Page 107 of Freaks Of Nature

He passes me the towel so I can dry off.

“I get it, you know?” He straightens and pivots my stance towards him, his height towering over mine.

I clench the rag in my grip. The hairs at my nape prickle when his hands slip underneath my shirt, tracing the waistband of my sweatpants. “You’re a good person, Emily. Don’t feel guilty. Mason’s issues are not yours.”

His touch inches higher, lazy fingertips brushing against the sensitive skin of my stomach. His head dips. “Don’t let him ruin this,” he says softly into my ear.

I press my palms to Ash’s chest. “I should never have agreed to this. I was in over my head and didn’t consider the consequences.”

I step out of his embrace, tears pushing their way into my eyes. “I can’t do this to him, Ash. I’m sorry.”

The muscles along his face twitch. Through my blurring vision, I see his jaw clenching. His Adam’s apple jerks.

Ash gives me a sullen nod.

With a weight pressing down on my chest, I watch him turn to leave. I track the fall of his boots down the hall. I hear the deadbolt on the door disengage, the sound of it opening and closing quietly, and then there’s silence.

Fuck!My heart never felt so heavy.

I wipe my tears and trudge down the hallway toward my bedroom, turning the deadbolt over in passing. The urge todrop everything and run back home with my tail tucked between my legs is suffocating me. I proved everyone right. I won’t survive here.

I grab the remote and turn on the TV as I scoot under the covers. The news channel is the first one that pops up.

Looking down, I bunch the blanket around me when the familiar voice of the anchorwoman from Channel 9 goes off, “This latest and most gruesome attack appears to have taken place in the early hours of Thursday.”

My eyes shoot to the screen, my grip frozen on the remote.

“27-year-old Vincent Tucker was found stabbed to death in the parking lot of a popular pool hall downtown.”

Oh God, no!

“A surveillance camera from the parking lot, which happens to be adjacent to the infamousBlack Lotusgentleman’s club, caught the attack. I must advise you, the footage is very graphic.”

The news coverage cuts to the recorded feed, and I drop the remote to slap my hands over my mouth. Heart pounding in my ears, I stare at the fuzzy video of a guy in a black hood matching Mason’s build, as he rips Vince backward by the hair and spins him around.

A knife flashes in his gloved grip. He plunges the blade into Vince’s stomach repeatedly before slashing his throat in a final strike. Blood sprays out.

“At this time, it’s unclear if the assailant knew Tucker personally,” the anchorwoman supplies over the footage. “The victim was attacked unprovoked from behind as he dismounted his motorcycle.”

With the pounding in my ears increasing, I keep watching as the raised hood slowly turns toward the camera like he knows exactly where it is. He knows someone is watching. He’s going to show his face.

My eyes go wide.Please, no!

The killer looks right up into the camera, only instead of his face, an LED mask with blue stitching is revealed.Mason’smask! The one that’s been haunting me since I moved here.

The newscast cuts back to the studio, showing the crew at their desks. “This recent attack puts Castle City’s police department under even more pressure as the murders of 22-year-old Shelly Baker and 24-year-old Marisol Fuentes remain unsolved.”

My hands start trembling, and a cold grip squeezes my throat. I see Mason’s hands around Vince’s neck… feel them around my own…

What if Mason strangled those girls and doesn’t remember it?

Em

My nerves have been on edge all day. I hardly slept, and work is rough as I replay the news footage over and over in my head. I can’t believe it. All of Ash’s warnings… Does he know that Vince is dead? Does he suspect Mason?

I didn’t text Ash, and he hasn’t reached out again. He accepted my final word.

“You alright, Emily?” Laura asks, fists digging into her waist when I come up to the counter to place an order. Her lightly grayed brown hair is pulled back into a loose bun as usual. “You’ve been looking out of sorts all night. You’re not coming down with something, are you?”