Two Rungs Below

04 • That's Some Good Sluthin'

As I opened our front door I saw my mother in the living room watching a recored episode of Quantico and a sigh of relief blanketed over me. There was no way I could let him take anyone else from me.

"Where have you been? You didn't answer any of my texts and you look like you got hit by a truck!" My mom never got angry with anyone, she was always just disappointed, which in some cases is worse.

"I'm sorry, I was over at Sam's studying for Science." Sam and I had been friends since I could process what a friend was. Because of that I knew he would cover for me, no point in asking.

"Alright. . ." At this point I think she knew I never studied at Sam's, or studied in general, but since there was no way to prove it she let it slide.

"You know the Halloween dance is in a few days, and its the first year you can go." Every year Keystone hosted a Halloween dance/corn maze for juniors and seniors, to get into the dance you had to go through the corn maze first. The first pair to make it through the maze and find the crowns hidden somewhere in the gym where the dance was held were title pumpkin king and queen. In my opinion they really need to find a much more attractive reward however.

"I know. . . I'm not sure as to whether or not I will attend yet." I didn't feel right, going without Lila. My mom figured it was just because I had little to no social life and shrugged it off. I just needed a break and began to head to my room upstairs.

As I walked upstairs to my room it felt as if I were dragging lead pipes attached to my legs. When I reached the top of the stairs I went into my room and belly flopped right into bed. Once I had the energy to move again I checked all of my windows and made sure they were locked, and checked every possible place a killer could hide. I then proceeded to lock my door hopping I had locked a killer inside as well.

I began to ponder on my next step. He was most likely anticipating that I would search for Lila, which is what I wanted to do. That meant I had start somewhere else. I needed someone else. I began to dial Sam's number on my phone, but stopped halfway. Did I really want him involved in this? I figured that either way the killer would involve him anyways and finished dialing.

Buzz.

Buzz.

Buzz.

"Ello?"

"Hey Sam. . . We need to talk."

"About what?" I sighed, but I wanted to do it. If anything I was better preparing him to fight the trench coat man. I filled him in, it took about twenty minutes but he was silent the whole time.

"Gosh... There are about a million things I want to ask you right now."

"Ask away my friend."

"What are you going to do next?" Ironically that was exactly why I called him.

"That is actually why I called you Sam. He's managed to predict my every move, I need something he won't predict. Which is why I need you to help me make up my mind."

"If I were you I would start with your dad. Investigating Lila is too dangerous, especially if he has some kind of leverage over you. If you want to catch him you need to know everything he knows and more."