Bunny Smiles Butchering (Walten Files AU)

Chapter 8: A Butcher and a Bloodhound.

||Felix POV||

     After last night, Felix had remained constantly paranoid. Things he was usually used to were spooking him and causing him to be thrown into another fit of worry. Every snap of a twig as he walked, every ring of the phone, every distant bark of a dog.
     Sitting in the living room, Felix tried to make himself relax. He turned on the tv and grabbed a bottle from the fridge. He opened the top and took a sip, sighing heavily. He made sure to give himself logical explanations for each noise he heard. The tapping on the window was a tree branch. The whispering of the voices was from the show he was watching. The jiggling of the doorknob?
     The doorknob...? He jumped out of his seat at the sight of the doorknob to his back door shaking. He squinted and adjusted his glasses to see that the lock was slowly starting to twist open. He scampered upstairs and into his room. 
      He opened his nightstand drawer just in time, because right as he grabbed the loaded pistol he kept there, somebody threw open his bedroom door. He aimed the pistol at the intruder, a girl in a sweater holding a hammer. She was wearing a Bon mask, which Felix recognized as a discontinued item of Bunny Smiles merchandise.
     "Take another step towards me and I'll shoot you!" He declared, steadying his shaky hands with false confidence. The young woman tilted her head slightly and turned away, gesturing for somebody else to join her. Another girl, wearing a letterman jacket and holding a baseball bat. Hooked into a belt loop, she had a butcher's knife.
     "Go on. Step back. I'm not afraid to shoot you two!" He exclaimed. "And drop your weapons!" He stepped forwards, and the two stepped back in sync, setting their weapons on the floor in front of them. He continued to step forwards until they were backed against the wall. 
     He kept his eyes on them as he shuffled their weapons away with his foot so that they wouldn't be within grabbing distance. He then slowly backed down the stairs. Once he reached the front door, he bolted down the road, not stopping until he reached the local police station and not letting go of his gun.
     He dropped his gun at the entrance and rushed through the door, dashing to the front desk. Words tumbled out of his mouth in a panic as the woman at the front desk attempted to calm him down. A few minutes later, he was sat down in a separate room, shaking and clutching a cup of water. Derek Collins walked into the room, shaking hands with Felix and sitting down at a table across from him.
     "Mr. Kranken! We're familiar, no? I've questioned you about the disappearance of the Waltens." He said, and Felix nodded, taking a deep breath. He gulped down the rest of his water before he responded.
     "Yes, I've spoken with you before. I suppose you're here to question me about why I'm in such a panic." He laughed to himself a bit, wiping the sweat off of his forehead and clutching his hands into fists to stop his shivering.
     "You're right. Sherry, our receptionist, she said you mentioned murderers and baseball?"
     "That's correct. It must have not made sense, I was... very scared. I still am, I fear for my life."
     "Could you explain why?"
     "Of course, of course." He mumbled. He explained everything to Derek. The creepy phone call, the two girls who had entered his house, his escape from his own home.
     "What weapons did you say the attackers had again?"
     "A baseball bat and a hammer. Oh, and a butcher's knife was hanging in the belt loop of the one in the jacket." 
     "Baseball bat and a butcher's knife... sounds familiar. Mr. Kranken, do you read the news?"
     "Sometimes, yes."
     "Then you might be familiar with the Brighton Butcher. A serial killer on the loose, whose weapons appear to be a dull object used to inflict injuries with great force as well as a blade of some sort." 
     "Oh my god. You mean I was targeted by the Brighton Butcher!?"
     "That could be so. I mean, if that's the case, consider yourself lucky. You're the first victim to escape. But, could you inform us of the other girl? We've had no evidence so far of anybody else assisting in the crimes."
     "Well, she didn't really seem that... threatening. She was holding the hammer rather loosely, and she didn't attempt to drop her weapon or step away at first. She simply called over the other one. It's like she was just there for backup, or to track me down. It's like... like a human bloodhound." 
     "Interesting." Derek noted Felix's statement in his notebook before shutting it. "Would you mind bringing us to your home, so we can investigate the scene? It's important to gather as many clues as we can." 
     "Of course, of course. And feel free to release all of this to the press, I want as many people as possible to stay safe." He said before stepping outside, followed by Derek and two officers. They arrived at Felix's house.
     Everything seemed to be normal, except for the open back door and a note left on Felix's nightstand. Without picking it up, as to not disturb the crime scene, Felix read it out loud to the others in the room. 
     "Dear Felix. I expected this, I knew you wouldn't be an easy target. After all, you managed to slip out of my hands for all of these years. You know what you've done. We know what you've done. Our bloodlust will not be satiated until you pay for your sins. Even then, I will continue. We will continue. The world will know our names. Run as fast as you want. Run as far as you want. You will be tracked down. No defense will save you. Say hello to your little investigator friends for me, too." He stood up straight and turned to the other three people in the room.
     "It's signed with a clipping from a newspaper that says Brighton Butcher." He said, his voice quiet and shaking. He stiffened, his jaw clenched, and he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I don't think I'll be staying at home tonight." He whispered to himself. 
     "Well, that'll be all. Thank you." Derek said, patting Felix on the shoulder. "Your words will help with this case greatly, Mr. Kranken. If anything else comes up, please inform us and we'll do our best to help." 
     "Yeah. I will." He said. The police left, and Felix wandered downstairs. Who would he go to? WHERE would he go to? He didn't want to call up his friends and get them tied into this, and he most definitely didn't want to get any of his employees caught in this mess. Suddenly, he got an idea.

||Jenny POV||

     The next day, Jenny was reading the paper as Sophie paced in the kitchen. The hum of the microwave was the only thing breaking the silence besides an occasional chuckle from Jenny at the things in the paper.
     "You seeing this stuff, Sophie? They're calling me a bloodhound. I guess the title fits, though. I'm not the hunter here, I just track the victims down." Sophie simply glanced over at her, a look of mild worry on her face. She was chewing on her fingernails as she paced. 
     "Lighten up. Nobody could possibly know it was us, they don't have enough evidence. Surely that's not what's troubling you, though?" Jenny questioned, folding the newspaper and folding it onto the table in front of her.
     "It's just bothering me that Felix managed to escape. He must have known we were coming. We have to find him again, I won't let him get away." Sophie groaned, rubbing her eyes. Jenny sighed. Sophie just couldn't take a break, could she?
     "You know what you have to do? You have to go to sleep. I'll track him down and bring you to him, it'll make your job easier. You don't need to do a single thing. Just take a break, ok?" Sophie nodded begrudgingly. 
     "Hey, look on the bright side. You're majoring in human anatomy, so you're getting to dissect people who donated their body to science or whatever. That should satisfy you until we get Felix." Jenny suggested. Sophie sighed and nodded.
     "It's not only that, though. It's just... I don't know if you'll believe me, but I've been seeing ghosts."