Chapter three- Down the rabbit hole

I laid there on the aged cement for what seemed to be hours, days even, watching as blood from beneath the noose slowly made its way towards the cracks and crevasses in the floors surface, pooling within them.

Mindy's blood…my blood. I found something enthralling about it as the two mixed together, a morbid potion. She had tried to stand for so much in her short lifetime…as I have tried to…but when it comes down to it we are nothing special. In the end we run red and grow stiff…The fate of all humanity….

"What would one acquire…if they mixed a crow and a newborn baby…." I whispered to myself, my attention now held by the feather that rested directly below the noose. I ran the phrase over and over again in my head, but couldn't make anything of the words, though the artist of my mind's eye over and over again painted a dismal portrait of a dead child, abdomen yawning open gruesomely, intestines sprawled out along the floor like a grotesque garden hose spewing steaming crimson out against the cold air.

You have reached the Lezewski Residence. We cant get to the phone right now but if you leave your name and a brief message after the beep we will get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you.

It was about the fifth time I have listened to this message within the last ten minutes.

"Hey, Dad. It-It's Dave um…" It was a struggle to keep my composure, but I pressed on. "If you could call me …on my cell? Please, Dad? It's Important…..please…." I could feel myself begin to shake , Just the simple thought of losing him….

My voice was low now, pain and fear clear in my tone. "I love you, dad….." I whispered before flipping my phone shut. It was at this point I needed to make a decision….and It didn't take me a particularly long time to come to a conclusion.

I hoisted myself to my feet, cradling my injured arm close to my chest. I had ripped the bottom half of the right sleeve of my costume to create a makeshift tourniquet and applied it to my injury. It was time to run Kick-Ass version 3.0.

Meanwhile…

I'm Gonna Fight 'em off

A seven nation army couldn't hold me back

They're gonna rip it off,

Taking their time right behind my back

And I'm talking to myself all night

Because I can't forget

Back and forth through my mind

Behind the cigarette

And the message coming from my eyes says..

"LEAVE IT ALONE!!!" I screamed in unison with Jack white while head banging ferociously.

I had always loved jamming out to alternative rock , but then again my childhood fantasy had always been to be the lead singer in a band like the White Stripes, so I'm not surprised at my idiotic tendencies. Tonight's jam session, however, was to be cut short.

A strong buzzing sound cut through the music. I looked over to find my cell phone vibrating its way off of my end stand, falling onto the carpet-clad floor with a thud. I hit the power button on my radio and walked over, picking up the phone.

"Katie…?" I said to myself. Why the Hell would Katie be calling me? And at two in the morning nonetheless?

Dave would be extremely upset with me if he knew the thoughts that surged through my head at this point in time.

I wedged my thumb in-between the two sections of the device and flipped it open while putting it to my ear in one solid motion. I didn't even have time to say hello before she spoke:

"Todd?!" her voice sounded panicked.

"Katie?" I replied, my eyes squinted in confusion. Something was obviously wrong.

"Todd! Thank god. Have you heard from Dave? I've been calling his cell and he's not answering and I tried his house and no one's answering there either and so I tried Erika and Marty too but no one's picking up and I don't know what's going on and I-" I decided to cut her off. She was talking way too fast for me to make sense of half the things she was saying.

"Kate, calm down. It's two in the morning everyone's probably asleep what are you so worked up about?" Something was amiss. Even Katie's voice , upset or not didn't sound right…

"I….can you come over? I'll explain everything when you get here…" her tone lowered during this statement, became nearly seductive in tone. I wasn't quite sure how to take this entire situation- but I couldn't deny that she was obviously distressed and needed me with her.

"Ill be over in a few minutes just give me time to get some things together. I'm sure Dave's fine, Katie don't worry okay? Whatever's going on he's not a dumb kid, he can hold his own." I was holding my phone between my cheek and my shoulder now, using my hands to gather up things and shove them in my backpack.

"Thanks so much Todd!" In the background I could have sworn I heard something, almost like a moan or a muzzled dog. It didn't mean much to me at the time…

"No problem. See ya in a few." With that I hung up and shoved my phone in my back pocket and started out of my bedroom, leaving the light on. My parents didn't need to know where I was going.

I wouldn't find out how wrong I was until it was too late.

The drive to Katie's house was about five minutes- the walk to Katie's house was about twenty.

It would have been a beautiful night if the sky hadn't opened up and decided to shit all over New York. I was completely drenched by the time I stepped onto the Deuxma's front porch. I noticed Marty's bike thrown beside a nearby parking meter.

Katie must have finally got a hold of him, eh?

I knocked on the door, but after waiting nearly ten minutes without an answer I decided to let myself in.

"Hello?" I called out, shutting the door behind me with a loud creek. The entire house was pitch black, the only lighting offered was the silver streams of streetlight coming through the windows. Odd, but maybe Katie didn't want her parents to know that something major was going down. At least, I assumed that something major was going down.

That's when I heard that muffled sound again- the same one I heard when I was on the phone with her. Though I would have to say that my interpretation of a muzzled dog was entirely inaccurate . This was a scream, low, but a definite scream.

"Katie?!" I said, dropping my backpack to the floor. I followed the noise into the kitchen. What I seen would permanently etch itself into my memory…

Katie and Marty, tied together back to back with some sort of wire, blood covering them in random intervals, their clothes torn, hair streaked with red and grime, mouths covered in duct tape. Katie lifted her head to look at me, her eyes widened almost immediately.

"What the fu---" I was cut off with a blow to the back of the skull with something heavy.

I dropped to the floor, the tiles icy against my skin. The room was spinning, a searing , hot pain ran up and down my back, my head throbbed uncontrollably . I could smell the saltiness of blood mixing in with the summer air.

My senses were reunited when the darkness came over me. I embraced it, let it take me. I felt my eyes rolling backward before it consumed me completely. Katies screams once more, but ultimately there was silence.