Help From My Friends

Part 2

Kevin's fingers were curled around the steering wheel and his knuckles were turning white. His stomach was twisting itself into a knot. He checked out every car he passed to make sure that it wasn't a cop.

"What if I get caught?" he asked.

"Don't worry about that now," Alyssa told him.

"Just focus on this first," Ethan said. "Focus on how the murders make you feel. Remember: show, don't tell."

Kevin pulled into the driveway of his parent's house. His childhood had been spent being raised by a nanny in the empty home. Overtime was more important than family dinners.

He got out of the car and closed the door. He walked up the steps toward the front door, but he saw Alyssa and Ethan standing in front of the garage. Alyssa waved him over.

"Go through the garage," she said. "You're going to need a weapon."

Kevin nodded his head and ran down the porch's steps. He ran around to the side of the house. He searched for the key among the numerous on the ring. After a couple of failed attempts, he found the correct one.

"Look!" Alyssa shouted. Kevin turned his head to see her standing in front of his father, Joe's, work bench. "There's a whole collection of things here to use."

Kevin walked toward the bench. Alyssa grazed her fingers along the collection of clutter on the counter.

"You never gave me anything interesting," she said. "Only a knife."

"It fit with your character," Kevin said.

"Creative weapons keep the audience intrigued," she said. "They have no idea what kind of damage it can do to the body."

"What about this?" Ethan asked.

He held up a hacksaw. The edge of the blade was lined with rust. Alyssa shook her head and ripped the saw out of his hands.

"Way too dull," she said. "He's going to be hacking away at them forever. They'll be screaming and they'll get away for sure."

"Why don't I use a gun?" Kevin asked.

Alyssa rolled her eyes. "This is why you need our help."

"Who uses a gun?" Ethan asked. "That's so anticlimactic."

"This is what you need," she said.

Alyssa walked over to the wall. A collection of hooks held up an assortment of tools. She disappeared behind Joe's truck. When Kevin saw her again, she was pulling a sheath off of an axe.

"It's perfect," she said. "It's more creative than a knife, but still simple."

She handed it over to Kevin.and he felt the heavy weight in his hands. Alyssa nodded her head before entering the house.

Kevin crept up the stairs and into his parents' room. He spun the axe around in his grip. Joe's snores ripped through the silence. His stomach tightened as he watched the lump under the covers move. How would you explain standing in somebody's room with an axe in your hands?

Alyssa charged into the room and pushed past Kevin. She leaned down so that she could take a closer look at Joe's face.

"Out like a light," she told him. "Which one are you killing first?"

"I say your mother," Ethan said.

Kevin looked to see Ethan leaning against the dresser with his hands in his pockets.

"Why?" Kevin whispered.

"Nothing is going to wake up that whale." Ethan lifted his chin to gesture toward Joe. His lips curled into a smile. "You could whack your mother without him noticing."