The Killer was growing impatient and anxious. There was only a week until the Halloween dance at King High and there was almost too much to do. Good thing the Killer had help.

As the sun rose over Tumbull County, the Killer paced the abandoned house used as the Killer’s headquarters. There were the unpleasant, muffled sounds of the Killer’s captures coming from the basement, but that wasn’t at all unusual and the Killer had learned to drown them out.

Today was going to be a busy day. The students of King High would be in for a surprise, and then, the Killer would need to throw the Sheriff’s station off the scent.

It was imperative that King High stay open until the Halloween Dance. The dance needed to happen and that was why the cook needed to die; to confuse the police into thinking that students weren’t the only targets. Well…one of the reasons. Not having his protection there would leave the diner vulnerable and the Killer was a fan of vulnerability.

Naturally, the cook’s murder would not reach the ears of the town until his family was notified and that should take a few days. So, as of tonight, the diner would be the Killer’s target and today, the school would be in for a surprise.
A big surprise…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Glen Carlin was snoring away on the floor of his sister’s bedroom, completely unaware of the scribbling going on above him. Spencer Carlin was writing furiously in her journal on her bed, detailing everything that happened last night at the Davies’ house and an update on the random gossip around school. Spencer never wrote about her private life in her journal, so omitting the night’s events with Ashley and their almost kisses wasn’t unusual. Writing it down made it real, and Spencer lived in another reality.

When she finally finished and dotted her period forcefully, she set down her pen and glanced at the clock on the table beside her.

“Just great.” Spencer mumbled at the darkened clock. The power was still off. The blonde sighed as she reached for her cell phone. It was almost time to start getting ready for school and Spencer wasn’t looking forward to it.

She had just set her cell back on her bed-side table when it lit up. With a furrowed brow, the blonde reached over to see that she had received a text. She flipped her phone open and smiled at the message:

Madison: Senior Cut Day 2day!!!! Don’t go 2 school, bitches!!! ;P

Spencer snuggled up to bed and breathed deeply. She didn’t think she could handle going to school this morning anyway. There was a long list of reasons: Today was Patrick’s wake, the blackout, Ashley, the vandalism from the night before at the Davies’ house, the murders, Ashley…Ashley in her house right now…almost kissing Ashley TWICE last night!

Spencer stared at her ceiling as her brother slowly started to stir at the base of her bed. “What time is it?” He asked sleepily. “Don’t worry about it, everyone’s cutting today.” She told him as she placed her arms behind her head and continued to stare at the crack on her celing. “Oh, awesome.” Was his only reply before he drifted back to sleep. It really was the perfect day to avoid King High: Her father would be busy at the diner for the food preparation for the wake and Aunt Marie had a long shift at the hospital before and after she helped with Patrick’s viewing. She doubted if either adult would notice their lack of school attendance. Spencer groaned before she threw her comforter over her head. She wasn’t at all looking forward to Patrick’s wake.

Ashley Davies lightly moaned from her couch on the first floor of the Carlin’s residence. She licked her licks and kept her eyes firmly shut. She loved the feeling of the soft nuzzling against her neck and was somewhere stuck between dream-world and reality. Not noticing that it wasn’t in fact Spencer doing the nuzzling…or a human for that matter.

A soft meow finally made the brunette’s eyes crack open. Lying softly on the girl’s chest was a furry grey kitten, mewing its content. “What the hell?” Ashley softly questioned. At the sound of the young girl’s voice, Arthur Carlin entered the living room with two cups of coffee in his hands. “Trouble.” He informed her.

“Huh, what did I do?” Ashley asked quickly, sitting up slightly so as not to disturb the cat. Arthur chuckled lightly at the brunette’s paranoia. “No, that’s Trouble, Spencer’s cat.”

“Oooohhhh.” Ashley said, accepting the mug of coffee from him gratefully. “It’s instant. Sorry, the power’s still out.” Ashley just shrugged and took a sip “Thanks.”

“Well you’ve been drinking coffee first thing in the morning as long as I can remember.” He said with a laugh. When the girls were younger, Ashley would often join him and his wife around the kitchen table for a cup of coffee after a late night sleepover. Both of Spencer’s parents quietly liked the routine as they each shared the morning paper amongst the three of them.

“So, Ashley.” Arthur started before he took another sip from his mug. “Deputy O’Connell and I went over to your house last night…”

“And?!” Ashley demanded, suddenly remembering the previous night’s events. Trouble jumped off of the brunette’s chest, startled by her sudden movements. “Well…we couldn’t find anything. There was nothing there.”
“What?!”

“We searched. No pumpkin, no maggots, no message, no nothing.” Ashley scoffed and glanced around the room in disbelief. “But you believe me, right?” The brunette loudly begged.

“Of course. If you and Spencer say it was there, I believe you. Tomorrow we’re going down to the Sheriff’s station so that you can tell him everything.” Ashley was relieved to hear that she had Arthur on her side. He was well-liked around Trumbull County and was very close with those who ran it. “But in the mean time, I want you staying here with us.”

Ashley tilted her head in confusion. “What? Why?”

“It’s not safe for you alone in that house. And with the blackout and murders, I would feel a lot better if you were here so I could keep an eye on you.” Ashley felt overwhelmed. It was one thing for the man who she always kind of saw as a father figure to give her a job at his diner. But to offer his home and protection made her feel something she rarely felt: loved.

“It’s okay, Mr. C, I’m sure I’ll be okay…”

“Sorry, kiddo. You’re stuck with us. And there’s no need for you to be banished to the couch. We’ll make up the cot and put it in Spencer’s room, I’m sure she won’t mind.” At this, Ashley snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure she’ll be real psyched to hear that.” Ashley offered sarcastically, although she reeeeaaaallly like the idea of being alone in Spencer’s room at night. And then another thought passed through her head, what would Aunt Marie think? “What about…”

“Don’t worry about Marie, she’ll understand.” Arthur nodded with confidence, even though he was far from feeling confident. Marie would definitely not be pleased with his decision, but Arthur had made a promise to the brunette’s mother that he would look out for the young girl, and he planned on doing so. Besides, he liked having Ashley around. It was like old times and he enjoyed her company. She was a good kid and funny; a much better influence on Spencer than his daughter’s other friends were; despite what the town said, Ashley had a good heart.

“So it’s settled, you’ll stay here until things…well…until things get a little better. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get everything ready for the Anderson’s wake. I’ll be at the diner if any of you need me.” He gave Ashley a big smile that she returned before he went back into the kitchen to discard his mug and set off for work.

With his absence, it left the four students of King High very much alone in the dark house. Kyla Woods was stirring and felt her stomach grumble with hunger. She looked around the dark room and nervously decided that she should brave the strange house to fill her stomach.

Just as the small brunette was leaving the confines of Glen’s bedroom, Spencer Carlin was bounding down the stairs from her third floor bedroom with the intention of making a big breakfast. She really wanted to impress Ashley with her cooking skills.

“Oh, hey.” Spencer greeted the girl, a little surprised to see her. “How’d ya sleep?” The blonde asked quietly, hoping not to disturb the brunette that was probably asleep on the couch. Spencer knew that Ashley wasn’t a morning person. “Fine. Glen’s bed is a little lumpy but Ashley and I drank a little last night and that put me right out!” Kyla said with enthusiasm. “Oh. You drank with Ashley.” The blonde could just barely contain the jealousy from her voice.
“Yeah, she’s really great.” The smaller girl said with a smile, causing Spencer’s frown to persist.

“I guess.” She mumbled as she continued to venture down the steps and towards the kitchen, Kyla following closely behind. “It was really nice getting to know her.” Suddenly Spencer felt like burning both Kyla and Ashley’s breakfast.

“Yeah, she can be a real bitch, though.” The blonde said, none too quietly as she started pulling things from cabinets to prepare breakfast. Kyla giggled a little, it was clear that Spencer was jealous and the young brunette was pleased at the girl’s reaction. Should she play it up or quell the blonde’s assumption?

“I can see why half the school is in love with her.” Kyla said, trying to hide her smirk. Maybe if she pushed the blonde, she’d admit her feelings. At the brunette’s words Spencer scoffed. “Well they clearly just don’t know her very well!” She said as she lit the flame on the gas stove and cracked some eggs into the frying pan.

For her part, Ashley was frowning deeply on the couch in the living room as she listened to every word the two girls were saying from the kitchen. So she really doesn’t like me? Ashley thought miserably. The brunette sighed and decided it was time to make her presence known.

“Nice waking up to your shrill voice, Carlin.” Ashley said as she entered the kitchen and placed her empty coffee mug in the sink. “Hey, Kyla.” Ashley smiled at the shorter girl. Spencer froze at the stove, not expecting Ashley to be awake yet. She felt slightly guilty that her ex best friend had heard what she said, but then her eyes narrowed at the brunette’s insult. “My voice is NOT shrill.” Ashley rolled her eyes at Kyla, making the shorter girl giggle.

“Whatever you say, Spence. What time are we leaving for King?” Ashley asked as she heaved herself up on the counter next to the blonde. She couldn’t quite help herself from being close to the blue-eyed beauty, even if Spencer thought she was a bitch. Again the word hit Ashley hard. The blonde didn’t like her after all. Last night was everything Spencer said it was; just about sex. Too bad that didn’t even occur.

“It’s cut day, so we’re blowing off school.” The blonde answered nervously, fully aware of the close proximity of the brunette. She tried to concentrate on the French toast, eggs, and bacon that were slowly cooking before her. “Sweet. School is the last thing I feel like doing today.” Ashley mumbled sadly as she reached out for a strip of bacon, only to have Spencer swat her hand away.

“Hey!”

“You’ll have to wait, Davies.” Kyla shook her head at the two girls. It couldn’t be more obvious how they felt about one another. Should she push more of Spencer’s buttons?

“Hey, Ash since we have the day off, we should hang out?” Ashley looked up at the girl a little surprised. Spencer’s reaction was similar if not more so. The blonde spun around to view the shorter girl’s expression in hopes to gauge her intentions. “Um…yeah sure…what did you have in mind?” Ashley asked.

“Oh you know, just chill or whatever. Maybe go to the mall?” The blonde’s frown was evident as she turned back towards the breakfast. She didn’t think Kyla was flirting with Ashley, but she wasn’t specific enough for it not to be construed as asking Ashley out.

“Yeah that sounds good. I have work at three, though.”

“Yeah, we work together tonight.” Spencer said as she flipped some bacon.

“Well that’s fine, we can chill today before you go to work at the diner.”

“Sounds good.” Spencer rolled her eyes and mocked Ashley’s words under her breath.

“Spence, you making breakfast?” Glen asked as he strolled into the kitchen.

“Well since the powers still out I thought it would be best to get rid of some of this food.” Spencer lied to make it clear to everyone in the room that she wasn’t trying to be nice. Especially not to Ashley. Although that’s what she really wanted.

“Why are you up?” His sister asked, shocked that he was awake when he didn’t have to be. “Couldn’t sleep. Plus I have a lot of shit to get done. The coach is pissed I missed the game last night and got me a tutor so I can catch up in my classes. I have to start thinking about my future.” The blonde nodded along, a little surprised by her brother’s comment, as she started putting food on plates. She handed Glen’s first and then dished some food out for herself, letting the brunettes get their own. Stupid Kyla and Ashley. Spencer thought as she walked over to the kitchen table with her brother. She was actually angry with herself for even having to serve Glen, but she wanted them both to get the hint. Spencer- not pleased.

Ashley just rolled her eyes at the petty move and hopped off the counter to grab some food. She put some on a plate for Kyla before joining the siblings at the table.

“Don’t you two have a group project to work on?” Spencer casually asked Glen and Kyla, hoping that they still needed to work on it, therefore leaving Ashley without Kyla’s company today.

“No…um we finished last night.” Glen’s face reddened and the gears started turning in Spencer’s head. Maybe the project was a ruse, maybe Glen and Kyla just wanted to be alone? The blonde looked away from her brother to the short brunette that also looked a tad embarrassed. Suddenly, the food tasted much better and somehow it was a little less gloomy outside for Spencer Carlin. “Well I think you two make great partners.” The blonde said cheerfully before munching on her bacon.

Nobody noticed Glen’s pleased smile or Kyla’s light blush. The only thing Ashley noticed was how delicious the food was. “God, Carlin, who knew you could cook.” The brunette said with a mouthful of food. Unfortunately, Glen and Kyla did notice the blush creep up on the blonde’s cheeks. It caused Glen to cock his head and file the information away.

The rest of the morning was rushed. Glen wanted to get in some practice before the wake and meeting his tutor, Spencer cleaned up around the house prior to tackling her homework before the wake, and Kyla and Ashley left the Carlins’ house in favor of the mall.

The two brunettes casually talked as they window shopped, not noticing they were being followed. Kyla seemed most interested in Ashley’s life and the taller brunette was more than willing to talk about her childhood; it was nice having someone who would listen.

At two thirty the pair left the mall so that Ashley could get to work. The older girl was slightly taken aback at the tight hug Kyla gave her, and smiled uncomfortably at the display.

“I had a really great time today, Ashley, maybe we could hang out again?” The short girl asked shyly. “Yeah, sure, whatever.” Ashley dismissively answered as she walked Kyla to her small apartment. “Great, see ya at school tomorrow!” Kyla waved as she climbed the stairs leading up to her room at the shabby complex.

Ashley mused for a few moments about where Kyla lived; it was clear that she didn’t have a lot of money. The brunette then shrugged and went on her way, cursing whoever flattened her tire the night before with each step she took.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Killer moved through the halls of King High as though belonged. No one noticed the Killer’s presence and no one stopped to make interrogations. Most of the senior class and some of the junior were not in attendance today; senior cut day was not in the plan! The Killer thought angrily.

This is why the Killer hated teenagers! Most of them never considered for even a second about consequences, about the future. And this is why they needed to be eliminated.

The Killer reviewed the list of targets before stuffing into a front pocket. There were only three names on the list that were actually in attendance today. They would be taken care of this morning and two later tonight. It would be so easy. The Killer actually thought it was fate that the three targets fit so perfectly in the Killer’s alphabetical pattern.

The murders couldn’t have gone smoother. The Killer was a fabulous actor, to say the least. All you need is to put on an authoritative voice with confidence and anyone would follow.

Sean Miller was no different.

The Killer beckoned him from across the quad and told him that he was needed in the office. Down an abandoned hallway, the Killer suddenly turned and put a cloth drenched in Chloroform against his mouth, effectively knocking him out. The Killer then took the sword where it had been stashed and finished the job before stuffing Sean Miller into an empty bathroom stall. Easy.

As the Killer cleaned off the sword it was mused about how irritating it had become not going along with the plan. The list should start with the A’s and end with the Z’s. But complications where arising and the plan needed to be flexible. And plus, throwing off the police off was fun.

The other two victims were almost boring they were so easy. But the Killer took pride in checking their names off the list, and it was enough to make the Killer smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The wake, for Spencer Carlin, was dreadful. Most of King High was there and she was too busy setting up food and cleaning up after the mourners to even mourn herself. While she set up plates and napkins she would casually look over at Patrick’s crying parents and just watch them.

Spencer Carlin hated wakes, she hated funerals. And although most people would agree that both were not rousing good time, Spencer hated them for other reasons. She hated that people would cry over a body. Not a person, a body. She hated that people were fake; only now proclaiming their love for the deceased, but failing to do so when they were alive. And mostly she hated the memories of two wakes and two funerals she attended four years ago that left her cold inside.

Her mother’s funeral was a mystery to her. She was an inconsolable mess throughout the wake and funeral and the only actual memories she had was being held by Glen. She loved her brother, but she had wished in the days following her mother’s death that Ashley would have been the one holding her. However, Ashley was too consumed with her own father’s death. The night of her mother’s wake was the evening the brunette’s father had died- to this day Spencer still feels nauseous with herself for wishing she could have been with Ashley that night instead of her own mother’s funeral.

However, she reasoned, it wasn’t like she could actually give her mother a proper goodbye. It was a closed casket- apparently the damage from the car accident had left Paula Carlin’s body unrecognizable- therefore Spencer couldn’t get any real closure from neither the wake nor the funeral.

“Spencer dear, you’re not working tonight, correct?” Spencer’s head shot up at the sound of her aunt’s voice. She furrowed her brow and cocked her head at the question. “I just assumed since you were working this afternoon that you wouldn’t be working this evening. Don’t worry, I’ve already called Carmen and she was more than happy to work. In fact, she’ll be working every night from now on, so you can have your old hours. Okay, dear?” Without waiting for an answer, Marie turned and walked the length of the room over to the two grieving parents of Patrick Anderson.

Spencer frowned as she stirred the macaroni salad; her aunt only got Carmen to work the shifts so that Spencer wouldn’t be with Ashley. The blonde felt anger build inside of her and took it out on the macaroni salad. She stirred it hard until she could no longer stand the confines of the room.

Spencer quickly dodged through mourner after mourner until she pushed open the doors of the funeral parlor and gasped out a large breath into the chilly fall air. She ran her hands through her golden locks and gulped in as must oxygen as she could to fight away angry tears.

She was so sick of the things she loved being taken away from her. She was tired of living her life in lies and secrets and silently sitting back and allowing it to happen.

She missed her mother. She missed the way life at the Carlin house use to be- without her interfering aunt. She missed going to the Davies’ and having Raife sneak her an ice cream cone with a big childish smile painted on his face. She missed Ashley. She missed Ashley right now.

Spencer made the decision and quickly took out her cell, not knowing that she was being watched. She scanned down her contact list until she found the number and hit send. “Hey, Carmen, it’s Spencer.”

“Hey, Spence, what’s up?”

“I know my aunt asked you to work for me tonight, but that won’t be necessary, I like my night shifts and I’m just going to keep them. But you can have my weekend shifts if you want?”

“Are you sure, Carlin, you’ll make a lot more money on the weekends?” Spencer thought about it for a mere second. The face of Ashley Davies flashed in her thoughts and her mind was made up.

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“Whatever you say, Carlin. I’ll probably be in tonight, though. I few of us are meeting there because of the wakes and cut day.”

“Alight, I’ll see ya later then.” Spencer shut her phone and breathed out a sigh of relief as she leaned back against the glass doors of the funeral parlor. For the first time in over an hour the blonde felt relaxed. She also couldn’t wait to go to work- to see Ashley.

What Spencer didn’t know was that tonight, unlike most nights at the diner, it was packed. And poor Ashley was busting her ass.

Spencer drove into the diner’s parking lot and her mouth dropped open; almost every spot was taken. The blonde quickly parked in her father’s spot and hurried into Paula’s Place.

“What the fuck?!” Spencer mumbled. The diner was certainly busy. Every table, booth, and seat at the counter was filled and there was a line out the door waiting. There were a few regulars in attendance, but for the most part, it seemed, all of King High was at the small restaurant.

“Spence! Take a seat, we were just about to order, whenever that dyke gets around to taking it.” Madison said with attitude from the first booth. She was seated with Sherry, Candace, and Taylor- Spencer’s three other friends from cheerleading.

“Madz, I can’t I’m working. Where the fuck is Ashley?!” The blonde asked as she scanned the diner. The brunette was nowhere to be found and the customers looked antsy.

“The kitchen I think. She’s taking forever.” Madison complained.

“Seriously, Spence, you’re dad should so fire her.” Sherry agreed. Without answering her friends, Spencer headed off towards the kitchen’s swinging doors and slapped it open as she strapped her apron around her waist.

“What the FUCK are you doing?!” Spencer screamed at the sight before her. There was Ashley, sweating up a storm as she flipped a burger over, chopped up some steak, and quickly ran over to the fryer to drop some mozzarella sticks and fries.

“What the fuck am I doing?! Where the fuck have YOU been, Carlin?! And why isn’t your dad picking up the phone? And where the FUCK is J.P.?!” Spencer watched, in complete shock as Ashley continued to prepare meals and hurriedly put them on plates.

“My family was working the wake! What do you mean ‘where’s J.P.?!” Spencer shouted, still frozen as she watched Ashley cook.

“He didn’t show up after Theo left to go to the Anderson’s wake! I called and called and fucking called him but he didn’t pick up! I’ve been slaving over a fucking hot stove for the last two freaking hours! All of King High is out there! I’m been taking orders,” Ashley yelled as she started slapping tuna on a sandwich. “I’ve been making the fucking food!” She complained as she checked an order slip and then raced over to the freezer to pull a steak from it. “And I’ve been fucking serving the food! Now could you, like, do something to help?!” Ashley shrieked as she slid the now finished, sloppy, tuna sandwich onto the counter for Spencer to take.

“This looks horrible!” Spencer said as she tried to fix the sandwich.

“Well what do you want from me, Carlin, I can’t cook for shit!”

“Fine! I’ll cook, you serve!” That really was the safest idea, considering how bad at waitressing Spencer was. “You’re the boss!” Ashley screamed back as she took the plate and hurriedly jogged back into the diner.

Spencer got behind the counter and looked up at the dozens of order slips. She quickly and methodically went through each dish she’d have to make and broke into action.

For Ashley’s part, she was quick and precise with each order. She went from table to booth getting each request and practically ran into the kitchen to give the slips to Spencer before grabbing the meals Spencer had waiting for her and hurried back to serve them.

“Can’t your friends help us, Carlin?” Ashley asked as she waited for Spencer to hand her the next plate. “I mean, Madison and Sherry and them are out there right now taking up space and complaining, can’t they bus tables or something?” Ashley complained. “We have a shit-load of dishes piling up, it would be freaking awesome if someone would clean them!”

“And you think Madison would do that?” Spencer asked skeptically as she plated an order of wings and swiftly moved to the stove to flip some blueberry pancakes carefully. The diner was known for their blueberry pancakes, she couldn’t mess them up.

“Fine, I’ll call someone who will actually help and not be a stuck-up bitch!” Ashley said with annoyance as she grabbed the wings and left the kitchen. She dropped the order off at the table and pulled out her cell phone.

She scanned the diner and almost half of it had its food now that Spencer had showed up. No one was waiting to sit anymore and were either waiting for their food or had their check. She and Spencer made a good team, Ashley mused.
“What’s up, Ash?” Came through her phone.

“Aiden, thank God! Do me a huuuuuge favor, please, please, please?!” Ashley begged as she took some cleared plates from random tables and brought them into the kitchen and dumped them in the overflowing sink.

“What’s up?” He asked with a chuckle in his voice.

“I need you to come to the diner and help, it’s just Spencer and me here and it’s a mad house!”

“Uh…sure. Give me ten minutes?” Ashley let out a sigh and looked over at the blonde who was watching her as she cut up some ingredients for an omelet.
“I owe you, Aiden.” She gushed.

“Okay, but I can only stay until nine. Then I have to be home for curfew.” Ashley rolled her eyes at the comment. Because of the murders the Sheriff’s station heavily suggested a nine o’clock curfew for all its teenagers. The Dennison’s were taking it very seriously.

“Whatever, just get here!” She pleaded before she shut her phone. “He’ll be here in ten.” She smiled at the blonde. “Remind me to kiss him!” Spencer also sighed in relief and turned back to the stove to pour the omelet on it. Ashley frowned at Spencer’s back in response to the blonde’s words before she went out into the diner again.

“Hey, Davies. What’s up with the crowd?” Carmen asked as she plopped down in the booth in the back of the diner. Ashley took in her company- all lesbians, and one she’d slept with already- before she answered the dark-haired girl.

“J.P. never showed. I got Carlin in the back making the food.” Ashley said as she rolled her eyes. “Did you guys need some help?” Carmen offered as she swiveled her head to look at the packed diner.

“Nah, we got it under control now. Aiden’s coming to bus tables and do dishes, that’s all we really need now.” For some reason Ashley didn’t particularly care for Carmen…especially around her blonde. Carmen always seemed nice enough, but there was something about the girl she didn’t trust. Maybe it was the company she kept. Carmen nodded along and followed Ashley’s eyes to the girls sitting next to her and across from her.

“Davies, you know Sasha, Lily, and Jonica, right?” Ashley managed to give Lily a nod, but sneered once Sasha’s eyes found her own. She completely ignored Jonica.
“How’s it going, Ash?” Sasha said as she flipped her long brown hair behind her shoulder. Sasha gave the short brunette a flirty smile that made Ashley frown deeper.

“Anyway, what can I get for you?” Ashley asked as she ignored Sasha’s question, pen poised over her order pad. “We’ll just take some fries to start, and some waters for right now.” Carmen answered for the table as she put her arm around Lily. Ashley nodded and walked behind the counter to get their drinks.

“How’s it going, Ash,’ How’d you like my foot up your ass, Sash?!” Ashley mocked under her breath as she filled four glasses up with water. She put them on a tray and was back at the girls’ booth.
“So, Ash, you said Aiden was coming in?” Sasha asked as she dipped her straw into the water.

“To work, Sasha, not to be completely fucked with. So leave him alone, okay?” Ashley sneered at the girl again.

“Calm down, Davies. I believe it was your fault that she and Aiden broke up if memory serves.” Jonica taunted from beside Sasha.

“One, I didn’t know they were dating at the time, two, you knew fully well that you were gay and dated him despite that, and three…shut the fuck up Jonica, no one wants to hear a fucking word you have to say.” Ashley stormed away from the table and went back into the kitchen.

“Grrrrrrrrrrr!” Ashley groaned loudly in frustration once the kitchen’s door swung closed.

“What’s up with you?” Spencer asked as she placed two plates onto the kitchen’s counter. Ashley visually gulped at the sight before her, though, and momentarily forgot that anything was wrong in the world. There stood Spencer Carlin, in only her tight, black work pants and a white beater clinging to her sweaty body. The blonde’s pink bra could be seen underneath the undershirt and Ashley was fighting the urge to flip her ex best friend onto a prep table and fuck the living daylights out of her.

“Um…Sasha and Jonica are out there with Carmen and her girlfriend, Lily.” Ashley said in a shaky voice. Spencer looked like a pro beside the many stoves and ovens. She chopped, flipped, and plated each dish like she’d been doing it for years. Ashley felt a rush of pride take over her as she watched the blonde. She looked so beautiful…

“Ooooh.” Is all the Spencer said in an understanding tone as she turned back to the stove. Spencer didn’t need to ask why their company would bother the brunette- everyone at King knew.

Sasha Miller was gorgeous- everyone could see that. But she was also a bitch and a player. She had it bad for Ashley, and if Ashley were honest, she once had it bad for Sasha as well. What Ashley didn’t know was that Sasha was seeing Aiden in secret. The boy was smitten with the girl and Sasha was just using him for information on Ashley. She broke the boy’s heart without a conscious and made it her new goal to break Ashley’s heart.

Lucky for Ashley, she found out about Sasha and Aiden before she let herself get in too deep with the girl. Ashley only slept with her once before she found out the truth about the girl and then promptly told Sasha to get lost and that was that…well almost. Sasha still proceeded to try and make Ashley’s life hell.

“Did you wanna switch up? I’ll wait tables and you attempt to cook?” Spencer asked with a slight smile to break up the tension that was in the kitchen. Ashley smiled back and rolled her eyes. “Me attempt to cook while you attempt to waitress…I think we should just stick to what we’re good at, Carlin.” Ashley said with another grin before she left the kitchen.

“Aiden! Thank God!” Ashley cheered as she exited the kitchen and noticed the dark haired boy step into the diner.

“Damn, this place is packed!” He said as he looked around the diner. More and more students were filtering into the space, leaving no available tables.

“I know, I know, come on, we need you in the kitchen!” Ashley quickly steered her friend out of the diner and into the kitchen in the hopes that he wouldn’t see Sasha in the back booth.

“Hey Spencer?” The boy was more than a little surprised to see the blonde working the grill, but before he could even question anything, gloves and an apron were thrown in his face and he was being pushed towards the overflowing sinks.

“Hot’s on the left, cold’s on the right. Use the soap and hurry up.” Ashley went through the double doors separating the kitchen and the dining area, leaving a frowning Aiden and a smiling Spencer. For some reason it gave the blonde great pleasure watching the brunette boss the boy around. It might have had something to do with the fact that way back when the two girls were friends, Ashley dated the dark-haired boy briefly, giving the blonde a weird emotion she couldn’t identify then.

As the night wore on the diner remained crowded. The first booth was still occupied by Spencer’s friends, Madison, Sherry, Candace, and Taylor, laughing as they drank coffee and talked about the upcoming dance. They quietly discussed Spencer’s recent breakup with Garrett and whether or not they should show solidarity and all go stag to the dance.

In the second booth sat Chelsea Lewis, alone and panicked. She hadn’t heard from her boyfriend, Sean, since first period at school. She knew he had to attend because if he ditched, like the rest of the senior class, he would be suspended. He’s attendance was horrible. Normally Chelsea wouldn’t think anything of his lack of response from her numerous texts and calls, but with the death of his cousin two days prior, she worried that he was either still taking the news hard, or worse, that something had happened to him.

Ashley noticed the girl’s concerned expression as she passed the booth, but she kept on walking until she reached the newest occupant of booth three.
“Hey, Clyde, what can I get’cha?” She asked, barely looking up from her order pad. “It’s Clay.”

“Uh huh, what will it be?” She dismissed as she riffled through her order slips, trying to make sense of the madness.

“Just coffee right now, make it decafe. Has Glen Carlin come in yet?” The brunette looked up at the boy’s question and quickly glanced around the diner.
“Don’t see him. You meeting him?” She asked skeptically. Clay and Glen hardly looked like they’d be friends.

“I’m tutoring him. I’m supposed to meet him here…if he ever shows up. I swear, teenagers like him can be so irresponsible. No concept of consequences…”

“Yeah, that’s really interesting, Clyde. I’ll be right back with your decafe.” Ashley dismissed as Aiden poked his head out of the kitchen and beckoned her over. Ashley quickly got Clay his decafe before she hurried into the kitchen.

“What’s up, Aid?” She was pleased to see that order had finally returned; all the dishes were done, all prep areas cleaned, and Spencer was quickly and quietly cooking. She still looked extremely sexy, Ashley noticed.

Aiden smirked when he saw Ashley’s eyes longingly trained on the blonde. The dark-haired boy cleared his throat but it did no good. The brunette watched, mesmerized as Spencer sliced and diced the onion before her. Watched as her slender hands carefully scooped the onions up and spun around to add them to whatever was on the stove.

“Ash?” The brunette grunted her reply as the continued to watch Spencer. “Ash, I have to head home now.” Ashley whipped around to look at her friend, a frown on her face. “But Aiden, we have an hour and a half till closing and the place is still packed!”

“Sorry, Ash, I got to be home before curfew.” He told her carefully as he dried his hands off on a towel.

“It’s cool, Aiden. Thanks so much for coming in. I’ll bring some money for you tomorrow in school.” Spencer told him with a soft smile. Aiden was a life-saver!
“Thanks Spence. Good luck.” He said with a smile before he headed out of the kitchen towards the exit.

“Ash, mind running downstairs for me? I need another bag of fries.” Spencer asked as one arm swiped at her sweaty brow. Ashley was mesmerized again, barely nodding her head as she stared at the blonde. “Ash?” Spencer said again, chuckling a little at the way the brunette had zoned out, staring at her.

“Right, fries. Sorry!” Ashley turned and walked fully through the kitchen and over to the stairs that led to the basement. She mumbled curses under her breath, angry at herself for getting caught staring, as she made her way over to the walk-in freezer where most of the diner’s supplies were, including the fries.
Ashley hated the basement at Paula’s Place, and she wasn’t the only one. Most people felt that the dark and dank basement was creepy. The only person who didn’t seem affected by it was Arthur Carlin.

Ashley wrinkled her nose at the smell the basement gave off, sort of a cross between urine and wet dog, as she yanked open the heavy door to the walk-in freezer. She was careful to keep the door open as she searched for a bag of frozen fries. The walk-in freezer door didn’t lock, but Ashley never took the chance. The idea of being locked inside the small, freezing space made her skin crawl.
The brunette quickly found what she was looking for before she hurried back up the steps to the kitchen, happy to be out of the basement.

“Here you go.” Ashley cheerfully said as she tossed the bag onto the counter beside Spencer. “Thanks Ash. How’s it going out there?” Spencer was preoccupied with a number of omelets on the stove so she missed the smile Ashley was giving her.
“Fine. Still busy but under control. Is your brother coming in?” Ashley asked, thinking of Clay waiting out there for him.

“He mentioned that he would be coming by to meet with his tutor. Why?” Spencer asked, looking up.

“Cause I think that Clay Brown kid is out there waiting for him. Must be the tutor.”

Glen Carlin had actually walked into the diner moments ago. He stopped at the first booth to chat with Spencer friends, made it to the second booth to talk to the distraught Chelsea, and finally plopped down across from Clay to start the tutoring session.

Clay had scolded Glen on his tardiness and asked him repeatedly if he was going to waste his time. Clay had made it very clear to the blonde boy that his future was very important to him and if Glen wasn’t going to take their study session seriously that he wasn’t going to bother.

It was at this time that Ashley and Spencer were giggling and laughing in the kitchen. The brunette wasn’t in any rush to get back to work so she decided to ask the blonde about cooking. Spencer was currently showing Ashley the proper way to flip an omelet. When Ashley tried, however, it was with little success.
Both girls were too busy, caught up in their flirting, to notice that the bag of fries Ashley had just brought up had disappeared.

When Spencer turned to grab the bag she stopped and turned back to look at the brunette.

“Ash, where are the fries?” The brunette moved around the blonde to retrieve them, but also stopped short at their disappearance. “Um…I don’t know…I just put them right there.” Ashley scrunched up her eyebrows as she looked around the kitchen. She had just placed them right there, so where were they?

“You brought them up, right?” Spencer asked, also looking around the room. “Uh…yeah.” The two looked around some more but their search was fruitless. “Maybe I didn’t?” Ashley questioned skeptically. It’s true that she was distracted with thoughts of the blonde, but she was sure she brought them up.

“It’s okay. You go out and check on the diner and I’ll run down and get another bag.” Ashley shrugged and exited the kitchen, not at all liking the fluttering feeling in her stomach. Something didn’t seem right.

The diner’s crowd was thinning out. Madison and company had finally left the diner and now the only occupants were Chelsea, still alone, Glen and Clay, Carmen and her friends in the last booth, and Mrs. Thatcher, sitting at the counter.

Ashley greeted the old regular fondly before she went back into the kitchen to put the woman’s usual meatloaf order in. Ashley frowned when she found the kitchen empty; Spencer wasn’t back yet. And unbeknownst to the brunette, the blonde was actually trapped.

Spencer was practically whistling as she jumped down the steps, two at a time. She and Ashley were getting along so well, and even better, after work they would be heading back to Spencer’s house, to Spencer’s room, to spend the night. The blonde gave her father a tight hug when he told her that Ashley would be staying with them until further notice. Spencer agreed that Ashley staying at the Davies’ house, where the recent vandalism happened, in the current climate of the town, was not a good idea. Add that to the fact that the previous night they came so close to kissing, and Spencer was excited!

Even the dank basement couldn’t bring her mood down. Like always, she carefully entered the walk-in, making sure the door didn’t close behind her, and went over to the rack that held the fries in the corner of the freezer. She reached up to grab a bag, but flinched and turned around at the sound of the freezer door slamming shut.
Spencer carefully steadied her breathing and guessed that Ashley had closed the door as a joke. She reached up and seized a bag before turning around to get to the bottom of the door-closing business.

“Ash.” Spencer said, impatiently, as she rolled her eyes. The door wouldn’t budge and she couldn’t hear Ashley on the other side. “Ash, stop messing around and open the fucking door, it’s cold in here!” The blonde tried to keep her voice playful, not wanting to immediately freak out on her ex best friend for the little joke, especially because they were getting along so well.

But when all she was met with was silence, Spencer started to panic. “Ashley, open the damn door!” Spencer shoved her hands hard against the freezer door but was greeted with nothing but resistance. “Ashley! Open the door!” All traces of playfulness where gone now, and Spencer was really started to worry. Her heart was hammering away against her ribs and her breathing was becoming shallow and panicky.
The tight space seemed to only get smaller the more she banged on the door. The blonde tried using her cell phone to call the diner’s number, only to discover that she got absolutely no service down in the basement. Her eyes were swimming with tears as she heaved her body against the door, to no avail.

Spencer collapsed to the floor of the freezer, her breathing erratic, as one hand continued to bang against the door. Somehow, the blonde knew that if Ashley were behind this prank, she would have opened the door already. Spencer wrapped her bare arms around herself as she tried to keep it together. Ashley would find her. Ashley would come looking for her. She’d be okay. Ashley would get to her. That is…unless, someone was keeping Spencer occupied so that they could get to Ashley first?

Back in the dining area, the brunette started her sidework, getting ready for the night to finally be over. She watched as Clay and Glen fought over their study session, watched Carmen and her friends laugh and joke, and watched Chelsea sadly leave the diner, no closer to reaching her boyfriend than when she entered Paula’s Place hours earlier.

Ashley joked with Mrs. Thatcher, always enjoying her company, while the old woman waited patiently for her dinner. After almost a half hour, however, after Ashley had finished all of her evening chores, she decided to see what was taking Spencer so long. But when the brunette entered the kitchen, she found it still deserted.
“Hey, Davies. We’re leaving.” Carmen told her as she approached the troubled brunette. “What? Oh, okay.” She said dismissively as she watched the four girls exit the diner.

“Yeah, Ash, we’re heading out too.” Glen said as he closed his schoolbag and got out of the booth. Ashley wasn’t really listening as Glen said goodbye and left the diner following Clay. Now only she and Mrs. Thatcher remained.

“I’ll be right back, Mrs. Thatcher, I have to go check on Spencer.” Ashley told the old woman with her eyebrows furrowing. “Okay, dear.” The woman said happily. “And maybe after you check on her, you’ll give her a kiss too.” Mrs. Thatcher grinned widely as Ashley rolled her eyes and headed back into the empty kitchen.

“Spence?!” Ashley called out from the top of the stairs. When she didn’t receive an answer, she hurriedly raced down the steps to the basement, still calling out the blonde’s name.

The walk-in freezer’s door was closed tightly, and a quick look into Arthur Carlin’s office confirmed that the blonde wasn’t in there. “Spencer?” Ashley called out, a little quieter, suddenly nervous by the blonde’s disappearance. And plus, the basement was just creepy.

Ashley stopped dead when she heard muffled cries. She narrowed her eyes at the noise and wished the basement had better lighting. There were many places down here where someone could hide.

The brunette followed the stifled noises, until she was standing right in front of the walk-in freezer. She grunted as she retched the door open, only to be pushed clear across the basement by a very pissed-off blonde.

“What the fuck, Ashley?!” The blonde screamed as she gave the brunette another hard shove against a metal rack, containing boxes and jars of condiments. Ashley was shocked for several reasons. One, what the hell was Spencer doing in the walk-in freezer all this time?! Two, why the hell was she pushing her?! And three, how in God’s name can a person look this fucking hot when pissed-off?!

“Jesus, Carlin, stop pushing me! What the fuck is your problem?!” Ashley screamed back.

“That was so fucking mean! I can’t believe you lied about getting the fries, made me come down here to this creepy basement, and LOCKED me into the walk-in freezer! What the hell is your problem?!” Spencer shoved Ashley again, looking livid.

She was actually crying softly when Ashley had found her. Now that Spencer was out of the freezer, she decided that it was the brunette’s fault after all.

“Spencer, I did NOT lock you in the freezer!” Ashley yelled back, straightening out her shirt as she angrily looked at the blonde. “Sure you didn’t” The blonde said with an eye roll.

“Spencer, I swear that I did not lock you in there! The freaking thing doesn’t even have a lock on it!” Ashley said, motioning to the freezer door. Spencer knew this, of course, but what just happened made her wonder. If the door didn’t have a lock on it, how did she get herself locked in there?

Ashley suddenly noticed Spencer’s puffy, red eyes, and the Goosebumps covering her arms. “Hey, are you okay?” Ashley asked, tone soft now that Spencer had stopped pushing her and that she could see how upset her ex best friend was. The brunette wrapped her arms around the blonde as she rubbed her back both soothingly and to get her warm.

Spencer rested her head in the crock of Ashley shoulder as she let her ex best friend calm her down. “I’m okay now.” She whispered, nuzzling her head a little against Ashley’s tan shoulder. The brunette tightened her grip at the sensation and rested her head against Spencer’s. She had been truly scared when Spencer didn’t appear in the kitchen and was very worried when she couldn’t find her in the basement. Also, there was the question of how Spencer was locked into the freezer, something Ashley had only worried about happening not even ten minutes ago.

She knew she brought those fries up, but they vanished. Now Spencer was getting locked up in freezer? And where was J.P.? It was very unlike him to miss work, never mind not call? And the mysterious blackout that had consumed over half the town. With all the murders going on, and the events that took place at Ashley’s house last night, every little thing felt magnified making everything suspicious.
“Come on, Spence, let’s get you home.” Ashley whispered into Spencer’s ear. She didn’t want to be in the basement any longer.

The two made their way up the stairs and through the kitchen, only to find it empty. “I get Mrs. Thatcher left.” Ashley said sadly, feeling a little guilty that the old woman didn’t eat. Again, Ashley got that fluttering feeling in her stomach. She pulled out her cell phone and found Mrs. Thatcher’s number in her list of contacts. The woman gave her the number months before when her car was acting up.

She had Ashley call her home then to make sure she made it there safely, and Ashley was using the number once again to make sure that was the case this time as well.
Ashley felt relief when Mrs. Thatcher answered the phone, and then laughed when the old lady told her that she wanted to give the two girls privacy just in case the brunette got lucky. Ashley apologized to her favorite customer before hanging up the phone. “She’s okay.” Ashley said as she expelled a breath of relief.
Spencer was smiling at the girl, finding it adorable that she had the woman’s number and that she cared enough to check on her.

The two girls turned off all the lights of the diner and were halfway out the door when Deputy Altiere’s police cruiser pulled into the diner’s parking lot. Both Ashley and Spencer paused in seeing him get out of his car and approached the girls.

“Ladies, is everything okay?” He asked with panic. Both girls gave each other quick glances before they looked back at the young deputy.

“Yeah? What’s up?” Ashley asked suspiciously as both girls made their way over to Spencer’s car.

“Your father should be home now, right, Ms. Carlin?” Spencer nodded slowly as she unlocked Ashley’s car door and stared at the man. “I’m going to follow you two home. I need to speak with him.” Altiere didn’t want to mention that the Sheriff’s department just realized that the man he had found dead last night outside the diner was none other than J.P. Halligan, the diner’s cook.

Once the station made the realization that he was an employee, he jumped into his car and headed straight over. That officially made two victims of the diner, and he wasn’t about to add to the count.

Ashley and Spencer didn’t say a word to one another as they made the drive back to the Carlin’s, and once they were through the threshold of the still dark house, they both went right up to Spencer’s room as Deputy Altiere spoke with Arthur.
The two ex best friends sat quietly on Spencer’s bed as they strained their ears to listen to what the two men where speaking about through the open door of Spencer’s bedroom. The house was quiet except for the deputy and Spencer’s father.

“It’s been a bad day, Arthur.” Tom Altiere said as he looked down at the terrible instant coffee his host gave him. “A bad day.” He repeated as he scratched his eyebrow. “Deputy O’Connell will give you more details when you meet with him tomorrow, along with the girls. He wanted to come by tonight to tell you himself, but he’s swamped over there.”

“Tom, what is it?” Arthur asked carefully. He had known the boy for awhile. When Altiere went to King High, only a few years ago, Arthur used to serve him at the diner and joke around with him when it was slow.

“Last night we found a body outside the diner.” The deputy admitted miserably. Arthur jumped to his feet in shock and anger. “And I’m just finding out about this now?!”

“I’m sorry, Arthur. We had to notify the family first and we didn’t know anything!” Altiere said in a pleading voice, wishing he wasn’t the bearing of bad news. “It’s J.P., Arthur.” He told the man, feeling thoroughly disgusted with the whole situation. He and his coworkers were no closer in discovering who was behind this than when they discovered the body of Cassidy Adams a few days ago.

At hearing J.P. had been killed, Arthur sank back down on the couch in complete shock and sadness. He too was feeling helpless. He covered his face with both hands and tried not to think about J.P., a man that he actually would have called a friend, not just an employee.

Ashley and Spencer reacted to the news of J.P.’s death worse than Arthur. Spencer immediately began crying and Ashley actually had to fight off the desire to vomit. Both of their heads began to swim with the sadness of the loss and the fear that he was most likely killed right outside the diner where they both were last night, and only minutes before.

“And I’m sorry to say the news gets worse. Three students of King High were found murdered today and their bodies concealed around campus. Victoria Marks, our coroner, inspected the bodies and it was determined that they were actual killed during school hours.” Arthur Carlin couldn’t breathe at this news. Two places his daughter spent most of her time both were target areas.

“Now most of the King High senior class skipped today for the Anderson boy’s wake, but we don’t know if that had anything to do with the murders; if more would have taken place, or if that’s the reason the Killer attacked when he or she did.”
“Who?” Arthur calmly asked, his hands still covering his face.

“I’m sorry?” Altiere asked kindly.

“Who died, what kids were…killed.” Arthur asked through a shudder. He didn’t know that his children weren’t at school today, but the knowledge did little to calm him.

“Sean Miller, Ethan Marks, and Jake Kessler.” Arthur didn’t know any of the names but grieved for their loss just the same. But upstairs, was a different matter.
Ashley felt the full weight of despair collapse down on her at the mention of Sean’s name. She instantly flashed back to Chelsea sitting alone and worried at the diner earlier that night and wished that she took a moment to speak to her. She knew who Ethan and Jake were, and didn’t like either boy at all, but still, to be murdered…

Spencer was very friendly with both Ethan and Jake, although found them to be a tad obnoxious. They were both star football players and carried themselves like they knew it. Sean, on the other hand, was a great guy, very smart, but rarely attended school. Spencer cried harder in the realization that she would never see his smiling face in biology again. She also knew that Ashley was somewhat friends with Sean, and didn’t hesitate to jump out of her bed, slam her door shut, muffling the voice down below, before she hurried into her closet to uncover a bottle of vodka she had hidden.

She sank back onto her bed and pulled Ashley into her arms tightly, as the brunette started crying. She felt Ashley take the liquor bottle off the bed, uncork it, and awkwardly consume some before she finally pulled away.

They both sat quietly, drinking and crying, as they realized just how bad this had become. Something that seemed like miles away was getting closer and closer and the unpredictable nature of everything was making things that much worse.

Not long after, the front door closed, signaling the deputy’s departure. But neither girl acknowledged it. Spencer just scooted next to Ashley, where she sat propped up against Spencer’s bed frame, as they silently passed the vodka back and forth.

It had been a long day. And it just kept getting longer.

“I keep thinking about the dance.” Spencer finally said after almost an hour of silence. Ashley didn’t verbally reply to Spencer, but internally she screamed at the comment. Who could think of a stupid school dance at a time like this?!

“Every day I cross off another kids name from that stupid list. But not because they’re attending the Halloween dance, but because they’re dead.” Spencer finished bitterly before she took a long gulp of her vodka. Ashley suddenly knew where Spencer was going with this and found her hand lovingly stroking the inside of Spencer’s thigh to show support.

“I look at this list and I cry. Every day.” Spencer passed the bottle to the brunette sitting closely next to her and turned her body to her bedside table to retrieve her binder. She opened it as fresh tears hit her cheeks and took a pen to find the names of the deceased boys.

“I don’t even know why I bother. No one is going to this stupid dance.” Ashley chuckled a little trying to lighten the mood and was glad when Spencer flashed her a grateful smile. “I’m not kidding, Ash, no one is going.” Ashley laughed a little more as Spencer let a smile slip.

“Stop laughing!” She told the brunette as her own smile grew. The vodka was definitely helping. “I’m sorry, Spence, but after last night, with that dance flier left in my sink with all those maggots, yeah, I’m not going to the dance either!” Ashley said through giggles, earning her a shoulder bump.

“Come on, I need something to look forward to with all the shit that’s going on.” Spencer said in a sad tone.

“You want to know something weird?” Ashley said, her tone serious as well. Spencer just cocked her head and waited as the girl drank more vodka before continuing. “After I walked Kyla home, before I went to work, I was just walking through the neighborhood. It was so depressing.” Ashley said with a sad laugh. “All these houses were decorated for Halloween, but none of the lights were lit because of the blackout. It doesn’t even feel like fall.” Ashley quietly said as a fresh wave of tears filled her eyes.

“Fall was my dad’s favorite season.” Ashley still whispered and Spencer laced her fingers with the hand that was resting on her thigh. She gave it a tight squeeze. “I remember.” Spencer said in a soft tone.

“We used to do a thirty-one days of Halloween celebration.” Ashley said with a laugh as she wiped away some tears. “Come October first, we’d decorate and then every night we’d do something to commemorate; watch a scary movie, do the Monster Mash, haunted hay ride…whatever.” Spencer just smiled. She knew all this. She usually was included in every event when they were friends, even though she wasn’t a big fan of the holiday. But she knew that Ashley just needed to talk.

“Besides that twisted pumpkin that was left in my house, I haven’t done a damn thing for Halloween…and I haven’t in years.” Spencer gave the hand she held another squeeze.

“Then we should.” Spencer told the brunette, wanting desperately to see her smile, and maybe even make up for the fact that she hadn’t been there for the past four years. “We can start now. Whatever you want to do, we’ll do it. We can start our own Halloween tradition.”

Ashley looked over at the blonde and gave her a watery smile. “Really?”

“Sure. I know that right now things beyond blow, so maybe it would be a nice way to distract ourselves.” Ashley nodded at the blonde, smiling. “I’d like that.”

“Me too.” The girls just stared at one another, locking eyes as the intensity that always followed them started to sink in. Ashley found herself slowly stroking Spencer’s hand with her thumb; soft circles that were making Spencer’s breathing get harder.

“Girls?” The two broke their contact and Ashley quickly hid the bottle of vodka under the bed’s comforter at the sound of Arthur Carlin’s knocking.

“Come in.” Spencer told her father, trying hard to keep the anger she was feeling out of her voice. Yet another moment ruined.

“I just wanted to check up on you and apologize Ashley. I just now got your voicemails, I’m sorry you were alone at the diner.” Arthur said from the doorway. He felt sick with the knowledge that the brunette was there alone, after what happened to J.P. Anything could have happened to the girl.

“It’s alright, Mr. C, your girl here picked up the slack.” Arthur’s eyes bulged at the news. “You didn’t close the diner?!”

“Well it was packed…so…I just…cooked.” Spencer finished lamely as she shyly ducked her head.

“She didn’t just cook, Mr. C,” Ashley said with a big smile as her hand found Spencer’s underneath the comforter. “She kicked ass.” The two girls looked at each other and smiled. Maybe it was the vodka, maybe it was because of their past, maybe it was because of all the horribleness that was going on around them, but for whatever reason, suddenly both Spencer and Ashley no longer wanted to pretend anymore. And at that moment, they both silently agreed that they weren’t going to act like they hated one another any longer.

“Well I’m impressed ladies.” The two girls shared a grin with each other before smiling at Arthur. “And I’m afraid I have to apologize again, Ash, but I never had time to get up in the attic to pull down the cot. Do you think you can rough it for one night, I’m a little beat right now?”

“The floor’s fine, Mr. C, don’t worry about it.” Arthur laughed, that’s the Ashley he always knew and loved. “Well I’m sure Spencer would be happy to let you have the bed for the night.” Ashley grinned as she looked over at Spencer’s unhappy frown. “It’s okay, princess, you can have the bed.” Ashley teased with a smile.

Spencer rolled her eyes. “No, it’s fine. You can have the bed!” Spencer admitted in a huffy voice that caused Ashley to smile broader.

“No, no, you need your precious beauty sleep.”

“It’s fine, Ash, you can have the bed…”

“Spencer, don’t worry about it-”

“You two are too much. Just share the bed like you used to.” Spencer and Ashley froze at his words. Suddenly, Ashley holding Spencer’s hand underneath the blanket felt a lot more intimate. Suddenly, the queen-sized bed felt very small. But if either girl were to reject the idea, it would be suspicious.

“Yeah,” Spencer said slowly, trying to act normal. “That’s cool too.” Spencer released Ashley’s hand to scratch a fake itch on her nose. “Yeah, um…okay.” Ashley agreed, looking everywhere but at Spencer.

“Okay, with that settled I’m going to head to bed. But remember after school tomorrow you’ll be going with me to the Sherriff’s station to talk to Deputy O’Connell about the break in at your house.” Originally Arthur had planned on banning his children’s attendance of King High after the day’s events. But the Deputy assured him security would be extensive.

“What about work?” Ashley asked. “I um…I think I’m going to close the diner tomorrow. With everything going on and well…yeah.” The girls were surprised but didn’t question it.

Arthur left the girls, not knowing they overheard Deputy Altiere’s review of the past two days’ events, but didn’t want to fill them in after their long night. Things got awkward once he left, but the two girls just resumed their silent drinking, in Spencer’s dark bedroom, that was only illuminated by two small candles on Spencer’s bedside table.

“So…” Ashley started, desperate to put an end to the awkwardness. “How about them murders?” Spencer chuckled at her horrible joke, but knew what her ex best friend was trying to do.

“It’s weird right, how random they are?” Ashley silently nodded as she swallowed back some vodka. “There’s like, no rhyme or reason.” Spencer finished.

“Yeah, I would say they were knocking off the ‘bad kids,’ but a few of them don’t fit that mold.” Ashley mused as she passed the vodka to Spencer.

“What do you mean?” Spencer asked as she sat up a little straighter. She was just making conversation, but a part of her really wanted to talk this out to try and make sense of it all.

“Well, look at who the Killer is targeting. Most of the kids are punks, like Boz, Ethan, and Jake. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Boz was a great guy, but he was also a dealer. And even though you were cool with Ethan and Jake, you have to admit they were assholes.” Spencer agreed with a shrug. That she knew.

“Sean was constantly causing trouble. He was a really smart guy but he never followed any rules and was always getting busted for random shit. Cassidy was cool and all, but she definitely had an attitude problem. And Rhonda was a bit of a slut.” Ashley said as she checked each name off on her fingers.

“But Linda, Patrick, and J.P. were nice.” Spencer said, not finding a pattern. Ashley nodded a little as she strived to find something that connected all the victims.

“Okay…they weren’t saints either. Well…I don’t know much about Patrick, but J.P. was a bit of a pimp and Linda…well…” Spencer narrowed her eyes as she waited for the brunette to continue.

“Okay, let’s just be objective here.” Ashley said as she scooted herself up a little more. “Why a sword? In this day and age, who freaking carries a sword around? And who uses one to kill people?!” Ashley said, getting a little worked up now. “I’ve seen a lot of horror films and usually the weapon of choice for the killer is significant if they’re only using the one. I mean, if a sword is handy and you use it, okay, but to use it every time…to carry it with you…I don’t know…it says something.” Spencer was listening hard.

“So what does a sword mean?”

“Well…I guess it could mean a lot of things. But if all these ‘bad kids’ are dying…”

“With the exception of Patrick and Linda…”

“Well that’s just the thing. Maybe to someone else they could be construed as bad.” Spencer shook her head a little, not catching on.

“Patrick was a straight A student, a track star, and a really sweet guy. I don’t know who would find fault with him. And Linda was a badass mom. She worked so hard to help her son, managed to make the Dean’s List each semester and worked a part time job. I don’t know Ash, they don’t seem to fit.”

“Okay, okay. But think of it this way. Remember when everyone found out that Linda was pregnant? I mean, she was seventeen, still in high school, unmarried…not everyone thought she was so great, Spence. She took a lot of heat.” Spencer nodded, remember how bad the young girl had it.

“Like I said, I didn’t know Patrick that well…but I’m sure he had a few skeletons in his closet.” Ashley sat back against the headboard as she gulped down more vodka. But next to her, Spencer went ridged. It was the word ‘closet’ that spooked her. Her eyes were wide and her mouth fell open.

“Spencer? What is it?” Ashley asked, worried about the blonde’s expression. “Closet.” Spencer repeated. Ashley quirked her eyebrow as she watched Spencer’s wheels turning. “What about a closet?”

“Ashley, if I tell you something you have to promise never to tell anyone, and I mean anyone! I’ve never told anyone this and you have to swear you won’t say a thing, even to Aiden!” Ashley had never heard Spencer so serious.

“Sure, Spence. I swear, I won’t tell. What is it?” Spencer turned her body to face the brunette as she took a deep breath and folded her legs under her. “Patrick was gay.” The blonde got just the response she thought she would. Ashley’s mouth fell open in shock and her eyes widened. “What?!”

“He told me that night at Erin Klienschmidt’s Fourth of July party when we went upstairs. We were kissing and stuff and I thought we were going to have sex but he couldn’t…you know…”

“Get it up?!” Ashley practically screamed in surprise. “Well…yeah. And that’s when he told me…after a while. He was really drunk and he said that he’d never told anyone and that he wasn’t planning on telling anyone until he left Tumbull.”

“Wow.” Was all Ashley could say. She was really surprised. “I thought I had great gaydar.” She half said to herself. “So you think someone could have found out and that’s why he was killed?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never told anyone and he didn’t seem like he was ever going to tell anyone…but it would fit. If the Killer is murdering people that are…”

“Outcasts. Not model citizens? But that’s like every freaking teenager…” Ashley trailed off by her choice of word. “Teenagers. That’s why the Killer is targeting teenagers!” The brunette said in excitement. “And the sword would fit. Swords were used in Religious stories all the time to smite the unholy or whatever!” Spencer suddenly felt nauseated.

“But like you said, Ash, that’s every teenager. So what, the Killer is just going to knock off every student at King High? The Killer was there today and only three kids were killed. Why isn’t the Killer just going house to house? And you’re forgetting about J.P. he’s not exactly a teenager.”

“That, I don’t know.” Ashley said with disappointment, she really thought she was on to something.

“The flier.” Ashley looked up at Spencer’s words and saw that the blonde was thinking hard. “I think you’re right…the flier meant something.”

“Way to remind me that I’m probably on the Killer’s list, Spence.” Ashley said sarcastically as she took another swig of vodka.

“The list.” Spencer didn’t know why she repeated the words, but she looked down at the dance list still sitting on her bed. “None of the kids who have died bought tickets…except for Patrick.” Spencer shook her head, she felt like she was grasping at straws. “But I think you are right…I think the flier has something to do with it.” Ashley nodded, the flier was significant.

“Okay…maybe, and I’m reaching here, I know. But maybe the dance is important. Except for Patrick, everyone who was killed wasn’t going. But Patrick is gay, maybe the Killer didn’t like him going to the dance.”
“I don’t know…”

“Let’s think about the order they were killed, maybe that will help.”

“Okay. Um…Cassidy Adams. Patrick Anderson. Linda, Rhonda, Boz…”

“Battle, Begley, and Bossley.” Ashley finished for her in a horrified tone. But Spencer hadn’t caught on yet. “Spence! Don’t you see?! It went Adams, Anderson, Battle, Begley, and Bossley!”

“Yeah, but what about, Jake Kessler, Ethan Marks, Sean Miller that doesn’t fit. And you’re still forgetting about J.P.” But it was too late, Ashley was getting excited again.

“No, that’s hardly a coincidence that the first five people murdered were alphabetical order, Spence! And Kessler, Marks, and Miller? Not at the beginning of the alphabet but it’s still alphabetical.”

For some unknown reason, Spencer looked back down at her dance list.
“Oh my God.” The blonde picked up the list and reviewed it quickly. “What is it?” Ashley asked, suddenly concerned.

“The list. I think…I think you’re right.” Spencer laid the list on the bed and scooted closer to Ashley so they could both look at it.

“Okay, you’ll notice that the first five people on the list who didn’t buy tickets, with the exception of Patrick are now all dead. In freaking order. Lacey Albright bought a ticket, she’s alive. Ken Beaty bought a ticket, still alive. Same goes for Alkins, Benson, and Beard. They’re all fine. They’re also all pretty straight-edge. I don’t know them all that well, but from what I do know, they’re all pretty average and keep to themselves.”

“So you think that it’s following the Halloween dance list? That the Killer is murdering people who aren’t going to this stupid school dance? What about Patrick?” Ashley asked skeptically.

“We can hardly ignore the flier that was left for you Ash, whether it was a warning or whatever, it was there. And come on! In order on the list of people who aren’t attending are getting murdered. And we already established that Patrick is gay so maybe the Killer found out and didn’t like him going to the dance because of it!”

“Okay, but you’re also ignoring the name between Marks and Miller who is very much still alive, we know because we saw her today. And not only did she not buy a ticket, but she’s a raging lesbian.” Spencer looked down at the list to see Mendez, Carmen not highlighted or crossed out.

“But you’re forgetting, Ashley, why we did see Carmen today! It was cut day! She wasn’t at school! The Killer probably didn’t know that she wouldn’t be there! And oh my God! The diner! The Killer was there! The Killer locked me into the walk-in freezer! Ashley! I wasn’t supposed to work tonight, Carmen was!” Spencer was bouncing up and down on her bed with her realization.

“The Killer went to King today to probably kill Carmen, but she wasn’t there. But she was supposed to work for me! So the Killer went to the diner and found me there!”

“Oh my God! Spencer, that Clay kid was talking about how teenagers weren’t responsible and shit and blah, blah, blah, I wasn’t really listening but he was at the diner! Maybe he’s the Killer!” Spencer was thinking hard as her heart raced away in her chest.

“Clay hardly seems like the killing type but it is always the quiet ones. But let’s not point fingers yet. What we know is that the Killer is murdering people who, A. aren’t going to the dance, B. going after ‘bad kids,’ and C. is murdering people in some kind of order.” Ashley nodded along. It didn’t all add up but it felt good to be doing something.

“Which means…well…who’s next?” Spencer thought about it. “Well, according to this list, there are a couple of options. The next person who didn’t buy a ticket is Clay Brown…”

“But he’s totally the murderer!”

“We don’t know that yet. Then there is a long break down to the K’s. Jake, Ethan, and Sean were killed, but Carmen wasn’t.”

“But she should have been.” Ashley added.

“Yes, I agree. But that’s all we really have to go on. Who knows if the Killer is going to strike at some other part of the alphabet.”

“We should defiantly talk to the Sherriff about this tomorrow.” Spencer nodded, lost in thought.

“Do you think we should warn Clay and Carmen?” Spencer asked after a moment.
“Well Clay’s the Killer so he’ll already know and I don’t think Carmen would believe us.” Spencer rolled her eyes and smiled at the brunette’s comment. “Well I think we should definitely keep a close eye on Carmen. Clay hardly fits the ‘bad kid’ mold so I think we should focus on her”

“What like, follow her?” Spencer thought about it and nodded slowly. “We’ll keep a close eye on her in school, we both have a lot of classes with her…”

“You know my schedule?” Ashley asked, surprised and hopeful. The blonde knowing what classes Ashley were in made her heart flutter. “Um…well…sort of…anyway, after we meet with Deputy O’Connell tomorrow, we’ll stake the situation out.” Spencer said with a definitive head nod and hoped Ashley didn’t press the issue about her knowing her schedule.

“Stake her out?” Ashley asked with a laugh. “Well yeah. We can follow her around in my car and make sure she’s okay.” Ashley hardly thought that there was anything the two of them could do, but the thought of being with Spencer alone…

“We’ll talk to the Deputy tomorrow and we’ll see what he has to say.” Ashley told her, not really sure that the Deputy would believe their crazy analysis. “You feeling better?” Spencer asked, corking the bottle of vodka and moving her binder back to the bedside table before she got under the covers.

“Eh, not really.” Ashley said with a sigh, still straight-backed against the bed, unsure of what to do next. Should she get under the covers too? Would Spencer mind if she wrapped her arms around her and pretended that she belonged in that bed? “Yeah, me either.” Spencer revealed, wishing that she could be in Ashley’s arms. She knew she’d feel better, let herself pretend that the past few days didn’t happen; that the past four years didn’t happen.

Spencer sat up a little and blew at the candles beside her table. “We’ll go out tomorrow and buy a maggot-free pumpkin for you.” The blonde said with a small smile that Ashley returned three-fold. “As long as it’s maggot-free.” The brunette waited a moment before she situated herself underneath the covers as well. There was a noticeable distance between the two bodies, both girls lying on their backs, staring up at the ceiling.

“It’s cold.” Spencer lied.

“Yeah.” Ashley lied back. “Do you have another blanket?” The brunette asked the ceiling, afraid to turn to look at her ex best friend who was right beside her in the dark room. “Um…yeah…but it’s downstairs.” Again Spencer lied, hoping that Ashley would take the hint.

“That sucks.” She didn’t. Spencer rolled her eyes at the ceiling and wished it wasn’t so hard. “Night, Spence.” Ashley finally said before she rolled onto her side to face the door, away from the blonde.

“Night, Ash.” Spencer replied before she too turned on her side to face the wall, away from the brunette.

To say that neither girl had a peaceful night sleep would be an understatement.
Both girls’ dreams were laced with death…and if that had been it, it would have been enough. But sometime around seven in the morning, their dreams turned….sexual. But more on that later.

~~~~~~~~~~~
The Killer was not pleased. Today and Tonight had NOT gone to plan! Most of the kids that were supposed to die today weren’t even at school! And the Killer went to that ramshackle of a diner and ended up getting absolutely NOTHING accomplished!
The Killer paced in the abandoned house and thought hard about how the situation could be repaired.

“I’ll fix this. Oh, I’ll fix this! I don’t care what I have to do, but they’ll pay. I’ll make them all suffer.”