What Remains

Chapter 16

Danielle

"Kenny, you there?" I ask, waving my hand in front of Kenny's masked face.
He has been zoomed out for the past thirty minutes, and although it worried me around the two minute mark, I stayed silent; partially because a cruel part of me wondered how long he'd stay that way.
Kenny's hazel eyes flutter for a moment. He scans his surroundings in a fearful, even frantic manner, nearly getting up from the steps we're sitting on. He then let his eyes rest on me.
"Hey, you okay?" I question, placing a reluctant hand on his shoulder to snap him out of his haze.
His demeanour softens with my touch. He sighs lightly and raises a hand over mine. "I'm okay, Quinn. Don't you worry.." Kenny utters.
I give a small nod, averting my gaze from him and instead to the distance. The sun is almost fully set. Nervous.
"Let's fetch your mask, then we'll go, hmm?" Kenny says, pulling me up to stand with him.
"Kay'." I reply blankly, keeping my eyes drawn away.
Kenny opens the door and lets us inside. "It'll be my birthday soon." Kenny mutters to me as we walk through the house.
That's random. He couldn't have possibly spent that entire time thinking about his birthday.. could he? Seriously?
"Mine already passed.. when's yours?" I ask, maintaining his quickened pace.
"October 6th."
"How old are you turning?"
"24."
"You're going to be a year older than me." I remark, giving him a soft smile. "I thought you were older, though. Surprising."
He hums in reply and turns to me, stopping me with a gesture of his hand, "I'll go get it. You stay here." I nod at his words and watch him as he descends the old, worn wooden stairs.
I know what I'm thinking. I know what I want to think. I'm not going to.
"Leave." A feminine voice coos, making me give an annoyed grimace.
"You leave." I whisper, shaking my head.
Kenny's porcelain face appears in my vision, making me snap out of my head.
My brows furrow, "Didn't find it?" I ask, looking at his empty hands.
"You put it on the table in the library." Kenny utters, grabbing my hand and dragging me with him.
Oh, yeah. Whoops.
"Why'd you go down there then?" I ask, sarcasm slightly twinging my tone.
Kenny shakes his head, "No reason." He says as we round the doorway into the library.
Why do you have to make your lies so obvious?
I escape his grasp and lift my mask from the coffee table in front of me, fitting it over my head. "Is it alright?" I ask, turning back to Kenny.
He stares at me for a second with thoughtful eyes. "Course." Kenny replies. I give a slight smile underneath my mask. "Let's go. We have to be quick... I'll be right by your side the entire time." Kenny's eyes squint in a smile before he pulls me towards the garage with him.

The drive to Danielle's house is slow and awkward. Kenny's hand was 'reassuringly' resting on my leg almost the entire time, and he was constantly trying to talk to me— he's never deliberately like that. Either he was actually trying to be reassuring in his own uncomfortable and awkward way, or he wants something from me. Whatever he wants I'm not gonna give it to him.
Before we started driving, I had told him Danielle's address. I could see him make a mental note of how close her house is to Danny and May's which put me off in the slightest. Though Kenny tends to note every thing about everything.
As we pull up to the house, Kenny once again reaches into the back seat with the same oh-so-familiar stretch.
"Found this in the garage a while ago. I thought you'd prefer it over your last one." Kenny passes me a hunting knife. I weigh it in my hands. It's light and smaller.  Drawing my attention away from the blade, I look up and meet Kenny's inquisitive gaze.
"It's nice." I announce, softly slipping the knife into my pant pocket.
Kenny simply nods, gripping his axe a little harder.
Gone quiet again? What's up with you today, Kenny?
"I don't want to wait. Let's just get this over and done with so we can go home." I say, resting my hand on the door handle. Kenny unlocks the car and steps out with me wordlessly. "It's just up that way..." I whisper and point for Kenny as he steps beside me. He grabs my right arm and starts in the direction I pointed us in. Kenny's demeanour seems off— menacing. What if it's a sort of bloodlust? I shiver at the thought. Bloodlust is something you'd hear about in those awfully glorified horror movies. My friends and I used to watch them all the time, especially around Halloween. We'd pull all nighters to finish a single saga, then stay up one night more to finish another. As unhealthy as it seemed, we had a ton of fun yelling at various characters— survivors— and screaming during chase scenes.
But now? It feels like I'm one of those survivors, just dumber.
"How many entrances?" Kenny suddenly utters, bringing me out of my mind.
"Two. Back door and front door." I reply quietly. Danielle is someone I'd never dream of harming, but now I feel numb. Not numb to killing, just numb. I hate it.
"When does she tend to sleep? It's about 10:30 right now." Kenny murmurs, pulling us to a plain side of Danielle's house.
"Usually about now, actually. But sometimes she stays up and plays video games." With me, I want to end the sentence with, but I know Kenny would get suspicious. And when he gets suspicious there are questions, and when there are questions, he'll do something with the answer.
"Slow and steady, then." Kenny pauses and takes a breath, scanning the house. His eyes wear an expression of cruel curiosity. He then pulls me to the back door, snapping me out of my trance.  "Not as daft as the other..." He remarks at something I, of course, don't notice. He crouches in front of the wooden door. I grimace at his words, though I know he can't see it through my eyes because he is currently putting all of his brain power into picking the lock.
A low click sounds, followed with a sigh from Kenny. "Steady on." He mutters to himself, grabbing my hand and silently opening the door. No visible lights are on, though there is a low sound coming from Danielle's room. I point towards her room and Kenny nods, tracing his eyes where my finger directs.
I, along with him, let our heads rest against that door, listening to the sounds.
"—DEAD! THE COPS AREN'T DOING SHIT! WHY WOULDN'T I BE PISSED?" Danielle screams. I assume she is on the phone. "Three people... THIS IS ALL YOUR FUCKING FAULT! FUCK! Justin, if it wasn't for your stupid dare we WOULDN'T HAVE GONE!" I hear something of a crash or a shatter, followed by a small rumble.  "I'm going to KILL THAT PIECE OF SHIT!" Danielle shrieks. I cringe out of embarrassment and guiltiness. Stomps sound towards the door, making Kenny and I swiftly pull away and quietly trot to Danielle's kitchen. Kenny hides me under the island whilst he backs into a dark corner. "Fuck... Fuck! What did we do to deserve this?" Danielle's shouting lowers into a more desperate sob. Her footsteps pad in our direction, making me shoot Kenny a terrified look. I emphasize it, praying my eyes will wear what I feel enough to send a message. He understands and, realising I can't see his eyes, gives a low nod.
Before Kenny can act any further, a light turns on in the kitchen, making him tense up and look in a certain direction.
"YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" I hear Danielle scream.
I assumed she rushed to grab a weapon, as the swift sound of something metal being drawn sounds.
Kenny lets out a small unenthused huff and takes a step out into the moonlight. He looks like a monster stalking its prey. His position is ready and tall, his axe gripped tightly in his large gloved hands.
"I have been fucking waiting for this." Danielle growls from behind the island— from behind me.
Kenny gives me a small glance and immediately I understand.
He's going to give me an opening.
SHIT!
Kenny swings his axe on the island with enough force that it makes a loud smash. Dust falls onto my masked face, making me look up to the marble. Cracks embroider the surface, making me grimace in fear and bewilderment.
Danielle lets out a shriek and darts to the side I am on. Surprisingly, she doesn't notice me sitting under the counter, damn near hyperventilating from fear.
"Swing." A low ghostly voice whispers, and I obey.
I swing my hunter's knife against Danielle's ankles, making her scream and drop to the floor. I gasp as blood splatters against my porcelain mask.
What the fuck? No, I can't—
I snap out of my haze when Danielle tries to squirm away from me.. from Kenny.
Kenny is looming over her, beginning to raise his axe.
Not Kenny.. NOT KENNY!
I yelp in my mind.
I block out Kenny by straddling Danielle's hips.
"LET ME GO! GET OFF OF ME!" Danielle growls as I lift my knife above my head, readying a lethal blow, "QUINN, PLEASE!" Danielle shrieks, making me hesitate and stop the knife just in front of my eyes. My father's mottled face reflects in the blade from the moonlight, making me yelp and drop the weapon.
I jump off of Danielle and back into Kenny. With a grunt, he grabs my shoulder, throws me aside like I am nothing, then readies his axe.
Shit, NO!
"KENNY!" All I can muster is another small yelp, but it doesn't work. I try to stand and get in his way—
All I catch is Danielle's eyes. Terror, regret, and disbelief.
Then, Kenny swings his axe, landing it deep in the middle of Danielle's face. It splits right in half with a disgusting crack, and blood splatters everywhere. I see parts of her brain— her brain— fly and scatter around the kitchen, painting the walls and counters. Danielle's face still has features. Her dark brows are raised and twitching, her brown eyes wear fear, her heart-shaped lips are bent in a frown... Some teeth are loose and fall further into her mouth. Her tongue is split unevenly in half, gushing blood. The blood carries the broken shards of her teeth further into her throat. Her fingers twitch in a gruesome way. Through the gore that replaces her once beautiful face, crimson pours and pools onto the pristine white kitchen tiles. She always liked being clean.
A drawn whimper escapes my throat. I sob as Kenny simply stared at his work.
"What h-have you done..?" More dreadful cries fly out of my mouth. Kenny turns at my words, making me back up in utter fear of the man— the monster— before me.
This is my fault. Why couldn't I have just.. just fucking killed her myself?
I hug myself, and take a few more steps back.
Kenny ignores my obvious fear and walks towards me, dropping his axe and putting his hands on my masked face. I know that although he can't see my entire face, he read my eyes like a book. But I can't see his eyes. I only see a shape— a shadow. I flinch and tremble under his touch, clenching my eyes shut and praying Kenny would just go away.
He doesn't.
He pulls me into a suffocating hug, making me cry even more. "What have we done? What.. have we done?" I babble. Kenny doesn't reply.
The last view I have is the sight of Danielle's cut ankles and a bloody kitchen.
All because I fucked up.