Terrifier: Splatter

8

double update!! also we are halfway through the story AHH. in my opinion from here on it gets good. i hope you like it too!!

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They got back home, and put all the things they bought in the living room. While Sarah and Vivian started to unbox everything, Mallory walked over to Thomas, who was in the kitchen drinking a glass of water. "What was that about back there? Upping my dosage?" She crossed her arms, looking at him.

Thomas let out a sharp exhale, "I mean, it's true, isn't it? If you're still seeing that clown, then your pills aren't working right."

She looked down at the floor, "I guess, but I swear... he looked like he was actually standing there." Thomas put his finger under her chin, lifting her head up. "Don't worry about him anymore. He's dead, you saw him die, it's over. He's not coming back."

Somehow, he had reassured her, with his half-assed words of comfort, at least for the time being. "You're right." She didn't know if she actually believed that, or if she was trying to convince herself.

They walk over to the living room, joining the others. She sits on the carpet, helping Sarah and Vivian take out the tree. It was pretty big, it would go all the way up to the ceiling. They attached the arms of the tree, and put some tinsel on it when they were done setting it up. Then they all participated in adding colorful string lights around it, and ornaments. Mallory plugged in the lights, turning them on.

The four of them sat back to admire the tree. "It's beautiful." Vivian smiled, before turning to the others. "But we are not done yet. Tomorrow we go to the store and get some decor for the outside!"

Everyone groaned in annoyance.

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"Okay, stop the negativity! It's freakin' Christmas! Mallory, go look for what you want in your yard!" Vivian ordered them around, and they let her, knowing they would get nowhere by arguing. The other woman wandered to the opposite side of the aisle, not interested in any of the decor they had been looking at previously.

Mallory let her fingers trail against the boxes of decorations as she walked. There were big inflatable versions of almost every single Christmas related thing she could imagine. "Cute." she said to herself, smiling as she looked at the design on one of the boxes, showing which inflatable was inside. It was Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. She thought about buying it, but couldn't see a price sticker on it anywhere, she was about to turn to check the side of it.

Her lips parted in both terror and shock when she nearly bumped into Art. She seemed frozen on the spot, and watched as he looked down at the reindeer on the cover, crouching a little to see it. He shook his head no, then looked back at her and pointed to her, a grin on his face. It took her a minute to get what he had been trying to say here... then she remembered what she had said only a minute before, she was calling the reindeer cute, but he didn't seem to think so.

"Are you saying that I'm cute?" she said in a hushed tone, knowing if anyone passed by she would look like she was talking to herself, since this was another hallucination. What was her mind doing to her now? Was she seriously so insane to the point that she was romanticizing the clown that tried to kill her?

He nodded quickly, then did what looked like was a silent giggle, his hand going to cover his mouth. His shoulders went up as he seemed to shyly take a step back, as if he was a schoolboy nervously asking his crush out on a date. "What the fuck?" she said, sighing as she closed her eyes. She would have to sign herself back into therapy and ask why her mind was doing this. "Not real. Not real. Not real." she repeated the words, muttering them under her breath.

When she opened her eyes, he was gone.

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Art enjoyed toying with her. It was a fun little game. The way she thought she was going crazy, and that the pills weren't doing anything for her anymore. He wasn't going to reveal that the past two times she had seen him weren't hallucinations, she deserved to think she was insane after she tore him apart. Literally.

He would never forgive her for doing that. It stopped being fun for him after that, so he was back with a vengeance. He had almost given up on looking for her, and had already tormented plenty of other people in the time he had come back to life. It had been years that she had successfully hidden from him, until now. When he found her at the Christmas tree shop, he was pleased to see that she was still alive, so that he could be the one to end her.

She also had new friends, which meant more people to kill. It would be fun to watch them all suffer. Art peeked through the small gaps in the shelf, and saw her go back to her friends, holding the inflatable reindeer box in her hands. She pretended like everything was normal, as if she hadn't just seen him. He wasn't lying when he insinuated that he thought she was cute. She was quite attractive, but he imagined how much better she would look if she were on the brink of death, especially because of him. He wouldn't kill her immediately, no, he would like to chase her for a while, like he has been.

The clown left shortly after he saw her go back to her friends. They were shopping for other decorations. After they were done, he went with them outside, keeping distance so they wouldn't spot him. He had just killed a guy while they were still in the store, and left him in the restroom, so he could take his clothes. He kept his head in a random magazine, he was wearing the guy's pants, and shoes, disguising himself so they wouldn't recognize him ─ the lower half, at least.

He was sat down on a bench. He waited until they got in the car and drove off, then he tossed the magazine somewhere behind him and grabbed his trash bag from under the seat. Along with his usual weapons, the bag had a special costume in it that he would wear soon. He began following them.