Horror Movie 101: Don't Go Walking After Dark [13]

[ωΘĿƒ]

Caroline took a long, exasperated gulp from the glass she had filled. It was late, sure. She'd been out running all day after school. For some reason, she'd been working out more lately. Maybe it had something to do with the close call at the lake? She'd been thinking about it more and more, and for some reason, she just needed to... run from it.

It sounded stupid to say aloud, but running really made her feel better. All her life, Caroline had done nothing but stay and play. She had never backed down, never given up - but that had been with snobby girls and show-off guys. It had never been with a killer before...

Caroline took another sip from her glass, washing it off then putting it away. She was somewhere in the heart of Chimera Academy, in the dining room. Water was important for runners, and so was a quick snack. She snagged a carrot on her way out of the kitchen, marching through the doors to make it back to her dorm as quickly as possible.

It had probably been a stupid idea to come here for food, but hey, it wasn't like there was more than one crazy psychopath hanging around.

Something deep and grating sounded behind her, and dropping her carrot, Caroline spun around to see what it was.

What? The walls had opened? That was... kinda weird. Then again, a lot of things at this school were. She thought she heard the sound of a laugh, far off down the corridor that had opened up, but when she mustered up the courage to peek in, nothing was there.

Hmmmm.... Must have been that "ghost" everyone said haunted the hallways at night. Or was it a demon? Hard to tell - there were so many things to remember about this school.

Don't play tennis after eating dinner.
Don't throw food in the water at the lake.
Don't ask people why the gym equipment is fireproof.
And don't go walking around after dark.

Rules were meant to be broken, right? Caroline squinted her eyes at the yawning cavity in the wall, trying to see if there was anyone in there.

She would have been doing the stupid thing, if she wasn't armed...
[/color]

[Iƪƪia]

It was all perfect! So perfect! So unbelievably perfect... Just so ****ing perfect! Here was this girl - this sweet, young, human girl - out wandering through the building all alone at night. Wasn't that one of those common sense rules that all humans are supposed to know? Don't go walking out alone after dark? Well, this chick's lack of common sense was just a stroke of good luck for Hendrix. I mean, she might as well have tied herself up and laid down at his feet!

Yes, just imagine his surprise when he was lurking around the school that night, not really expecting to run into anyone... After all, there were rules that the students were supposed to follow, right? Then suddenly, this chick just comes prancing down the hall, acting as if she had no worries at all. He could only watch after her in surprise for a moment before quickly following her; stalking her from the shadows.

Though it was dark and eerily quiet in the castle, he wasn't about to approach her right in the middle of the hallway. After all, this was a castle full of mythical ****ing creatures! There had to be something out there patrolling the halls at night! And if there wasn't... Well, he'd gladly fill that position!

Perhaps he'd be able to stop her just as she left the castle... Or maybe he'd follow her back to her room. Or maybe he wouldn't have to wait that long at all! Considering how she just came down to a creepy castle at night by herself... Well, it was just a matter of time before the dumb ***** did something else stupid.

With some difficulty, he managed to keep himself from laughing as he watched the girl exit the cafeteria from where he stood against the wall, obscured by the shadows. Hm... The shadows.... He could always just rush her and drag her onto his plane.

However, before he had time to continue this line of thinking, he felt the wall shift behind him. Giving a startled yelp, he quickly regained his balance before disappearing into the shadows, just before the girl turned around.

Just what the **** was that?! Who the hell was trying to **** up his plans?!

Actually... Maybe that moving wall wasn't such a bad thing. It had opened up to reveal a dark, secluded corridor, and that dumb ***** suddenly seemed drawn to it. Perhaps he'd just accept this strange help for once... As long as no one tried to steal his girl away.

He reappeared right behind her, a sinister smile on his face. He had decided not to just grab her right there. It just wouldn't be as satisfying if he did that. No, he'd try out his charming façade to a degree. Though he wasn't about to give this one a chance to escape. The conditions were so perfect and he wasn't about to screw this up.

"Hey," He said softly, "Don't you know you shouldn't be out after dark? There are dangerous people out there."[/color]

[ωΘĿƒ]

Caroline turned, quickly, her hand already reaching into her pocket for the thing she had placed so much faith in - a knife.

Well, yeah.... A knife! What else was she supposed to be toting around? A gun? A bow staff? It was one of those big, pretty stiletto knives too. The blade flipped out when she pressed the button, and she held the knife up deftly, not shaking a bit.

Wait... was she getting attacked by some rock star?

"What do you want?" Caroline asked, poking the knife experimentally towards the strange guy. She was still pretty far away from him, but better to be safe, right? He was walking around in the dark like some kind of creep or something.

She was too... but still! She had a legitimate excuse! She was thirsty, alright?

Why was it then, that she felt like one of those dumb hot chicks from the horror films? Here she was, in the middle of some creepshow castle, wandering around like an idiot while she had almost gotten killed!

Well, at least she had her knife... And she was pretty good with a knife too. She had taken lessons.
[/color]

[Iƪƪia]

Though Hendrix had been expecting the girl to put up defenses, if only a few, her actual response still managed to surprise him. So much so, in fact, that he took several steps back. However, once his initial shock was over, he couldn't help but let out a loud, roaring laugh.

Well, at least she came armed! But really, a knife? As if that'd do much to stop just about any other creature at this school. Oh, but that's right... Humans were born stupid. They thought that they were the only intelligent creatures on the planet. So it did make sense that the ***** would bring something that could only protect herself from another human. Yes, it made sense... But that didn't mean it was any less hilarious.

"Oh c'mon, babe!" He chuckled, "You need to put a little more trust in people!"

But wait... Hadn't he just told her she needed to be more careful? Ah, well. That didn't matter.

He took one, slow step toward her, stopping to give her one more look over. Not bad at all... But he couldn't really complain anyway, since he was getting her for free, basically. She was clearly a minor, something he found great pleasure in. Although... He wasn't quite sure what it was he liked about them. Perhaps it was the fact that they were usually virgins, which meant they were even more satisfying victories.

"And all I wanted was to... Have the chance to talk to such a beautiful young lady. I'm... Not that scary, am I?" He responded, taking another step toward her, "Or... Is it the fact that I've been following you through this castle... Watching your every move... That you don't trust?"

He paused for another moment, chuckling, before he composed himself again. He still smiled, though now it looked much more like an insane, psychotic smile rather than that attractive and pleasant smile he had gotten so good at faking.

"Well... I could just skip the whole 'talking' part, if you like."

One fluid movement, and he was just inches away from her, knocking away her extended arm. With his other hand, he shoved her shoulder roughly, forcing her into the other corridor, before he quickly followed. Just as quickly as they had entered, he slid the wall closed behind him, effectively cutting off her escape.[/color]

[ωΘĿƒ]

Caroline's head slammed up against one of the walls in the weird tunnel. Her vision blurred, and for a second, she forgot what she was doing here. The world seemed way too dark for her, and she couldn't explain why. Then, her vision and her head snapped into crystal clear focus, and she bit back the tears welling in her eyes.

...why was this happening to her?

She was still holding the knife, and she held it to herself protectively, trying to think of a way out of this one. She hadn't even listened to much of what the guy said. She just sort of... blanked it out.

Probably better in the long run.

"You bastard..." she sniffed. "Go hump a log or something."

Caroline's head still wasn't a hundred percent, but that didn't stop her from coming up with one of the most useful tricks in the book - walking slowly away. Nice and slow. No need to be all rushy and stuff.

She heard somewhere that if you turn your back to someone, they're almost always going to stab it. Literally, in this case. She kept her bright, liquid eyes on him the whole time, dauntless.

"Leave me alone..."
[/size]

[Iƪƪia]

By now Hendrix had nearly forgotten about the sad, little weapon this chick had brought with her. It wasn't important. It wasn't like she was actually going to be able to stop him. She probably didn't even have the guts to use that thing. She hadn't even acted as though she was about to use it.

Still never losing that insane grin, he continued to march toward her. Well, it was more like a stroll, really. He seemed to be walking in such a carefree manner, much like someone on a simple walk through a park. Although there really wasn't much of a difference to Hendrix. Except, of course, that parks could get pretty boring.

"Oooh, don't be like that, babe!"

And he had thought that things couldn't be anymore perfect! Apparently, he was wrong, because this was just so ****ing unbelievable! They were all alone in a dark, secluded corridor - or maybe they really weren't alone, but since whatever else was in here wasn't bothering him, he was just fine with it - and he was confident that if she screamed for help, no one would be able to hear her and come running to the rescue. She could scream until her ****ing voice gave out and no one would ever come. Her fate was sealed. It had been sealed since he first laid eyes on her.

Another swift motion and he was beside her, shoving her into the wall. Catching her hand that held the knife, he forced it too against the wall, focusing a good deal of his strength into crushing every bone in her small wrist. It shouldn't be too hard. She was only human, after all.

"So! What's your name, doll?" He asked cheerfully, as if it was a perfectly reasonable question to ask at such a time.

Now that he had gotten much closer to her, he gave her another look over, a hungry expression on his face. It had been so long... Days, was it? Maybe a week? Who knew and more importantly, who cared? Time in this world went so ****ing slow... But then again, that just meant that he had even more time to enjoy himself. And he was planning on taking full advantage of that fact.

[ωΘĿƒ]

Caroline felt the hand around her wrist tighten... and the pain crackled through her arm as her bones broke. She made a small whimper, but it was quickly swallowed and replaced with what Caroline did best... ramble.

"Damn! Oh, crap that hurt! You crazy lunatic I think you broke my arm... Owwwww! Ouchie, owie, ouch! Stop it! Stop, that hurts! I have a knife you know! I can hurt you! Ow, my arm..."

She trailed off into a fit of sniffles. It hurt, and she had a natural reaction to cry when things hurt. She was blinking away the tears, trying to see clearly as the salt stung her cheeks and blotted out her vision. She couldn't see, and not seeing upset her. It made her breathing shallow and fitful, which made her kind of woozy. Still, she was looking directly at the guy that had done this to her. Sniveling and whining aside, Caroline was still as stubborn as she would ever be. She refused to let this guy go unopposed, and that was what she was doing. Opposing him. In.... some... way....

"I'm... I'm not telling you my name!" she spat, and then, in a moment of weakness, a flare of pride bubbled up.

"You tell me yours first!"

She was clutching her hand closed, despite it being immersed in hot, stinging pain. The knife was still there, but she had all but forgotten about it. There was more of a sentimental value in this small weapon than a physical reliance on it. As long as she had a weapon, she was good and she felt safe in some small way. It didn't matter if she actually used the knife or not.

Because a knife could keep her safe... couldn't it?
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[Iƪƪia]

That oh-so-satisfying crunch of bone that Hendrix had been waiting for was soon interrupted by a much less pleasant sound. Oh, this girl's obnoxious whining! He'd be doing this world a favor when he killed the annoying *****.

What the girl said next, however, greatly amused him. Here she was, enveloped in pain and fear - some alarm had to be going off inside of her head, telling her that she wasn't escaping - and yet she still tried to oppose him? Now that was something different. Not that he hadn't seen it before, just not nearly as often. And while he did enjoy the stupid and vulnerable ones, it was always a treat to play with a real firecracker every now and then.

Still not releasing his grip on her wrist, he forced her further against the wall. Pressing his body roughly against hers, he had to crane his head slightly so that his face was just inches away from hers. Here, he was able to see just what emotions laid behind those gray eyes. It wasn't long before he was able to zero in on his favorite one: fear.

"Oh, the name's Hendrix," He replied with a chuckle, "There... Now does that make you feel better?"

It's not like it mattered if she knew his name. It wasn't like she was about to go blab to her friends about him. Unless her friends were dead, of course. And even then, no one knew if there was even anyone waiting for you when you die. Even if there were, it wasn't like they were about to come back down to Earth just to rat him out. Bottom line: it didn't matter.

With his free hand he ran his fingers through her auburn hair several times, before slowly tracing her jawline. He then tipped her chin up so that he was able to focus his hungry gaze at the fear he could still see churning behind her eyes. He gave one more short chuckle before continuing.

"Your name?"[/color]

[ωΘĿƒ]

Caroline instinctively shrunk back against the wall as Hendrix shoved in closer. It wasn't long though, before there was no more wall to move back against. Her hand was hurting like crazy now, the pain throbbing with her quickening heartbeat until it was just one, constant stab of agony.

She squinted her eyes closed, unable to look at Hendrix any longer. She couldn't focus, whether it was because of the pain in her arm, the depressing dark of the hallway, or the pressing knowledge that she may never leave this school alive.

Why did she have to even go to this school to begin with? She had been asking herself that for so long now... it had become just a part of her life. Why did she go here? What was she doing? This wasn't a place for her to be; it was somewhere for someone more like Hendrix. More like that other psychopath that had almost killed her.

This school was different. She had known when she came here. She just didn't know how different.

It was with her eyes closed and the pain in her hand a completely foreign thing to her that she saw the first few images, like an old black and white movie play out across the insides of her eyelids.

Shapeless forms danced like the shadows of fire, and suddenly they solidified into being all at once.

It was her mother, and she was back home in the big house at the edge of the California Coastline. The waves were a murky blue color with white frosted caps, and the sun was just beginning to paint the iridescent sea gold and purple as it did every time the sun set over the horizon.

Her mother was talking to her in quick, agitated tones. Caroline almost rolled her eyes, it was so real. She hated it when her mother gave her that tone of voice. So annoying...

"Pay attention, young lady! You're supposed to be picking out a new school!"

"Why do I have to pick it?! It's your job to take care of me! Aren't you my parent or something?"

Caroline had always hated growing up. It might sound stupid, but she had always imagined herself being mommy's little girl forever.

"It's not my decision! You're old enough to pick a school, and you're going to have to do a proper job of it!"

Oh right... She could pick whatever school she wanted, but it had to be perfect. Like she really had a choice anyways... Nothing was good enough for mommy... She was such a bi-

"Are you listening to me, Caroline? You're going to have to grow up some day! Stop mooching off of your parents and get out of the house!"

Was that what she really thought...? That Caroline was "mooching"? She could grow up. She had gotten a car on her own, hadn't she? And a job? And a life? And a gym, and some friends. Hell, she'd even booked her own flights from time to time! But no.... mom only wanted to see the part of her that was useless and dependent.... She didn't want to see the straight A's Caroline got in school. She didn't want to see how everyone else she knew was doing drugs and cutting themselves and she wasn't. She just wanted to see how bad Caroline was, and how bad she'd always be. There was no way to change her mind...

"Fine!" Caroline screamed, dragging a map of the US across the table. "I'll pick one, okay?! How about there?"

She pointed randomly at first, but when she remembered the name of a certain school somewhere, she quietly dragged her finger closer to that one, pointing exactly where she thought it might be.

She was dead on. Her mother was speechless.

....for all of three seconds.

"No! You're not going there!" she growled.

"The hell I'm not!" Caroline snapped. "You want me to pick a school? I picked one!"

Her mother was quiet again, and this time the blessed silence lasted a bit longer.

After that confrontation, Caroline's father was brought into the loop and he agreed with Caroline. She would get to go to her picked out school.

She whimpered a little, thinking of it now. She missed her dad... He had always been the nicer of the two. He'd never run his mouth in some self righteous rant... but for that one instant, she wished he had just said something...

It was too late for that now...

"Caroline," she said, softly. She didn't want to fight anymore.
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[Iƪƪia]

After she closed her eyes, the girl was silent for awhile. A long while, it seemed. Though it probably wasn't really that long, since he was just a naturally impatient guy. But he did have time to spare, as he occupied himself by continuing to stroke her hair.

Whatever she was thinking about, it seemed to distress her. Ah, he'd almost forgotten that he had just broken her poor, little wrist. Perhaps she was too weak to deal with that pain. Or maybe she was dealing with a different kind of pain right now. Well, whichever it was, he didn't mind it. He actually enjoyed it.

Finally, she spoke.

Aw, but from the tone of her voice it sounded as though she had just about given up. Now, that was no fun at all! He had thought that he'd hooked a fighter here. If he was wrong... Well, he'd still take her, he just probably wouldn't have as much fun. Or maybe not. The weak, defeated ones could be just as much fun in their own way.

"Caroline," He repeated, stressing every syllable, "There... Now that wasn't so hard, was it?"

Once again, a smile flickered across his face before vanishing entirely. Suddenly weary of his surroundings, he quickly glanced around, reassuring himself that there was no one else around who'd bother him. Then, with a sharp exhale, he turned back toward Caroline, grabbing her shoulder with his free hand and roughly pressing his lips against hers.

Even though the many mythical creatures in this school were all so amusing, Hendrix had to be thankful that it had a decent amount of humans as well. After all, for as weak as some of these creatures could be, humans were always weaker. That made them the easiest targets. For quite awhile after he'd found this world, humans were the only creatures he'd go after.

Stepping back, he pulled Caroline forward before shoving her to the floor. In a matter of seconds, he was on top of her, holding her down. Yeah, that'd be difficult to do with some mythical ***** since most of them had claws or teeth or something... Oh, but this chick was armed too, wasn't she? Yes, she had a most threatening knife!

"Alright then," He breathed, shaking his hair out of his eyes, only for it to fall back into place.

He shifted his position slightly so that he now had both of her wrists pinned to the ground with just one of his hands. With his free hand, he was able to brush the hair out of her eyes. A lecherous grin spread across his face as he began picking at the collar of her shirt experimentally.

"For the record... I love it when they scream."

[ωΘĿƒ]

Caroline closed her eyes again. She didn't want to watch. She didn't want to feel. She didn't want to do or see anything.

...but she didn't have the will to escape either.

What was the point? What was waiting for her if she ever got out of this? And what if she never even got into this? Wouldn't she just continue to be sad and lonely, confused with all these strange people around her? She never fit in... She had tried, but she had felt like crap from the second she got here.

There was no point. There was never any point... It was nice now, that she could at least see that clearly.

Maybe she should goddamn thank this bastard for showing that to her...

Caroline clenched her jaw, holding her mouth closed so she could at least not give this sick, twisted monster the pleasure of hearing her scream. He wanted a screamer? She'd give him the most quiet rape in all of history... She wasn't going out like that. Not ever.

And then she saw something that made her gasp. Well, not exactly see it so much as feel it.

Someone was watching her.

So she looked up, eyes flying wildly around the dark, depressing room. There. Something smiling at her. It was.... a head... coming out of the wall.

Except it was a cat's head... And it had green, glowing eyes.

The cat winked at her, and then it melted into the wall.

"I know a seeeecreeetttt!"

The sound was sharp and grating, but Caroline didn't think the bastard could hear it.

She closed her eyes again, ignoring it. She was hallucinating. She had gone crazy like everyone else in this ****ed up place, and she was now hallucinating.

The cat's voice cackled as it faded off. Caroline bit her lower lip and clenched her jaw again.

Not important. Just go blank. Nothing matters. Nothing but being quiet...

[Iƪƪia]

Hendrix leaned against the wall, trusty mirror in hand, as he compulsively placed each individual hair back into its proper place. That was the only bad thing about his job: it always left his hair a mess.

Completing that task, he put the mirror away and instead set about fixing his jacket collar. All the while he had been whistling a rather upbeat tune as if this were nothing more than a day at the office. Which, in a way, it was. Glancing over at Caroline, still on the floor, he chuckled softly.

"C'mon, babe. Don't even act like you could do better than me!"

Smiling, he walked down the hall a bit and began pacing back and forth, never taking his eyes off of her.

Well, now what?

That was always the question he struggled with. There were so many ideas floating around in his head. So many things he could do. So many things he wanted to do. Unfortunately, you could never really do more than one of them. They were usually dead by then. Man, why'd they always die so ****ing easily?!

Perhaps she had a good idea. It was always nice to hear input from his victims. They usually never had any particularly good ideas, but there was always that one time.

"So, what next?" He asked, stopping next to her and looking toward the ceiling, as if in wonder, "I mean, I suppose I could always just kill you. That's always fun. Eh, what do you think?"

Turning away from her, he walked down the hall a little further, staring into the darkness. He had to map out these secret passages somehow. They were the perfect places for a guy like him to conduct his "business". Yeah, he'd certainly have to spend some time mapping out this castle one of these days, but he didn't have a lot of free time. There was... So much for him to do around here.

[ωΘĿƒ]

Caroline was devoid of feeling by this point. Nothing mattered. Nothing would ever matter again. Her life was done, and it had been ended by this sick ****...

She stared up at the ceiling, and watched as a strange cat bled through the walls and walked down them.

It was a purple cat... A purple one. Like the one she'd seen before.

It walked and walked until it was facing Hendrix, right side up and at the other end of her.

She staked perfectly still. She didn't think she could move even if she wanted to...

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"Well now..."

Coyle's tail curled as his temporal claws darted forward, tasting the smell of fear and distress.

Such sweet agony... It made him want to jump right in. It had been so hard to wait and watch, but he had. He'd even opened the passageway for Hednrix. That dirty little boy had done a few nasty things, and he was thinking about doing some more of them.

Coyle didn't care, but then again Coyle would have liked to watch and play along. Crane on the other hand... Crane had asked for a favor, and when the big man asks, you nod, curse at him, and say "yessir" respectively. It's just the way of things here...

"Someone's been naughty!" Coyle smiled, leaning back on his back legs and stretching his first four. "Very, very bad Hendrix! And I caught you! Red handed, sucker."

Coyle sniggered. He loved rubbing it in.

"Oh and guess what? There's a price for that piece of meat you stole. See, she's a human, and humans aren't to get wise. Even the doomed ones..."

Coyle leaned forward on his first four legs next, stretching out his back ones.

"Crane had a plan for her, and now she's gone. Broken merchandise. You've got to pay for it, buddy. You and the like!"

Coyle's tentacles snaked back and he spat, angrily. Just a moment of contempt for the sick little ****.

"And you've got my ass on the line too. Nice work, ya bastard! We're all in for it! And it's your fault!"

With that, the anger was gone, replaced by the familiar angelic tone.

"But that's my problem. Yours is bigger, ya see. Much bigger. You've just got to deal with it now..."

Coyle lurked away, already leaving. He'd given his message - creepy mystique included - to Crane's specifications.

Hey, the man liked his performances, what could he say? He specialized in all things spooky, so of course Coyle's message would have to be the same.

"See ya! Wouldn't want to be ya!"

Coyle giggled, childishly, shifting away.

He could have killed the girl and gotten it over with, but he wasn't that nice.

She'd just have to suffer...

[Iƪƪia]

Hendrix sighed when his question was met with silence. For ****'s sake, she wasn't dead yet! So why she have to go and start acting all boring and lethargic now. He just wanted to have a little more fun with her. Was that such an unreasonable request?

He shook his head, flipping his hair back when another noise rose to his hears. Another voice. He spun around, jumping back into the wall as he faced the weird creature that seemed to have just appeared out of no where.

He stood back, not saying anything as he watched the cat-like thing prowl about, talking about the terrible deed he had just committed. Truthfully, he couldn't see what the big deal was. So she was a human. So what? If she was really that important, why hadn't the cat stopped him? It sounded more like simple scare tactics than anything.

After the cat left, he remained staring into space for a few moments, wondering what he should do. He could just leave. Get the hell out of this place before something happened... But why? What would happen? He was fine so far, after all. And besides, what could they do to him anyway?

"Nothing," He answered his question aloud, strolling up to Caroline's side.

He gazed down at her for awhile, seeming to memorize her face. Then, he knelt down beside her, brushing the hair out of her face and gently tracing her jawline with his fingers. Sighing, he gave her an indifferent shrug before speaking softly to her.

"Hey no hard feelings, okay? Look, I'm sorry... Really," Having said that, his lecherous grin returned and he stood up, "Oh, and thanks for the good time!"

He slid his boot under her chin, pressing down on her neck and pushing upward. Almost immediately there was a cracking sound which signaled him to slow down. He pressed down a bit harder, cutting off her air supply, as he continued to slowly move down and forward, listening to the continual and satisfying crunch of bone.

Licking his lips, he mentally urged it to go on just a little longer, but at that moment there was one last, loud crunch. Rolling his eyes, he stepped off of her. Well, that was that.

As he went to inspect the wall they had come in through, his thoughts went back to what the cat had said. He was gonna pay for this, huh? Whatever. He still refused to believe that he was in any real danger. And if he was, he could get away no problem.

Satisfied with his logic and unable to find a way to move the wall again, he shifted planes and slipped out, not even offering a backwards glance of his most "horrible" of "crimes".