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?563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuBuqC1t9ku
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Kirby shoves him out of the way, harder than necessary.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcGosr2kDC2
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUcdYRSchcq
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzjh03JkU5l
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBzu1BioKpf
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgpeepppDur
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXNiqUTFgHd
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5jpULsyy3i
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People have been known to hallucinate after a VR session.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNahlLxrweH
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Kirby scoffs incredulously. I don’t believe ...563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbLhkFdaAv9
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOczBhSzxLs
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0EvH95Axns
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ02gPFPv5dd
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcHDZ7f51RT
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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?563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaPyENldPzR
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOptWSwXHPJ
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNETUuemoeY
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Standing next to him, Kirby realizes that Chance is taller.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsBBTbN0SAL
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Bzzt. Hi. We obviously need to talk. But first, can I take you out for a date?563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡykwsLBNCyT
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqb4eGbVgOa
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1rMUsf1pgY
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Bzzt. This is where I work. Quentin Tarantino was supposed to be here. But since the bombing, he respectfully declined.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz7NzyVYN6B
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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.”563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkxTTa3usef
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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.”563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6L9bY10pj3
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP7yhpSOvzE
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The blade’s edge is sharply barbed, but locked in place. Motionless.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCfPglOuUJh
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3yJqJ60Lt6
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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… 563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYqY9sveOYO
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuhnFQvNYnn
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Kirby and Chance could see everything.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL8DOYysDOq
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ98xzvkFVU
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2rM8aD9WB5
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSz2Q3cjQrt
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Kirby decides to send a text: Did you ever go through my phone?563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPAnD4mm3p6
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Chance pauses at this, just briefly. Yes. 563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhmr6CufX4r
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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. 563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS8LGgN8XQE
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Kirby blushes. You are shameless! 563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡomfiru0li3
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I don’t think truth should be taboo. Chance glances at Kirby’s lips.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVYRT2LPCAx
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He looks at Chance’s lips too. They lean in.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7dlTLO4KK2
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ76gp1XXtiR
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWTDiMVTjlL
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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!!”563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi1JpIY3eiP
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ1V5a2f5uV
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July shouts at her, “Left! Right, harder!”563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvWwKSarxS6
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpoh1qDWSjb
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He keys in a long string of code that abruptly kills the chainsaw dead.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmKPsbxsygB
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“Okay, okay, hurry,” Simone feels a lot better as they zigzag.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2kM6oCzmbs
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Her hair starts to detach and fray with fringe. It starts coming apart.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSJoWEaXrdE
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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?563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4w47iygHMX
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡthG6TKYhky
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Come on! Kirby thinks, wondering how fast the other hacker is.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxD0yWb11Al
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgtuG554B3e
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It emerges, traveling up behind a red dot labeled Kirby Hayes.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHKcG0nMoRl
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS2aR0CdFq2
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1sGxsgBV0y
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Taylor falls hard onto his back and cries out with pain.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMy7Y3laaeJ
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8rL8oVGlir
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡipZKQ6Z5Qi
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8acGsMD28a
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAabL57Yr5t
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9V7ymM6wTg
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We don’t know that. Help me tie him up.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡITunBBUM2T
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4uJFsLBfWp
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUTtbgRTyUC
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Onlookers spread the word through their phones.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSuKZ3QymzP
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Just wait until Viggo hears about this.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu8WhEjXwTk
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBWX6Ahoegk
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You saved her life. :) Kirby tells him.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2hxzq83l99
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEsBdS8XYth
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Doesn’t it? Kirby could scratch his head.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGcFnyRUQ2a
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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!”563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBppZ9BUUvv
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC6hLnMmn1d
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Iris sneers and says, “Whoever you are, now’s not the time!”563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLtr1DTy44U
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“Took the words right out of my mouth,” Chance retorts. “Back down.”563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSTEsG5mx0o
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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?”563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5amvAbOii5
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Chance laughs sardonically in her face and says, “I am the police.”563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDgXO1M24cN
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYFyA4amUVa
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Iris grits her teeth, “Oh jesus.”563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS1NP6zTqLe
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Kirby’s stunned, left with a million questions. The police?563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnX8HTBpTJr
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1MfEe7OyDa
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoAM8HIKWEU
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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.”563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBUqm5GaSC
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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.”563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxrTE2UiZPG
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“Only after the climb to Heaven have I found rest.” The Spook sighs heavily.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsJY2RYDD76
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“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?”563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkk8CNyWYwD
563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoL2LKOe46k
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.”563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFxliUMDWTA
563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdSVp7c0RKu
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.”563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjY2qt7G7Ob
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“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.”563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjJDSqONNA0
563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmDgWjnkVOL
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?”563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBlKSgcRvIC
563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqItcTrUimi
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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbeoBUPXPNy
563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt2HobZE0c7
The Spook searches for Taylor, but the name is gone. Off-grid, but guaranteed to be arrested and taken down to the police station.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAw68ajibnX
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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.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuI0Xz6epbn
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But Kirby Hayes saw me.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJsBNe5Mwyk
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That is a loose end, the Spook decides. That is rather vexing.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtTaySA4qnp
563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVNNLMXZ6hD
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.”563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUenwMtUisK
563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgHOdRGBdGF
“Yes, you.” A gloved finger presses upon Kirby’s pinging red dot.563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUrT5SAR0e
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“You will unknowingly kill yourself. I’ll help ...”563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Nh3Z73Tz0
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THE SPOOK IS SAD563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4kKypxJEuE
Jack Steele Adams563Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSxUfD4k4ba
ns3.144.47.192da2
