My Cobra Guy

Episode Forty-Three

Regina had laughed her way to the third floor of the five story building. Hawk kept getting startled by every jump scare. This floor was decorated like a torture chamber, combining elements of both the medieval and modern. An actor, a young man with mussy brown hair, screamed on a bloodstained torture rack.

"Someone is going to jump out at us," Hawk said, his thin form crouched in his low combat stance.

"Don't hit the actors," Regina said, grabbing him by the collar. "It's just going to be someone in a cheap costume."

Regina retrieved a dainty bottle of vodka from her purse. She discreetly pressed it into his palm.

"Where'd you get this?" Hawk whispered, then downed half of it.

"Mom."

Hawk coughed and spluttered as soon as someone in black leather appeared with a large rubber ax.

"Oh, look, it's Christian Gray, but minus the sexy," Regina said, waving at the executioner. "Or, maybe not. I can't tell what's under that mask."

The executioner made "Raaaaawwrrr" sounds as he approached her with his ax.

Regina just kept giggling, then pulled Hawk along behind her, through the next door. The room was lit with orangey light. The floor thudded with what sounded like a heartbeat. It contained one of those coffins embedded with lots of spikes, an electric chair, and various corpse-like dummies chained to the walls.

Another dummy popped out of the coffin. Regina giggled at Hawk's "Eee!"

"Halloween is gonna be so much fun," Regina said, pulling him along once again.

But a footstep thudded behind her. Another actor?

She and Hawk turned at the same time, as someone in one of the bargain-bin skeleton costumes climbed out of the coffin.

"Get behind me, Reg," Hawk said.

"We know it was you," said the skeleton in a masculine voice. The hair above the smudged makeup was lustrous and thick.

"Robby Keene?" Regina asked. "With the good hair."

Robby paused and ran his fingers through said good hair. "You don't know what you've done."

"I do. I was there. Is your adopted daddy still pining over Gretchen?" Regina asked.

"Reg, shut up," Hawk said. He grabbed her wrist and jerked her behind him. "Run. I'll deal with him."

"Run where, Scarface?" said another boy in a skeleton costume, blocking their exit. Given the solid build and dark hair, she could guess who this was.

"Kyler? This is stupid. We're in a public park. There are other people here." Regina rolled her eyes and tried to pull Hawk behind her.

Kyler didn't move. "Sensei's friend made sure you were all held up. No one else is being let in because of technical difficulties."

"Like I said, you don't know who you messed with," Robby said.

"Scarface is mine!" Kyler insisted, stomping toward them.

"Are you kidding?" Hawk demanded. "Reg is new. You can't expect her to—"

"Yet she vandalized our dojo," Robby said.

"I think I can handle the two of them," Hawk said to her. "Go, find the sensei, and—"

Kyler jerked Hawk away from Regina, landing a fist to his gut.

It dawned on Regina then. She couldn't run. She probably wasn't going to talk sense into these people. She only had one other avenue. She pulled her phone from her purse and started to dial the one person who could make it better - June. June would be able to throw more money at these people than this other guy and make everything stop. And also call the cops.