“He’s moving,” John said suddenly, startling the others out of their own thoughts. It had been an hour since Luke first called Jaxon and he had tried every fifteen minutes since, but Jaxon had not called them back. Luke was starting to get worried and Ellie kept looking at him with her sad eyes, as if asking him to come up with something. He was just about to try Jaxon again when John spoke up.
Luke went to the computer and watched the blip slowly move across the map. He was heading past the tennis courts in the direction of the pool complex.
“Do you think he’s on his way to do it?” Ellie asked.
“I have no idea,” Luke said, but was worried she was right.
“We need to call somebody,” Ellie said.
“Nobody will believe us,” Jimmy said. “We’re just a bunch of punks to them.”
“It’s their job,” Ellie said. “They’re supposed to believe us.”
“Come on, El,” Jimmy said. “If somebody called you with this crazy story, would you believe them?”
“Jaxon’s the only one who knows what’s going on,” Luke said. “Jimmy’s right. Nobody will take us seriously.”
“We have to do something!” she said. “We can’t just sit here and watch.”
“I know,” Luke said, frustrated, “but what can we do?”
“Call 911," Ellie said.
“What do I tell them?” Luke said.
“I don’t know,” she sounded frustrated. “Tell them we think somebody is going to be killed.”
Luke shrugged and dialed 911.
“911. What is the nature of your emergency,” the operator said.
“Uh…yes. I’d like to report a killing,” Luke said.
“You want to report a murder?”
“Well…not yet. I mean it hasn’t happened yet. But we think it’s going to.”
“What is your name and how old are you?”
“My name is Lucas Harrison and what does it matter how old I am?”
“How do you know there’s going to be a murder, sir?”
“We don’t know for sure. He told us he was going to kill someone tonight.”
“Who told you?”
“The killer. He calls himself William Smith, but I don’t think it’s his real name. We’re wasting time. He’s moving now!”
“I’m not following you sir. Where is this so called William Smith moving to?” Luke could tell the operator wasn’t believing anything he was telling her.
“We’re not sure, but we can track him.”
“Uh huh,” she said. “How are you tracking him?”
“By his cell phone.”
“Right. You know it’s a felony to prank call 911 don’t you?”
“This isn’t a prank! He said he was going to kill someone tonight. One of our friends.”
“Who?”
“He wouldn’t tell us that.”
“Tell her he’s the swimming pool killer,” Ellie said.
“He’s the one who’s been killing the kids and putting them in the pool at The Woods,” Luke said.
Silence on the other end for a second.
“Detective Jennings told us to call if we had any information, but he won’t answer his phone,” Luke said.
“Alright,” the operator said. “Jaxon is out of town, but I’ll have the officer in charge look at it. Where is this going to happen?”
“He’s currently…” Luke looked at the monitor. “He’s moving through the neighborhood of The Woods toward the pool area. Aren’t you supposed to have some officers in this area?”
“How do you know that?”
“Jaxon and Winston promised my girlfriend’s mother there would be.”
“We’ll send someone to check it out.”
“Thank you,” and Luke hung up. “They’re going to send someone to check it out.”
They all looked relieved. Ellie sat on the edge of the bed and sighed.
“They’re not going to know where he is,” John said, looking at the computer screen.
Luke walked over and looked. “Where is he?”
“It looks like he’s in this house,” John pointed, “but I can’t tell.”
They were all standing around the computer now.
“Should we call the police back?” Ellie asked.
“No,” Jimmy said. “I think we should follow him and see where he goes.”
“We’re the only ones who can see what he’s doing,” Luke said.
“This is stupid,” John said. “We should call them back.”
“We don’t have anything to tell them. We could follow him and see where he is and then you could call the police and let them know.” Luke pointed at John. “You’ll stay here, like before and stay in touch with us over the phones. Me and Jimmy will find out where he is.”
“I’m going too,” Ellie said. “I’m not sitting here, waiting for all of you.”
“No,” Luke said. “It’s too dangerous. He talks to you the most. If he gets the chance, he might hurt you.”
“I’m going and you can’t stop me.”
She was right. What was he going to do? Tie her up or knock her out? Luke could think of nothing that would change her mind so he just went along with her. “Alright,” he said, “but you’re with me.”
“What if he does something?” John asked. “What are you guys gonna do?”
“I don’t know,” Luke said, slowly. “I guess we’ll think of something.”
They all looked at each other, and Luke could see the fear in their eyes. He wondered if they saw it in his.
“Let’s move,” Luke said and stood.
The three of them made their way down stairs and were opening the door when Luke’s mother called to them from the kitchen.
“Who’s going out this late?”
“It’s me Mom.”
She peaked around the corner and then stepped into the foyer. “Why? It’s kind of late to be playing outside.”
Luke glanced at Jimmy who was staring off into the distance shifting from one foot to the other. “We’re going over to Jimmy’s for a minute to grab something,” Luke said quickly. “John’s still upstairs on my computer. He’s gonna wait for us.”
He must have sounded funny because she stepped toward him with that look only she could produce. The look that said, You’re trying to pull the wool over my eyes and I’m not buying it.
“What’s at Jimmy’s?” she said.
“It’s a…” Luke stammered.
“…game.” Jimmy finished for him.
Luke looked at Jimmy and nodded. “Yeah-it’s a game. We’re bored and Jimmy’s got this new game we were going to try.” Luke smiled, trying to look sincere. Ellie shifted closer to him. He could feel the tension in her body. It was like an electrical field around her and it made him feel jumpy. His mom glanced at Ellie and wrinkled her brow.
“Eliana, are you alright?” she asked.
Ellie’s head snapped up and she nodded quickly. “Yes-uh-yes ma’am.”
Luke’s mom stepped to Ellie, reached her hand up and felt her face. “You look feverish,” his mom said. “Are you sure you’re feeling ok? These boys aren’t getting you into any trouble are they?” and she glared at Luke.
“No, Mrs. Harrison-no. I’m fine, just a little hot.”
Luke’s mom let her hand fall to her side and she glanced at Ellie again, quickly, seeming to come to some conclusion in her mind that everything was ok. Her face relaxed a bit and she seemed to lose interest in the three. She turned back to the kitchen and said, “You three stick together. Don’t make me come look for you.” And she disappeared through the doorway.
Luke let out a big breath, not realizing he had been holding it. Ellie grabbed his hand and they went outside.
“That doesn’t give us much time,” Jimmy said. “Your mom will be looking for us soon.”
“I don’t think so,” Luke said. “She’s probably already forgotten about it.”
“I hope so,” Jimmy said.
John broke in on the earpiece, “What are you guys doing?”
“We’re outside,” Luke said. “What is he up to?”
“He’s stopped at that house on the other side of the pool. I can’t tell if he went into it or not. He’s just sitting there.”
“We’re gonna take a look,” Luke said. “Let us know if he moves.”
“Got it.”
The three made their way down through Luke’s backyard and out the hole in the fence. They stayed to the left of the tennis courts and followed a path past the pool and then stopped, staying hidden from the street the front of the pool house faced.
“Jimmy,” Luke whispered, “see if you can cross the street and hide in those bushes.” Luke pointed to a house across the street from them with a large hedge that ran perpendicular to the street, separating its yard from the one next to it.
Jimmy nodded and ran at a crouch to the bushes Luke had indicated.
“John, can you still here me?” Luke said.
“Yeah,” John said. “He hasn’t moved. Where are you guys?”
“We’re right next to the pool along the side fence. Jimmy is across the street from me in the bushes.”
“You guys are really close to him then. I wouldn’t move any more. He’s right across the street and up a little bit. Can you see the house that’s right across from the pool house?”
“Yep,” Luke said.
“I think he’s hanging out at the house right next to that one.”
Luke stood slowly and stretched his neck up looking for the killer. “I don’t see anything. The street and yard are deserted.” He crouched back down. “Jimmy, can you see anything?”
“Nothing,” Jimmy said. “It’s quiet.”
“Alright,” Luke said, “we’ll wait a little bit and see what he does.”
“What’s that red light on top of that house?” Ellie asked.
Luke peered through the dark, straining his eyes and could just make out what looked like a camera mounted to the roof of the house directly across from the pool. “Looks like a security cam. I wonder if it’s one of those dummy ones or it’s real?”
“A dummy one?” she said.
“Yeah-they make fake ones with lights on them to keep people out of the yard. It doesn’t really work, just lights up.”
“I bet it’s real,” she said. “Mr. Lolly has problems with people messing with his lights at Christmas. I wonder if William Smith knows it’s there?”
Luke shrugged. If they got him on tape, then that would be a good thing. Out of the corner of his eye Luke caught movement. Two kids were walking down the street toward them. Luke didn’t recognize them. “Do you know who that is?” he whispered to Ellie.
Ellie raised up a bit and then knelt back down. “I think it’s Jenny Hipps and Ames Bledsoe. They’ve been together for a while.”
“I wonder what they’re doing over here,” Luke said. “Don’t they live in Hollowbrook?”
“He does. I don’t know where Jenny lives.”
“Should we warn them?”
Jimmy could hear the conversation over the phone and he said, “No. We don’t want to alert him we’re here unless he does something. Let’s see what happens.”
“Where are the police?” Ellie asked frustrated.
Luke shrugged his shoulders.
The couple passed in front of them talking softly and holding hands. Luke could see Jenny’s face now and recognized the slump of Ames’ shoulders. They called him Quasimodo because he had such a bad hunchback. The other kids called them the grenade-face ugly couple.
Luke watched them pass by and continue on up the street where they eventually faded from view. William Smith had not moved.
“What’s happening?” John said through the earphone.
“Nothing,” Luke said. “The grenade-face ugly couple walked by and he didn’t do anything.” He could hear John chuckling. “They’re gone now.”
Ellie tugged at his shirt and pointed up the street. A kid about their age was slowly making his way down the street on his bike. He was weaving back and forth across the width of the street making long arcing turns from one side of the street to the other. As he got closer he could hear the kid humming to himself.
“Hold up, John,” Luke said. “Somebody else is coming.”
The kid passed in front of them, oblivious to anything around him. Luke thought it strange that someone his age would be out on the street all by himself this late, especially with all that had been happening lately. The biker weaved his way past the pool house and then suddenly stopped. He turned toward the house John had been talking about, the one next to the Lolly’s, and Ellie took a quick breath in, digging her fingers into his arm as she tensed.
“Oh no,” she whispered.
Movement caught Luke’s eye and he looked at Jimmy who was frantically waving his arms. Luke moved his hand up and down, trying to tell Jimmy to stay put. Jimmy reluctantly squatted back down but peered out around the hedge and watched.
The biker kid was just standing there straddling his bike. His head kept looking left and right, and his feet shifted uncertainly. He laid the bike down, moving slowly toward the house, bent over as if straining to see or hear something. He stopped again halfway through the yard and stood up straight.
“We have to do something,” Ellie whispered. “He’s going to kill him!”
Luke hesitated. He wasn’t sure what the kid was doing, though it was looking like he was being drawn toward the house by something or someone they could not see. “John, has he moved?” Luke said turning away from the street trying to keep his voice from carrying.
“Still there,” John said. Just then Ellie screamed, jumped up and ran toward the house.
“Crap!” Luke said. “Ellie! Stop!” The biker kid had disappeared and Luke watched, frozen, as Ellie ran full speed toward the house. She was screaming at the top of her lungs.
“You leave him alone!” She shouted frantically. “Don’t you dare hurt him! You leave him alone!”
Luke found his legs and started running after her. He shouted into his earpiece. “John! Call 911, now! Send them here. Hurry!”
Jimmy was streaking across the yards of the houses on Luke’s left, legs pumping, arms swinging, and Luke put on a burst of speed so they would get to Ellie at the same time. Luke saw the biker kid burst out of the bushes up against the house and stumble toward his bike. His eyes were huge and terrified as his head swiveled toward Ellie who was sprinting toward him. Suddenly, the killer erupted from the same bushes and sped toward the kid as he knelt to pick up his bike. Ellie was only a few feet away and Luke was surprised she didn’t even slow down. She threw herself at the killer’s running body, slamming into it and knocking him off balance. She bounced off of him and fell at his feet.
The killer looked stunned for a moment and then roared in anger as he bent over and picked her up with one hand. She kicked and screamed, swinging her fists at his arms, but they had little effect on the man. He was huge, like an Ultimate Cage Fighter. Nothing seemed to faze him.
Luke and Jimmy got to him at the same time and Luke didn’t even think. He tackled the man as Jimmy did the same. Ellie fell from his grasp as they drove him onto his back. Luke pummeled the man’s face and neck while Jimmy stood and started kicking him in the side. The killer’s face was so white it shown in the dark. Every time Luke’s fist struck his face, it felt like his skin was stretching and he couldn’t even make a scratch. It was then Luke realized he was wearing a rubber mask.
The killer grunted and grabbed Luke by the hair, flinging him to the side like he weighed nothing. The pain was nothing like he had ever felt before. It was like having a thousand angry wasps sting you on your scalp all at the same time. He hit the ground with a jarring thud and couldn’t catch his breath. He watched, lying on his side, air trying to move in and out of his lungs, but it felt like he was breathing through a straw. He could do nothing as the killer swung his feet around in an arc and cut Jimmy’s legs out from under him. The killer stood and pulled an object from his pocket and Luke saw the glint of metal in the light of the streetlamp and knew it was a knife.
Ellie screamed. “No! You bastard! Leave them alone!” She flung herself at him again and began pounding on his chest and arms, but he didn’t even flinch. He bent over, grabbed Jimmy by the hair and pulled him up. He raised the knife toward Jimmy’s face and that’s when the gun fired.
The killer’s head jerked up and he dropped Jimmy to the ground. He didn’t even hesitate. William Smith turned, ran faster than Luke would have imagined, and disappeared around the pool house, heading for his car. Mr. Lolly ran up holding a pistol in his hand.
“You kids alright?!”
Just then a siren could be heard.