, I want out!”
Helen tugged on the metal, but it was firmly in place. This had to be some kind of freak accident. Like at the amusement parks—people getting stuck on rides. But the way Quentin’s eyes were dilated and his breath came rapidly, he was worried that it was something much worse.
How could it be, though? This was a stupid radio station stunt. They were probably more worried about getting sued than scaring people.
“I was so hoping you would be stupid enough to do that,” a mechanical voice announced from behind.
Helen swung around to see the usher holding a remote control with a bright red button on top. His thumb hovered over the device. The birdlike mask glistened dully in the low light, casting as many shadows. The usher’s face was unreadable. But there was something horribly wrong.
“No!” she screamed, not even knowing what the button did, she just knew it was going to be bad.
But the usher paid no heed, and slammed his gloved thumb onto the button. Suddenly, the wheel began turning, at first slowly, then faster and faster. Quentin’s shouts blurred together as the wheel gained speed.
This was awful, but not as bad as Helen had feared. If she could just find something to jam in the gears, she could stop the wheel. As she rushed forward, the usher grabbed her by the hair.
“We are just getting started.” He pushed the button again and blades sprang from the edge of the wheel, lashing into Quentin as he passed. Hot, sticky blood sprayed Helen.
The room echoed with their screams.
* * *
Paxton held his coat out over Ruth’s head as they rushed up to his sister’s house. Once on the porch, they both shook off the rain. The storm had come on way faster and harder than any had guessed. It was a pretty miserable night for a pretty miserable job.
But he might as well get on with it. He knocked on the door. Even though there were lights on in the house, there was no answer. He pounded harder. Somebody had to be home. Jeremy was on restriction. Cecilia was practically a hermit, and well, Susan wasn’t exactly fit to leave the house anymore.
He knelt down and fished his hand in the dead plant next to the door and found the spare key. Paxton unlocked the door. “Susan? Cecilia? Jeremy?”
Ruth frowned. “Evan should be here, too.”
After the day they had, Paxton unhooked his holster, just in case.
“Susan?” he repeated as they entered the house. They passed through the entryway to find his sister passed out on the couch, one leg almost touching the floor. At least he hoped it was just passed out. He checked her pulse. Slow but steady, and she reeked of vodka.
Ruth stood next to him, looking down at his sloshed sister. “This happen often?”
“Often enough.” He looked around the house again. Where were the kids? “Damn it! I can’t believe that Cecilia would leave her mom like this.”
Ruth, though, frowned. “How old is Cecilia, eighteen?”
“Seventeen,” Paxton answered gruffly.
“Not really her job, is it?”
How Paxton hated it when Ruth was right. But there was little he could do now. He brought Susan’s leg up onto the couch, and then guided Ruth upstairs.
“Cecilia?” He opened her bedroom. Neat and clean, as usual, but no Cecilia.
The next door was Jeremy’s. Not neat and clean, as usual. Ruth brought out her cell phone. “Maybe they are over at my house.”
Paxton could hear the phone ring, and someone answered, “Hola.” He doubted that was Evan.
“Hola, Martica. Is Evan there?” Ruth listened, then answered. “No? Evan’s over at Señor Jeremy’s? De nada.”
She turned back to Paxton. “They aren’t there.”
“And they aren’t here.”
Ruth bit her lower lip. “So where in the hell are they?”
Paxton noticed bright red lettering on a flyer. He picked it up off the bed. “All Hallow’s Eve Concert scary enough to stain your shorts! Diana Dahmer’s Make Me a Martyr tour—Live!”
“No…” Ruth groaned.
“I bet every rebellious teen at Our Lady of Sorrows is going to be at the concert tonight.”
Ruth corrected him. “Every Catholic teenager.”
“That is a lot of potential victims all in one convenient place.”
Without another word, they both made for the door. Who needed Diana Dahmer’s lyrics when you could get Diana Dahmer himself?
* * *
Cecilia looked out over the sea of partiers while she picked at a piece of bread that Michael had found. No fake blood or anything. It was the score of the night.
So many of her classmates were here. Luckily, John seemed to have left the ballroom, probably on a quest much like Helen’s. Cecilia watched as Face Down ended their set with what could only be described as seizure-like behavior. Even though the room filled with applause, Cecilia did not join in. However, next to her Michael gave a hearty round of applause.
The undertaker emcee came back out onto the stage. “Was that intensely masochistic, or what? Give Face Down a big hand!” The foundation shook as the audience showed its appreciation with screams and too many “woot woot woots” to count. Cecilia would never understand her generation.
“Now, kids! Get your free death drinks and prepare your soul, because at the stroke of midnight, Diana Dahmer is going to hit the stage and blow your minds!
The black curtain came down, and the huge tangle of teens slowly moved away from the dance floor. Cecilia spotted Francesca. Her friend’s face lit up, and she waved Cecilia over.
“Do you mind?” Cecilia asked Michael.
“The night is yours, my lady.”
She blushed a little as he held his arm out for her to take. He really was being sweet. They made their way down the stairs to meet Francesca and her date. Sweat glistened on their brows and they breathed heavily, as though they had just finished the run around Our Lady of Sorrows.
“Oh, my Gawd, Cecilia! You have to get out on the dance floor. It is so much fun! The energy! The music!”
With her stomach just settled, Cecilia was doing no such thing. “Have you seen Helen?”
Francesca glanced over her shoulder. “No, not since the ballad.” Then a wicked grin turned her lips. “I bet she and Quentin found a room of their own.”
Cecilia shook her head. “No. They went back with one of the ushers to try to win an audience with Diana Dahmer.”
“Cool! I didn’t even know they had those,” Francesca’s date, Connor, said.
“It seems like they’ve been gone awhile, though,” Cecilia stated.
Michael shrugged. “Maybe they figured out the labyrinth and are backstage now?”
Cecilia lifted an eyebrow. “Quentin and Helen figured out anything remotely logical?”
The entire group laughed. Unless they needed to follow a straight line that was clearly marked and lighted, that was not about to happen. Plus, something else was bugging her. That usher had seemed, well, odd. Even odder than the mime. And now that Connor didn’t even know about the contest, it bugged her even more.
She stopped another usher as she tried to pass. This one was a “sexy” vampire. Which apparently meant having really bad false fangs and a super-short skirt.
“Excuse me, where is the labyrinth?”
“Lab-i-rinth?” the woman slurred through protruding fangs.
“I know I don’t have a ticket, but is it down that way?” Cecilia asked, indicating the direction that Helen and Quentin went.
“I don’t know of any,” the usher purred, but Cecilia put up her hand.
“Enough of the Transylvania shtick. I just need to know where it is.”
The chick popped the fangs out and licked her teeth. “All right, all right,” she said with a Bronx accent while working her jaw up and down. “But there’s no
labyrinth that I know of, and I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t blab that all over.”
“Why?” Michael asked.
“Think about it. If this crowd thought there was a chance to win a way to see Dahmer, they’d be on us ushers like rabid dogs.” The girl clicked her fangs back in place. “Not to say that Dahmer doesn’t have his own plans for the evening, though.”
As the not-so-sexy vampire sauntered away, Cecilia turned to the group. “That’s it. I am going to look for Helen.”
“No, Cecilia. Stay here and dance,” Francesca implored. “You know Helen. She can take care of herself.”
Cecilia raised an eyebrow. “You’re joking. She almost got arrested at a petting zoo.”
“It wasn’t her fault that goat liked cheese so much.”
Michael looked quizzical, but Cecilia brushed it off. “There was a golf cart involved. The bottom line is … if there is trouble to get into, Helen will find it.” After the look of disappointment on Francesca’s face, Cecilia hurried on. “But you guys stay here and have fun. I’ll poke around.”
Frannie rushed forward and gave Cecilia a big hug. “Thank you!” Then her friend’s voice dropped down to a whisper. “This is the best night ever!”
Cecilia hugged her back. So far, it wasn’t quite as terrible as she had imagined. “Okay. How about we meet back here in an hour?”
“Sounds great,” Frannie said, as she took Connor’s hand again and headed back out to the buffet. “I hear they’ve got hot wings!”
Michael fist-bumped his friend. “See ya, man.”
Cecilia turned to Michael. “You don’t have to go with me.”
“Please, after the goat, golf cart, and cheese story, I have got to see what Helen is up to.”
“But—”
“No buts. My friend is missing too, remember?”
Maybe she could have fought harder, but strangely, she didn’t want to. Was she worried that she might run into John again, or for another reason? Coyly, she glanced over at Michael. If you ignored the eyeliner, he did have a nice nose, and those lips…
Wow. Helen must be rubbing off on her. Cecilia certainly hoped that her friend was having as nice a time as she was.
* * *
Helen raked at the usher’s hand with her fingernails, but it was covered in a thick leather glove. The bastard had her by the hair, forcing her to watch as he took a torch to Quentin’s side.
“No!” she screamed, but the flame burned deeper and deeper into Quentin’s flesh.
Her date howled in pain. How could no one hear his pain? Then, abruptly, Quentin went silent. The usher put the brand to Quentin’s side again, laying the fire against his skin until the tissue itself glowed red. But still no sound, not a movement, from Quentin. The usher slapped the teen, but there was no response.
“No!” she sobbed. Quentin was clearly dead.
“Damn it!” the mechanized voice yelled, then became bitter. “Youth these days. No stamina. Saint Quentin survived seven more tortures.”
Helen kicked the usher’s leg, knocking him back as his hair slid through her fingers. She ran for the door, only to find it locked. She pounded at the thick wood.
“Help!”
* * *
“Did you hear that?” Cecilia asked as they walked along down the dark hallway.
Michael turned his head, trying to get a better angle. “I think it was from that room on the right.”
They rushed up, and sure enough, a girl’s scream rang out.
“Oh, my God!” Cecilia said as she turned the knob, but it was locked.
“Get out of the way,” Michael said as he backed away from the door. He slammed into it with all of his might, but bounced off the thick wood. ‘Ow!”
There were no more screams from inside, but Cecilia could hear a muffled whimpering. Quickly she pulled a bobby pin from her hair and worked the lock.
“And you call me a juvenile delinquent,” Michael noted.
“So sue me,” Cecilia said as she caught the locking mechanism. “My brother’s one.”
She pulled up on the bobby pin and the lock clunked open. Jerking open the door, they ran in. Torture devices surrounded them, and a girl was in shackles against the far wall.
“Helen!”
The redhead was half naked, stripped down to her panties and bra.
“Get back!” Michael shouted, as several guys pawed at her.
But then the girl looked up, a smirk upon her face. This was definitely not Helen.
“Yummy. More playmates.” She winked at Michael. “I wouldn’t mind another torturer.”
Cecilia stepped back, revolted, but Michael stood there nearly mesmerized.
Guys.
“You are disgusting,” Cecilia spat out as she ran from the room.
She slammed the door behind her and stormed down the hallway. Cecilia had braced for a lot going through that door, but finding an orgy was definitely not what she expected. Nearly against her will, Cecilia looked back. But Michael still wasn’t following her. But who was she, compared to that buxom redhead back there? She ran so quickly that she lost track of the turns. How easy it was to get lost in the huge mansion.
“Cecilia!” Michael shouted, but she ignored him. Too little, too late.
She kept going, but ran into a dead end. Cecilia had no choice but to double back where she found Michael at the junction of the hallways. She blew right past him.
“Wait up,” Michael said catching up. “What’s the matter?”
Cecilia gritted her teeth. What did he think was the matter? “You might as well go back in there. It’s the best offer you are going to get tonight.”
“What?” Michael asked, and then blushed. “No, I didn’t follow you right away because I was asking them if they had seen Helen and Quentin.”
“That’s why there’s drool at the corner of your mouth?”
Michael grabbed her by the arm and stopped her headlong flight. She was so embarrassed, ashamed, and just a little jealous of how incredible that girl’s figure was that she felt her cheeks heat up, and tears burned.
“I admit it. I was … I was shocked, in a good way.”
Cecilia tore from his grip.
“Come on. Even you’ve got to admit she was hot,” Michael said.
Internally, yes, Cecilia could admit that. Out loud? Never.
Still, Michael persisted. “What is up with you? Haven’t I made it clear that you are the only one I want to be with tonight?”
Cecilia felt tears rise. “Why? Why me?”
“Have you looked in the mirror lately?”
Typical guy. All about the looks and the stature that came with it. It was John all over again. Wanting her because she would look good on his arm. She was done with that. Cecilia went to turn away when Michael more softly touched her arm.
“Did you know that you twirl your hair when you can’t figure out a math problem?”
Cecilia frowned. That could have been a lucky guess.
“Or that your eyelashes glisten in the morning sunlight during PE?” She couldn’t help but soften just a little. Michael took a step closer. “Or that you are the single most unpretentious girl I’ve ever met? Now what do I need to do to convince you of that?”
Michael sounded so sincere. She wanted to believe him. She wanted to think that he would be with her rather than doing whatever they planned to do with that redhead.
Cecilia nodded toward a “bloody” strand of cobweb that had fallen between them. “To be honest, it’s going to be hard to convince me of much here… With all of this.”
“Then let’s go,” Michael said grabbing her hand.
“No, I meant the whole concert thing.”
“I know,” Michael answered. “And I meant let’s go.”
“Michael, we can’t. The yacht isn’t leaving until after the concert.”
Michael, though, shrugged. “There were several boathouses by the dock. We’ll grab some drinks, a few more breadsticks, and head out there
.”
“But the concert … I can’t ask you to give up—”
Michael stopped and turned to her. “What have I been trying to tell you? Yes, you can. You can ask anything of me.”
Cecilia looked into his eyes. They seemed sincere. But so did her mother’s eyes when she swore off vodka, until the next time that she passed a liquor store. Would Michael be the same? Would they arrive at the boathouse, only to have him pine for the concert and resent her? Would that be her fault, too?
“But you are the biggest Diana Dahmer fan,” she said halfheartedly.
Michael put a finger to her lips. “I’ll buy a bootleg copy. No big deal. Getting you comfortable is the priority.”
Gently he removed his finger, and instantly she missed the connection. He leaned in. Would she really let him kiss her? Had he not proven himself far more a gentleman than any guy she had ever dated?
The air between them stirred. She could smell the apricot in his hair gel. Surprisingly, she liked it. Their lips closed in. Cecilia tilted her head, wondering what his lips would taste like.
“Hey! You kids aren’t supposed to be back here!” an usher dressed as a mummy yelled, his gauze strips flapping in the air.
The moment shattered by the agitated Egyptian, Cecilia quickly stepped back. What had she been thinking? But Michael put his arm around her and gave her a squeeze.
“No prob. We were just leaving, anyway.”
* * *
Helen strained to scream, but the killer had his gloved hand over her mouth. She fought and kicked and bit as she watched the shadows pass by under the door. Helen had heard Cecilia. And Michael. And an usher. A real usher.
Couldn’t they smell the burnt flesh?
Hear her strangled cries for help?
“Cecilia!” she screamed in her mind, but it didn’t matter. The figures left and did not come back.
Sagging, she felt all hope drain from her. “Please,” she begged. “Please don’t kill me.”
The mechanized voice sounded amused. “Oh, I am not going to kill you, Helen.” Then he put his hand around her throat, choking her. “At least not until after midnight.”
Helen didn’t even struggle as her world went black.
* * *
Paxton paced behind Ruth as she argued with the Coast Guard commander. Rain beat at the office windows. The wind whipped the water into a torrent, only accentuating the commander’s concerns.
Down & Dirty: A McCray Crime Collection Page 10