by Vox Day
“What are you doing, man?” Brien asked him nervously.
“Putting on my war paint,” Derek answered in a nonchalant voice.
Brien winced as he watched his friend close his eyes and cut a shallow circle into his forehead. It had to hurt like a bitch, but Derek didn’t seem to feel a thing. Derek didn’t make a sound as he added five more quick strokes, then opened his eyes and stared into the mirror with satisfaction as small trickles of blood ran down over the bridge of his nose. It was a pentagram, an unholy mark of evil protection.
“Dude!” Brien protested, unsure if he was more appalled by the symbol, the blood, or the creepy smile on Derek’s face. Derek’s eyes were cold and dead, as if he wasn’t all there anymore.
“Why are you looking at me like that, Brien? Don’t you know that the moon has risen and the time is nigh! Search inside yourself, and find the dark warrior within you… arise, Great Claw, the Master calls!”
Brien could feel something inside him was pushing him to the side, but although it felt kind of weird, it was pleasant too, and impossible to resist. It was easier, so much easier to relax and go with the flow. As he gave way, his empty soul seemed to fill again with hatred. His doubts and misgivings about their plan seemed to disappear as if by magic, replaced instead by a savage sense of violent purpose. He was there, and yet he wasn’t there. Everything looked the same, and yet he had the strangest feeling that his vision had shifted and he was looking out of two cameras instead of his own eyes.
“I am here,” he heard himself say as his hand reached out for the dripping razor blade.
The inside of the hotel was a blur of ribbons, lights, and noise, and Jami felt exhilarated as she followed the cardboard arrows through the high-ceilinged glass lobby of the Hilton. The arrows led towards a bunch of green-and-white ribbons decorating the huge, wooden doors that opened onto Ballroom B. She’d kind of wished they’d gone to the Grand March earlier, but the guys had dismissed it as totally hokey so they’d skipped it. Still, the Italian restaurant they had taken them to for dinner was really nice, and now it finally was time for the main event. Outside the doors, there was already a long line for the official photographer who was set up outside in the hallway, and she was glad when neither Jason nor Eric showed any signs of wanting to get another set of pictures taken.
“Whas’sup!” shouted a pair of senior guys that she didn’t recognize as they stumbled out of the ballroom, dragging their giggling girlfriends along behind them. They appeared to be pretty drunk, and Jami’s guess was confirmed a second later when they got close enough for her to smell them. The shorter guy’s hair was wet, and he reeked so badly of beer she wondered if he’d dumped an entire bottle over his head.
“Ohmigod, it’s Mary Kate and Ashley,” one of the girls pointed at her and Holli. She had a round face, and was wearing a huge, puffy, peach-colored gown that made her look like pumpkin. “Buy one, get one free!”
Jami and Holli shared a disgusted look. Whatever.
“Dudes, Jenny’s got a room up in two twenty-one,” the taller guy was proudly telling the guys. “Come up and party with us, ayight?”
“Yeah, right on, Tommy,” Jason assured him, patting him on the back. “You go on ahead, we’ll be right there… not,” he added for Jami’s benefit as they watched the two couples lurch off on their unsteady way. “Well, he’s still walking and it’s almost nine o’clock, so that’s an improvement over last year.”
Jami made a face.
“You’d think they might like to remember some of this.”
“You’d think.” Jason squeezed her hand. “I know I do. You look… so beautiful tonight. You really do.”
Jami blushed, and she found she had to avoid his embarrassing gaze. Fortunately, the dejay was loudly pumping Britney Spears out of the speakers.
“Let’s go dance,” she suggested, as her cheeks burned. “I like this song!”
“All right,” he agreed easily. “Hey guys, we’re going to go dance.”
“We’ll follow you,” Holli yelled back.
Her sister’s red dress was striking in amidst all the dark tuxedos, and Jami was glad to see that she looked like she was having a great time. Jami took Jason’s hand and followed him through the crowd, but unfortunately, by the time they managed to push their way through everybody and reach the dance floor, the dejay had faded the song into a slow Janet Jackson number.
“Well, so much for that,” Jason said, although he didn’t look too disappointed. “Still want to dance?”
Jami looked up at him. He was smiling confidently, but she knew that was just an act. He’d already shown her how sensitive he really was inside. A warm feeling of happiness spilled over her, and she smiled back at him, sliding her hands behind his shoulders.
“I’d love to,” she said, as she slipped her arm around his waist and pressed her cheek against his shoulder. They fit perfectly together, as if they’d been designed for each other. The rest of the world seemed to fade into nothingness, leaving only the two of them as she closed her eyes and let him hold her close. They swayed together, softly, slowly, to the gentle, romantic rhythm of the music.
This limo dude is annoyingly loquacious, Brien thought murderously as they rode through the night towards their final destination. He was half-tempted to open up his guitar case and give the guy a round of buckshot right in the back of the head, except that the poor guy was just trying to do his job, and what did you expect from a guy who drove a car for a living. Also, a big, blood-spattered hole in the fucking windshield just might attract a bit of attention when they pulled up at the front of the hotel.
“So no dates, huh?” the driver said, completely unaware of how close he was to death. “Just going stag then, that’s cool, nothing wrong with that.”
“No,” Brien agreed shortly.
“Bet there’s some big parties going on upstairs, though. That’s where the real action is, ya know.” The driver laughed knowingly. “I used to deliver pizzas until about six months ago, see, and I tell you what, I seen some things, ya know, delivering pizzas.”
Brien glanced at Derek, and saw his friend was shaking with silent laughter.
“What a fucking dork!” Derek mouthed silently.
“I imagine people will see a few things tonight,” Brien told the driver.
“Yeah, I bet they will,” the guy chortled.
It seemed like an eternity, but it was only twelve minutes later that they were pulling up in front of the brightly lit front of the hotel. There were a few kids from school scattered around the entrance, most of them smoking cigarettes or barely concealed joints, but without them and the big green-and-white banner over the entrance, there was no sign of a prom in progress. Brian nodded approvingly. That means everybody must be exactly where we want them. I just hope that jerk Schumacher is there.
“So, are you guys with the band, or what?” the driver asked, looking at their guitar cases as he held the door open for them.
Derek pushed a fistful of money into the guy’s hand without bothering to count it.
“Do yourself a favor, and fuck off, dude,” he said, almost kindly. Brien laughed as the guy stared, open-mouthed at them, apparently noticing their bloody foreheads for the first time.
“Uh, yeah, sure,” the guy stammered. He didn’t hesitate to get right back in the car, and the engine revved pretty hard as he pulled away from the curb, his tires squealing.
Derek turned and held out his hand, brother-style. Brien took it, and clasped it firmly.
“You were the only friend I ever had,” he told Derek sincerely. “I just wanted to say thanks.”
Derek smiled, but his eyes were still bitter. He stared at Brien for a long moment, and then he nodded quickly.
“I’ll see you in Hell,” he answered quietly. Then he turned and walked off, holding his hand to his head as if he had a headache. Brien followed at a more leisurely pace.
They’d gone over their plan so many times on Derek’s PC, he could have do
ne it in his sleep. Derek would infiltrate to the front of the ballroom, while he waited in the hallway just outside. Once Derek got things started, the panicked crowd would stampede right towards him, where his deadly ambush would take them completely by surprise. Then after the ballroom had been cleared, they’d go upstairs and go room-to-room, bringing all the private room parties to an early and unexpected end.
The police would arrive at some point, of course, and then the curtains would come down to end the show. That would be their ultimate finale, the big shoot-out with the law. Brien had no fear of dying now because he knew it would be quick and painless, just a hailstorm of lead and then the screen going red. How many times did they shoot that guy in New York, something like forty times? And he hadn’t just shot up a bunch of kids, the only crime he’d committed was carrying a wallet. No, cops would do their best to take him out fast, no doubt about that. They’d better too… or he’d take them down first. There would be no surrender!
He smiled grimly as he reached the hallway, crowded with sweaty, overdressed couples and infested with all kinds of ridiculous ribbons and whatnot in the school colors. It was all so stupid! What were they trying to do, play at a revival of the dead South? The cheesy dresses, the dorky penguin suits, what was it all for? There was nothing elegant here, it was just another night to party, more sex and beer for the pretty people.
Brien found a big, comfortable chair and pulled it to a position directly facing the large doorway. No one paid him the slightest attention as he lifted his guitar case to his lap and unlatched it. He balanced it there with his right hand inside the case, gripping the loaded shotgun’s stock. With his other hand, he reached around under his tuxedo jacket for the buckle of his cummerbund, which was no longer needed to cover his twenty-four shell ammo belt. Pulling it off, he dropped it to the side of the chair, then withdrew a pair of shades from his breast pocket. All he really needed now was a joint, he thought regretfully.
The deejay was spinning an old Janet Jackson song, which, Brian realized with amusement, was “Let’s Wait A While”. Sure, let’s do just that, Janet. No problem. He sat back and watched patiently as the fat, tuxedo-wearing photographer snapped picture after picture of happy, unsuspecting couples. It was kind of too bad that Derek had the video camera, he thought absently. The light was better out here.
He waited calmly. The photographer’s flashes didn’t disturb him in the least as they flared harmlessly against his lense-shrouded eyes.
Chapter 31
Exit Light, Enter Night
It's like a whirlwind inside of my head
It's like I can't stop what I'm hearing within
It's like the face inside is right beneath my skin
—Linkin Park, (“Papercut”)
Jami’s first hint that something was wrong was not something she could put into words, exactly. As Jason held her close, she suddenly felt as if the world had gone cold. The lights seemed to darken, and she could almost feel a wintry breeze blowing cruelly on the exposed skin of her back, giving her goosebumps. Where is that coming from? She shivered, and pushed herself back from Jason.
“What’s the matter?”
“That wind, is there a window open somewhere? I didn’t think it was that cold out!”
“There’s no wind, Jami.” Jason was still holding her, but at arms length now. “Are you all right?”
She pulled away from him and hugged herself. It was freezing! And the lights… they weren’t glowing the way they should….
“Jami!” Holli was reaching out for her. “Can you feel that?”
“Do you have any idea what they’re talking about?” Eric asked Jason.
“No, I don’t know. All of a sudden she just started freaking out about the wind, or something.”
“This is bad, Jami,” Holli insisted urgently. Her eyes were huge. “I think we should get out of here!”
“I don’t know….”
Jami was pretty alarmed herself, but she didn’t exactly like the way Jason and Eric were looking at them. The boys had been pretty tolerant of all their little conditions, well, most of them were Mom and Dad’s, of course, but still, they’d been very cool about everything. Maybe there was something strange going on, and maybe there wasn’t. She didn’t want to leave Jason with a bad impression, and she didn’t think that running off screaming into the night would score the right kind of points with him.
Then the music stopped. Jami glanced up at the stage where the deejay was set up and saw that the man bending over the sound equipment didn’t look like a deejay. He was tall, and was dressed for the prom in a black tuxedo, black tie, and a ruffled black-and-yellow cummberbund. He was messing with the equipment for a second, and then he stood up, looked out over the crowd, and smiled. It was a scary smile, full of cruelty and evil, and Jami realized Holli was right.
“Let’s go,” she hissed at Holli as she grabbed Jason’s hand. “Now!”
People were grumbling about the interrupted music as they pushed past them, but then the sound system came back to life. There was a sound like a vacuum cleaner being started, and then a metallic voice came thundering over the big speakers.
“This is the sound of your destruction!”
A heavy drum began to beat, and then, as a distorted electric guitar roared at earsplitting volume, she heard a loud explosion behind her. A second explosion followed, and then a third, but it wasn’t until someone started screaming in high-pitched terror that she realized the explosions were actually gunshots.
“Shit!” Jason swore uncharacteristically. He pulled at her as she kicked off her high heels. “Jami, run!”
She couldn’t help looking back though. It was a terrible sight. The tall man in the tuxedo was standing on top of the platform now, holding a long gun, and pointing it down into the crowd. His face was a white mask of terrible joy. There was a flash of light and another roar, and two boys appeared to leap backwards into a small group of girls, sending the whole group sprawling.
“No,” she shouted in horror, but Jason yanked at her arm so hard that pain went shooting through her armpit.
“Run, damn it!” he commanded savagely. Thanks to her mysterious early warning, they were one of the first to reach the doors at the far end of the ballroom. But where’s Holli? She started to panic, thinking her sister might have fallen, but then, she glanced back and saw her sister’s red dress immediately behind her. Eric was running with her too—Jami could have wept with relief.
Thank you Jesus, keep her safe, she prayed fearfully. And get me out of here!
Behind them, the ballroom echoed with piercing screams and booming gunshots as they burst out of the dark room into the relative light of the hallway. But to her horror, she saw a man wearing sunglasses was rising from a chair, holding a rifle that was pointed right at her.
“No!” she screamed, holding up her hands in feeble self-defense.
BOOM! The explosion was deafening, and she found herself twisting sideways through the air as something smashed into her from behind and knocked her face-first into the carpeted floor. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
She looked up and saw the gunman moving forward, past her, stepping over three or four people who were on the ground in front of him, although she couldn’t tell if he had shot them, or if they had only fallen down, like her.
“Holli!” she screamed, not seeing her anywhere. Someone pulled at the back of her dress, and she tried to bat their hands away. “Holli!” she screamed again frantically.
“Get up, Jami,” Holli shouted in her ear. “I’m right here! Come on, we’ve got to get out of here.”
Oh, thank God, thank God, thank God!
“What happened?” Jami asked, relieved, but confused. She thought… no, maybe she hadn’t seen … it was impossible to think, with the screams and the gunshots, and the sharp stink of the gunsmoke.
Jason suddenly loomed before her, his face white with horror. He pushed her away from the ballroom, where the firing still continued.
; “Run, run, you guys! Now!”
“But where’s Eric?”
“I don’t know! I don’t know!”
Holli tried to resist, but Jason was too strong for her. He grabbed her wrist in one hand and Jami’s in the other, and forced them to run with him. They ran through the lobby and out into the parking lot, and Jami was so scared that she barely noticed the rough asphalt on her bare feet. There were kids milling aimlessly, and some were still running, crossing the street in order to put as much distance between themselves and the danger as possible. Several people were shouting into mobile phones, and Jami wondered what they were supposed to do.
She heard the sound of an onrushing car, and in her state of panic, leaped backwards in an attempt to get away from it. She tripped, and as she fell, she saw it was actually a big sports utility vehicle. The brakes squealed as it came to a sudden halt, and Christopher leaped out of the driver’s seat. He didn’t bother to shut the door, he just ran around the front of the car and pulled her to her feet as if he’d been looking for her and knew exactly where she’d be.
“Holli!” he demanded.
“I’m right here,” Jami heard her say. “Christopher, what are you doing here?”
“Who cares, just get in the car!” Jason ordered.
He pushed Jami towards the Explorer, but Christopher shook his head. He pointed to the hotel entrance, which was still crowded as terrified teenagers and frightened hotel staff continued to pour out of it.
“No. Come on, guys, we have to go in there.”
Jami stared at her brother. Was he crazy?
“Christopher, you have no idea—”
“Yes, I do,” he answered. “They’re killing people in there, and they’re going to kill a lot more if we don’t go stop them now. So come on!”
Jami didn’t move. Neither did Holli. They both just stood there, looking at Christopher in disbelief, and paralyzed by fear.