Don't Scream

Chapter 91

A chorus of assault rifles flinched in unison, But Brian stepped past them. To a man he could feel the tension, the tightening of every finger on every trigger, the narrowing of each each eye through the sights, and the furious voice of Dean sounding in their ear pieces. Brian, already unarmed, yanked the stupid thing from his ear, dropping it with the night vision goggles as he walked to the center of the dimly lit woodland stage. Dean was likely to kill him, but that didn't matter now. He stopped thirty feet from the deer stand.

"Let's clear that up once and for all Brandon." Brian said sharply. "Sarra is mine not yours."

The look on Brandon's face was priceless. The look on Sarra's made his heart stand perfectly still. She couldn't see him down in the trees because her face was angled up by the gun. But he could see her. Blood streamed down the right side of her face and caked her dress. Her legs dangled as if she couldn't hold herself up, and her feet looked as if they had been through a blender. Her chest rose and fell in great heaving breaths, and her clothes were were blood stained and shredded, especially at the one shoulder. It was fucking fifty degrees.

Brian wanted to tear Brandon's dick off. Instead he balled his right hand and tried to sound casual. "Didn't expect to see me, did you Brandon?"

"You are d-dead." Brandon whispered.

Brian smiled. "Suck-er." He said it in a juvenile sing songy taunt, and a surge of pleasure washed through him. "We put on a little show for you at the park. Did you see it on TV? The seasons biggest hit."

"Gretchen killed you!"

Gretchen shot me with blanks. She fooled you, Brandon, we all did. How about that? There dosen't seem to be a woman in the world who hasn't fucked you over."

"Shut up!"

"Brian." The word croaked from Sarra's lips.

"I am here honey. I am fine. We did it everything is going to be OK."

"Abby___"

"Is alive. she is not hurt, sweetheart she is fine."

Sarra closed her eyes. her face still pushed upward by Brandon's pistol. The barrel pressed so deeply into her flesh Brian thought it might rip through her skin.

He stepped forward. Brandon had stopped swaying and doing three sixties, probably realizing that the part of the deer stand at his back didn't make for a good sniper shot. He was right, no one could shoot him in the back, anyway. This team wasn't armed with .22's. Any bullet fired into Brandon's back from this team risked ripping through him and hitting Sarra. He was safe as long as he had Sarra against him.

How long would he last? How long would Sarra last? Brian saw the sphere on the bench. The missing skull, the gift in the codicil from his mother. Christie.

No, not Christie. A boy.

The thought plucked at Brian's brain and he toyed with it. With lab reports unfinished, he couldn't know for sure yet. But maybe he knew enough to mess with Brandon's mind.

"So, I see you brought your big brother to watch you in action." Brian said carefully.

Brandon's eyes slid to the skull, then skidded back to Brian. "That is my little sister Christie. You kicked her and hurt her. You have to pay."

Brandon jerked Sarra higher against him and Brian winced. Sarra didn't make a sound and Brian's heart took a wild turn in his chest, thinking she couldn't hold on. Then he realized that her silence indicated something else entirely. Strength, composure. That kind of control took focus and effort.

So she was still with him, and she was making things as difficult as possible for Brandon.

Good girl. Hang on.

One second. All they needed was for Sarra to peel away from Brandon for one second, and he would be riddled with holes. Six assault rifles were trained on him from positions on the ground. Two snipers sat in trees. A battalion of armed agents circled the area. Just one second.

"Christie?" Brian asked feigning in confusion. "That is Christie?" Then he laughed. "Is that what your mother told you in her will?"

Brandon frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Brian pretended to enjoy himself thoroughly. "Christ, you said your mother fooled everyone. I guess she really did."

"Shut u___"

"That is not Christie, you stupid fucking idiot."

Brandon froze. "You are lying."

"I am not." Brian said, shrugging, "But go ahead and believe if you want. Jeez, You have spent your whole adult life carrying around a skull you thought was Christie's? You poor stupid bastard. I almost feel sorry for you. Your mother really was good."

"You are full of shi___"

"Did Colleen ever tell you about your older brother, Brandon? The one who died at birth? It took us a while to find someone who knew the story, and at first I didn't even believe it. But know we know it is true. Remember Juan Gomez? He was a sheriff when you were a kid."

Brandon frowned, yes he remembered. Brian could see it in his eyes.

"He remembered that your mother got pregnant before you came along," Brian continued." And that baby didn't make it. Most people never even knew she was pregnant. apparently your grandfather, wasn't to happy about it. kept her home. His daughter, the one he liked to fuck, you know. The baby's body was buried by the river."

Brian stopped and let it sink in. He could see the doubt in Brandon's eyes.

Brandon sneered. "You are lying. Mother said Christie was buried there."

"You poor shit.' Brian said. "Christie disappeared. That wasn't her body you dug up."

"You didn't even find that place until yesterday. DNA testing isn't that fast. You couldn't know who it is."

"Well forensic science is a beautiful thing, Brandon. They don't need DNA to check parentage, only blood work. And bones hold the best information on blood a coroner can get. Our guys only needed records on file for Christie at the hospital and a quick look see at your grandpa's corpse. Easy enough to tell how far from the tree the baby fell." He paused long enough to let it sink in. "As for that being Christie, well you can't tell the gender from the skull, but you can from the hips."

Doubt, had taken in.

"For fucks sake Brandon, if you don't believe me, just look at the skull. Christie was sixteen months old when she disappeared. That one you are carrying around is just an infant. Can't you tell the difference?"

"Christie was small......"

But even as he denied it, his eyes sought out the skull lying sideways by the tape recorder. Brandon inched closer to it, shaking his head, his gun trembling in the hollows of Sarra's bruised throat. The tension in her body changed, and fear stabbed Brian in the chest.

Jesus Sarra I am getting him. Don't do anything stupi___"

She started humming.

Brandon's eyes wide open. "Shut up! He growled at her.

Brian saw his grip tighten.

Sarra sang. "Who killed cock Robin? I said the sparrow, with my bow and arrow....I K-killed Cock Robin.?"

It sounded thready and weak to Brian's ears but it was a tune none the less. Brandon began trembling, then covered his ears with one hand, and Sarra straightened her legs and shoved. She launched the pair of them backward, wheeling past the ladder, but Brandon held on. Sarra grabbed a breath and kept going, the broken haunted tune growing louder. "Who saw him die? I said the fly, with my little eye...."

Brandon wagged his head, frantic, trying to shake the voice. Sarra seized the chance. She went for his knee cap. He grunted, flinching, and she dropped. For one bright second, they were separated, and the next even bigger fraction of time, the forest exploded with gunfire and Brandon's head splintered apart.

One more Chapter than the epilogue...Vote Fan Comment..