The Virgin vs the Axeman

Chapter Nine

“Who are you? What do you want?” Max spoke timidly. The stranger began to charge at him, but Max quickly dodged his blows. He was able to outmaneuver him with his versatility courtesy of his talents of being a pro football player. Max seized the opportunity to run as fast as he could towards the house. He didn’t stop until he saw the lights illuminating from the house. That’s when he slowed down. Then curiously, he glanced back to see if he was still being followed. He breathed a sigh of relief and began to turn back around, but instead, he collided with someone. Max became combative.

“Hey dude it’s us! Calm down! You’re acting like you saw a ghost.” Josh said. He stopped fighting and noticed that Dane and Josh were standing in front of him with confused looks on their faces.

“He-----run----man----.”   Max stuttered breathlessly. “You're not making any sense. Let’s get you inside, man. It’s late.” Dane said as he signaled to Josh. They both grabbed his arms and guided him indoors. Max felt motionless and speechless. Somehow, he found himself seated in the living room surrounded by the others. His eyes were dilated as he stared off into space. Even though he heard voices around him, their words seemed muffled. “Max, you need to tell us what happened out there." Josh spoke with deep concern. “You guys are going to think I am crazy," Max responded in a nervous tone. “We won't, I promise! Just tell us what happened.” Trudy empathized. Max sighed deeply before telling them how he went in search of Gina, and after realizing it was getting too late, he decided to head back. “As I was about to leave, there he was - standing directly in front of me...." “Who are you talking about?” Lisa asked, but he ignored her and continued “He tried attacking me with his weapon. If I hadn't dodged it in time and ran, I would be dead meat by now." At this point, Max started sweating profusely with a frightened look on his face. Lisa interrupted, “Who are you talking-------?"  “The axe man! The fucking ax man!" As he spoke, he pounded his fists so hard on the table, Trudy jumped. “Get real Max. It was just a story, okay? I was just trying to scare Trudy. There is no way in history an ax man is out there!" Lisa rolled her eyes in disbelief. “Then how do you explain what happened to Gina! Uh?”

“For the last time Max, she sneaked away and hitched a ride back into town. She said so in the message!” Lisa shouted in annoyance. “She wouldn't do that! She would rather deal with her problems and face us than run away. She is nothing like you!" By now Max was standing on his feet, with his eyes glued to Lisa. “Well, if you didn't cheat on her with that fucking slut, then she would be here!" “Hey! That’s enough from you both! No need to be pointing fingers." Josh said as he pulled Lisa away. “It's been a rough night, let's get some rest and we can talk about this in the morning.” Dane added. Everyone nodded in agreement, except Max. He just stood speechless as he watched everyone leave. Trudy was the only one who kept staring at Max like somehow, she believed him. After everyone retired to bed, Max dashed to his bedroom to pack. In the back of his mind, he wasn’t going to stay there and pretend to be clueless and naïve like the others. He believed that someone or something was out there lurking in the shadows that wanted to bring him harm. He decided to take a quick shower downstairs, so as not to disturb the others as they slept. As he showered, he began to think to himself.

None of my friends seemed to believe me except Trudy!  She had a convinced look on her face like she knew something. But nevertheless, I'm not going to stick around to find out.

The bathroom door opened, and he could hear some footsteps. “Who’s there?” Max asked timidly. “It’s just me man.” Josh spoke. “Oh, what are you doing down here?” Max asked “I forgot my phone earlier in the living room and came down to get it. I heard the shower running and decided to check it out.” “Oh.” Max said flatly. “So, dude the ax man? Really?” Josh said as he chuckled. “I’m glad you find it funny but if you saw what I saw—” “It’s just your imagination running wild. Did you smoke that blunt I gave you before you went out? Because that shit is the real deal. I am te—” “No I didn’t smoke anything! I know what I saw!” Max snapped. “Sure dude. Anyways I’m going to bed. See you in the morning.” As Josh opened the door, he laughed and said, “Axe man”. Then he closed the door behind him. After a few minutes, the door opened again and closed. “Josh if you have come to make fun of me again, I swear—” As he spoke, he drew open the curtain only to reveal the intruder. Max’s eyes were filled with shock and fear.
''Its------you!" he said timorously as he slowly backed into the running shower. With the intruder closing in on his space, Max decided to throw him a punch. He got a few punches in but the intruder did not flinch. Instead, he grabbed Max’s hand mid air, twisted it and pushed him hard against the wall. While his face was glued to the wall, the axe man stuffed a cloth in his mouth, increased the temperature to hot and turned the shower on to full blast.
Max muffled screams from the hot water burned his skin as he struggled against the ax man’s grip. Then he revealed his ax and quickly lowered it on Max’s arm. A muffled cry of agony was trapped in his throat. Blood spurted out in all different directions like a rush of water running down a hill. The ax man strikes again and again until Max’s body was disfigured. Blood and water painted the gruesome scene as the ax man smiled deviously at his work.