Strangers: Consequences

Burying The Hatchet

Drake had to tell them the truth eventually..... but surprisingly, they weren't angry or sad. They were just relieved that he was alright. "Its good to see you up and about again." Greg commented delightfully, dabbing his fingers to his spectacles. Jessica seemed more cheerful, wiping her tears away and just gazed at the setting sun in the distant without saying another word. There was a hidden worry behind her silence, he could tell that she was indeed frightened of losing people. She tries to toughen it out....... but there are only so many things that a person can hide.

The fear and terror was gradually oozing onto Drake from the atmosphere, waiting to swallow him whole, leaving him to break down and die. Drake kept the the thought off his mind and looked around. He was still hidden in the butler's domain, so technically the winning chance was still on his side. Drake rummaged through the mess and corpses that were heavily stacked up, finding anything that could be of use. Making his way through severed body parts, he covered his nose to mask the stench while his other untied hand did the dirty work. "W-w-wait......." spoke out a voice in an eerie manner.

For a second, Drake thought that he had gone insane........ that was until he realized that one of the many hands were grabbing onto him. It was relatively fresh; zero decomposition, so not even a day old I'm guessing. He hurriedly pushed aside the rest of the corpses, only to see that it was someone breathing weakly. Drake pulled him out, gently and then harder as his whole weight acted on me. He dragged the man all the way to the wall where he laid on restlessly, wheezing.

"Are you alright? What are you doing here?!" Drake asked him, hoping for an explanation. He was hesitating initially, but he eventually became trustful and told him, "You're Drake I'm presuming..... My name is John Terrence, I'm the one who handed you this case." as he straightened his back, trying to get comfortable. "Oh..., you don't look so good." Drake commented, pointing to his wounds that were pretty fatal; multiple stab wounds, bruises on his face and arms. "Hahahaha, I knew I shouldn't have even come here........ The temptation to play the lone wolf got the best of me. Actually someone HIRED me, to then HIRE you guys for this." he stated articulately, wiping his sweat away.

He was young, probably just a few years older than they were, Drake assumed. He even wore a trench coat, a very beat up now-like a true detective from the 60's. "I was also given orders to observe the mansion beforehand but even I didn't expect that the person who resided here would be so hostile. Anyways, he found me snooping around and I tried to get away but yeah...... you know the rest" He shared bitterly, both hands pressed onto his wounds. "So what should we do now?!" Drake asked John, scratching his head frantically.

He slowly got back up, with his left hand on the wall, supporting him. "No worries, I can walk. We should get out of here ASAP." suggested John, walking to the door. "Wait, I have an idea. Something that will flush the butler out of hiding." Drake told him, briefing him on his arson plan. "Fire huh, alright. Count me in!" he added with excitement. "There should be canisters of gasoline in the cabinets there. I have a lighter so you can leave the burning to me." he continued, taking a sterling-silver lighter with flower petals etched onto the casing. Drake slided open the cabinets and there were gasoline canisters as he had mentioned. "Alright, two should be enough." he said, opening one up and pouring its content on the severed bodies and all over their surrounding.

"Ready? 1, 2 and ......... 3!!" Drake gestured him to press onward as John busted open the door. He sprinted all the way up the staircase, all the while pouring the gasoline relentlessly with the other canister tied onto his backside. The entire basement was doused with gasoline by the time they were done. John ducked down and flipped open the lighter, igniting the trail of gasoline and watched as it consumed everything else in its path.

"Well that's done..... Lets go then." He went ahead, playing with the lighter. There was that uneasiness again, like someone was watching them and if he had learn anything, his instincts were well placed. Drake quickly scouted the area,  and on the far end, he could see a silhouette waving his knife at us. With a sudden swing, he hurled the knife at us-more accurately at John. "JOHN!!" Drake called out to him, telling him to duck down. Without thinking, Drake ran in his direction and tackled him away, the knife hitting him right in the arm. Lying down on the floor gasping in pain, Drake saw the butler heading towards us. John had difficulties getting back up just like Drake did, his wounds re-opening up and bleeding. Both of them were flat down on the ground.