Red Herring ✔️

56. Masquerade of Horrors

4 Days to Halloween

It wasn't lost on her that the entire reason Mazie felt any fear at all was entirely Christian's fault. He was the one that roped her into this. In fact, the last time they were in these woods was when that truth came to light. She'd been enraged, and even now, sensed a sort of dissatisfaction in herself. Probably because she was bitterly cold and Christian wasn't the type to hold her hand to keep her warm.

"Wanna get back in the truck? Get horizontal?" Christian wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, unbothered by the cold, nodding towards his truck.

"No," she answered shortly. "I don't like the idea of this. It feels like we're being watched. That doesn't exactly scream 'take my pants off.'"

In his trust bean boots, Christian trudged through the overgrown thickets, crushed damp eaves, and broken dead twigs around the makeshift fire pit surrounded by four ginormous fallen tree trunks sliced into seats. They arrived early to scope out the place. In the light of day, there wasn't much to see - a mere few slabs of rotted pine called a cabin and the fire pit at 500 Hemingway Lane, Hollywood, Oregon.

"There's no one out here. What do you think is going to happen?" He asked.

She shrugged, looping her scarf tighter around her neck. "There's a killer on the loose. What if we're next?"

"You think this crazed killer wants to murder us?" He teased, making her feel silly.

Mazie rolled her eyes and sniffled. "I don't know what I think anymore."

Unknown: Meet us at 500 Hemingway Lane.

M: who is this?

Unknown: Ailene. Bring Christian although I already know you will anyways.

M: Who is "us"?

Ailene: You'll see.

M: When?

A: After school. About 4:30.

That's how they ended up in the woods in the last place Mazie expected to be. Ailene continued to be cryptic with her as if she had the upper hand via worthy information as if they were exchanging secrets during wartime. They were the invaders, crossing enemy lines. Ailene was the spy, either selling intel or setting them up for failure - caught with their hand in the proverbial cookie jar. The ominous rendezvous point didn't feel promising; however, it was the place where Ailene, Demi, and their tribe conducted most of their lurid business, she knew. But it gave them the upper hand of home turf advantage.

All over again, she felt the pressing need to escape. She didn't like that Ailene had some sort of advantage. Or at least, she thought she did. And that gave her power. Like the peeved yet prissy cheerleader who approached Mazie the day prior.

"What do you think would have happened if we never got involved? If you never put that note in my locker?" In the light of day, this place wasn't so scary. Just a forlorn decrepit cabin, and they already knew what was inside. Except, there was the stark reminder that Demi was sexually assaulted in the woods in a place like this. Daylight didn't masquerade the horrors.

Christian's gaze swept overhead at the canopy of bare tree limbs stretched like knobby spider legs, before his attention fell to her. There was an intimate look in his eyes as he considered her. "I wouldn't have made out with you in my kitchen."

She blushed, thinking it felt like a lot more than just kissing. Perhaps it was the growing attraction towards him rather than the physical vulnerability that they shared. "Other than that," Mazie said shyly.

"Or kissed you at the cafe," he added, that cocky bastard.

She harrumphed. "Christian."

Playing along, Christian walked over to her. One of his hands stretched around her and slid into the back pocket of her jeans. She knew that his mind was still in the gutter then. "I think Demi would be a lot worse if not dead. I think Lonny would still be his usual douche bag self with no one to keep him accountable. Demi doesn't know it, but she wouldn't have anyone actually watching out for her and doing anything to figure out what happened to her...who hurt her. There's a chance that no one would have found the connection between Mary Anne and Demi and consequently Meredith McCormick."