𝗙𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗥, billy loomis & stu macher

33 revenge

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(   chapter thirty-three,   revenge   )
❝ and all the kids cried out, 'please stop, you're scaring me,' I can't help this awful energy, goddamn right, you should be scared of me, who is in control ❞

april 17th,   1998

HER EYES DIDN'T waver as they scanned the faded paper in her hands, the numbers written there blurring and sharpening in turn, as if they might leap off the page at jump at her. She gripped the note tightly - the same one she'd received from Stu in a package days ago, tucked alongside a single red rose. Back then, there had been writing on only one side of the small paper.

Now, there was something new.

It took her a moment to recognize Stu's sloppy handwriting on the back. The writing was unmistakable, rough, and jagged.

"'Call if you decide to change your mind.'"

And beneath it, an unfamiliar phone number.

Kathryn swallowed, her fingers shaking slightly as she held the note. Her mind flashed back to their last conversation. Stu had offered his help, extending a peace offering, at least she assumed it was, she hadn't wanted to take. Working alongside him - a literally wanted serial killer - was a label she could hardly stomach. But now, with Randy dead, that unease had twisted into something else. Dewey would never let her help in the way she wanted, and doing this alone wasn't an option; she was still a target. This wasn't about getting this copycat in jail anymore. She wanted blood.

Their blood.

Giving herself a small pep talk, Kathryn typed in the number, pacing nervously around her room as the line rang, each unanswered tone adding to her growing nerves. She was about to hang up when someone picked up on the other end.

The silence that followed felt ominous, filled with heavy, controlled breathing. She swallowed again, her voice hesitant.

"...Hello?" she murmured.

More silence, and just as she felt the urge to hang up, the voice on the other end broke it - a lowly chillingly familiar voice. Stu gave her an address - the old abandoned arcade on the edge of town - his tone curt and final, before hanging up abruptly.

Kathryn pulled the phone from her ear, her pulse hammering. She couldn't shake the strange feeling that lingered from that call. The voice hadn't sounded exactly like Stu. There was something sharper there, something cold.

But there wasn't time to dwell on it. She'd made up her mind. Pulling her hair back, she grabbed her jacket and slipped on her sneakers, quickly moving through her routine. As she headed toward the door, her eyes landed on her knife. She didn't think twice before grabbing it and slipping it away under her shirt.

Kathryn crept down the hallway, peeking around the corner to where her bodyguards, Samuel and Cole, were settled on the couch, their backs turned as they watched TV. She moved silently, slipping out the door undetected.

Idiots.

Kathryn moved quickly down the hallway, dodging the glances that trailed after her. Most of them were filled with pity, and they felt like they weighed a hundred pounds. Everyone knew about Randy now. She gritted her teeth, clutching her phone as she walked, focusing on her next steps instead of their whispers.

Once she was out of sight, she pulled up Jaylyn's number. She was hidden away in her bedroom back at their dorm, working on some homework. It rang a few times before her friend picked up, her voice a welcome distraction from the tension curling inside Kathryn.