The Killers Next Door

III

"Boys!" Beatrice screamed waking both her boys from their peaceful slumber.

Jase got up immediately and stood up, his face showed no trace of someone who had been asleep. He now stood next to her mother waiting for her to finally speak.

Ash woke up and stretched, his eyes were still half-open. He looked at both of them with his eyes still half-open, "What time is it?" Ash asked.

"We're going out," Beatrice said.

Ash's eyes flew open as he looked at his mother with a smile, he was now wide awake. He put on a t-shirt hurriedly, he hopped across the room on one foot as he wore his jeans. His smile had not wavered from his face.

Jase got dressed too, he watched how his mother and brother were both all smiles. He was the only one who wasn't enlightened by the trip they were about to take. He was the only one who saw that what they were doing was wrong.

Ash grabbed his belt, it had a sheath for each of his throwing knives. He wrapped it around his waist and buckled it properly, his action belt, he called it. He grabbed a hoodie from his wardrobe, he tossed his brother a hoodie as well.

Jase picked up his throwing axes, they were not too big, he could manage to hold three of them with one hand. They dangled comfortably from his waist. He wore his hoodie as well, they both pulled up the hats on their hoodies to make sure their faces were well concealed under them.

"All set," Ash said.

Beatrice turned to look at Jase, Jase grabbed the knife that his father had bought him. He put it in a sheath in his boot. He then nodded at his mother.

His mother carried a big axe, it rested on her shoulder. Something shiny was on her waist, probably her knife. She still wore her smile as she left their room and they followed.

Their father was downstairs, he had both his machetes in sheaths on his back. He then wore his boot long black jacket over the two swords. Ash now moved closer to his father, he ran to grab two of his knives from the darts board. He already had enough knives with him already, as his father always said, be prepared for anything.

They all got in the car, an eerie silence hung amongst them as they drove past the houses in their neighbourhood. Jase checked his wristwatch, it was 2:11 am. He kept looking at his parents waiting for them to say something but they didn't. Jase opened his mouth to ask where they were going, he was halted by his mother's hand.

The rest of the ride was silent and calm. The car now stopped at the corner of a street, they all got out of the car and stood next to it. "That right there is Jim Turner's household," his father said.

"The one you work with?" Jase asked.

"Yes," Phil said simply.

"We're going to get your father more income on his job. There are four shareholders in the company, Jim over there owns 20% of the company. If he dies, company policy says his shares are split equally amongst the remaining three. The more of a percentage he owns of the company, the more return he earns on his investment," Beatrice explained.

"He lives with his wife and 23-year-old son who refuses to move out. So far he is the only one working in the family, if he dies, they'll suffer from poverty. We wouldn't want that now would we?" Phil says with a smile.

They walk up the street, the moon their only source of light, Ash tripped several times. The souls of their shoes made no sound as they walked. They walked on the yard of the house, all the lights inside were off. Everybody was sleeping.

"Jase," Phil said as they all stood at the front door of Jim's house.

Jase moved forward, he took the hairpin his mother was offering. He slowly picked the lock and the door. The door opened, it let out a small squeak as it swung open.

Meanwhile, on the inside, Jim's son was binge-watching the series The Walking Dead. His mom and dad were both already asleep, his eyes were half shut as well. He sat in the living with a bowl of popcorn in one hand.

He thought he heard his front door squeak, but he dismissed it thinking he was just being paranoid. He hugged his pillow after a frightening scene had just played. He almost dropped his popcorn.

He sent a fist full of popcorn into his mouth and chewed on it like he hadn't eaten for days. The corner of his eye caught what he thought was a silhouette dash across the room. He dismissed it again, he was not one to be easily paranoid.

The corner of his eye caught another figure, one shorter this time. He turned his head to find a small boy standing by the couch in the living room. He held back a scream, as he moved away from the boy. The boy had the eyes of a killer, and they stared at him like a hawk watching its prey.

"How did you get in," he asked trying to compose himself. This was just a small boy who is 6 of age, he thought.

"You left the front door open."

A part of him knew this wasn't true, but he somehow pitied the little boy. "How old are you, 6, and you're already breaking into houses? What's the matter boy, you hungry? If you promise not to break into any more houses, I'll make you a sandwich," he said, a smile crawling up his face.

The boy just stood there, he didn't move, he didn't smile, he didn't talk, and he didn't blink.

"Hello, can you hear me?" He asked looking at the boy. He held his hands high as he moved closer, "I'm not going to hurt you." He moved to the light switch, he placed his finger over the switch turning it on.

A knife engraved itself in the back of his hand, pinning his hand to the wall. The light from the globe showed three more figures behind the small boy, one of them had a huge axe in hand.

"Mom!" He screamed as a throwing axe went into his mouth.

They turned to look at Jase who had his hand outstretched. Jim and his wife woke up from their slumber. They had heard the screams of their son. Jim had a metal baseball bat in hand, his wife followed behind him empty-handed.

They turned on the light by the stairwell, Jim's wife started crying as she saw his son hanging from a rope on the stairwell with his back towards them. Jim dropped the bat and ran down the stairs. He tried lifting his son to stop the rope from strangling him.

His wife was right behind him when he turned his son's body around. He saw stab wounds all over the boy's torso, his ribcage was appearing from the cut wounds. Blood covered his mouth as a knife had engraved itself in his eye.

"He didn't kill himself, he was killed," Jim said turning to his wife.

His wife's mouth opened involuntary as blood dropped from her mouth. A machete escaped through her abdomen, then it retracted as she fell to the ground. There stood Phil and his wife.

An axe entered his stomach, Jim went down on his knees. Beatrice removed the axe as Jim looked at her. She placed her hand into the wound, taking out his intestines and holding them up.

"Be a good boy and eat," she said as he shoved them into his mouth.

Jim was still alive, he could see both Ash and Jase watching. He could see Phil standing there with the machete covered in his wife's blood. He could see Beatrice feeding him his own intestines.

He watched in horror as the machete descended on his forehead.