Rob Blackwell - A Soul To Steal

“But they already had a crime reporter.”

“And he was good,” Kyle said. “No, he was fantastic. There was no way they would give me that beat as long as he was there.”

“So why not just kill him? Why invent a whole persona?”

“For one, it was a fun challenge,” he said. “I’d been killing for years, but changing patterns, changing methods, ensuring not to draw attention to myself. This was different. This was a direct challenge to God and man to find me. Secondly, I wasn’t even a reporter yet, Quinn. If I had killed Tim, someone else at the paper would have taken his place. Then I would have had to kill them. At what point would someone figure out what I was up to? No, I had to create a disincentive to being the crime reporter. It had to be a job no one wanted 12 years ago. And it worked like a charm. Anderson ran off and… there I was.”

“The girl in the basement? She wasn’t random either, was she?”

“No,” Kyle said. “She wasn’t. I went on three dates with her, did you know that? I thought the whole fireman-thing would really work, you know? But she just wanted to be ‘friends.’ And man, was I cool about it when she told me. But I knew she was into Tim. Everyone was into Tim. So I made sure she was on the list.”

“Why not kill Tim?”

Kyle paused at this.

“Cause he’s the only one that truly stood up to me, Quinn,” he said. “His last article was begging for me to kill him. So I didn’t. He wanted death. I thought surviving would be harder for him. And it was.”

“Why now? Why bring Lord Halloween back now?”

“Look around you, Quinn,” Kyle said. “The world is dying. Journalism is dying with it. How long before Ethan sells the paper? The Chronicle is struggling and you know it. It’s not the business it once was. Even the mighty Post is going to die soon. So I wanted a good story before it all went down. And Lord Halloween was the best story this county ever had.”

Kyle paused and Quinn could see him smiling, even in the darkness.

“Of course, that was before someone tried to hone in on my story,” he said. “Before someone tried to steal it from me.”

“I never did, Kyle.”

“Oh, who could blame you?” Kyle said. “Lord Halloween is a sick, sick fuck. I’ll admit I’m laying it on thick. The theatricality that comes with that persona is addictive once you get started. But it’s not me. Lord Halloween will have his final stand tonight, and I’ll move on. Maybe I’ll get a reporting job in Bluemont, what do you think? You could have joined me, if you hadn’t left that message on my cell phone-a dead man’s cell phone-asking to meet me here. You were a good reporter.”

“I am a good reporter,” Quinn said.

“Yeah, gotta say-I just don’t think of you in the present tense anymore,” Kyle replied.

He laughed. But far from a maniacal laugh, this one was quite casual.

“You know, I’m really enjoying this,” he said. “All the others I wanted to put on a show for. You know? To live up to their expectations. But I’m just chatting with you. It’s very freeing.”

“So glad I could help,” Quinn replied.

“It was more than just the paper, though,” Kyle said. “I did this because it’s what I do. To know that every October, you aren’t like the bogeyman, you are the bogeyman. You are the thing that keeps people up at night, the bump in the dark, the figure they see out of the corner of their eye. You own these people. Is that enough for you?”

Kyle took a step forward. Quinn backed up.

“Hang on, hang on,” Kyle said. “I wouldn’t want you to go running through those woods again. I thought you were acting all crazy. But I guess you aren’t exactly acting, are you?”

“I’m not the crazy one here,” Quinn said.

“Oh no?” Kyle asked. “What was all that shit about the Prince of something or other? I thought I must have heard your girlfriend wrong, but you must believe some of it. Why else would you be here? Why not call the police and try to set a trap? I assumed that’s what you were doing, but they didn’t know a thing. I checked.”

Kyle checked his watch.

“It’s about 10:30 now, champ,” he said. “I guess you have an hour and a half to take the ‘great power’ and defeat me with it. Right?”

Before Quinn had time to react, Kyle rushed toward him, flashed his knife and cut Quinn on the arm.

Quinn didn’t take any time to respond. Instead, he leapt into the middle of the bridge where it was darkest.

He could still see Kyle closer to the edge of the bridge, but Quinn knew he was well hidden.

“Fuck,” Kyle said. “That was fast. But I still saw blood, my boy. I still saw you bleed. So I guess you don’t have supernatural abilities after all, do you? What was that bullshit, anyway? Something you cooked up for the girl? Was this just a ploy to get into Trina’s pants, Quinn? Her mom would not have approved.”

Kyle’s voice echoed in the bridge.

“Listen, buddy, you can skulk in the shadows all you want,” Kyle said. “But I have all night. Granted, I did have plans, but you know what, this ‘Lord Halloween’ stuff is kinda overblown anyway. I can kill them just as dead on Nov. 1. Oh, but wait. That’s the day you lose your superpowers, right? When you become a real boy?”

Quinn was shocked Kyle knew about any of this. But he must have been close enough to overhear them at some point.

“You aren’t invulnerable either, Kyle,” Quinn said. “How did your face get so messed up? Did Janus give you a taste of your own medicine?”

Kyle stepped into the shadows and Quinn lost sight of him. Slowly, Quinn started moving backwards.

It was pitch black in there. Quinn didn’t know why they built the beams so close together, but there was no light inside. He couldn’t see where Kyle was and he heard nothing.

“So it’s hide and seek, is it?” Kyle’s voice echoed inside the bridge. “I can play that. I’m the one with the knife. What have you got?”

It was impossible to tell Kyle’s position. His voice was bouncing off the walls around them. Slowly, Quinn backed up again and hoped his voice would pull off the same effect.

“Where are you going to go, Quinn?” Kyle asked. “The minute I see you in the light, I’m going to find you. And believe me, I’ll catch up. You may be younger, but I have had more training, if you know what I mean.”

Quinn said nothing. He worried he could give away his position.

“Where is your girlfriend, anyway?” Kyle asked. “She was supposed to be here, wasn’t she? She left the message, after all, asking for us to meet here. So what’s the deal, Quinn? You hoping to take me down by yourself?”

Quinn had backed now to the other side of the bridge. He was so close to the edge that he worried Kyle could see him. He couldn’t stay here. Eventually Kyle would find him and Quinn had nothing to protect himself.

He had to complete the original plan. He had to get the hell out of here and face the other monster first.

“Come on, Quinn,” Kyle said, and his voice sounded frustrated. “Where are you?”

Quinn knew he had to be quick. He darted out into the moonlight and immediately ran into the woods.

Behind him, he heard Kyle yell something-obviously aware that Quinn had run away. But Quinn thought he had a jump on Kyle, regardless of his “training.”

Quinn didn’t know where to head. He wasn’t sure what was in front of him, but he had very few choices.

Fortunately, the woods on this side of the bank were not as deep, and Quinn quickly came out into a clearing. Ahead of him was a barn-the old Phillips’ place he guessed-and an overgrown pumpkin patch. It was the only place Quinn thought to go. He moved across the field as fast as he could, reached the barn, and collapsed against one wall.