^Pic in the MM is kinda— 🥵

Chapter Thirty Six

||KIT||

†

"So this why I can barely get a text back lately," I tsked at Amy with a grin as we pulled up outside a large club on the outskirts of town.

EDM music was blaring from inside the building and strobe lights lit up the entire parking lot as cars pulled in.

Amy chuckled, searching for a parking spot, "more or less."

Throngs of people headed inside, laughing and chatting amongst themselves but she managed to find parking in just a short while.

After she killed the engine I slid out of the car, looking up at the neon sign that read Afinity as I closed the door behind me.

Amy came to my side and I used two fingers to open the tiny zipper bag at my waist, fishing for lip-gloss as she adjusted her sizeable chest in her tiny dress.

"I have a question for you," she spoke up while I was applying gloss.

"Yeah?" I answered.

"How fucking wasted do you think we can get tonight?"

I gave a knowing grin, putting the lip-gloss away, "let's find out."

The rational voice in my head wondered how we were gonna make it home afterward but I decided not to dwell on it since Amy seemed to know what she was doing.

We paid at the entrance and walked down the short passage to where the music was coming from.

As we entered the doors the first thing that hit me was a heatwave. The DJ booth was lit with LED's and laser lights flashed rapidly; the club appeared to be throbbing to life.

The music was deafening and I was surprised at how packed it already was inside.

It was only around eleven by now.

Amy and I worked our way through the crowd, dancing past the sea of gyrating bodies until we got to the bar.

I wondered how she planned to get us drinks when neither of us had fake IDs but my questions were answered when all she had to do was hold up two fingers and the bartender started pouring vodka shots.

She must be a regular.

She handed me a glass and we both grinned at each other before we downed our first shots.

Amy, like a pro, and myself with a small grimace. I don't drink on the regular but when I do, I make sure to not be shy with it.

As the night progressed Amy and I joined the crowd, dancing and drinking to our heart's content.

The music choices definitely kept the floor moving and eventually my eyes started to feel heavy and I was giggling with each slurred word Amy thought to scream into my ear over the already deafening music.

Throughout the night we were approached by multiple people. Some we danced with, some we blew off to dance with each other and as Amy twirled around the dance floor, swaying her hips and flashing her hair I couldn't help but smile to myself.

Killer High-school Girls sounds like a sick name for a band.

I laughed out loud at the random thought and danced over to the bar, getting us more shots.

Who would have thought we would be here, after everything that happened, partying without a care in the world? Definitely not me, but I was happy with how things turned out.

I wondered what a certain serial killer was up to right now and if he planned on visiting me. It's only been a day but you never know.

Downing the shots were easier now and as the liquid burned its path down my throat I felt someone dancing close behind me. I quickly slipped away from the body and back to the bar.

I was on my ninth shot of vodka when my eyes wandered from over the bar to the dance floor and my heart lurched when I spotted someone familiar.

His brown hair was messy and almost hidden completely under the dark hoodie he wore.

The blue mask he has covering his face seemed to stand out despite the crowd and I grabbed Amy's arm.

"Hey 'sn'hat the guy from th'place?" I slurred.

Amy turned to look in the direction I was gesturing to with the drink in my hand.

"Mm you're right," she agreed, "what's his name again?"

"'dunno, BJ?"

We both laughed at that and I told Amy I would be back before wobbling my way over to him.

He was making his way through the crowd slowly.

It was a whole feat in itself to get over to him and as I got closer I bumped into a sturdy-looking guy in a striped scarf, his brown hair covering much of his face but I could see the stitches that held his face together. He reminded me of someone else but I couldn't put my finger on who.

"S-sorry," I managed to stumble out, slipping by him and almost spilling half the contents of my solo cup.

As I approached the boy I noticed the lights seemed to bounce off his skin in a strange way and black veins were slowly creeping up his shoulders up to his neck.

I reached out and grasped the fabric of his hoodie, tugging on it a bit.

"Hey!"

Slowly he stopped and his masked face turned to me in quick jerking movements that hardly seemed human.

I gulped.

"Hey, yer the guy-" I spoke again and he turned fully now, coming closer to me.

He was tall at about 6'4 and lanky. He bent to look down at me and I slowly pulled my hand away from where I was previously grabbing his hoodie, looking up at him.

"Who are you?" His voice sounded a bit deeper than I remembered and my brows furrowed when I saw black liquid start to ooze from one of the eyeholes of his mask, sliding down the cheek.

"You're leaking-" I was cut off when his hand grasped mine and he was suddenly dragging me through the sea of bodies. I dropped my cup along the way but hardly had time to pick it up as I was being led to the exit.

Cold air greeted me immediately as we left the club through a door with a flashing neon sign marked "Exit" directly parallel to the entrance.

I had expected him to let go then but he continued to lead me away, past the drunks passed out on the concrete and people sitting on benches puffing away on e-cigarettes.

We looped around to the parking lot that was a bit more empty and that's when he decided to back me into a corner, against a cold concrete wall, both hands trapping my body as he peered down at me from behind his mask.

"Speak," He commanded. His voice was even more gravelly now and I noticed more fluid was starting to ooze from the other eyehole of his mask.

"Er, hi?" I answered, unsure of what to say.

He made a guttural sound low in his throat before I watched him raise a hand, grasping a scalpel between his fingers and then brushing his knuckles against my cheek.

He was warmer than I expected.

I winced when the black goop dripped off his mask and onto my cheek, burning the area for a few seconds before it stopped.

"Not exactly what I was looking for but I'm not feeling picky," he mumbled as if to himself and his hand trailed down to my neck then even lower, stopping over my side where he pressed the scalpel.

He brought his masked face closer and I swallowed as I blinked up at him.

"Healthy enough," he mumbled and I felt his weapon dig into my dress, leaving a long tear down the side.

"W-hey that's not m-" I tried to brush his hand away but he used his free hand to keep me in place against the wall and I winced as I felt something sharp begin to pierce my skin.

"Be still or it'll hurt more th-" halfway through his sentence, I saw something come flying at the side of his head, slamming into him and causing his head to twist dramatically to the side.

"Back the fuck away!"

Amy?

My eyes widened and as he turned to face her I saw Amy standing there, clutching her purse-bag that she'd used as a weapon earlier, still in attack stance.

I was about to speak but I realized he was already heading toward her with murderous intent if the way his fists were clenched was anything to go by.

"Wait-" I threw my arms around his lanky frame, holding onto him tightly, "don't TJ!"

He stopped almost instantly, turning his head to the side, "what did you just call me?"

"Um, P..J?" I drawled hopefully.

I slowly let go of him and he turned to face me, letting out what sounded like a laugh.

"It's EJ or Jack. Do I happen to know you?" His voice was starting to sound a bit more normal and Amy slung her purse over her shoulder again, coming to stand next to us.

"Isn't Jack that other guy from the shop?" She asked and EJ tilted his head in her direction.

"You're right. We're both named Jack but they call me EJ and him LJ."

"I was close," I grinned and Amy slid an arm around my waist, holding me against her as she inspected my dress.

"You were the two I saw that day with the proxies?" EJ asked from behind us and I nodded.

"Interesting," he trailed off.

Amy turned to give him an upset look.

He held both hands up before him, "sorry, didn't know it was you two. I would have left her alone otherwise."

"What were you trying to do to her, you pervert?"

"Nothing she couldn't recover from," he turned his head toward the entrance of the club, "guess I'll try again."

"Try what again?"

"Well if it weren't for you two I would've already secured my midnight snack," he answered, pulling out a handkerchief so he could wipe away the black goop dripping down his mask, "and now I'm fucking starving."

Did he mean that he was planning on eating me before?

Unsure of how to respond Amy and I watched as he headed back toward the entrance and she quickly locked her elbow with mine, "that's our cue to head home."

"W-but we were having fun," I whined as she started leading us over to the myriads of parked cars.

"I know but you're drunk as hell and it's not safe here."

Who me, drunk? Pfft-

"C'mon I'm fine! We said we'd get wasted right?"

"Not with that guy around. I don't trust him."

"I'm sure he's not so bad," despite my protests Amy still led us to the car and I got in before her, resting my hot forehead against the cool glass.

If I'm being honest it did feel good to finally rest my legs after dancing around in these platforms all night.

"I heard Liam's having a party to mark the beginning of spring break. If anything it might be more fun than this, we can go tonight," she pulled out of the parking spot and I hummed in response.

"I guess."

"What's that?" she asked after we had pulled out of the parking lot and headed down the street.

"What's what?" I followed her gaze with my hand before pulling down the vanity mirror and looking at my cheek.

It had the black fluid that had dripped onto me earlier off EJ's mask and as I rubbed it away with the back of my hand the area appeared red. I pressed a hand to the area to find it was still numb.

I tried rubbing the redness away but with no luck, "it's that icky stuff that was on his mask."

"Maybe it'll go away eventually?"

"Maybe."

"What do you think it is?"

"I have no idea," I prodded the area a few more times, still unable to feel anything, "maybe a numbing agent?"

Amy scrunched up her face, "he's definitely a weird one."

I smiled at that, "don't you usually like the weirdos?"

"Not ones who try to eat my best friend," Amy chuckled and I nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, you're probably right."

We made it back to Amy's and she helped me up the staircase, both of us giggling along the way, shoes in hand as we stumbled into her bedroom and collapsed onto the bed.

"Ugh it feels like my toes got ran over by a semi-" I groaned as I wriggled my toes, facedown on the bed.

Amy was busy taking her makeup off and after a while, I turned my head to see her staring out her window, "he's back again."

"Hoodie?"

"Yeah."

I slid off the bed and went over to look.

He obviously didn't mind being seen as he was directly out in the open, hooded face turned upwards to the window.

I swallowed.

"This doesn't creep you out?"

"It does make me a little uncomfortable," she admitted and then turned to grin at me, "let's invite him in."

My eyes bugged, "What, why?"

Shrugging she cupped her hands over her mouth, "Hey Brian, why don't you come up?"

His name's Brian?

I looked down to see he was still standing in the same spot, unmoving.

"Do you think he heard you?"

Amy was about to answer when Hoodie finally started moving, thumping his way over to stand directly under the window.

"Is he gonna-"

The words died on my lips when Hoodie started using the rails to climb up, somehow finding handholds to scale the wall. We backed away as he made it up to the window and slid inside, standing to his full height, muscles bulging.

"You sure have a way with guys," I mumbled over to Amy and she grinned, sitting on the bed.

"Let's find out what makes this guy tick."