Annual Purge || tøp

Chapter 3: The Murdered And The People Left Behind

'Breaking news: On the early morning of October 14th, two bodies that are believed to be one of the thirteen missings were found in a local park, in Columbus, Ohio. They were discovered by a woman named Julia Wright, who was just walking her dog when it barked and dragged her over to a bush.

'"It was so horrifying, I-I couldn't even look, those two bodies were horribly disfigured. Y-You can't even tell if they were human."

'When police arrived on scene, the bodies were believed to be one of a female and one of a male, around thirty to forty years old, but other than that, there's nothing else that we know for now. Both for horribly disfigured, the limbs were severed and the face was burned. There were also visible bullet shots on the chest and stomach of both, making this probably the most gruesome muder in-"'

Brendon stepped back and put his hand to his mouth in denial, his wife turning the TV off as she stared in disbelief. His eyes were wide and he felt sick to the stomach. The vivid description of the victims and the short cuts to the scene of the murder was a tad bit too much, even when it was already censored out. He felt his heart begin to race, as he slumped back onto the couch and covered his eyes.

If two of the thirteen missing in Ohio was found, yet were so gruesomely murdered, what's going to happen next to the rest?

"T-This is insane!" Brendon stammered, standing up and pacing back and forth.

"Babe-"

"Is this what happened to Josh and Tyler?" He stopped and asked Sarah, who said nothing but gave him a sad, fearful look. Then he plopped back down, elbows resting on his knees. "It's like, whoever this is... kidnapped that many people first, and then he starts killing them. But why? Why, though?"

"Maybe the cops would have something to say." Sarah said. "We should check in on Jenna first."

Brendon's eyes lit up. "Tyler's wife?"

"Yeah, Jenna Joseph." Sarah replied.

-

Debby was with Jim at the store, hand gripping tightly onto the leash as she looked back and forth, paranoid. With all the disappearing that's been going on, she couldn't be any more scared that something would happen to Jim or her. And it does not help at all that Josh was gone, too, and it all had been just her and the dog living together in worries and fears. They just weren't a complete family. Not without Josh.

If Josh was here, he would have gone to the store with Debby to pick up the doggo food and toys; he would drove her and made her laugh the whole time; he would have kissed her on the cheeks every so and then; and he would have showed her funny dog videos he found on Instagram.

But he wasn't here. He just... vanished. His phone got sent back to her on one night, all the data was deleted, they were never able to locate him, they were never able to find him. Debby did get an anonymous phone call once though, saying that they saw a man with an alien mask walking down the street in the middle of the night.

She really thought it was him. At least, that time...

She stood there, thinking and picturing his face. Until her phone went off. It was Jenna, calling her. She picked up and listened to Jenna stating that two of the thirteen were found, and both were in conditions so bad that they currently aren't able to identify them. The investigation was on-going, but Jenna said she doubted they would be able to find anything.

At this point, and although they were afraid to hear the news, they can't say that they were too surprised.

Debby looked at Jim, who looked back at her with the biggest, most innocent eyes ever.

"Let's go, Jimmy Boy." She said, to which the doggo began wagging his tail.