Page 106 of PET

“Yes! Thank you!”

Billie leans forward, a confused expression on her face. “But why the hell would she have anything to do with it?”

I shake my head because I honestly have no idea. “I’m hoping we’ll find that answer when we get there. Where the hell are our masks?”

“Back here with me. Dana threw them in before she took off,” Billie says, holding up the Jason and Myers mask so I can see them in the rearview mirror.

“Perfect. We’ll park in the alley behind the house and sneak up to the back basement window. She never locks it because CJ sneaks out that way or some shit.” I look up into Billie’s reflection in the mirror, seeing the raw jealousy looking back at me. “I’m sorry, B, I really am.”

She shakes her head, pushing away the jealous thoughts, too, I assume. “It’s not your fault. They forced you to do it.”

“I need you to stay in the car, Billie,” I tell her, knowing she won’t like it. And when she tries to protest, I cut her off. “Baby, I don’t want to worry about you when we’re scoping out the place. I don’t want her to see you. We’ll have the masks.”

Turning into the familiar alleyway behind their middle-class home in the valley, I pull the car parallel in front of a garage I know never gets used. It’s where I always parked when I came here to pay her a visit. Billie hands us the masks before we pull them on.

“If we’re not back in—” I look at the clock to calculate a proper window, “—in twenty minutes, call Dana.”

“And please, for the love of fuck, baby… stay. In. The. Car,” Zeke scolds her.

“I promise,” she whispers. “Please be safe.”

Zeke’s out of the car before he can reply, but I throw our girl a wink and boop the tip of her nose. “We’re professionals, little hellfire.” It’s a total joke, but the smile on her lips makes me feel better about leaving her.

As we make it around the backside of the fence, I point to where I want Zeke to kneel, and he gives me a nod. We move low and fast, staying in the shadows as much as we can until we’re in the thick bushes lining the outside of the house.

“Over here,” I whisper to Zeke, pointing behind me to the basement access.

Giving me another nod, he scurries in front of the back door and jumps into my bush. “What’s the plan if she’s here?”

“I hadn’t really thought about that,” I tell him honestly.

He rolls his eyes. “It’s a good thing blowing our loads really cleared our heads. Jesus, okay, here’s the plan—”

They cut his plans off when a woman’s muffled screams come from inside the house. I scurry toward the basement access and pull the heavy wooden door open. Zeke runs over and dips inside before I follow him, shutting the door behind us.

When we descend the cement stairs, we’re met by a pitch black room. I don’t remember it being closed off to the rest of the house, but I’d only been down here once when she wanted me to—nope, not going back to that nasty memory.

I take out my phone and hit the button on the side to illuminate the screen, flashing it around the room to see our surroundings.

“Where are—” Zeke asks, silencing himself when the basement lights are turned on.

We stumble backwards into the corner of the little room we’re currently standing in. The walls of it are old boards with vast spaces between them. If the person on the other side of the wall looked hard enough, they’d probably see us.

I tug at the Myers mask so I can see through the holes better as I step up to one of the cracks to peek out. Two figures in black robes descend the basement stairs with a woman flailing in their arms. She’s naked, her wrists bound and tied off to her ankles. I turn my head to get a better view and see that it’s Billie’s fucking mom!

Stepping back, I wave Zeke over so he can see, too. He peers through the boards with me as we take in the fucked up scene in front of us.

“Shut her up!” a woman’s voice booms from the top of the stairs.

The two robed figures place Billie’s mom on an empty table in the center of the room before they tie her arms and legs to each end. She’s thrashing and screaming; so piercing it makes my eardrums ache. Then they tape off her mouth and block her screams.

What in the actual fuck is going on?

After she’s secured to the table, the robed guys move to a fireplace mantel behind them to light one candle after another until about fifty white candles are going. They don’t talk to each other as they go about their tasks, lighting more candles around the room before one pulls out a silver chalice from beneath their robe, setting it on the table beside Mrs. Lucas.

Another pair of feet trudge down the steps, knocking dust onto our heads as they descend into the basement. They’re both dressed in black hooded robes as well, hiding their identity. These two move differently than the first two, almost as if they’re new at this.

One of them stands in the corner beside the fireplace, hiding in the shadows and not moving. The other guy moves to the side of the table and drops to his knees. My gaze seeks the first two figures, finding one standing at the head of the table and the other at the foot.

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