Paint It All Red (Mindf*ck #5)(28)

They hold her down.

Thirteen to two.

Their fingers dig into her arms to restrain her. All ten fingers. Which is why she cuts them off.

“Someone fucking stop this!” the sheriff barks, running out of one of the cabins. “Call Hank and tell him to pull the plug now!”

“He’s trying!” a deputy shouts back. “The sick fuck is overriding the system.”

The screen cuts away from the horrors, like whoever was filming got too tired to keep on, and the next screen is that of Robert Evans suffering a fate just as sickening.

I turn my head away as the deputies do their worst on the screen.

“Now!” the sheriff shouts. “You have to kill it now!”

He’s on the phone, but I barely notice him, because my attention turns back to the TV when the voice comes on again.

“Hear no evil.”

The black screen is blank, but several screams of agony are coming out loud and clear.

“See no evil.”

The screen lights up with both disturbing movies playing side by side on a split screen.

Then the screen fades to black again, before a cloaked silhouette comes into view. All you can see is the dark hood. The face is nothing more than a shadow as a red-gloved hand comes up. One finger extends, covering the spot where the lips would be if you could see them, making the universal ‘shush’ sign.

“Speak no evil.”

The screen goes blank again, then lights up with images of different people as they watch their TV. Screams and panic erupt. It’s like the jumbo-tron at ballgames flicking to different people, and them noticing it on a delay. Only instead of excitement, there’s pure horror when they see their faces.

It continues throughout the town, as though they have cameras in every family room of every home. People practically leap from their seats when their faces flash across the TV screen.

I remember the day when everyone said their doors were found open, but nothing but some mirrors were taken.

The mirrors are still a mystery, but it’s clear now why those doors were open. Jake planted cameras while families slept in the next room, completely unaware.

The screen continues to cycle from one home to the next, and the sheriff continues to panic more and more.

“Sundown,” the voice says again as the shadowed, hooded figure comes into view once more. “Or the monster comes for you.”

Suddenly, the shadow disappears as the figure jerks toward the screen, revealing the face… Well, the mask.

The mask is a mirror, reflecting nothing in particular, but sending a message all the same. In other words, the person you see in the reflection is the mirror.

“The monster who comes is no worse than the monsters who deserve to die. Pick a side. Pick it now.”

The screen cuts to Belker Street. The sign is in the background, but the focal point is the large amounts of blood on the asphalt. My eyes narrow on what looks like a set of wings imprinted in the blood, where Marcus was, and my mind goes back to the message written about angels on that first day.

“You let them die. Now save yourselves. While you still can.”

The screen goes blank again, and white noise fills the air. A deputy flips several channels, but every one is the exact same.

“Did you hear all that?” I ask Collins, stepping back outside as Leonard and Donny stare at a TV blankly.

“I heard. But you still have to come back. There’s nothing I can do. Just hurry back so we can clear this up, and then hopefully this will all backfire on them in time for you to get back and stop this.”

I look around at all the furious faces, including the sheriff who is having a temper tantrum, kicking feet and swearing, placing blame on blameless men who obviously didn’t help Jake hack into the station.

“Fine. I’m on my way.”

I hang up and walk over to Donny and Leonard. “We have to go if we’re going to get back before sunset.”

“Are they calling anyone in?” Donny asks as he turns to face me.

My eyes flit around. “They won’t ask for help if they’re intent on sending us away. This investigation is about to turn into a shit-storm. Johnson and Cannon are too busy hiding their crimes of the past to protect their future. Let’s go.”

Leonard doesn’t speak, but I know what he’s thinking. I just had to watch my girlfriend getting raped. It’s all I can do not to kill every-fucking-body wearing a deputy badge right now. Not to mention the sheriff.

I’ve never once thought of killing someone as a desire. I’ve never blurred that line.

That’s not the case at the moment.

I hope she fucking kills every last person with a badge who didn’t come to save her when she was left to bleed out.





Chapter 11


They say miracles are past.

—William Shakespeare



LANA



Twenty minutes after the broadcast, people were fleeing town. Just as predicted, Logan and his team are already gone. The video will find them soon—the same video we just shared with the entire fucked up town.

Our original plan was to have Jake handle that little fun part, but it’d be easier to have someone inside the FBI to do it.

“At least they’re fleeing,” Jake says as we watch from the distance, our eyes on the phone screen that has the sheriff all but imploding.