Pumpkin Guts

Halloween in Silverton is a big deal. The High School always has some big event and every house in every neighborhood had every decoration you could think of, none of them ever repeating. Granted, it is a small town, and everyone knows everyone. So when the town's greatest quarterback died - a pumpkin knife to the lung - no one hesitated to blame it on the visiting football team.

--

Angela Hall sat on the counter in her parents' kitchen, waiting for her toaster waffles to be done. She twirled the dull butterknife daintily in her hands, watching her reflection in the blade. Her dark brown hair fell in light waves across her pale skin. Her brown eyes - almost dark enough to be black - stuck out. Her cheeks were pink without putting on any product and her lashes stuck out well past her eyes.

When the toaster popped up she jumped, dropping the knife. It hit the floor with a metallic clang, making her wince. She heard the dog get up from her spot on the tile floor. Her nails clicked on the hardwood as she trotted off somewhere to hide. Angela hopped off the counter and retrieved the knife from the floor. She tossed it on the counter next to her plate and took her waffles out of the toaster. She popped them from one hand to another, her fingers burning from the touch.

She dropped them on her plate. It clattered on the counter before finally resting. She checked the time on her watch, and after reading that she had another two hours before she had to leave, she decided that she could put syrup and butter on her waffles before her shower. She scarfed them down, burning her mouth in the process.

As soon as she finished she rinsed her plate in the sink and hurried upstairs to her bedroom. Just as she reached the top of the stairs, the front door opened and two familiar voices filled the foyer.

"She's supposed to." Her mother was saying. "And she will, don't overthink it." Angela assumed she was reassuring her father that she would make it to the state championship. Angela rolled her eyes. She hadn't attended cheerleading in over a month. She couldn't care less about it.

"I'm not, I just worry that she's not putting enough effort into her future. I know she can do more than what she's trying to do." Her father said. Angela could hear his shoes slap against the hardwood as he made his way to the living room. Her mothers heels clicked as she followed.

"I'm certain that she's doing all she can." Her mother said, "Now, before you sit down, would you mind helping me bring up the decorations from the basement?" Angela didn't pause to hear her father's reply. She hurried into her room to grab her clothes for the school day and hurried to the shower.

When she came back into her room, her hair dripping on the hardwood, she tripped on a pile of clothes at the end of her bed. She sighed and kicked them under her bed. Without looking she grabbed her hair pin out of her jewelry box and began to blow dry her hair.

After her shower, Angela wasn't all too excited about going to school. The memorial for Peter was after school and they'd no doubt make an announcement about it. They would say how incredible he was. They would say how well he played football. They would say anything to make it seem that he was better than we all saw him. All to show his parent's that they cared enough to say something about his murder.

Angela turned off the blow dryer and set it down with a huff. She turned to her vanity and pulled her hair back, securing it with her pin. It was one her mother gave her. It was shaped like a leaf, the same color as the one in her front yard around this time of year. It truly was beautiful and she wore it whenever she could.

With twenty minutes to spare, Angela picked up a coffee on the way to school.

--

Ronan Turner sat at the bus stop cradling his hand in front of him. He didn't mean to slip on the pre-season ice on his walk over, but he did. He also did something to his wrist when he hit the ground. He winced as he shifted his bag on his shoulder while he stood up.

The bus screeched to a halt in front of him and his classmates. He didn't bother to let anyone in front of him or say hello and he hopped on the bus. He shuffled through the thin aisle to the singe-seat in the back. A girl with an orange leaf pin in her hair sat across the aisle in the other single-seat. She didn't hesitate before pulling out her phone and clicking the skip option on her Spotify. Without thinking, Ronan checked the song he was listening to. When he was satisfied he put his phone in his pocket and checked his wrist.

It stung when he twisted it but barely hurt at all when he bent it. Which he found curious, but thought nothing of it.

When the bus pulled into the High School parking lot he was the last to stand up, waiting for everyone to go ahead instead of getting shoved around.

He adjusted the huge headphones on his head and made his way off the bus at the very end of the line. His breath clouded in front of him when he blew out as he jumped the last step.

It was a cold morning, which would suck for lacrosse later this evening, but that's what happens in Silverton around this time of year. He pulled his coat tighter with his uninjured hand and continued on his short walk to the front doors of the High School. A bright flash from the corner of his eye drew his attention away from his destination.

It was the girl with the leaf pendant in her hair. It almost blended in with the dark of her hair, the orange of the pendant. Ronan found it difficult to pull his attention away from her, even as she kissed her boyfriend hello. Ronan nearly ran into one of the decorative rocks outside the doors before he entered the building. Before he could catch himself, he found himself wondering who the girl was, and how he'd never seen her around before.

He found a seat in the foyer in one of his favorite chairs. He pulled out his phone and entered the school's website address into his browser. He opened the "students" page and scrolled through the juniors. He didn't see her face at all. Maybe she was new? No, she looked too comfortable here to be new.

Ronan began to go through every high school grade trying to find her. He found her face in the Senior section. No wonder he didn't recognize her, the Seniors have a completely different wing of the school. Every class did. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. His head thunked against the wall and he winced, but left his head where it was. The bell would ring soon anyway.

--

Annie Dahmer sat silently in her first period class, waiting for the teacher to enter the room. After fifteen minutes, he still wasn't there. She got up, annoyed, and left the room, half the class following her. She hid out of the way and let them pass before she ducked into the locker room.

She grabbed something shiny, sharp perhaps, with a green handle. She tucked it into her pocket, being ginger with the shiny end. She slammed her locker shut and turned down the hallway, heading for the gym where the football team was practicing for their football game after school on Friday.

She looked behind her to make sure that no one followed as she ducked into the girls locker room.

Annie was startled to see four other girls crowded in front of the mirror. She sucked in a breath and casually joined them, pulling her chapstick out of her pocket. She could have pulled out a brush if she had her bag, but she didn't and was clearly an outlier.

"Hey." One of the girls said, looking at Annie from the mirror. Annie only wet her fingers down with the tap water and pulling them through her hair, making it curve the way she liked it.

"She said hello." Another one said. Annie finally looked at them and nodded a short hello. Satisfied, the girls turned back to preening in the mirror.

"Did you hear about Peter?" The one with blonde hair asked the other three. Two of them looked up at her in shock, dropping the lids to their red lipstick. The one with brown hair stayed fixated on her make-up.

"Yeah, it's no big deal." She said. Annie thumbed the object in her pocket.

She leaned over to the one with brown hair. "Can you keep a secret?" She whispered into her hair. The girl looked at Annie with a gleam in her eye.

"Of course." She said, putting her things away.

"Good." Annie pulled the object from her pocket and set it on the counter. Its green pumpkin handle gleaming in the bright light. The girls bright green eyes opened in shock.

"It was you." She barely got the words out before Annie had shoved the blade into her sternum. The girl let out a startled cry. The other girls only continued to gossip as their friend bled out on the white tile floor. Annie turned the tap on and rinsed the crimson liquid off of the blade.

"You guys weren't the original people I was aiming for, but it'll do. A body's a body, right?" Annie looked up at the girls with a smile on her face.

"Is that a pumpkin carver?" The other blonde girl asked. Annie nodded and twisted the blade in the light. It reflected four faces, one calm and pale, the other three terrified and drained of blood. Annie continued to twist the blade as she decided what to do.

--

At that same moment, Angela Hall pulled the same pumpkin carver from her locker and stabbed another person on her list. She checked her pendant in the bathroom mirror as she washed the fresh blood from her hands. She checked the list in her pocket and walked across the school to the theatre. The school president fell to the ground gasping for air. He fell along with the rest of the student council and all of the teachers standing witness - which amounted to two. The twelve people in the room lay lifeless within fifteen minutes.

--

A few rooms over, Ronan was twisting the blade in the lead cheerleader's stomach with the same pumpkin carver as the other two. It dripped on his hand, but he didn't care, he'd wash it up later. It dripped on the floor with a soft plop with every drop that hit the tile. He relished in her pain. The look in her eye was pained and glazed. He stared into her eyes as they became lifeless. He flicked the blood off of the blade and went to the boys room down the hallway and washed his hands, making sure no one saw what he did.

--

After each victim was dead on the ground and dragged to a public spot on the school grounds, the cameras were turned back on and the police flooded the school within minutes. Someone had spotted the bodies and called immediately. Annie, Angela and Ronan all met up at the back of the crowd, showing the things that they had taken as souvenirs from their victims. They would later gamble on them and take the ones they won.

The students all gathered around the school property - class was dismissed for investigation - and the three were joined by another group.

--

"Do you know who they were?" Another classmate was talking to Angela while the others listened in and made little comments where they thought it was necessary.

"Who, the killers or the victims?" Angela replied, glancing at her friends. They all glanced warily at one another, not afraid that they would get caught, but afraid that they wouldn't get everyone as riled up as they wanted.

"Who died!?" The same classmate exclaimed.

"Oh." The three said at the same time.

"I haven't seen them personally, but there are rumors floating around." Ronan said, "We could check social media?" He pulled out his phone, wincing at the sudden pain in his wrist. Annie looked at him with concern, but kept her feelings hidden.

"You do whatever, I'm out." Angela suddenly announced, having spotted her boyfriend. She walked off, her leaf pendant glinting in the sunlight. Ronan fought to keep his eyes on his phone.

"I actually have to find my friends, I just wanted to make sure you guys were okay." Their classmate said, and walked in the other direction from Angela. Ronan and Annie waved goodbye and turned away.

Ronan adjusted the music blasting in his headphones. Annie stood waiting for something to happen. She thumbed the blade in her pocket. She was tempted to use it again, she loved the feeling of being better - and alive. At any minute Ronan or Angela could turn on her - or each other - and end their agreement. She didn't want to toe the line, so she only fidgeted with the blade, running it up and down her thumb.

"Will you walk with me?" Ronan asked, gesturing towards the back of the school - where no one was.

"Sure." Annie said, cheering up.

Ronan led her around to the back of the building and stood in the shadows, making sure no one was around. Annie thought she would finally get what she wanted. She had started spacing out and forgot where she was.

"I'm sorry." She heard Ronan say. She was snapped out of her stupor just as she heard the fabric on her t-shirt tear, before she felt the tip of his blade puncture through the soft skin on her stomach.

"I'm so sorry." He said again, pulling the blade out. Annie coughed, blood spilling from her mouth and the wound from the pumpkin carver. She looked up to see tears in Ronan's eyes. "Angela made me. I'm sorry."