8
A battered van was parked crookedly in the center of the courtyard, its doors wide open, the driver’s seat empty. Behind it, a coffin, tied with a black satin ribbon, sat starkly on the cold flagstones.
S/B
1201
Chapter 2
12:04
The lid wasn’t nailed shut. A dark, almost black liquid seeped from the seams, dripping onto the ground and creating a small, nauseating stain.
On the lid, a skull had been crudely painted in garish red paint. Below it, a line of text:
“A WELCOME GIFT FROM THE SKULL GANG. FOR ISABELLE KINSMAN.”
The air itself seemed to freeze.
“No… it can’t be… this isn’t real!” Isabelle began to shake like a leaf in a storm. She staggered forward, her
fingers clawing at the coffin lid. Her nails split and tore, blood mixing with the grime on the wood.
“Shane! Shane, come out! It’s your sister! I’m here to save you!” she shrieked, her voice inhuman, as she tried
to heave the heavy lid.
CRASH.
The lid hit the ground.
The overpowering stench of blood and decay filled the air, so potent that nearby guests gagged and recoiled, some doubling over to vomit.
Inside, Shane’s mutilated body was twisted into an unnatural position. His limbs were bent at impossible
angles, clearly broken to make him fit. A gash at his neck, so deep it reached the bone, had nearly severed
his head, leaving it attached by only a flap of skin.
His once boyish face was now a swollen, purple mess of bruises and dried blood. His eyes were wide open,
staring blankly at the gray sky, frozen in a mask of ultimate terror and agony.
He was still wearing the limited-edition designer hoodie he’d had on the day he disappeared, now soaked through with so much blood it was impossible to tell its original color.
“AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!”
Isabelle let out a scream so piercing it could have shattered eardrums-a sound of pure despair, collapse, and utter annihilation. She threw herself into the coffin, clutching her brother’s cold, rigid, and broken body.
“Shane! Shane, wake up! Look at me! I was wrong! I was so, so wrong!” she wailed, frantically shaking the lifeless corpse. Her tears, snot, and saliva smeared her twisted face, her perfect makeup now a ruin.
“Yell at me! Hit me! Please! Just don’t leave me! AAAAAHHHHH!!” She tried futilely to press his head back
onto his neck.
The entire Austin estate was silent, save for Isabelle’s heart-wrenching howls. The guests’ faces were a mixture of shock, horror, and a subtle, unspoken sentiment… that she had brought this upon herself.
Elder Kinsman, supported by servants, saw the scene, made a gurgling sound in his throat, and fainted dead
away.
