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raspberrysmoon · 27 days ago

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God as my witness - Out of the Depths of Hell - chapter one

content and trigger warnings- blood/gore, death, involuntary manslaughter, first degree murder, swearing (of course)

The plan would be simple. They get in, he.. pisses himself, supposably, and they get out. And he leaves them alone until graduation. That was the plan. that would stay the plan.

Grace grins at them as she explains herself. She points around the whiteboard in her room as she talks, carefully detailing exactly how the night would go.

- She unlocks the Waylon Hall. Her dad is the realtor, he has the keys.

- They get inside. Richie will set up two stationary camera angles, one facing the door, one facing where Ruth will be as the skeleton, if that has to happen. Richie will film the entire process.

- Ruth and Pete will change into their respective costumes. Grace and Steph will find where they need to sit to be hidden from Max the whole time.

- Richie finds the angle he needs to film Max as he moves through the room.

- Max arrives. Richie films.

- They let Max call for Steph. He calls for almost thirty seconds before Pete jumps out to scare him.

- He gets scared. If he doesn’t, send Ruth.

- Prosper.

Steph doesn’t think it’ll work, if she’s honest. There are too many variables, not enough for-sures. She texts Max anyway, and shows up at The Waylon Place exactly when she’s supposed to.

Grace unlocks the Waylon Hall. If everything goes to plan, her dad will never even notice they had stepped foot on the property.

It’s dark- Steph figured that much- and it’s wet. It hadn’t rained in days. She can’t pin point if it smells like mold or not. She figures it must, if she can’t tell. Pete winces as the floorboards creak. She finds herself having to stop herself from reaching for him, for Ruth and richie. grace seems to know exactly where to step to be quiet. she points at a weak board and tells them quietly to avoid it.

They get inside. Richie will set up two stationary camera angles, one facing the door, one facing where Ruth will be as the skeleton, if that has to happen. Richie will film the entire process.

Steph doesn’t know where Grace got the cameras she hands Richie. She figures she probably doesn’t want to ask. They seem to be good quality- they look similar to the ones her dad uses for interviews sometimes. They’re good cameras, and based on Richie’s squeal, he’s never held something so expensive. He's gentle with them as he and Ruth set up the tripods in dark corners. There are plenty of dark corners in the waylon hall. Both Ruth and Richies disappear as they work.

Richie turns on the third camera with a grin.

Ruth and Pete will change into their respective costumes. Grace and Steph will find where they need to sit to be hidden from Max the whole time.

Ruth is a skeleton- a shitty costume from spirit halloween that grace had bought that morning. Her mask fogs up and gets wet in nearly thirty seconds. Steph watches her quietly, carefully ignoring Pete stripping on the other side of the room. She doesn’t need to look at him. That'll make it all worse.

He’s a ghost. The costume is a combination of three or four different ones that were probably out of Grace’s basement. Stephs pretty sure she doesn’t want to ask about them. They don’t seem clean. Pete's hands shake, and they make eye contact. Richie is saying something, waving his hands wildly. Pete flushes, and snaps at his friend quietly. Richie's arms drop, seemingly defeated. Grace grabs her arm with a grin, pointing to their hiding spot. Steph nods, and Grace dashes back off.

Richie finds the angle he needs to film Max as he moves through the room.

Steph’s pretty sure Richies had the angle since they got there. He practices his movement, mapping out exactly where Pete will be, where Max should be, when, why- all to himself, just too quiet to understand. Pete watches him, fiddling with the strings on his costume. Ruth has herself shoved in a corner with her bag, headphones on high. Steph has to wonder if this will give any of them a heart attack. Then, she wonders if she cares.

She does.

Max arrives. Richie films.

Max gets to The Waylon Hall early. Pete is barely out of sight when he bursts through the door, calling for Steph. repeatedly. She wonders if there's anything in this place that him yelling could wake up. Anger. She figures it doesn’t matter.

Pete steps out. Max, to his credit, doesn’t freak. She remembers, once, that Max was scared of stuff like this. like, terrified. ..They were seven. It's fine. It'll be fine.

*********

Max yelps, and backs away, talking loudly. He says something to himself, stomps a beer can, and charges. Pete yelps, shutting his jaw and all but jumping off the stair he’s on into a small hole, knocking into a camera, much to Richie’s audible displeasure. Max grins, flexing as he crows about his supposed victory. He didn’t seem to notice richies groan or the camera falling. Steph bites her lip, glancing at Grace, who seems displeased.

Steph decides this is where the plan is beginning to go off the rails.

Ruth is sent out, visibly trembling, and despite Max’s initial, incredible strong fear, he doesn’t see to have any qualms with charging her, too. He shouts something about his dad and.. cucking, and grabs Ruth's shitty costume shirt. Grace grins suddenly, pulling her phone out to personally film the encounter.

Max doesn’t get to do much more than spit in the skele’ens face before Steph decides she needs to do something. Anything. She tears herself away from Grace, and calls to Max.

His first reaction, weirdly, is to throw Ruth to the side and grab Steph, wrapping his arm around her almost protectively. It reminds her for a second of how he used to. Before he was Max Jagerman. He's shaking.

“We gotta get outta here, Annie, it’s not safe. This place is hella haunted.”

Steph groans. “Its not real, stupid! That's not a ghost, it’s-” Pete steps out, and she almost falters. He looks different, with his glasses off. “It’s Peter Spankoffski.”

Max blinks down at her, then at Pete, then at Ruth, who’s maskless and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Richie, who doesn’t seem to be filming anymore. Grace is standing a few feet away, fuming. Max perks up.

“Wait.. you nerds did this for me?” He sounds like his dad. Collectively, they nod slowly. Max grins. “Man, really? ..Huh. Maybe y’aren’t so nerdy.” Pete scratches at his neck. Max’s attention snaps to the movement, pointing at Pete excitedly. “The ghost! oh, you came out, dude, and my heart was like, pounding!” He smacks his chest for emphasis. Pete flinches, but manages a smile. Max’s grin grows. Steph wonders if his tail would be wagging, if he had one. He looks almost dopey.

Max whips around, grinning now at Ruth, who shuffles behind Richie anxiously. Max points at her, climbing up onto the stairs for emphasis as he speaks, “Dude, the skele’un?” Ruth winces, eyes wide and trained not on Max’s face, but his fists. “That? was really special. bravo, Fleming.” He bows, seemingly only half serious, leaning just so on the board of the stair he stands on.

And he falls. Richies camera hits the floor with a slightly metallic thunk as the stair boards snap and Max screams as he drops into what must be total darkness. He screams like he used to, when Steph and Kyle would team up on him in sports before he was twice their size. Like he used to, when Alice Woodward would tell them scary stories. Like he used to, when they were young.

And then, the screaming stops. And theres nothing. If steph didn’t know any better, she would’ve jumped down the hole after him. She wouldn’t have bothered with the stairs that Richie pulls her down.

***

Max is.. not good, when they manage to get light in the basement. Grace warned them not to go down here that morning. Steph agrees. Richies phone flash is the first to illuminate Max. Or, what was Max.

There's a board snapped in half sticking out of his abdomen. It's the first, and for a second only thing she can see. The board, covered in blood and guts and dust and dirt and Max can’t recover from that, can he?

A stabbing is bad. her dad taught her that, when she was younger. Max stares at her, alarmed. Nobody’s moving. Stabbing is bad, but manageable. Impalement is bad, and not manageable. Impalement is rarely survivable, depending on the object. She watches her step as she moves towards him.

He doesn’t react to her voice, or her touch. He doesn’t react to Grace, or Pete or Ruth. Even Richie gets close, nothing. Steph has to wonder if he’s already dead, from shock or blood loss or something thats wrong with him. He's breathing, his heart is beating, but he doesn’t look alive.

He blinks. Grace huffs. “Steph.”

“Max,” she murmurs. “You’re okay, Max.”

“I'm.. gonna die, Steph.”

Steph flinches, forcing his gaze away from his injury. “You’re okay,” she repeats. “We’re going to get help. Pete's going to call an ambulance.” She says it more to point Pete where he should go. The shape of the boy doesn’t move in the corner of her eye. Max’s chest slows.

“Don’t,” he murmurs. “Don’t bother. ‘sa lotta money.”

She rolls her eyes. “I don't care how much money it costs, Max. We’re going to get you help.”

He doesn’t respond for a moment. Then, “‘kay. ‘m sorry.”

Keeping one hand on his cheek, Steph combs her hand through his hair. The gel in it is starting to lose its hold, and she breaks up any remaining chunks keeping his curls back. If he’s going to die, she’ll see him as Max first. “You’re gonna be okay,” she promises quietly. “We’re gonna keep you safe.”

Max closes his eyes for a moment. Had he not been wheezing, it would’ve made her panic.

Then, his eyes snap open, staring directly at Ruth across the room. She yelps quietly, moving to hide behind Richie, who hides behind Pete. Pete doesn’t move, eyes trained on Max's stomach.

“You.” Max's voice is loud and guttural, his eyes are bright. “You fucking nerds did this to me. You stupid, nerdy prudes.”

Steph blinks, pulling back in shock before she can even decide to. Max keeps speaking. “I’m going to die, and it’s your fault. Your fault, for bringing me here,” He seems to be using the last of his life to be mean. Violent. “Your fault, for trying to scare me. Your fault for killing me. It is your. Fault.”

He doesn’t say anything else. there's a small amount of blood on his lips, from his.. innards or from biting his cheek while he fell, she’s not sure. His letterman is soaked and torn, his shirt is nearly gone around the board in his chest. There's a tear running down his cheek, tinted pink. Stephs eyes can’t stay on his face very long.

She looks back down at his chest, gone still. He’s not breathing. Stephs not sure whether she should cry or scream or run. She doesn’t know what to do at all. She checks his pulse with a shaky hand, and finds nothing. She's not surprised.

Pete wraps a hand around hers, tugging her away from Max, away from Max’s body. From the body. She’s pulled far enough away that she can’t see him anymore. She stays to the side while Grace pulls bleach, an ax and tarp from a small hole in the floor.

She’s handed the ax, Grace smiles at her gently, and she’s directed to the body. There are already… pieces, spread out across the floor. The body’s head is gone, its arms are too. There's one leg left. Grace points her to it, and demonstrates how to bring the ax down hard enough to get the leg away.

She obeys. Grace's hands are on her shoulders as she brings the blade down, and finishes the job. She doesn’t know who did the head. She doesn’t want to.

She doesn’t want to know she even did this. She helps put the body in the hole, and ignores whatever Grace is saying. They’re all shaking. Grace seems to be ignoring the tears streaming down her cheeks on purpose.

They disperse quickly and quietly. Pete promises they’ll meet in the library in the morning.

Sleep doesn't come easy once she gets home. She debates calling Jason, or Stacy, but she decides that even speaking to them after what she’s just done.. she doesn’t think she could. She doesn’t call either of them. She wonders how devastated the four of them will be when they find out Max is.. gone.

She cries herself to sleep, if she sleeps at all.

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