HALLOWEEN - INFERNO

Chapter Five

Laurie stood in the middle of the compound looking up at the two large chimneys that remained upright, the old bricks somehow managed to hold strong over the past year. Everything else was gone, no structure was left. The base of the house was still there, the wooden steps that climbed up the front that once lead to a large reinforced doorway were now gone. But Laurie easily jumped up onto the base and then stood over the layout of her former house. The debris had been cleared, though some small items remained. A frying pan sat upside down on the surface where the kitchen was. It was entirely destroyed and burnt out. She stepped into the remains of the house and walked towards the kitchen. This had been the first time since Halloween that she had returned, she had no reason to until now.

The panic room still remained. The entrance was still intact with the retractable iron bars still locked in place. She frowned. A large hole was beside it, the flooring had collapsed under pressure and something or someone had fallen into the basement. She looked down into the basement and blinked back the tears. She crouched down then jumped down into the hole. Rays on light pierced in through the exposed surface and destroyed windows that ran along the ceiling line. All debris had been cleared, it was just an empty hole that held a lot of memories. Maybe the fire fighters had crawled down after one fell in? Then they couldn't leave. Michael would have been long dead by their arrival. But she wasn't sure. She needed to properly look and she knew how to do it. Her security cameras would have saved all footage from that night and all she had to do was find a way to get to it so she could see for herself that Michael never walked out of that fire. She climbed out from the hole, and if she could easily do it then why not Michael?

Laurie stormed across the flooring then jumped off the base - she looked towards the path that went around to her shooting range. She followed it down and approached the range, after a year mannequins still stood tall along the range. They had suffered from weather damage but still reminded her of The Shape. She carried a revolver with her, and she grabbed it from her belt, pulled it and loaded it. She aimed the weapon and fire one single bullet into the head which sent it into tiny pieces that rained down. The mannequin collapsed to the ground with a bang and the birds nesting above began screaming and flying away.

She approached a power box that was set up on a stand that stuck out of the ground. She unlocked it and opened it and looked in, everything was coated in dust but she located the drive and removed the small device and stuck it into her top pocket. She closed the door and turned and froze when she saw Tommy Doyle standing up the path with his hands tucked into his pocket watching her.

"Tommy" she said softly.

"What are you doing out here, Laurie?" He asked. She began walking towards him, she tucked her weapon back into her belt and approached him. She opened her arms and hugged him and he returned the gesture. "What's going on?"

"You haven't seen the news, have you?" Laurie asked softly as she pulled away from the hug. He shook his head. "They found a body behind the high school yesterday".

"And you think it was Michael?"

Laurie frowned at him. "And you don't?"

Tommy didn't respond with the answers she wanted. She wanted him to believe her and prepare for the worst but instead he gave her the answer that Karen had given her. "He's dead, it couldn't be him. He died" he pointed to the missing house. "In that fire".

"If Loomis were alive he'd know what to do".

"If Doctor Loomis were alive he'd be in a wheelchair with an oxygen tank chasing Michael to the ends of the Earth. Laurie, move on and stop letting it control your life. Please. Bury the past with him" Tommy pleaded. "If it makes you feel any better tomorrow night I will come out with you and patrol. But once tomorrow night is over that's it" he grabbed her shoulder and squeezed it then walked off, she nodded and turned, following him up the path she looked down at the device in her hand once more then walked to her car determined to find Michael once again.

Sheriff Leigh Brackett hung up the phone, they hadn't answered so he left a message with them. When they discovered Bradley O'Neal's body they were shocked to see a replica Shape 78' mask on his head and his throat slit wide open. He was strung up in a tree, the rope wrapped sloppily around his neck and under his arms. His eyes could be seen through the slits in the mask, they were wide and while they were colourless and dead they showed the fear that he had gone through. Brackett was investigating the cause of death, and while the slit throat appeared to be the cause Brackett believed it was in fact the beatings his body had taken before the slice. He conducted interviews with students and they all said the same thing. Cameron was the last person to see Bradley, they had been fighting and it got bad because Cameron had done some real damage.

He tried calling Karen but there was no answer, and he didn't want to harass Allyson. So he called Laurie and left a message asking her to come down to the coroners office. And when she arrived Brackett met her out in the lobby.

"Leigh, what's going on?" She was still holding the device. "Why do you need me here?"

"I think we've got a problem, Laurie" he said and gestured for her to follow which she did. "I know you saw the news about the body behind the school".

She nodded.

"He was found hanging from a tree and wearing-" he sighed and looked around. "A white Halloween mask".

"Fuck" cursed Laurie, she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Ok, what do we do?"

"I need to speak to Cameron" he said. "He was the last person to see this body alive and we have reason to think-"

"That Cameron did this?" Laurie asked with a low voice. "What makes you think that?"

Brackett shrugged. "He gave the boy a beating in school, then this body appears dead with his throat slit and a lot of broken bones and bruises over his body. I'm not pointing fingers but I need to get the full story from him".

She sighed. "Okay, I'll talk to him" she said. "Let me get the story".

"I'll be coming by tonight to see him, Laurie" he said. "Hey, what's that?"

She looked at the device and explained the story but brushed it aside, she had to watch that alone. She asked about the body and then followed Brackett into the back to inspect the body. She prepared herself but when she was facing the replica Shape 78' mask she broke and began sobbing loudly.