Dannie didn't know what she was doing anymore. Only half an hour ago, she'd been sitting on the couch in her basement, watching Halloween with her best friends. Now they were walking through the foggy Nashville afternoon to her neighbor's house to play a game. Dannie's neighbor, Robert, had shown up at her doorstep unexpectedly - Dannie hadn't seen him in years, and the neighborhood rumor was that he'd been thrown in jail for murder. Dannie's parents were out at work, and Dannie had invited her three closest friends - Lauren, Ryan, and Kevin. Robert had shown up with that handsome smile on his face, saying he and his niece wanted to play a game, but there needed to be seven players. They only needed four more. "Can't we go home? My boots are getting wet." Dannie whined, trying to hide her fear. She didn't trust Robert, but her friends were bored and wanted to play, and Dannie didn't want to be left out, so why not go? "Those boots are old anyways." Lauren said, waving her hand dismissively. She was walking alongside Dannie, the odd one of the group. If anything, Lauren was the baby of the group, at only fifteen years old. Dannie was eighteen, and Kevin and Ryan were seventeen, but they all loved each other greatly, having known each other for two years.
"It's okay, we're playing indoors, so your boots won't get wet anymore." Robert explained. He was walking ahead of the group, his hands in his pockets and a cocky slouch to his walk. He led the way down the nonexistent sidewalk, through the thick fog that Dannie could hardly see through. She shivered and wrapped her arms tightly around her, growing cold. "How far is your house?" Ryan asked, already tired of walking. "Not too far ahead." Robert answered. Dannie looked down at her shoes, at the wet soil beneath them, still wishing she was home instead of out here. All the houses in the outer rings of Nashville were far from each other. Each house was almost two miles away from one another, for privacy.
Finally, they neared the huge two story home that looked almost identical to Dannie's, aside from the paint coloring. Very faintly, Dannie could hear a buzzing noise, like some giant insect. "What's that noise?" Kevin asked, cocking his head to the side slgihtly, as if to hear it better. "My electric fence. To keep the deer out of my yard, I had my fence electrified. Don't touch it, or you'll fry your brains." Robert laughed, though something about his tone told Dannie he wasn't joking. Robert led the way through the fence and up the cobblestone path to the front door, stepping aside to let them in. "So the point of the game is simple. I say my creepy little rhyme, and if you're close enough to hear, you have to get up and yell 'Hello Robert'!" Robert smiled.
"Where's your niece?" Lauren asked, squinting her dark eyes suspiciously. She was always suspicious. Too many horror films and Sherlock Holmes books did that to her. "She's already hiding. I told her to go ahead before us." Robert said simply, giving Lauren his dashing smile. Dannie almost melted at the sight of it. "Sounds easy enough. Should we go hide now?" Ryan asked. "Yes. Hide anywhere - inside and outside, it doesn't matter. But if you're outside, be careful of the fence." Robert advised. Dannie took a look around, noting that the house's layout was exactly like hers. "Alright, I'm going to go count to ten. You all hide." Robert said quietly, stalking off into the kitchen and shutting the door behind him. In a very loud voice, he began to count by Mississippis.
Almost immediately, Ryan took off into the front yard before Dannie could even ask to hide with him. She turned around, only to see Kevin tugging at Lauren's hand and grinning, trying to pull her up the stairs to where the bedrooms were. Lauren was shaking her head and biting her lip, trying not to laugh. Finally, she tugged her hand loose of Kevin's grip and went off into the living room to hide. Giving one last glance to Dannie, Kevin shrugged and trudged up the steps. Very faintly, Dannie could hear Robert whispering the last three numbers.
Panick surging through her, Dannie jumped outside and down the steps, almost caught off guard by how thick the fog had gotten. She couldn't see her hand in front of her face. "Ready or not, here I come!" Robert yelled. Jumping in surprise, Dannie ducked down into the bushes by the house, crouching low right beside the steps. "Children children, all around. Run before you can be found. For I am on the loose to day, run before it's you I slay..." Robert laughed, stepping onto the front steps of his house. That must be his creepy rhyme, Dannie thought. She looked up at Robert's towering figure and clamped her hands over her mouth to keep from screaming.
She could faintly see Robert standing there, but she could see the glint of something large and silver in Robert's hand - a knife. What the hell was he doing with a knife?! What kind of sick joke was this?! "Hello Robert!" Someone yelled, someone happy and innocent, unsuspecting. "Ryan." Dannie whispered. Robert froze, turning to face Dannie, but after Ryan called out one more time, Robert shrugged and went off to find him. Adrenaline pumping in her veins, Dannie stood and ran into the house, wondering what to do. She had to get the others out as soon as she could.
"Lauren!" Dannie yelled, running into the living room. Lauren was the baby of the group - Kevin would kill Dannie if she didn't save Lauren first. But wherever she was hiding, Lauren didn't answer. "Lauren, I'm not kidding, come out! Robert's insane, he's going to kill us!" Dannie screamed, looking around the living room, under couches and tables. "Danielle?" Robert called in a singsong voice. Dannie whirled around and ran up the stairs merely by reflex, heading straight for the bathroom and shutting the door almost all the way. She peeked through the crack between the door and the wall, watching as Robert came into the foyer. His shirt and pants were splattered with a red liquid, and his knife was dripping red. Ryan's blood. Dannie's eyes watered as she watched Robert go into the living room, already repeating his creepy rhyme.
Lauren, being the smart girl she was, didn't say a thing. A subtle click to the left of the hallway caught Dannie's attention, and she turned to see Kevin standing in the doorway of one of the bedrooms, a confused look on his face. Dannie motioned for him to get back in the bedroom, but Kevin ignored her and walked to the stairs as quietly as he could. Suddenly, there was a scream from the living room, which was quickly cut off. The death of Lauren. Robert soon emerged from the living room, wiping the knife on his shirt, leaving red streaks all over the white cloth.
He froze when he saw Kevin standing at the top of the staircase, and he smiled a bit. Fueled by a blind, angry rage, Kevin ran down the staircase, headed straight for Robert. Quick as a snake, Robert quickly grabbed Kevin's shoulder and turned him, slamming his back into the wall. Kevin's eyes widened with fear as he gasped for air, coughing and sputtering. Robert, still holding Kevin's shoulder, dropped the knife and grabbed a handful of Kevin's brown hair with his free hand, grinning one last time at him. Kevin opened his mouth to say something, but Robert was already pulling him close, as if to kiss him. Before they could get too close, Robert slammed Kevin's head against the corner of the wall, the noise making a sickening thud as Kevin's skull cracked. Blood splattered the wall and leaked from Kevin's skull, staining his shirt and the floor.
Yelping in surprise, Dannie's instincts of survival kicked in. She went to the shower and grabbed a shampoo bottle, opening the bathroom door just a little bit. Robert was still holding Kevin's dead body, turning it like a trophy. Disgust going through her veins, Dannie threw the shampoo into the bedroom, retreating into the bathroom as she heard the thud of the shampoo hitting something. Robert dropped Kevin's limp and lifeless body, trudging up the stairs and into the bedroom. As soon as he was in the bedroom, Dannie ran down the stairs and out the door, not pausing to look at Kevin's body or search for Lauren's. As soon as she was out of the house and a few feet away from the front door, Dannie froze.
The fog was as thick as before, and Dannie couldnt see a thing. She didn't want to run into the electric fence, either. Inching away from the house as best as she could, Dannie tried to get her breathing under control as she thought of what to do. First, get out and away from the fence. Second, run to the nearest house - run in one direction and keep going til a house is found. Use the house's phone to call the police. It was a good plan. Dannie kept moving, before she finally slowed down and tried to see through the fog where the exit might be. Suddenly, something grabbed her ankle, and Dannie screamed and jerked back. Ryan's body, bloody and dirty, was laying on the floor. He was laying on his back, and he was barely alive. He'd grabbed her ankle. "Ry..." Dannie said, turning to look at him. He couldn't speak. His chest rose and fell with labored breaths, and then he went still. Dannie's eyes watered.
Appearing through the fog, a hand grabbed Dannie's arm, and another hand clasped around her mouth to keep her from screeming. "Hello, Danielle." Robert grinned at her, that grin that Dannie had once thought was so handsome and charming. Dannie screamed, but her scream was muffled. "You know," Robert said, walking Dannie backwards. Unable to fight, Dannie walked backwards, tears spilling from her eyes, not knowing where Robert led her. "The fence was still open. If you had just kept going, you would've gotten out." Robert grinned. With one last laugh, he grabbed Dannie's curly hair and shoved her into the electric fence.
