CHAPTER FIVE
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Viggo helps Kirby up on both feet but Kirby tears away from him like he’s the devil. The rosewood study echoes with their scuffle. He can’t stay here. He staggers towards the exit, attacked with a headache, as the room tilts. Viggo cuts him off, standing between him and the door. Whoa, what were you doing on the floor?582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvjxb0ZNXoA
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Kirby shoves him out of the way, harder than necessary.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJEyklkB7O6
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You left me in there too long! Kirby seethes, baring teeth. This surprises Viggo. And the longer I’m around you, I got a neon target on my back.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIvfqZb0QGE
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His brother stands still, a deer in headlights. The flashbacks to MyHAVEN with his strung up or mangled corpse hurtling in the air didn’t help.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrLo4hzSDWV
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Kirby stammers, realizing how that sounded horrible. He darkens anyway. Who cares about Viggo Hayes’s feelings? The guy’s never cared for anyone. The car wreck. I know someone tried to kill us because of you. I know about the fight with Taylor. I KNOW that Taylor is alive.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSMMvJGrHoh
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His brother laughs. What are you even talking about? Wow, I really did leave you in that pod too long. Just got back from the moon, huh? Viggo spins a globe like it’s only a toy. He isn’t as panicked like he was when he kicked a hole in the wall. Cool as a cucumber. Taylor’s dead. End of your story.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO2KT0Bhgfy
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Kirby nods, seeing how it is. Mind games, as always, with Viggo Hayes. This time, it’s different. He’s not a kid; he’s old enough to stand up for himself.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYoSwok1FAK
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He skulked out of his office and walked out of this building. Kirby insists it. I saw the man with my own two eyes.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBeiML3HaOM
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People have been known to hallucinate after a VR session.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGMqXjGj9QD
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Kirby scoffs incredulously. I don’t believe ...582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1cowKpWtkJ
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Me? Viggo raises an eyebrow. He starts signing rougher, as if punching the air. What will they say once they find out you’ve been saying, no how about raving, that you’ve been visited by the ghost of Dom Taylor? A suicide bomber? Kirby wonders about the bombed plane. That they believe you, honey it’s okay? Hell no. They’ll deport you down with a fucking smile.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt6DRtHAUn5
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What if I tell everyone that Taylor never made it on the plane? That the last time someone saw him was right here with you? Kirby points to his brother.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXkYqTPWM4S
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Viggo’s psycho orange eyes widen and bristle like a tiger’s. You’re the least of my worries. The eyes dart, looking out the windows. And shut up, because he’s blown to bits and you’re crazy. Confused! Go back to your dorm, and … you’ll see.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4IbXxBDdXx
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Suddenly, Ishmael makes it out of the office and runs barking its head off at the windows. Kirby gives Viggo a glare before leaving. Yeah, we’ll see.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFW2xbAj4kA
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He peers over his shoulder and sees a dimly lit campus where the winged horses glow. It looks like he is alone. Kirby hates that. He tries to push out the creeping doubts. What if Taylor is dead and you saw someone else? What if you’re dead wrong?582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnI104vuYh
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He pulls out his phone. 13 worried texts from the anonymous. Kirby blinks. That means Chance really was there in his waking nightmare.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbGsmp2liCP
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Inside the dorm while walking down the empty hall, Kirby texts back that he’s really fine, he guesstimates, and looks up to his room. A hot guy in a grey jumpsuit stands at his doorway, brightening and looking relieved. Kirby rubs his eyes. It is Chance. Kirby’s knees could buckle but he locks them in place.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7MDglHdwsu
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Standing next to him, Kirby realizes that Chance is taller.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMYFXMDEAjq
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Bzzt. Hi. We obviously need to talk. But first, can I take you out for a date?582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1wuPPC7j4l
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Kirby nods. Not eagerly as he thought he’d be, but it was a nod. His hand and Chance’s hand explore each other, knotting their fingers. Their unsure eyes meet and linger with excitement. Okay, Mr. One-In-A-Trillion.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ88ZuEHK5x8
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Their first date isn’t very far to walk to, seeing how it’s still on campus. They sneak into an occupied studio through the back. Scouting until it’s clear, they climb to the balcony that overlooks the set, a sci-fi film in production. Kirby feels his headache again from trying too hard to not make a sound. Chance leads their way to a corner with enough space where they can crouch and hide.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡosdIJWL0yZ
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Bzzt. This is where I work. Quentin Tarantino was supposed to be here. But since the bombing, he respectfully declined.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ15cKGNZDvy
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Kirby tries to hush a titter with his fist. Chance points to the nearest celebrity, which happens to be Simone Chaput. She grips her script like a dominatrix, her lips slacking as she recites her lines in attempt to seduce and terrify the camera. “My beautiful creation.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGrHeLTjNk7
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There is a futuristic kind of chainsaw she dances around in a spaceship, querying people off set if this thing is on. Simone could claw her own neck apart with her skull studded nails if she so chooses, yet holds back out of deep sadness. She deplores yet she rages. She says her lines, about to fall onto the chainsaw. “My gorgeous solution, and I’m going to kill myself with it.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ14kEsgVR30
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Her arms crawl with gooseflesh. She hesitates to check it but like, whatever. It’s just pretend. It’s acting. It’s a job.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3XHhHRBuvs
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The blade’s edge is sharply barbed, but locked in place. Motionless.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡND1xbDVcoD
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The director says cut! They go through it again. Simone looks away, frustrated but mostly at herself. She does some image training. Get in that zone. Get your face in there, the chainsaw zone.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqvSf35I903
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Her phone is on. Skyden security’s not supposed to look at celebrities’ personal effects but hey if you don’t get caught… 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN3HMyuiKlW
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Kirby nods with fascination. Despite film production, he’s about to watch a hacker at work. Chance opens a bulky black laptop, police grade. Looks like it costs quite a dime. It reveals the phones including Kirby’s, tablets, and computers in the building as red hot spots all at once before locking onto Simone’s phone.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwNbALXBkLT
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Kirby and Chance could see everything.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDqR1CYVaH8
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They see unanswered Facebook messages from old friends since high school. They see her sad nude selfies, pouting at a mirror in a spotlight in a dark room. They see all her hot and heavy sexts about cunnilingus to another voluptuous actress on set, a Rachel Craven. Lots of pumpkin pie jokes. Kirby cringes just thinking about it. Simone and Rachel occasionally eye-fuck each other from across the room. They must be thinking of whipped cream. And here Kirby has to swallow all his bubbling laughter.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ22kHSHd6BE
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Simone’s fingers pluck at the saw. It whirs and stops. She frowns, unsure if that just happened. Never mind. She doesn’t bother to ask anyone if they saw that.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCZK1slIius
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Then Chance starts going through Simone Chaput’s search history which is mostly scented candles, necrophilia, and snakes. Kirby quiets down, greatly ashamed for knowing too much, thinking how it’s no longer funny. It chills him actually to be sitting here, watching how invasively Chance digs and combs deep through someone else’s phone. This isn’t how he’d thought the date would go.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYKzRXUu1Nh
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Kirby decides to send a text: Did you ever go through my phone?582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5YIRRTBjIx
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Chance pauses at this, just briefly. Yes. 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCLsnI8hVgz
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Stalker alert! Kirby exhales, knocked impressed with his honesty but still can’t bring himself to meet those cold green eyes. Chance nudges into him gently. He looks into them and they are warmer and darker than he expects.
I don’t judge but if I were to compare you to the world, you’re way vanilla. Plus, I’m into the bondage kink too. 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZJtQYC2RrP
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Kirby blushes. You are shameless! 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6QBKsDDAKd
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I don’t think truth should be taboo. Chance glances at Kirby’s lips.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkurzVEJxG
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He looks at Chance’s lips too. They lean in.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ50UjVC7R1P
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“HEYY!!” Simone screams with her perfect pearly white teeth as her hair gets snagged in the revving chainsaw. People scream with her. She’s being eaten. The director shouts for someone to turn off the wailing blade.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3N9XRakXgN
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Chance swings his eyes to the crisis, keying in his laptop. Kirby grips his mouth. What the hell? Several of the crew runs up to the machine, arguing about what to do.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxl6JiWH56c
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The chainsaw buzzes angrily and yanks her down to one knee. She screams, knowing her neck’s about to be snapped, her head about to be scalped. Her eyes bulge and water. “Nonono someone help me, god help me!!”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ26nAvrsVIo
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Dr. Fanfare and Rachel Craven run onto set to her side. They quickly settle on a decision and grind Simone’s hair across the blades while the actress begs her hair be cut free.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3Iv50TyD1
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July shouts at her, “Left! Right, harder!”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkXNfnbssra
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Kirby shadows as Chance locks onto the chainsaw and profiles it. While Kirby has no idea what the coding meant, it is clear from the warped pinging someone’s remotely controlling it inside this room. Instead of decrypting their identity, Chance looks to commandeer the savage machine back.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyzhYP4tfN1
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He keys in a long string of code that abruptly kills the chainsaw dead.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMY0HBCrVqM
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“Okay, okay, hurry,” Simone feels a lot better as they zigzag.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj97P9Fnr04
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Her hair starts to detach and fray with fringe. It starts coming apart.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjFBkRSWuTy
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But the chainsaw begins chugging up again, yanking her arching too far back for July’s and Rachel’s hands. They clutch Simone’s dangling fingers. Their eyes dart among each other with absolute horror. Is this it?582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIvNvsatDOh
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Chance commandeers the chainsaw again with swift keystrokes. It wails one last time and shuts down with a guttural whine. Simone shrieks with fury again, prying her hair with all she’s got but to no avail. It’s still in there, clamped jaws as fused as a closed zipper. Chance quickly keys in the next code.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmIEthLnACu
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Come on! Kirby thinks, wondering how fast the other hacker is.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoyzCiLVVtS
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Chance accesses the hardware, changes the password, and adjusts the firewall to triple in encryption. This takes less than ten seconds. Now no one but him can do something with it. Next, he scans the room for the other hacker. He and Kirby hunch in to split up the work of searching. They scroll up, and they scroll left. Come on! There. A ripple in that corner indicates a white dot.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCChFBHpQrM
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It emerges, traveling up behind a red dot labeled Kirby Hayes.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsGyaFPSPaf
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They glance at each other for a minute before Chance’s face is stomped in by a dirty black boot. Kirby hyperventilates, staring at the ghost of Dom Taylor.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkgFo9LVDg8
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He catches the next stomp with his two hands. Kirby hooks his shoe behind Taylor’s standing boot, at the ankle, and trips him.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4gkCVFg9oB
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Taylor falls hard onto his back and cries out with pain.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiEwWmMddcU
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Well, you look very alive! Kirby thinks, clambering on top. He strikes the man hard across the bearded face. That’s for my brother. His hand throbs. Wow, that hurts but feels so good.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvUGL8zDTGy
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He clocks a hard one in the neck, making the old man choke and wheeze for air. That one’s for me! Finally Kirby stands up and stomps him in the face. That’s for Chance! He stomps again and again, and he could hear how much louder each one gets.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbrNAWN5TIO
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Chance pulls him back until he finally gives up. “Stop! Stop!” Kirby pants, realizing how badly he’s destroyed Taylor’s face. It’s swollen black, ashen grey, and blue indigo.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHShFIs0aBL
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Simone finally frees herself, hugging July and then Rachel in broken sobs. Together, they flock far away from the chainsaw and the gnarled hair that glint in the spotlights.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDCV6ztfF4T
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That’s the Spook. The one who caused that car wreck, tortured me, and nearly sawed Simone’s head all in one day. He’s on a warpath. Kirby texts for Chance to read as he tends to Chance’s bleeding cheek.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyV5wBWhVQV
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We don’t know that. Help me tie him up.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBSIqDKPhk2
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Chance points at a heavy scratchy rope for Kirby to retrieve. They bind the man’s ankles, knees, and wrists together in knots. They drag Taylor downstairs for the entire cast and crew to see his face.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhGjdXsNLzH
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Dr. Fanfare clutches her mouth mumbling a prayer, her face going white like she’s seen a ghost. It slowly registers that Taylor’s death was faked.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSc6yGjTl2Q
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Onlookers spread the word through their phones.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx2OkP9cFn4
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Just wait until Viggo hears about this.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYYyWDERFJj
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Kirby tries not to watch but it’s just like a train wreck as Simone limps away with Rachel, heading back to her room to recover. Even Dr. Fanfare’s overcome with grief and shock that she leaves as well. Through the heart-pounding scatter, Kirby meets Chance’s feral stare, sighs, and tries not to smile with relief.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFalyQG8ocr
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You saved her life. :) Kirby tells him.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv5hzPi8y3x
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Chance stammers and laughs awkwardly. It’s my job. Oh and listen, don’t tell anyone about the Spook thing. Makes you sound batshit cray cray.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNlf7Q3ytKf
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Doesn’t it? Kirby could scratch his head.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzR93RqG99L
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Iris Frisk with her glowing auburn hair rushes in her white dress, holding her video camera and reporting rapidly as she goes, “Oh.. my.. god!! Professor Dominic Taylor, presumed to be dead, strikes again! Hey man wake up!”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWA33hAbG6v
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This irks Chance greatly into swearing under bated breath. He gets in her way, jostles her back, and forces her to retreat a few steps.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8tZdqqfN7L
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Iris sneers and says, “Whoever you are, now’s not the time!”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvqe8uJsRf4
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“Took the words right out of my mouth,” Chance retorts. “Back down.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡivMPr9p3pl
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“Look black-eyed dude,” Iris turns off the camera and giggles. Her doe eyes bat. “Can you just be cool for a second? Let me get what I came for? Before the police gets here?”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy2FJC8Knub
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Chance laughs sardonically in her face and says, “I am the police.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvMKyjHcB8Q
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Kirby’s eyes widen when Chance unbuttons his jumpsuit, reveals a black tanktop, a massive pectoral muscle, and brings out a chained necklace to a cold steel badge.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX9ihf4M17W
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Iris grits her teeth, “Oh jesus.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEhOKRI4HlI
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Kirby’s stunned, left with a million questions. The police?582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZoLQ8BkUmq
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After all this time, Chance didn’t even mention that part. Kirby assumes it must be for good reason, like for protection. Especially for a corrupt cop, breaking laws he’s supposed to uphold. Of course no one knows that but Kirby. It dawns on him. Ohhh.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9fTr1wvubQ
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His eyes gaze upon the gleaming name Skyden Police Officer Chance Gott.
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Meanwhile, back in MyHAVEN, the Spook dangles 65 feet off the floor on a scaffold that’s held into place by brackets connected to a wall. Humming a sad tune, the wooden two-faced mask with stained tears scrutinizes every detail of the frescoed ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The nine scenes of Genesis. The beginning of mankind. The many depictions of naked men and shadows of their internal organs. The second coming of Christ, who judges mankind.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRFJi3EH0rg
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The Spook takes everything in and faces to the right towards the blessed, those anointed for a glorious Heaven. Facing left, the Spook sniffles and sees the damned, those exiled to a heartless Hell. Being in the middle down to the line, the Spook lies out flat, humming and dangling, unjudged. “This is my life.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW5lAQ1BFed
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“Nose pressed to the ceiling for four years …” comes the mutter. “Mold. Poverty. Deteriorated vision. Weight of the world and the pope. All these can birth a masterpiece. But ooh, at such a high cost.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBThsQrwVA
582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgwYtkXvEzI
“Only after the climb to Heaven have I found rest.” The Spook sighs heavily.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxkkSTHnAHw
582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡezmPAkAmFh
“Words, words, words! I should kill myself.” The Spook groans. “I should, shouldn’t I?” The Spook grabs the mask and spins it around and around. Smile, frown, upside down. “How much longer do I have to suck at serial killing before I throw in the towel?”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeaDxiI5yqx
582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWi817bdfuh
The Spook hyperventilates until the breathing finally calms down. “There’s no Haven for me. I am no one. I’ve failed to killed the Hayes brothers. Damn them.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB947AHvwXi
582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi2OkYKC46A
The mask shakes hysterically. “I’ve failed to killed Chaput. How mortifying is that. And now it turns out I’ve failed to kill Taylor too? F! M! L! I can’t go on.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiUpGIdcIJX
582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkLNHcwW4it
“Now, now, I surely must have rushed.” The Spook rambles on with gloved hands soothingly. “I’ve been too eager, too greedy, I know that. No need to freak out. Every forty seconds, someone dies from suicide, you know, and I’m certainly not that person.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡObM5gnLE8V
582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHQrgP6bHvh
Aha, the Spook looks back to the left where the demons live and raises a finger. “But they can be! Suicide. How simplistic, how classic. Should’ve thought of this before.” The Spook wonders now. “But who’s the first to choke?”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0PP2H9hvbx
582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCApdsHsAvf
The frescoed ceiling glows bright neon with a map of Skyden. The Spook scries it. Millions of red hot spots burn and float, labeled with well-known names of celebrities, directors, and everybody mobile or at home. Simone Chaput and Rachel Craven are in a dorm room at Pegasus Studios. Lucky trollop.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV8pcFaEgnc
582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZFlzxVHRaL
The Spook searches for Taylor, but the name is gone. Off-grid, but guaranteed to be arrested and taken down to the police station.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkUh6zEzMip
582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1kXlFF1Tap
Next, the Spook locates Kirby Hayes traveling through the heart of the city. It seems he is alone, but the Spook is sure that’s not always true. The Spook remembers Anonymous, who ruined the whole fun thing twice already.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjvY4TGBGpm
582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjU3jK5r9SU
But Kirby Hayes saw me.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRxuJOYtvwF
582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdtTlaB3ar3
That is a loose end, the Spook decides. That is rather vexing.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrjuT2MCciy
582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0QxweYngMr
Another groan echoes throughout the Sistine Chapel. “This is going to be so depressing. I hope I do it right … no bawling this time. Steel up, you hear me? This has to be done. The plan has to be carried out, there’s no other way. It’s going to be so sad … once you’ve finished.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQg3D0YDumV
582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYiYTlbZWtA
“Yes, you.” A gloved finger presses upon Kirby’s pinging red dot.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUb4HM5oB3q
582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7PlBqFGCtM
“You will unknowingly kill yourself. I’ll help ...”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFvNx5h8KdL
582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFTP40CpYOR
582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4TegTrFUnE
THE SPOOK IS SAD582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhKL0dzAKnp
Jack Steele Adams582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSmrrD8r0J5
ns216.73.216.76da2
