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It all happened far too fast.I rack my brain trying to figure out who might be waiting in the wings to take me out.Maybe my Halloween display was more foolish than I originally anticipated.Instead of striking fear, it seems to have riled up some enemies.
We set up in Martin’s office, and I dig through his desk drawers.He hasn’t changed this office since his brother’s death, and Stryker kept binoculars to get a good view of the street.
When I find them Mina and I take turns using them to watch as the crime scene is cleared and taped off with yellow caution tape—as ambulances and police fill the night with sirens and lights.A television that Martin set up in the office gives us access to a surprisingly prompt live newscast.But then again, the local media was already on site for the event.The news interrupts what were probably happy and heartwarming Christmas movies.
“Just hours before Santa’s expected arrival in the homes of children all across the city, a brutal massacre has taken place at the downtown Krampus run, with a startling five victims, one beaten to death, two stabbed, and two shot.”the blonde newscaster says.
We already have a scary killer name… or at least one of us does.The words: “Yuletide Slayer at large” scroll and flash across the bottom of the screen.The Mayor arrives at a podium to the click of flashing cameras and says some horrified but somber words which were probably hurriedly scribbled from the back of his limo.
Speculations are made about if the killings were personal or some random psychopath.Questions are taken from the crowd.Citizens are interviewed one by one.
When interviewed by the reporter on camera, one older woman says, “Well, this is what happens when you invite the devil into the Lord’s holiday.I still have Midnight Mass to attend in the middle of all of this.”
She’s clearly not one to let her apparent trauma get in the way of her duties to the Church.
I’m curious if anyone will inform her of the long history of Krampus runs in Europe, many sponsored by the Church.I also wonder how this sanctimonious cow just happened to be here to be interviewed in the first place if she thinks it’s all so evil.The nearest church is two miles away.What would have prompted her to even attend this debauched BDSM-lite social function?I have doubts we’ll be seeing another Krampus run here any time soon, so she needn’t worry herself about future invitations to the devil.
I wander down the hallway to a break room and find some microwave dinners in the freezer.I heat a couple up for me and Mina and take them back to the office along with some canned drinks.
“Hungry?”I ask.
She looks up from the television and nods.
“It’s nothing fancy.”
“Don’t be silly, I love cardboard lasagna,” she says, fighting to keep her face serious.
I just smirk in reply, glad she seems to be back to herself.
I want to lay her out across this desk and fuck her brains out, but I still don’t trust myself.
I peel back the plastic film on my food and sit on the office sofa to eat.“I’m sorry we’ve got to be holed up here for a few hours.”
“It’s fine.”
I can tell she wants to say something else, and I wonder if it’s about what happened tonight at the Krampus run or what happened before all of that in the cafeteria.I don’t know if I’ve ever felt this uncomfortable around her in the entire time I’ve known her.I feel like a teenager on an awkward first date, and it takes everything in me not to say something completely inane.
“I thought it would just be Dante, and we could slip off,” I say, stupidly.
“I know.”She’s still watching the newscast, barely paying attention to her food as she eats.
I didn’t think we’d be jumped or that Benjamin would be so stupid as to disobey my direct order.He’s got to be eliminated.He’s a loose end now, and if he couldn’t keep his mouth shut in such a small matter as our attendance to the event, then he’ll definitely talk to the police.
So far it doesn’t appear the authorities yet know they’ll need to talk to the one person who was responsible for all the Krampus costumes—the one who knew every person who would be at the event tonight.I don’t think they even yet realize that there is a single point of contact for all these costumes...Or in me and Mina’s case, a single point of failure—the one man who stands between us and jail cells.This middle-aged goth punk won’t be the one who separates me from her.I fucking vow it.
The Krampus demons will be the primary suspect list, and I can’t risk that Benjamin might have more details on his than the list the security guard had with only our fake names and costumes.
After she eats, Mina angles the TV toward the couch, turns the volume up, and then comes to snuggle with me.I put an arm around her as she burrows against my chest like a small forest creature.
“I’m going to take a nap.Wake me when it’s time to take care of Benji.”
I smile softly.I didn’t even have to tell her why we were waiting or why we had to come here instead of just going home.That’s my girl.
I continue to watch the footage until it winds down and the cameras shut off.The screen goes back to the Christmas movie as if nothing untoward happened at all.I watch out the window until the flashing lights finally fade away, and the street is dark.I press a kiss to the top of Mina’s forehead and let her sleep for another half hour.She needs the rest.
11
BRIAN
