Can't Buy the Moonlight

Chapter Forty-Two: Matthew

"There's her car!" I exclaimed as we came to a stop beside it. Climbing out of the Jeep, I ran over to where the little VW Bug sat, its windows down. Leaning in, I saw Emma's phone sitting in the middle console, the screen indicating she had missed calls and unread text messages. I reached in and grabbed the small pink device. I scrolled through the lock screen, but without her passcode, I wouldn't be able to get into the phone.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Jake standing behind me, offering his hand for the phone. I gave it to him. "It's locked and I don't know her passcode," I told him.

"I do," Jake said as he ran his finger over a series of numbers and the phone's home screen came into view. "She wears a watch that connects to an app on her phone. It has GPS on it, so it should be able to show us exactly where she is or close to it."

Rachel walked ahead of us, towards the vine-covered door. "She's inside, on the second floor in a bedroom," she said as she put her hand on the knob. Only she never got the chance to open the door.

A loud bang sounded throughout the area before screaming was all I heard. I covered my ears as I glanced over and saw Rachel on the ground, unmoving. Rushing over to her, I could see the blood pooling beneath her body.

Aurora was there beside her, holding her head in her lap as crimson covered them both. Tears streaked down Aurora's pale face as she sobbed and rocked Rachel's body back and forth. "You can't be dead," she sobbed. "Please... Wake up..."

I knelt down, putting two fingers to Rachel's neck, and felt for a pulse. It was there, but faint. Quickly glancing behind me, I yelled at Amelia to call 911 before I turned my attention back to Aurora. "She's alive, but I need you to put pressure on the bullet wound," I told Aurora as I took off my short sleeve shirt, leaving me in only a white wife-beater. I raised Rachel's red hem knot shirt and found crimson pumping out of a quarter-size hole in her stomach.

Putting my short sleeve shirt up against the hole, I saw Rachel grimace before she took a deep breath. Her hand came up and grabbed my wrist. I moved my eyes off her injury and towards soft amethyst eyes that were quickly filling with water. I saw her lips move, blood pooling on the side. I couldn't hear her through so I leaned down so I could.

"Upstairs... Watch out and save Emma..."

I glanced at her as she closed her eyes, softly saying her name as I reached up to once more feel for a pulse. I breathed a sigh of relief when I could once more feel it softly pumping. "Stay with her, Aurora," I told the blond before I stood up and looked at Jake.

~~~~oOoOo~~~~

Jake and I were able to go through the door without any problems, Emily following closely behind. We tried to talk her into staying with Amelia and Aurora while they waited for the ambulance that was coming, but she wouldn't hear of it. She threatened both of us with bodily harm, which given what was going on, sounded worse than dying.

"Rachel said upstairs," I whispered as I took a small step into what used to be a beautiful foyer.

A grand staircase surrounded the area that led up to the upstairs balcony. Massive windows let in light, but it was dim and when I looked up, I saw why. Boards covered the windows at odd angles, letting in some but not all the light. We could see dust as it floated down and around us. The floor was covered with a thick layer of it, our footprints leaving a trail behind us.

I took a quick step over to where the staircase was, putting one foot on the bottom stair before another gunshot rang out. I ducked before looking behind me to make sure Emily and Jake were okay. Jake gave me a thumbs-up as did Emily when we locked eyes.

"Where is it coming from?" Jake mouthed to me before another shot rang out.

I shrugged my shoulders before I turned my head, glancing up towards the dark staircase. Another shot rang out, the sound echoing throughout the decaying house. Still crouched down, I inched my way up the stairs, one at a time. Emily followed behind me, Jake behind her. I could feel her hand on the small of my back as we finished climbing the stairs, coming to a stop at the top as I looked off to my left side. Jake and Emily looked to their right.

"Which way?" Emily whispered as we ducked down once more as another shot rang out. It was like the bastard was just shooting to shoot.

"We aren't splitting up, this isn't some kind of Scooby-Doo bullshit," I told them as I stood straight. I'd started thinking that maybe Mason wasn't upstairs when the gunshots started echoing down the hall. "We'll go this way and check every door, every room." I pointed to the left with my finger before I started walking that way, Jake and Emily following behind me.

We checked every door we came across, but with no luck. Emma wasn't in any of the rooms. Turning a corner, I saw another intersection and this time whispered to Jake to go left while I went right. Emily decided to go back the way we'd come in order to investigate the hallway that was on the other side of the staircase. Watching her go, I tapped Jake on the shoulder and pointed to my watch before holding up my hands indicating 10 minutes before pointing down at the ground. I was telling Jake to meet back up where we were in 10m minutes. He nodded his head before he went left, pulling his phone to send a quick text off to Emily. I heard the ping when she sent him a message back.

Shaking my head, I faced the long hall that was on my right before I began to walk down it. It was dark, the windows on this side of the building boarded off completely without any other form of light. Pulling out my phone, Emma's face lit up the lock screen. She was smiling, holding a plate of Gyoza as she tried to eat one with chopsticks. I smiled briefly before I turned on the flashlight app and shined it down the hall. Moving softly, I shined the light as I looked for any doors that might be down the hall. There were only two.

Opening to the first one I came upon, I peeked my head inside and found a bare white room. Sheets covered what little furniture was in the room, keeping dust from ruining the rich fabric. I took a small step inside, my feet leaving footprints in the thick dust and making an echoing sound with every step I take. Emma wasn't in the room, but I kind of already knew that. Walking further into the room, I flashed my light around and found what I assumed was a sofa. Taking a step around it and found what looked like a pool of dark red liquid.

I moved further around the sheet-covered sofa as I inspected the spot on the white tiled floor. Bending down, I stuck a finger in the liquid. My finger came back dark red. Blood, but whose? I thought as I stood up and crossed behind the sofa.

My steps halted as I stepped down on something that crunched under my feet. Looking down, I raised my foot and saw I'd stepped on something white. It was a bone, a rib to be exact. "What the fuck...?" I asked as I shined the light further into the room.

No wonder there was blood and bones. I counted at least 7 bodies, all in different stages of decay. They lay in a heap behind the sofa, melting into the floor and leaving it forever changed. It was then that the smell hit me, the same smell I'd been smelling since we stepped foot in the house. The smell of death. Mason Howell was a serial killer, just like his father.

Taking a step back, I almost fell as my heels came into contact with something. Looking behind me, a scream erupted from my mouth as I stared down and into the eyes of a dead woman. Her skin was old and wrinkly, her long white hair a thinning mess around her blood-soaked face. She stared up at me silently, as if in surprise. At least she wasn't naked, as were the others in that room. No, she wore a long dress, the color fading but at one point was perhaps an earthly yellow, bright and joyful. There was nothing joyful about her choice in clothing now.

The door opened, light shining in as someone stepped inside. "Ah, I've seen you've met Mother," a voice said from behind me. I turned to see Mason Howell standing behind me, a flashlight in one of his hands. In the other, he held a gun which was pointed right at my chest.