Bookview Valley 3

Chapter Thirteen: This is Nice

Monday, August 30th

"They said to find them?" Lexi asks as I lead her through the crowds of bodies.

"Yeah, so I don't think they would go super far," I respond, half yelling, as I shove people out of the way. We make our way to the middle of the dance floor when I finally spot two matching pairs of violet eyes. Vincent waves us over as we make our way to him.

"Nice to see you, Lexi," Vincent tells her.

"Hello, Lexi darling," Erin grins wolfishly at Lexi.

"Hello twins," Lexi gives them a half wave.

"Shall we dance?" Vincent asks.

"We shall," Lexi nods. The four of us make a kind of circle/square as we all move to the music. I really wish I was better at dancing; I'm pretty sure I look like a fish out of water. We continue to dance for what feels like hours when the music finally slows down. 

"Why is the music slowing?" I ask.

"On Mondays and Thursdays there's slow dancing once the time turns to one am," Erin informs me.

"Why?" Lexi asks, as we've all stopped dancing.

"Just a fun thing," Vincent shrugs, "On Tuesdays and Fridays they do a trivia, and then on Wednesdays and Saturdays they do swings."

"Oh, fun," I shrug.

"Would you dance with me?" Erin asks Lexi, holding out her hand.

"Charmed to," Lexi laughs, taking Erin's hand as Erin leads her away from us. 

Vincent holds out his hand, "How about it?"

"Why not," I take his hand and he pulls me close. I can feel the heat rushing to my cheeks. I rest one hand around his neck and the other one on his chest. He holds me close by the waist. I sway against him as we dance together in slow circles. I rest my head against his chest, feeling the exhaustion of the past week. He moves one hand from my waist across my back, holding me tightly against him. I hear his heartbeat thump against his chest rhythmically, soothing my fears. I close my eyes for a second, living in the moment. I could stay like this forever.

The music cuts off. My eyes open. The lights cut off. For a moment there's a second of stillness, the only noises heard is breathing. Then come the screams.

Vincent takes my hand, "Hurry," He whispers. Gripping his hand, I rush after him as we run away from the panicking bodies. He pulls me into a room, closing the door behind us. My heart speeds up as waves of panic flow through me.

"What's ha-"

"Quiet, don't say anything," Vincent cuts me off in a rushed whisper. I shut my mouth, my back pressing up against him as I take a step back. His arms come around me, in a protective circle. He holds me against him as we listen to the screams. I feel his heartbeat against my back, pounding like his heart is trying to escape.

As my eyes accommodate to the darkness, I take in the room around me. I spot a mop, broom, and multiple bottles. We're in the janitors room. This can't be a safe hiding space. Spinning around, I face Vincent, my hands gripping his arms.

"We're not safe here," I whisper, my brain starting to work past the exhaustion.

"Safer in here then out there," He whispers back, his violet eyes trained on mine; they look pitch black in the darkness. The screams continue.

"What about Lexi and Erin!" I exclaim, quickly bringing my voice back to a whisper at the end.

"They'll be okay," He assures me, but I'm not entirely sure. After a moment it seems to go silent outside. I really hope everyone fled and they're not all dead. Of course I didn't bring the antler knife with me tonight. I should have, I was just afraid the bouncer wouldn't let me in.

"It's silent," I point out after a second.

"You're right," Vincent's eyes move from mine and to the door. He slowly lets go of me, and moves me behind him as he makes his way to the door. He cracks it open, and I try to peer outside from behind him.

"What is it?" I whisper.

"Come on," Vincent responds, grabbing my hand once more, and leading me out of the janitors closet. We walk back into the once crowded room. It's still dark, but emergency lights flash red and white. Every other second I can get a glimpse of the room, but I wish I couldn't. Bodies line the floors all around. My stomach tries to regurgitate, but I fight it down. Covering my nose with my arm, I glimpse at Vincent. He's taking in the scene, but he glances back at me.

"What do we do?" I whisper to him.

"We have to make it to the entrance. Quietly. Come on," He begins to lead me through the room, along the wall, careful to watch for bodies. I really hope Lexi and Erin made it out safe. We stop abruptly.

"What is-" I cut off when I spot what he spotted. A cloaked figure with a skull mask stares at us from the entrance. In their hand a knife glints from the small amount of moonlight that filters through the crack in the front doors. My heart speeds up again. My hand grips Vincent's as he turns back to me. Out of the corner of my eye I can see his face, but my eyes stay trained on the Skeleton.

"Run." Vincent says.

"What?" I ask, finally averting my eyes to his.

"Run," He repeats, and shoves me away from him and the oncoming serial killer.

"But what about yo-"

He cuts me off, "Get out of here!"

I take off running in the opposite direction. I really wish I would've brought the antler knife. How could I be so stupid? I race down the path we came up from, dodging bodies, and tripping over others. I find a staircase and pause at the bottom step. I turn back around, but in the darkness I don't see Vincent or the killer. Taking a deep breath, I begin to climb the stairs.