Chapter Fourteen: The Psycho Unmasked

(Violence)

***

When they got to the end of the tunnel, Mateo was relieved.

"Oh thank fuck," he muttered as he saw a door, running up to it as Mike was right behind him. He could see Jordan behind it, could run up to her and hold her and never let her go, to know she was alive and okay. To see if anyone else aside from Josh and Jess was alive and they could all get out of here if she, Emily and Matt had managed to get help, to then plan their wedding together and see that day come.

But instead of the door opening, it remained closed, not even budging at all.

"What? What the fuck?" Mateo breathed, before he realised it was locked and he groaned, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "No chingues."

"What is it?" Mike asked, coming up behind him.

"Door's locked," Mateo answered, before adding sharply, "And you're not shooting the lock like last time, Mike!"

"I wasn't going to shoot it," Mike denied, but the guilty look on his face told Mateo otherwise.

"Uh-huh," Mateo said skeptically, before he looked at the door again. "What the fuck do we do now?"

Mike, peering over Mateo's shoulder, saw something. "Look. Over there."

Mateo turned and saw light coming into the tunnel through a grate. Looking at Mike, they moved to the grate where someone was bound to walk past—hopefully one of their friends. Mateo stared at the grate, not knowing how long he and Mike waited for someone to pass by, until he heard footsteps and saw the beam of a flashlight and a bare pair of legs walking by.

Before Mateo could question why the hell that person apparently didn't have any pants on, Mike lunged forward and grabbed one of the legs, eliciting a startled gasp that was instantly familiar.

"Sam?!" Mateo breathed, staring at the blonde wearing nothing but a towel as she bent down, fear replaced by irritation as she demanded, "Mike! What are you and Mateo doing down there?! There's a g—"

The irritation bled out, replaced by relief as she said, "Oh Mike, Mateo, thank God you guys found me."

"Feeling's mutual," Mateo replied, grinning in relief that Sam was okay.

Apparently Mike was the same as he assured, "It's okay. You're okay."

"Where... where's Jessica? And Jordon? They're not with you?" Sam asked.

"Wait, Jordon's not with you?" Mateo asked. At the shake of Sam's head, Mateo's heart skipped a beat. That meant she, Emily and Matt were still looking for help, or...

No, she's okay. She's alive. She has to be. I can't lose her, I can't.

I can't.

As Mateo grappled with how his fiancé's fate was nebulous, he remembered what Mike told him about Jess, as grief wracked his best friend's face before he revealed, "Jessica's dead."

"What?!" Sam hissed, shocked.

"He killed her, Sam. There's some maniac on the mountain who is trying to kill us. All of us. And I swear to God, when everyone is safe and accounted for, I am gonna hunt that fucker down and rip his nuts off one at a goddamned time," Mike swore, vengeance in his face, warring with his grief.

"Whoa," Sam breathed, before she revealed, "Listen, this guy who you're talking about... he attacked me. He showed me these videos, too, and one of them showed Josh being killed... just... ripped apart by this huge fucking saw blade."

"Jesus Christ!" Mike breathed.

"Holy fuck. Chris, he said... oh fuck," Mateo whispered, stunned with horror.

"You knew?" Mike whispered, sounding betrayed..

"About Josh, yeah. It... it's the reason I came to find you. Chris and Ashley—he said he had to make a choice between saving Ashley and Josh, and he saved Ashley. He told me, Jordan, Matt and Em, before they went to get help and I went to find you, Mike, and... and Jess. I wanted to tell you but you just said Jess died, and I... I didn't want to make it worse by telling you about Josh," Mateo explained before he looked at Sam. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Sam answered, before she continued, "The psycho... I think he's living down here, and whoever the hell he is, he's obsessed with Hannah and Beth!"

"Joder, Dios mío," Mateo breathed, shocked and sickened that the maniac who murdered Josh and Jess was obsessed over Hannah and Beth.

"God damn. What the fuck is going on around here?" Mike whispered.

As his mind fixated on the obsession, Mateo's eyes widened with horror. "Holy shit. Sam, do you... do you think this psycho murdered Hannah and Beth?"

"I don't know. Maybe?" Sam said.

Mateo looked down. 'I knew it. I knew they'd been murdered. Just... oh God."

Mateo turned, holding his head. He'd been right. He'd been so right. He just wished he wasn't, that Hannah and Beth were just missing and could be found alive. But that wasn't the case. After all, so many missing persons ended up dead if they were missing for longer than twenty-four hours. 

He'd just hoped, even as he knew they could have been murdered, that it wouldn't be the case for Hannah and Beth.

And yet, he was right.

Lowering his hands, Mateo turned as Mike gestured to the door they'd tried to get through earlier, saying, "There's a door here. It won't open. Can you unlock it from your side?"

In response, Sam stood up and moved away, Mateo hearing a squeak of a door opening. He and Mike went back to the door, waiting there before it opened and Sam stepped through in all her towelled glory—how was that towel even staying on her?—a flashlight in her hand and her backpack on her shoulders.

"Hey," Mike greeted.

"Jeez. You two look like hell," Sam breathed, staring at Mateo and Mike.

"Nice to see you too," Mike replied.

"Well, we just left the creepiest place on this entire fucking mountain, so..." Mateo said, shrugging. "Oh, and Mike lost two fingers because of a bear trap that I had to amputate."

"I hadn't even noticed the fingers," Sam muttered, eyeing Mike's bandaged hand before she walked away to where some shelves were, setting down her bag and flashlight.

"What are you doing?" Mike asked.

"Well actually a towel didn't turn out to be the best outfit for fighting off killer maniacs, you know?" Sam explained, a snarky tone in her voice.

"It should be. I'm surprised that towel's stayed on your body this long," Mateo said, admiration in his voice.

Sam laughed. "True, but still. Feel a lot better if I don't have this around me any longer..."

Noticing him and Mike still looking at her, the blonde waved her hand as she asked, "Do you two mind? Mateo, Mike?"

At that, Mateo's cheeks flushed and he instantly turned away, Mike saying, "Oh! Uh... right. My bad," before he turned away as well, the both of them giving Sam much-needed privacy.

As they waited, Mateo noticed Mike turning his head. He grabbed Mike's arm and sharply tugged it to have him look forward as Sam changed out of what had to be a miracle towel into some new clothes.

"Okay. Done," she said after a minute. "Let's put this thing to bed."

"Amen to that," Mike agreed as he and Mateo turned, seeing Sam in athletic wear. 

But as they set to leave, that was when the three of them heard muffled sobs and cries.

"What was that?" Sam questioned.

"Is that... crying?" Mike asked.

"Sounds like it," Mateo said, before he frowned. "It sounds familiar, too. And close."

Exchanging a look, the trio walked ahead, leaving the room and seeing a metal door in front of them, where they could still hear the crying. Pressing their bodies against the door, they rammed it and it swung open, letting them in... and revealing a confusing sight.

In the middle of the derelict room, tied to chairs, were Chris and Ashley, Chris holding a gun in his hand. Saw blades whirred above them, but didn't come close enough to touch them, as spotlights shone down on them and video cameras on tripods were placed around the pair. It looked like something out of a horror film set, or a horror prank.

What was going on?

That was when a masked man entered, and Mateo knew this was the psycho.

Greasy black hair hung in oily ropes around his skull-like mask, pink gums over exaggeratedly yellow teeth. He wore coveralls over a shirt that had a bloodstain on his left shoulder and more blood splattered across the coveralls, and thick boots, striding menacingly up to the restrained pair as Ashley  cried out, "No! No no no! Get away!"

Chris shot the psycho point-blank, but instead of killing him like Mateo expected, he remained standing as the gun clicked empty, Chris looking at the gun in confusion.

"Oh Chris," the psycho said as Mateo wondered if he was wearing a bulletproof vest under the shirt and coveralls. "Oh Chris, Chris, Chris, Chris."

"What the fuck?" Chris breathed as the psycho walked around him and Ashley.

"Oh, you've heard of blanks before. I mean, really?" the psycho said, confusing Mateo even more—blanks? If this sadistic puta madre wanted to force Chris to make another sadistic choice, why didn't he put in real bullets?

Something was off about this...

That was when the psycho lifted his mask off his face, revealing his identity.

Mateo stumbled back in shock, as he saw a face he thought belonged to a corpse bisected in a shed, entrails and blood spilling down from his severed torso, a ghost haunting the earth as he grinned.

Josh.

***

>:)

Yep, Mateo and Mike are back with Sam! And yeah, Mateo (wrongly) thought the "psycho" murdered Hannah and Beth

Also, had to give a shout out to that freaking magical towel for staying on Sam all throughout her chase and exploration scenes. Because seriously, how did it stay on?? Like, share your secrets, Sam??? Or that towel is just a freaking magical item or something...

And yes, the psycho has been revealed!! >:)

And we're back with the mines—and see if Jordan is alive or not >:)

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!