Bookview Valley 2

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Crimson Suns

Saturday, February 3rd

Spinning around, I face Luci as he stabs at me once more. He manages to actually get the knife through my shoulder this time. Not a fatal wound, but it hurts like hell. I cry out as he pulls his knife back. I hold my empty hand against my shoulder, the other hand holding out the antler knife, but it's shaking. I don't think I can take much more of this.

"Finished yet?" Luci asks, wiping the knife off on his cloak, "Ready to lay down and die?"

"Never," I grit my teeth and lunge for him. This time I take him for surprise and tackle him to the ground. We wrestle back and forth, neither of us making a hit. We finally end up with my knee against his throat, holding my knife over him.

"Do it," Luci glares up at me.

"Luci..." I trail off, but no. I have to knock him out. I flip the knife around to the hilt and bring it back to swing, but he just kicks me off of him. I slide against the floor, hitting against the opposite wall. This cave is really small. Luci stands and staggers over to me, knife glinting in hand. I drag myself up, using the wall of the cave. We stand face to face, knives raised.

"Any last words," Luci smiles wide, showing his canines, as he positions the knife. I finally drop mine, I can't do this anymore, and I won't kill him.

"Please, Luci," I beg, but he moves forwards, knife about to plunge into my heart. Instead, the end of a knife exits through where his heart would be. Blood spurts out of his mouth as his knife drops, his hands coming to the knife sticking through him. It gets dragged out and he falls to his knees. I catch him as he falls, holding him against me. Looking up, I see his killer.

The Skeleton stands before me, but it's not like all the others. The cargo pants and boots are still black, but the cloak and hood are a deep crimson red. The skull mask frowns, not grins, as its empty eyes stare deep into mine.

"You have failed," The Crimson Skeleton says, before it disappears without another trace. I don't give it another thought as I turn to Luci. I pull him up to where I'm cradling his head, his hands still pressed against his chest. He's burning up, and I know he's bleeding out.

"Help!" I shout out as the cave begins to disappear around me.

"Morgan..."Luci whispers, and I look at him.

"Luc?"

"I almost had everything," He whispers.

"But to get it, you lost everything," I murmur back to him.

"I..I know..." He closes his eyes, releasing one last sigh. I hold him tighter as I continue to scream for help. The mirage around me disappears and I find us at the entrance to the cinema. The doors unlock and the cops rush in, followed by paramedics. Nick finds me, along with Brianna, Harper, and Flynn. They help me up after the paramedics take Luci from me. None of them ask me any questions and fend of the police as they lead me to an ambulance. Everything else seems to be a daze, my brain not focusing. I sit on the ambulance, everything just noise to my ears.

...

I sit up in my hospital bed, my parents rushing in through the door. I can tell they've been crying, they must have talked to the police. I'm assuming Nick relayed what was going on. I still don't know how he got back to them. I also don't know what to think about the Crimson Skeleton. My brain actually doesn't want to function much, the doctor said it was shock.

"Hey, honey, how are you?" Dad asks.

"Are you okay? The doctor wouldn't say much," Mom asks as she fusses over me.

"Do you know?" I ask. They both stop, standing next to me, and swapping looks, "Do you know who the other skeleton was?"

Dad nods, but mom says, "They told us. When they called us over and said that our babies were here. We got here and they told us."

"So, you do know. Luci betrayed us," I can feel tears threaten to fall.

"I know," Mom sobs, pulling me into a hug. I sob with her before dad joins and we're all one sobbing family. There's a knock at the door and they finally pull away. Nick stands in the doorway.

"Can I come in?" He asks quietly. My parents look at me and I give them a nod.

"We'll grab some coffee," Dad says as they walk out. Nick walks over to me.

"Hey," I say, giving him a weak smile. None of the wounds were actually bad this time, but my head feels fuzzy, like it's refusing to believe any of this is real.

"How are you doing?" Nick asks.

"Not great," I sigh, "I also want to apologize."

"For what?"

"Calling you the killer, as well as you know everything involved with that. I'm sorry, I should have believed you. I just...I can't believe it was Luci. Right under my nose."

"None of us suspected that," Nick sighs, sitting on the edge of my bed, "I can't believe it either."

"What happened to you when I fell down that hole?" I ask.

"I was going to come after you, but something, and I honestly don't know what, grabbed me. It flung me across the forest, and believe it or not, back into the cinema. That's where I found Harper and we both went outside. I wanted to come back to you, but..."

"I get it," I nod, "It's fine, I was okay."

"Barely," Nick sighs, resting his head against my hand, "I'm sorry, I should've found my way back."

"You probably couldn't have even if you wanted to."

"So," Nick looks back up at me, his eyes more green than blue, "What happened once I was gone? Did you really kill Luci?"

"No, I didn't. We fought, a good bit, but then when he had me cornered, something else killed him."

"What was it?"

"A red skeleton," I whisper.

"What do you mean?" Nick raises an eyebrow.

"As in The Skeleton, but they wore a crimson cloak."

"There's more of them?" Nick asks with a groan.

"I'm not entirely sure," I shake my head, "This one was different."

"How so?"

"They didn't want to kill me. They just told Luci he had failed and then disappeared."

"That's...strange..." Nick trails off.

"I know," I sigh, "I just hope it's all over."

"Me too," Nick glances away, "There's one more thing I have to tell you."

"What's up?" I ask.

He looks back at me, but his eyes refuse to meet mine, "I forced my parents to let me this time, but they think we should move to Boston; with my sister."

"Are you going to move with them?" I ask, "I mean you're nineteen..."

"I don't want to, but I'm not sure which college I'm going to yet. I want to check out the one my sister goes to. So, I am going with them...for a little bit, at least. I'll come back and see you, of course. I want to see my options here as well, but for the moment. I just need..."

"I..I get it," I nod, "I would also want a breather from everything that's happened. Just, this time, keep your phone on you, will ya?"

Nick laughs, "I will. We'll text all the time."

"Better," I give him a fake glare.

"Well, I should go," Nick clears his throat, "I won't leave the town without saying goodbye, but family dinner."

"I get it," I nod, "I'll see you around Nick."

He stands up and turns around to leave, but he stops. Spinning back around he walks over to me, leans down, and kisses me. His lips on mine, only for a second, but that second feels like forever. I kiss him back, pulling him closer. Then he pulls away, gives me a shy smile, and then walks out.