What Remains of You

The Plan

Hot breath whirled against her cheek as Rebecca half dragged half-carried Alex into the car. I want to introduce them to Dennis. Maybe I can do it at the warehouse? They might as well know that they are dying for a good cause.

She beamed with pride at the good deed she was about to do and climbed into the car. Her hip bumped into someone as she slid into the driver seat, and Avery slurred beside her.

"Heeyyy I thought I would drive!" She spoke, her voice fluctuating and head resting on her arms in defeat. Rebecca chuckled and brushed her hand on her shoulder, fighting the urge to recoil at the touch, keeping up with her mask.

"You're too drunk to even put one foot in front of the other, I am not letting you touch a wheel." She looked in the back mirror to the three sleeping in the back. "And anyway, I need you to tell me where these guys live so I can take them home." Not that she was actually going to, but the thought of tricking Avery, this perfect girl, was too hilarious not to try.

"Surre, but you have to promise to say goodbye." Avery then rested her head on the plastic holder between them and promptly fell asleep. Light snores filled the car as she drove into the night, murder on her mind and happiness in her near future.

*****

It was almost four a.m. by the time she drove into the dirty parking lot of the warehouse. It was still dark outside, the flowing black of night like water, and the moon, a sharp cut in the constant stream. She parked in the same spot as last time, the garbage unmoved and gave a silent wish that they wouldn't wake up. Each one was sleeping either beside her or in the back of her car. She wanted to get Max out first for she actually quite enjoyed his company and she wanted to get him in the warehouse before he woke up because he would definitely knock her out.

She shut the car off and let the crickets flood her ears as she walked to the crowded backseat and opened the door. Max was a lot heavier than Dennis, and his shoes scraped on the cracked pavement, bumping into things as she dragged his sleeping form into the warehouse. She hoped he wouldn't wake up.

Once the door squeaked open, Rebecca walked in with her back to the things that were there and who she knew were watching her with great interest. Eyes burned into the back of her skull, but she purposefully did her best to ignore them as she dropped the heavy body in front of her and casually walked outside.

She was going to get Alex next, but a thought coursed through her mind as she cut the distance to her car and went to the trunk where Dennis was sleeping. Slight doubt ebbed at her mind and she scolded herself. Sleeping, he's just sleeping. I'll see him soon. The trunk sighed in relief as she opened it and stuck her arms under her brother's sleeping body. She wanted him to be in the same room as her as she murdered these people she just met, to know that she did it all for him. Everything she was doing since the moment she got the call was for him. She blocked out what the policewoman had said less than only four days ago about him so-called 'dying,' and brought Dennis to the warehouse.

She was so much more careful with him than she had been with Max and had dipped into the strength she had gained from playing soccer to carry him on her shoulders all the way in, gently brushing his pale cheek and whispering encouragement.

She had gotten him before the other three because even though his beautiful green eyes weren't open to see what she was about to do in his name, he might still be able to hear her. Her heart raced at the thought and more adrenaline pumped through her as she calmly placed her only sleeping brother to the left of Max. She was still avoiding turning around to face the beings who were probably preening their masks forward to see what she was going to do. The anticipation rolled off them in waves and Rebecca could almost feel the vibrations of excitement, or whatever kind of emotion those things could possibly feel, spear through the stuffy air like a cold breeze on a scorching hot day.

She stroked his fluffy hair, putting it back into place, and walked outside to get the rest of her victims. Alex was next and her tired limbs struggled to even drag her into the warehouse and place her beside Max.

The stars had started to fade from the sky and a sliver of orange light peeked out from the broken buildings in front of her as she picked up Kyle and did the same to him. It was more hard work than she thought it would be and her limbs cried out in protest as she too placed him beside his sleeping friends in the warehouse. She contemplated knocking them out but that seemed like too much work.

Kyle and Max looked to be really deep sleepers whose snores were a slight rumble in the hazy air, but Alex was shuffling slightly, her eyelids moving as she most likely dreamed. Rebecca hoped that that dreaming would follow her into wherever she would go once she killed her.

She slowly walked outside to the car, preparing for the final body, and readying herself to see Dennis wake up. Avery was mumbling when Rebecca almost yanked her out of the passenger seat and did the painful task of dragging someone all the way into the dusty, blank building again. For the fourth time that day-since the sun was almost peeking over the horizon- Rebecca brought another sleeping form into the warehouse. She placed Avery down as roughly as she could without waking her, which wasn't rough at all, and walked outside to her car for one last thing. Her knife.

It was the biggest blade she could find in her kitchen before she left, which meant she had to clean the tomato juice since her mom had used it earlier that day. Soon it would be red with something else. Pride jumbled up in her throat and she bubbled with excitement as she took the shining metal out of the front compartment and began her way over to her victims in a trace.

She felt almost drunk even though she had nothing to drink at the bar, and her steps wobbled and plummeted to the ground, forcing Rebecca to reign in the laugh that almost pierced out of her. She felt... giddy, to say the least, and stopped before going through the slightly open door.

She could hear loud whispers coming from inside which sounded like Alex. Trying to wake her friends up. Her heart plunged from a steady and ridiculous beat down to her feet, stopping and then shuttering back to life rapidly. She wouldn't let it happen, couldn't let it. She would not allow her perfect plan to fall down the drain due to some stupid girl who thought she had a chance of living. Rage filled her veins and drowned her with fury. Her hand reached for the blade and shook with anger as she placed it in front of her with caution and planned her next move.

It was like the games of chess that she used to play with Dennis where she would make it seem like she had no idea what she was doing and then shock him by playing the move he never saw coming. She would have to do the same thing with Alex. If she played her moves right, the four of them will be dead and Dennis and her in the car, driving into the sunrise back home.