Nightmare in Niceville

by Amberle Cianne

  Rachel huffed as she picked some out of her hair. “Scott, is there any popcorn on me?” she asked in a flirty tone.

  He glanced at her for a moment. “I don’t see any.” He turned back to the screen. She had a scowling look on her face, but I ignored it.

  I wasn’t really paying attention to the plotline of the movie, but it was getting pretty gruesome. The murderer had already killed four blondes. The police had mentioned that they thought it was a serial killer since he was targeting blondes.

  “Lily, did you notice that the main character has blond hair? And he’s killing all blondes? It’s like he’s trying to clue Ciara in,” Scott said enthusiastically.

  “You’re right. He’s picking girls that look like her before he actually goes after her.”

  He nodded and continued watching the screen.

  A few minutes later, a figure moved down the steps. I could tell by the striped polo that it was Max. He disappeared around the corner and returned a few minutes later. He must have gone to the bathroom. I took in a deep breath. Scott smelled really good. I lost myself in him again. I shivered in the air-conditioned room. I put on my jacket, then snuggled back into Scott. I sighed, and he leaned his head on mine. I could have stayed like this forever.

  By the end of the movie, Scott and I had been right. The killer was targeting the main character, killing off her friends in his twisted idea of a gesture of love. When the lights turned on, we all stood up to stretch. I watched as Luke bent down and kissed Angela gently on the lips. Practically the whole school was jealous of them. Not me . . . I looked behind me to find Sarah and Max burning holes at me with their stares. Ugh.

  Emily and Jacob were holding hands and staring at each other. Ew. Rachel was standing with her arms crossed and staring at the screen that was now playing the credits to creepy music.

  “Guys, let’s sneak into another movie. I mean, no one’s here,” Jacob, of course, suggested.

  “Yeah, let’s do it!” Sarah agreed.

  “We don’t have anything else to do, right Lily?” Emily asked, obviously being rhetorical. I knew that even if I said no, she would have forced it to be a yes. She just wanted to be with Jacob longer.

  “No, we don’t. Sounds good to me. Are you going to stay, Scott?” I asked. I would do anything to spend more time with him, even if it meant doing something wrong, like sneaking into another movie without paying.

  “Yeah, I’ll stay, only because you are, though,” he said, squeezing my hand and flashing me a smile. I beamed up at him. I was so shocked and happy, I thought I would explode. Everyone else agreed to stay, except Rachel.

  “I’m going home, guys,” Rachel said. “Bye, everyone.” Everyone said goodbye, and she stiffly walked down the aisle and left the theater.

  And then, out of nowhere, a blood-curdling scream broke the silence. We all jumped. Everyone was silent.

  And then, another piercing scream.

  8

  Lily

  One by one, we ran out of the theater. We reached the big opening where the exits and snacks were. Rachel was standing up against the wall with one hand covering her mouth, the other pointing toward the ground past the counter. She was breathing heavily, and tears ran down her face

  “Oh my . . . who would . . . ?” she started, and let out a wail that broke off into a sob. Her body slumped to the floor. My brain was scattered. What was she pointing at? My heart felt like it was pounding in my throat, and I tried to swallow. We all slowly walked forward. And then I saw what Rachel was pointing at.

  “Oh!” I gasped and my hand went to my mouth. Other gasps followed quickly. I wanted to look away, but I needed to fully assess what was going on. Someone cursed. There were five dead bodies scattered across the room. Two people were lying next to the doors, and three people were lying by the snack counter wearing employee uniforms. There was blood smeared all over the doors.

  I walked to the closest part of the snack counter away from the bodies. As I peered over the counter, I saw seven more bodies. I fought the urge to look away again. I noticed that all of the bodies were facing down except for one. It was the girl who worked the concession stand, the girl who handed us Cokes, the girl who looked like me. I didn’t even know her name. She was slumped against the counter, and her long, brown hair flowed around her pale face, her green eyes stared off unblinking. She really did look like me, or . . . used to. I could barely finish the thought. The blood pooled around her body, and there was a slice in her throat. I gagged, and Scott grabbed my waist, pulling me back.

  Angela had fainted into Luke’s chest, and he was stroking her hair with a worried expression. Emily was staring at me, and Jacob was hugging her from behind. He was looking at the doors with a frightened, angry expression. Sarah walked over and put a hand on my shoulder. I was too entranced in thought to pay attention to her. Could my father be doing this? No. No it couldn’t be . . . it was all a horrible coincidence. But what if he was? I saw his face in my mind, but this time, I didn’t see us standing in the sun by a lake. I saw his eyes bloodshot and angry as he stumbled through the front door of our old house. Could I even put it past him? Was he still this angry? What about the innocent people he had just murdered? Were my friends in danger because of me? Was my family?

  Max was holding his stomach like he was going to be sick . . . and then he was.

  Rachel was still crying and mumbling incoherent thoughts. Sarah had pulled her up and placed a hand around her shoulders.

  All of sudden, Rachel let out a wail and bolted to the door. She slammed into it, trying to open it.

  “No, no, no! It’s locked!” she cried. She banged her fist on the door, then slumped on the floor and buried her head in her hands.

  “How can the doors be locked from the inside? This doesn’t make any sense,” Max said in a shaky voice as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

  Jacob started yelling, “You left during the movie! It was you, Max, wasn’t it! You sick . . .” Jacob was suddenly in Max’s face, shaking him by his shirt collar.

  “What? No! I went to the bathroom!” Max defended himself.

  Luke put a hand on Jacob’s shoulder. “He didn’t do it. He’d be covered in . . . blood.” He had trouble getting his words out, though his voice was steady and strong.

  “The bathrooms are in the hall anyway, and he wouldn’t have seen any of this. There also wasn’t enough time. And, no offense Max, but he has no muscle,” Luke rationalized solemnly.

  Jacob slowly released his hold. His eyes were flashing back and forth between things I couldn’t pinpoint. “Sorry. I’m just freakin’ out, I mean look at this . . .” Another curse.

  “I know,” Luke said.

  “It’s okay,” Max replied smoothing his shirt.

  “We should call the police right now, but my phone is in my purse in the theater,” Emily said.

  “My mom took my cell phone,” Jacob grumbled.

  “I left mine at home,” Scott said.

  I searched my pockets, knowing I would have mine and . . . felt nothing but the inside of my pockets. “Mine must have fallen out in the theater,” I said dazed.

  “I left mine in the car,” Max said patting down his pockets.

  “I don’t have one,” Sarah said, wiping her cheek.

  “Neither does Angela. And mine is dead, believe it or not. I forgot to charge it last night,” Luke said.

  “Rachel?” Sarah bent down next to her. She shakily handed Sarah her purse while she stared into space not blinking. Sarah dug through it and pulled out a pink cell phone. She stood and held the phone up in many different spots.

  “I can’t get a signal!”

  “There’s a phone behind the counter,” Scott said. He made his way through the obstacles and picked up the phone. He held it up, showing us the phone with a little cord hanging from it. The cord had been cut. Of course. What were the odds of not having a single cell phone to call for help when you really needed it? Apparently pretty good.

>   “Let’s go back to the movie and try our other phones for service,” I suggested.

  “We don’t know where the person is who did this,” Emily said.

  “Well, let’s just stick together, head into the theater, and grab our stuff,” Scott said.

  Everyone silently agreed.

  Sarah and Max were right behind us. Emily and Jacob followed next, still looking terrified. I looked back and told Emily it was okay with my eyes. She barely nodded back. Sarah helped Rachel up from the door and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, rubbing her arm. Luke and Angela were the last to follow. She was leaning heavily on him and wiping her eyes.

  “Who could do this?” she mumbled, shaking her head.

  We made our way down the hallway, our eyes flickering in different directions. As we passed the first theater, we heard someone yell in an angry voice, “Where is she? LOOK at the PICTURE! Tell me!” His voice seemed familiar, but I was so drenched in fear that I couldn’t concentrate.

  We froze. Nobody made a sound. Scott quietly opened the door just a crack so we could hear what was happening inside.

  “I–I don’t know! I swear!” a woman’s voice whimpered back.

  “Why hasn’t anybody seen her?” the man screamed.

  “I—” she was cut short by her own scream. Scott pulled me away, and we started running down the hall. My heart was racing. I saw a flicker of someone’s body running toward Theater Five.

  “No! We stay together!” Scott whispered loudly. Max turned around and opened his mouth to argue, but Scott interrupted him.

  “I’m not going to discuss it Max, stay with us,” he said in a serious, almost scary tone. Max just stared at him. Scott was like the Alpha Male in a wolf pack. And he was holding my hand. What did that make me? I felt myself suck in a breath, realizing that I had forgotten to breathe. His fingers weren’t intertwined with mine, but he was still holding my hand. If the circumstances were different, I would have blushed and smiled and gotten huge butterflies.

  Max spoke, “What do we do now?”

  Scott quickly made a decision and took us back into our dark theater. We all raced up the steps and searched for our purses. I fell to the floor and brushed my hands along the sticky and crumb-filled ground. No one spoke, not even Rachel, which was very surprising.

  Suddenly, there was a bang on the door and light poured into the dark room. Everyone froze. The light disappeared and everything was deathly silent. If someone was in here, I couldn’t hear their footsteps. Even if they were loud, I couldn’t hear anything over the pounding of my own heartbeat in my ears. A scuffling noise erupted through the awful silence, and I heard someone grunt. I felt my body lift into the air, and before I knew it, I was running. Scott was pulling me toward the exit of the theater. I didn’t know where everyone else went, but as long as I was with Scott I felt safe.

  Scott and I busted out of the theater and made an abrupt left turn into Theater Four. We ran halfway up the stairs, but he stopped. I looked past him and saw three more bodies sitting in their chairs as if they were still watching the movie. I gagged and my knees went weak. Scott grabbed me, helping me stand.

  Scott half-carried me down an aisle away from the bodies. He pulled me to the floor and lay down. As I lay down next to him, my hand brushed something sticky. I jerked away quickly, feeling bile rise in my throat.

  “Where is everybody?” I whimpered.

  “I don’t know,” Scott whispered. “The second I heard someone coming, I grabbed you and ran. I’m sure everyone did the same. I’m sure they’re fine . . .” his voice trailed off.

  He suddenly scooted closer, took my face gently in his hands, and kissed me. It was just a small peck on the lips, but it made my face hot. My heart was already pounding in my chest from fear and running, and I was too scared to get butterflies.

  “Sorry. I just wanted to make my feelings clear, in case you hadn’t noticed,” Scott whispered.

  “Its fine. I feel the same way,” I whispered back.

  He looked into my eyes, his forehead creased with worry. “I wanted to talk to you at school, but things just kept getting in the way. I was finally going to ask you out on a date tonight. So we could talk, ya know?” He was stuttering over his words. I giggled quietly, strange considering what was going on around us.

  “But with what’s happened I . . . I feel rushed. And I’m not letting this get in the way, not anything else. Lily?” My heart fluttered when he said my name.

  “If . . . when we make it out of here, will you honor me with a date?” he smiled. I quietly gasped. His smile was gorgeous.

  I thought back to Mrs. Earn’s seventh-grade math class. I was sitting next to Mark Halloway. Mark had tapped me on the arm and tossed a note onto my desk. Confused, I’d looked over at him. Mark jerked his thumb to the right. I leaned forward and saw Scott looking at me with a tiny smile on his face. I blushed and scooted down in my seat to read the note:

  Lily, do you want to get ice cream after school today?

  Under the question were two boxes where I could check “yes” or “no.” I was stunned. I’d looked back at Scott, and my eyes must have been ten times their normal size. Why would he want to hang out with me? I mean, we had talked at lunch and in the hall, but I had never guessed that he wanted to spend time with me. Scott had the biggest smile on his face. His teeth were dazzling next to his tan skin. I remembered my face heating up. I checked “yes,” then slid the paper under my work. But Mrs. Earn had been quicker.

  “Lily! Would you like to share with the class what your little note says?” she screeched.

  “It’s just a doodle,” I said and ripped up the paper.

  “You’re lucky I don’t give you detention!” she said and turned back to the board. I scrunched into my seat, trying to be invisible. I didn’t look at anyone, not even Scott. Maybe that was why we never got ice cream.

  As I stared at him in the dark of the theater, I knew that we were going to make it out alive. We had to. And when we did, he would take me out to dinner, I’d decided.

  “Nothing will happen to you. I promise I’ll keep you safe,” he said. His smile had faded, but his eyes showed sincerity and concern. I knew he meant everything he said.

  The movie playing was an action film—explosions of gunfire and yelling erupted from the speakers. It was very loud, but it got quieter as the movie went on. Scott was leaning in to kiss me again when we heard the door close. Someone was in here with us.

  Scott whispered, “Pretend to be dead,” and put his head down on the floor. I looked through a spot between two seats and saw a silhouetted flash of long hair. I got to my knees and squinted at the figure. Scott pulled at my wrist.

  “Hey!” I whisper-shouted. The girl froze and looked toward my voice. Scott tugged my shirt, pulling me to the side. I held the back of the chair to keep my balance.

  “It’s okay,” I said to him. “Up here!” I called quietly. She ran toward us. As she got closer, I recognized her. “Rachel?” I whispered.

  “Oh, Lily!” she said quietly with relief and hugged me. This was a drastic change from her previous behavior. If the circumstances had been different, I might have been annoyed at her, throwing me jealous glares, but things had changed.

  “I’m so scared.”

  “I know. I am too,” I replied. It wasn’t just to comfort her either. Even though Scott made me feel safer, I was still completely terrified.

  I pulled her to the ground.

  “Do you know where anyone else is?” Scott asked.

  “No, I saw someone go into Theater Five. I was in the second theater, but I thought I was too close to the . . . whoever is doing this,” she answered.

  “Maybe we should try to get out of here or call for help again.” I stated the obvious solution.

  “I still don’t have a signal!” Rachel huffed.

  “Figures.” I let my head fall into my hands and raked my fingers back through my hair. A pained and worried expression crossed Scott’s face.
It didn’t help to calm my nerves.

  “Well . . .” he started slowly, “I don’t think we can just walk around and look for cell phones any more. And I have no idea how to get out besides the door in the front, but it’s locked from the outside.” Scott’s eyebrows scrunched up.

  “Let’s try the fire exits!” I said.

  “Stay here,” he told us. He made his way down to the far corner of the theater and pushed on the door. He didn’t seem to be having much luck. He came back to us panting.

  “It’s no use. They won’t budge. Something must be in front of them outside.”

  “Crap! He thinks of everything . . .” I mumbled.

  “He?” Scott looked at me.

  “I, well I . . . we heard a man’s screaming, and I’m assuming it’s a man who’s doing all the . . . killing . . .” I stuttered. I couldn’t admit that I thought it was my father. Not yet. And it might not even be true.

  9

  Sarah

  As I crouched between the seats, I tried to slow my breathing. I wondered how long I would be here. There was a loud thump, then light poured into the room. Everything was black again and eerily silent. I saw a darker shadow move within the darkness, something big and tall. And about halfway down, something glinted, just barely enough to see it. I couldn’t risk staying here any longer. I counted to three, spun around, jumped up, and started running in one swift movement. I heard someone grunt like they were trying to grab at me. My legs carried me as fast as I could go before I hit the exit door and was through the door of another theater faster than you could say “popcorn.”

  I slammed into the wall at the very front of the big room and slumped to the floor to catch my breath. I noticed the screen was blank, covering the room pitch black. Everyone was . . . dead. Finally getting the chance, I let a tear slide down my face, and my heart pounded. I wondered if Lily was okay. I wished we were still close like we were last year. I’d started having feelings for her, and I guess, well knew, that she would never feel the same way.

  Just then, the door opened, and heavy footsteps padded on the carpet, and as they reached the hard cement, they echoed throughout the room. I put my hand over my mouth to quiet my breathing. Whoever it was must have seen me run in here! More tears poured down my cheeks.