BODYS ; M. MUNROE

CHAPTER NINE

★彡

THE DOOR didn't open straight away. It grunted out croaked protests as the three pushed against it, their energy fulled by the cries coming from the other side.

"Almost- argh!" Cassandra yelped, stuttering forward as the door gave up, letting the three inside, her balance back to normal with the help of Sam, who had grabbed onto her wrist.

The sight before Cassandra was horrific, saw blades whirred incessantly downward, their destination the middle of Ashley and Chris' heads. The two were tied to a chair, between them was a table, in Chris' hand a gun, currently pointed at himself.

"Chris—!" Cassandra covered her mouth with her hand, her body icy with nerves, but as quickly as she'd seen the sight, it had stopped. The whirring paused, stage lights above them flashed on; a palpable silence now hung over them.

The heavy thumping of boots echoed from an unknown area of the room, until the man, the psycho that had killed Jessica, kidnapped Cassandra, and killed Josh, was standing before them. His heavy shoes dragged across the ground, hidden mostly by the tattered ends of overalls. Cassandra's throat lodged with fear once she got a clear look at the mask. Straggly pieces of hair hung down the sides of its 'face', black shiny eyes stared down at the people before him, its masked mouth bare, pink gums and yellowed teeth making her grimace.

"Well, wasn't that moving?" His voice was modulated, echoed.

The moment Chris' eye landed on the psycho's, he wasted no time firing three shots at the looming body, the psycho stumbled back, humouring Chris, revealing the gun was filled with blanks.

"C'mon Christopher, you've heard of blanks haven't you?" The psycho raised his hands to the edges of the mask. It peeled off, Cassandra's eyes widened, staring at the smug face of Josh Washington.

"What the..." Cassandra felt as if she took one step, her feet would give out from under her, she swallowed thickly, wincing at how dry her throat was. "Josh..."

Josh? Had it been Josh the whole time? Her friend, a boy she considered her closest friend, had he done this? Taken Jessica? Killed her? Kidnapped Cassandra? It didn't make sense, she clenched her fists to grab a sense of reality, the voices around her going fuzzy.

"I don't know if you noticed this Josh, but none of us are laughing." Mike's voice managed to bring her back to where she was, she blinked tightly, not knowing where look, her eyes landing on Sam and Mike who had started to untie Ashley and Chris.

Slowly, Cassandra stepped forward, surprised that she hadn't collapsed to the floor in a puddle of shock. "Josh what did you do... Why would you—"  Her words turned to ash in her throat, the amount of information thrust upon her so quickly, so violently, had become too much.

"Cassie, come on," Josh said, still smiling. "It's good to get the heart racing, and face the did I mean every single one just potter pat. It felt so good to play puppet master!" He was near bouncing on the spot, happy with the torment, the murder, the fear. God knows what he'd put Chris and Ashley through, but the black eye on the brunettes face suggested it was just as harrowing.

Sam stood straight, stiffened and taught; her eyes squinted, trying her best to gain her composure. "Josh why are you doing this?"

"Don't even ask this squirrelly little nut," Mike brushed Sam's concern away, he was stood in front of Cassandra, but she desperately wanted him at her side. "he's got no clue. He's out of his fuckin' tree." He added, scoffing.

Cassandra took another step forward, she felt sick. How could this be the same Josh that nursed her back to health after their ice cream and movie night binge? The same Josh that stayed on the phone every night for weeks after Cassandra's sister had died, just to make sure she fell asleep, and to keep her company if she hadn't.

"Come on guys, revenge is the best medicine!" Josh grinned, raising his hands.

"The fuck it is!" Cassandra blurted, Josh's eyes met hers, they softened momentarily.

"You're done."

"Guys he's sick." Defended Chris, he tiredly looked over to the two and Cassandra quietly gasped, noticing the large bruise forming on his forehead.

Josh tutted, seemingly ignoring everyone's comments. "You guys are gonna thank me, I mean... You guys are gonna be internet sensations!"

The group looked to each other confused.

"The cameras... You filmed it all?" Ashley croaked out, her head barely tilting up to look at Josh.

"Come on guys, you better believe this little puppy's gonna go viral ladies and germs. I mean we got heartache, we got confessions, we got terror." Josh placed his hands on his hips, watching everyone's face, expecting them to be just as happy as he was. "Oh come on, it's not like anyone got hurt."

Hearing that, the flippant abruptness from Josh caused  Cassandra's blood to boil. Did he think that little of Jess? Of Will? Had their deaths been a necessary evil to him? So much so he didn't even consider their deaths worth mentioning.

"You killed them!" Cassandra yelled, heads sharply turning to face her. "Jessica... Will... That was you wasn't it?" Tears sprung to her eyes, a single track rolling down her left cheek.

Josh's eyes widened, an unknown fear evident on his face. "What? Jess? Will? I-I— I didn't..."

"Oh you're going to back track now? Not so big and scary huh?" Mike clenched his fists. "They're dead, asshat." He began to march towards Josh, Cassandra froze. "And you're gonna fucking pay, you dick!"

Josh crumpled to the floor, having being hit with the butt of Mike's revolver.

Relationship with Josh: Decreased

okokok hear her out she doesn't
KNOW ABOUT THE CREATURES