Six years ago the quiet town of Raven Hill in upstate New York was terrorized by a serial known as the Triple-6 Killer. After marking the doors of his intended victims, six days later they would be found dead, posed in a gruesome scene. After a sixt...
A/N: Content warning - kidnapping and blood ------
"Remember, do what you can to stall!" Eli called out while he frantically started typing at the computer.
My hands shook so uncontrollably that I nearly dropped my phone. This was the call we had been waiting for, the one we had prepared ourselves for, so why was it so hard to slide the little green button across my screen now to accept the call? My heart pounded in my chest so hard that the sound of my blood pumping nearly drowned out the sound of my ringtone.
It's show time, Dani. You can do this. Stall the call. Give Eli time to upload his package and open a backdoor on the phone. Learn the Triple-6's location so the police can save Jorge. Learn the Triple-6's identity so he can terrorize no longer. Think of Heather. Think of Gabe. Think of all the victims.
Shakily, my thumb swiped across the screen. All I saw was black, but I was greeted by the same voice digitally altered voice from earlier.
"It's about time, Dani. I was afraid you were going to leave us hanging," the voice mocked.
Suddenly the screen went white. It took a moment for the phone camera to adjust to the bright lights. When it did, I was surprised to see what appeared to be a film set. No, it was more like a stage for a current affair show from the early 2000s, except there were no couches or tables, just a folding chair with what must have been every spotlight on the lighting rig pointed at it. Seated upon the chair was a person with a black bag over their head, arms tightly bound behind their back. The individual's head hung low, suggesting they were unconscious.
Suddenly another person dressed in black baggy clothes walked in from the right side of the frame. Their clothes hung loose on the body, almost misshapen, making it impossible to even determine a body shape. The best conclusion I could make was that they were of average height and build, which was of little help to us. The disguised person stepped behind the unconscious individual. With a swift tug, the bag was pulled off the individual's head. The man underneath woke up wincing and blinking at the bright lights in his eyes. With his mouth gagged, I almost didn't recognize him, but as his half-lidded eyes adjusted to the light and the look of terror overcame him, there was no question. Jorge Molina. His eyes darted around the room, eventually settling on the camera in front.
The voice spoke again, "What's wrong? Isn't this what you wanted? You are the center of everyone's attention now, Jorge. You'll finally have your fifteen minutes of fame! You'll be the talk of the town. No, the nation!"
"Please, don't do this!" I pleaded. "He's not who you want! It's me, ok? Let's talk about this!"
The person behind Jorge stepped in front of him and leant over to look directly at the camera, though I couldn't see their eyes behind the white mask on their face – the same mask as before. "Don't do this? You knew the consequences. You knew the consequences and you continued anyway! You leave me with sacrifices instead of giving me what I want! Our friend here is number two. I look forward to seeing what you have in mind for the next three."
"Next three?" I muttered.
"Now that we're playing this game, I've decided to save the best for last," they mused. "I have to thank you, by the way. I'm quite enjoying the game. Do make the next one more of a challenge though."
The figure stood upright and moved out of frame, revealing a terrified Jorge once more. His eyes were peeled to his abductor as they moved behind them, staying out of sight of the camera.
"Hey, hey, Jorge, can you hear me?" I whispered. I don't even know why I whispered, but his eyes darted back at the camera, so he must've heard me. "I'm sorry, Jorge. I'm so, so sorry. This- You didn't deserve this. Any of this. My friend is trying to figure out where you are right now, b-but I'm afraid it'll-," the words got caught up in my throat. "We're going to make him pay for this. Th-that I can promise you."
Jorge started to tremble as the realization of his impending death hit him. He said something into his gag, but I couldn't understand it at all. I could only imagine what he might have said. It was probably along the lines of I don't want to die. The sentiment was felt through the fear in his eyes.
"I can't understand you. I really wish I could," I watched as tears started to trickle down his face. There was nothing I could do but cry along with him. I wished I could get into his head and know what he was seeing or hearing. I felt so utterly useless just watching him like this.
Suddenly Eli came up next to me wearing his hannya mask, "Jorge, blink once if you saw your kidnapper before now and recognize them, twice if not."
I stared at Eli in astonishment that he had managed to come up with such a simple but effective trick at getting crucial information out of Jorge. I snapped my attention back to my phone and watched Jorge's eyes carefully. Once, he blinked once! He had seen his kidnapper's face! I beamed through my tears at the hope that this all would not be in vain.
"Once for male, twice for female!" Eli ordered next.
"Nuh-uh-uh!" the masked figure leant in front of the camera once more. "Clever boy, but I can hear every word you're saying! At any rate," the figure held up a needle to the camera. "it's our friend's time to shine!"
The figure moved out of frame again, but before Jorge could react, Triple-6 grabbed his hair by the roots and pulled his head to the side, jabbing the needle into his neck. Jorge grimaced at first, in pain at the sudden injection, then his eyes widened as his face went white. He started screaming at the top of his lungs into his gag.
"Come on! Blink!" Eli yelled. "This is your last chance!"
Tears of blood started to stream down from both corners of his eyes while blood flowed freely from his nose and ears. I covered my mouth in horror, unable to speak, but unable to look away at the man dying in front of my eyes. His eyes widened so much I was afraid they'd pop right out of his head. The fiery poison flowed throughout his body, destroying everything in its path. Jorge didn't stand a chance against it. Even if we knew where he was, there was no way an ambulance would make it in time. No chance to save him. And yet, even though he was becoming undone, he found the will to blink, painting the whites of his eyes red just before his body began to seize within his restraints.
"Jorge! We will avenge you!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. "We will make the son of a bitch pay!"
Jorge's head rolled to the side lifelessly while blood continued to cascade out of his eyes. Blood dripped down onto his chest from his now saturated mouth gag.
The masked figure put their hands on Jorge's shoulders from behind and leant over mockingly, "If you really want this to happen again, Dani, all you need to do is stop. Stop running. Stop hiding. Just come home." Triple-6 raised their hands palms up in a welcoming manner, before patting Jorge's shoulders once more. "Do excuse me, it's time to get our friend ready for his big debut! See you soon, Dani?"
The call disconnected and within seconds my phone screen went black again, but the image of Jorge dying burned forever in my eyes. My own life drained from my body while I struggled to comprehend whether what I witnessed was reality or just a terrible, awful nightmare. Did I really just sit and watch a man die a horrible, painful death? It didn't feel real. My own hands didn't feel real. I blinked and in that moment I relived Jorge's last breath, Gabe's shocked expression and Heather's lifeless eyes all at once. The dead all stared back at me, stared into my soul. I could feel their judgement. I failed them. I had failed them all.
God, I was so fucking sick of it.
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