Chapter Twenty
Mac
“Son of a bitch.”
“Oh my God!” Cori goes over to the table where her laptop is sitting and starts typing furiously. “Mac, the serial killer, he killed eight women.”
“Yeah.”
Roxie and Tray come over to look at what she’s pulling up right as Theo enters the room. She pulls up the article showing the names of all his victims.
“The Satanist cult that was here in the seventies, they killed three women on the island.”
She pulls up the police reports.
“The couple…the woman was drowned here. Mac…she’s number twelve. He’s still looking for number thirteen.”
Holy fucking shit!
“Has anyone seen Ripley today?”
Roxie asks, but everyone in the room seems to have the unsettling feeling that comes right before you're told bad news, as we all shake our heads no. She’s usually already in the kitchen by this time.
“Theo, come with me to check on Ripley and Drake, and I’ll fill you in on some things we might have figured out.”
I pull Cori up from the chair she’s sitting in and drop a kiss on her mouth in front of everyone.
I want them all to know how things are. I want her to know how things are between the two of us.
When I finally pull away, it’s to find everyone in the room smiling and Cori’s eyes glazed over with the corners of her mouth tilted in a secret little smile.
I walk away from her and try to pull my focus back where it is needed.
I need to find a way off this damned island.
I need to keep my girl safe and keep her by my side, and I can’t do that if I don’t stay focused.
When we knock, the door swings open just a bit, and I brace myself for what me and Theo are about to find. I can almost bet it’s not going to be good. We call out for them but get no answer.
Just as I thought, it isn’t good when we go in.
The place is a mess, some of the furniture is overturned, and it looks like there was a scuffle before we came.
There’s no sign of Ripley or Drake, but Theo finds a pool of blood near the bed with what looks like blood on the wall beside the pool. Someone was hurt here.
I jump on the walkie, “Drake and Ripley aren’t here, but it looks like something bad happened. It looks like there was a fight. A bad one.”
“Meet us outside the house.” The voice I hear shocks me. It’s Cori on the walkie, not Roxie. “I think I know where they are.”
We rush to meet the two girls, but all four of us come up short when a white mist begins to form in front of us.
“What the fuck is going on, man?!” Theo looks like he is seeing exactly what we all are seeing…a ghost.
“Exactly what you think is going on, buddy?”
“Take the book. He’s used it…”
The voice is so faint and drifts off at the end, but when I look over at Cori, it seems like she can still hear whatever is in front of us.
“He used the book to make sure his soul was trapped here so he could still collect his thirteen wives.” She runs back in and grabs the leather-bound book. “I knew it felt awful when I held it. I just didn’t realize how awful.”
“Who…who was that?” Theo asks everyone, but we all know who is going to answer.
“I think…I think it’s Christina Thompson.”
“Wait…you mean the girl whose boyfriend drowned her near the dock?”
Cori nods for him.
“And you can…you can see her?”
She looks at me and Roxie before slowly nodding her head.
“What are we waiting on? Let’s go save the day.” And that is why I chose Theo, because when it comes right down to it, he is one more chill person.
We slowly make our way to the middle of the island and try to be as silent as we possibly can. It’s easy to do when overhead thunder starts to rumble. Lightning forks across the darkening sky as the clouds block out the sun.
When we make it to the waterfall, we see Drake standing over Ripley, who has blood caked on one side of her head.
“What’s he doing?” Theo asks the question we’re all wondering.
“I think…I think Drake’s been…possessed. I think that’s what happened to Christina’s boyfriend. Jebidiah Anders…took control of him somehow and made him kill her. I think he’s going to do the same thing to Drake and Ripley.
Drake drags Ripley into the water about knee-deep and starts muttering something that reminds me of Latin.
Right beside me, Cori speaks up, “I think he’s speaking Latin.”
And then right before our eyes, he starts choking her and trying to hold her under the water.
“No!” I shout it, but it is echoed by the three others standing beside me. So much for the element of surprise. “Drake! Stop! Stop hurting her! This isn’t you!”
I doubt he’s going to listen to reason, but it’s worth a try.
When he turns to look back at us, his face breaks into a smile that chills my blood.
It’s something I will see in nightmares for a long time to come.
His eyes seem hollow and dark as he pushes Ripley’s head under the water, and we all watch as she fights for her life.
“We have to do something!” When I look beside me, I realize Cori is gone. My eyes snap around and find her creeping in the water, getting closer and closer to Drake/Jebidiah. Roxie spots her too.
“I think she’s already doing it.” She whispers beside me.
“Fuck.”
I watch as she stands right behind Drake as he’s drowning Ripley, and my heart feels like it’s suddenly outside my body, walking around with the woman who is way too close to danger for my liking.
And all I can do is watch.