TCM

Chapter 7

Connie hissed under her breath as the man began to walk towards her and Virginia. She leapt up and grabbed Virginia by the shirt, yanking her along; it felt cruel to be so harsh but the poor woman was terrified, starting to wail over the weak echoed screaming. The strung up woman had started to gargle more so than scream, losing the oxygen to do so. Connie's mouth filled with acrid tasting blood as she felt the man's breath close. She was terrified- but she had to do something. Glancing around desperately she spotted a crawlspace in the far wall behind her, she was unsure of it's original purpose but the man would not be able to follow them through, and so it was to be a lifeline. Virginia, still unsteady, followed Connie's eyes and nodded quickly. They both bolted bewildering the man, who with a loud huff, stumbled after them. His build was bulky, much slower and yet Connie could feel him keeping up. She bit her lip and dived onto the floor, violently rolling through the gap as the floor scraped her skin. The room on the other side was cold, bathed in a blue light. Virginia instead of copying Connie, got to her knees slowly before attempting to crawl through. To Connie's dismay, the man grabbed her leg before she even made it halfway through. He yanked Virginia back with violent force, and Connie clinged onto her arm sinking her nails into her skin. They were playing tug of war with her life. Connie was no match for the man's strength however, and with a growl he kicked at the crawlspace furiously causing her to scramble backwards, letting go of Virginia. The strung up woman behind the two had finally succumbed, the soft dripping of blood being the only proof she was still there audibly. The absence of her screams were quickly filled by Virginia's, as she pleaded desperately for her life. Connie reached out through the gap to try grab her again but it was too late. The man grumbled in what sounded like confused annoyance before dropping Virginia onto the concrete, standing on her leg to keep her pinned with a crunch. His hair was dry and crispy, his clothes bloodstained and torn. He was like nothing Connie had ever seen before, some kind of freak of nature.

Virginia squealed as he once again started his chainsaw, holding it above his head. Connie cowered in the dark room. All she felt was helplessness. She should of held on tighter, the feeling of failure ate Connie's mind; there was nothing she could do to help her friend. Fear radiated off Virginia as she shook underneath his weight, and in an desperate attempt for help she cried for Connie. As she turned her head to look out the crawlspace the man plunged his chainsaw into her chest, triggering a chain of loud cracking sounds. Blood splattered across the room sounding like heavy rain and Connie tried to stifle a cry, leaning out of the gap further in some futile attempt to reach Virginia, though she knew it was much too late. A hand grasped around her neck and yanked her backwards into the blue cold-room. She yelped in shock as she spun around to make eye contact with Julie, who was crouched in front of her. Connie placed her hands on Julie's shoulders while shaking. Julie blinked reassuringly at her before gargling screaming resumed, turning her head towards the crawlspace Connie was leaning out of a second ago. She obviously did not recognise the voice and looked back at Connie, to which she tilted her head. As Connie went to whisper another voice echoed through the larger basement room.

"Hey sweetie, whatcha doing?".

There was a grumbled response from the blood soaked man, but neither of them could distinguish a single word from it.

"Oh not again," a seemingly sad noise escaped the mans lips in reply to the woman's voice, a loud noise of him setting the chainsaw down following.

"Don't think it's your fault sweetie, it's theirs. Unable to tie knots apparently! Oh... no no, you did the right thing! We can't have them running about can we?  Cook can just freeze her, I won't let them blame you...it's okay, let's go back up with this body first?"

The man grunted in reply, and as Julie and Connie glanced out, he began walking off dragging Virginia. A bloody trail was being laid by her body as it thumped across the ground. The woman was behind them, she appeared young, dressed in a torn up wedding dress. Her hair tied up in a bun, and legs coated in what they could only guess was dirt. Just like the man she seemed content with the death of others, glancing around at the other body with a satisfied look. Her sharp eyes darted to the crawlspace, but inside was too dim to make out any movement, and so she turned to follow the man back upstairs just out of view. Connie and Julie sat in silence for a long time, shivering from the cold. Finally Julie broke the silence.

"Who was that?"

Connie sat against a wall rubbing her shoulder responded hoarsely.

"Virginia, I met her when I woke up. She'd been kidnapped and her son too. I told her I'd help her and I didn't."

"What were you meant to do? Good thing I pulled you back before you got yourself killed too."

Connie just stared back blankly.

Julie resumed, "look we'll report about her son when we get out. I promise. But we need to get to the others."

"Who?"

"Sonny and Leland."

Connie kept rubbing her arm and Julie leaned over to look at her wound. 

"Where is Ana?"

Julie inspected the wound, "I'm not sure. We'll find her for certain."

"Julie you can't even treat a papercut why are you so interested?"

She widened her eyes and leaned back, "not fair, I was just curious. I'm guessing that woman patched it up?"

"Yes, she did. Oh Julie I just watched her die. Fuck." Connie shakily stood up and began pacing.

Julie was unsure what to say, she didn't know the woman. She was just glad she heard the first chainsaw revs and moved towards them, finding a door to this room and in turn grabbing Connie. Worry dripped from Connie's eyes and her fear began to seep into Julie. She felt empathy for her friend but it was just as important to her to get out of there, the others were also waiting anxiously for Julie's return. She gripped Connie's hand gently but forcefully and slowly led her out the room, both their faces already frostbitten.