Page 31 of Little Psycho

Eventually ending up in the mask aisle, I pass by scary ones, purge ones, and, of course, Ghostface, not seeing anything that catches my eye.And then I see it.Walking down a little further, I pull a hacker mask off the row, being brought back to the movie V for Vendetta, a grin playing on my red lips.This is it.

I grab a black bandanna, a larger than usual pocket knife with skulls on the handle, and a few pairs of black tights and tops to go with them.I also snatch a LED purge mask off the rack and then head to the register, anxious to check out so I can leave.

“Early Halloween shopping, huh?”The cashier asks as he rings up my items, my head down, my eyes pointed at the floor.

“Yeah,” is all I say, just wanting to hurry up and get out of there.

Luckily, the walk back to Five’s isn’t far from the shop, and I’m walking through his front door in no time.He isn’t here, but he left a note, explaining he had to go to work.

Taking my things to his bedroom, I dump it all onto the bed and begin ripping tags off, already coming up with a plan in my mind.The names on the list burned into my brain begin to taunt me, but I know I have to wait until the heat dies down before I do another kill.

But fuck, my hands are itching to drain the life from the next motherfucker who used and hurt me, so I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to wait.

Tucking the bandanna and masks into my backpack, I keep the wig out, deciding that I’m going to wear it later.

With still no sign or word from Addy, I try to put her out of my mind, taking more medicine than usual to completely numb myself.Horrendous flashbacks attack my mind, threatening to send me into another psychotic break and the fear that my parents are going to find me, worsening my mental state.I begin to panic, fear gripping my throat and making it hard to breathe.

Again, I find myself huddled in the corner of Five’s bedroom, hugging my knees to my chest and rocking back and forth, praying my meds kick in soon.

I just want to feel better.I want to be better.I want to live as normal a life as I can.But I won’t be able to until every last person on that list is fucking dead—including my parents.

TWELVE

GHOSTS

ZZZ—DIGGY GRAVES

DOMINIC

Ican’t explain it—the feeling of being watched.As strange as it sounds, today it felt like Calista was close by, and who knows, maybe she was.But I looked around and didn’t see a single fucking sign of her anywhere.I’m not sure what happened, but when our fathers came to talk to us last night, it was to inform us that the last man to be with Calista was found murdered, and she wasn’t anywhere in sight.Being the cold, heartless bastards they are, they enlisted our help to try and find her, all so they could keep her for their satisfaction, hidden from her parents.

We had to agree to get them off our backs, but we’ll never help them hurt her even more than they already have—not in a million years.

Working in the shop today, I check over the appointment book to see how many tattoos I have booked for today, and luckily, it’s not many.I can’t concentrate when I know that Cali is out in the big bad world all alone, with no fucking clue of the danger that’s lurking around.

My stomach is in fucking knots, but I force myself to breathe through the anxiety twisting in my gut.The bell just above the door chimes, making me look up in time to see Killian strolling in, a joint tucked loosely between his lips.He passes the other artist here for the day, coming straight to my office in the back.

“When are you off?”he asks bluntly, no smile to greet me like usual.

“I have a couple of appointments, but I should be out by five.”I look at him curiously, his eyes bloodshot, flicking back and forth.“Why, what’s up?”

He sighs, lowering his voice as he mutters, “I think I saw Cali at the race the other night.”

“You sure you weren’t drunk or high and just seeing shit?”

“I was fucking sober, Dom,” he spits.“I was racing, remember?”

I shake my head, unwilling to believe him.Because if it really was Calista, wouldn't she have come to talk to us?

* * *

By the timethe end of the day rolls around, the thoughts filling my head about Calista have grown much worse.I leave the shop, locking the door behind me, and begin the five-minute walk back to my apartment.

Walking in the door, an unfamiliar smell rushes right over to me, causing me to pause just behind the door as soon as I lock it.

What the fuck is that?

I question as I sweep the apartment for signs of anything out of place.It’s not until I get to the living room that I notice a small piece of paper on the coffee table, right beside a baggie of coke that we left out.Confused, I grab the note and read it over carefully, trying to make sense of the list of names jotted down.By the time I get to the last one, my hands shake, reading it aloud, noticing the strikethrough through the name...as if it had been crossed off: Mr.Brown.

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