Night in the Woods: The Final Night - Part 8

Chapter 8: The Killer Revealed
Mae Borowski felt very alone sometimes, and that wasn't special in the town of Possum Springs. But this time, after the death of Mr. Chasokov, she couldn't help but wonder if she really mattered in the scheme of things. Of anything. Not a piece of the puzzle nor anyone to talk to.

So from her room, with her broken lamp light (she broke herself), she grabbed a old black jacket when she was in High School. It was her kinda 'goth' phase right after she devastated Andy Cullen's life and definitely her own. Putting it on, the jacket still fit her well. She was reminded of the terror and imagery it showed to people. But she really didn't care,

Not after what happened the day she discovered Mr. Chazokov's corpse''. Hell, this could be her LAST night for all we know. ''

Without speaking or really thinking about much, she left her room with her backpack listening to the droplets outside and closed her wooden entrance. Down the stairs she walked, down the stairs she once was apart of. Her family was gone from anywhere in the home, but that wasn't special. She couldn't help but try and desperately look. Finding nothing of course, she walked slower and slower to the front door of the Borowski residence, still hearing the hard rain softly hit the walls.

With at least shoes and her jacket on, she opened the wooden door and walked outside the house in pouring thunder and heavy rain. It wasn't too dark outside, but pure blackness as she saw the dark of night in front of her.

". . . Rain. . ." She said with a stern face. ". . .Couldn't it be clear outside. . . ?"

She took her first step in the puddle of water on her side walk, it was deeply cold even though it had been Spring for sometime now. Her head was wet, her jacket was wet, but her own heart was definitely dry inside. She looked into the watery reflection on the sidewalk for a moment.

Her glowing, blood red eyes were the first things that popped up, they were still menacing and hypnotic and now it was pumped up. She started to tear up looking at herself, but the rain kept it in secret.

"I'm just.. no one.. am I?"

There for a few moments, looking into the wet pavement, the cat moved on with drowsy footsteps towards the road. The street was about empty besides a few moving cars and there were no birds singing like before.

She felt empty like the street. She really did. In the time of 10 years, she had one highhandedly destroyed her 'good' reputation as a citizen, friend and normal person. Everything was giving out and perhaps the jacket helped a little more after last night. It did after therapy.

She continued her slow walk down the barren of the streets while not having the strength to look forward in the heavy rain. walking up the concrete hill, she didn't say hello to anyone even who she last considered her neighbors. Was she ashamed of them? Or herself? She didn't know the answer and didn't want to try for it.

Her socks and shoes were getting wet as she walked further and up the steps to the Church but she didn't mind, cold was the only emotion she could feel right now.

Without hesitation, she walked inside, the church was not entirely empty of noise but she at least felt some warm and silence from the downpour. She laid down at one of the wooden seats, and looked at the infinite ceiling of stone and concrete.

"I'm not sure what to say, God. I'm really not sure. But I guess I'm running. Running far away, that not even you could spot me. So far, no one would care who I am, or . . . was probably."

But all this talk to a invisible power wasn't enough in her situation, and she shortly left the Church of the First Coalescence, walking out with wet steps. In her blank mind, walking through the large dread of the little city in her tiny jacket, Mae couldn't help but wonder what kind of person she really was right now. She could kill herself and it wouldn't matter for long. It wouldn't.

She was at least stronger than that.

The roads that led to Possum Springs weren't so much refurbished than just being dirt roads. The only clear road out of the town was the one out from the Highway but there were much more people could follow. Mae then thought of the Cult, and then all the murders that came together... then it hit her like an eighteen-wheeler! An old Ghost of hers when she travelled through the forest where the Mine began. She had a angry and quite fierce face all across the way and you could imagine just why,  she discovered an entire cult dedicated to killing residents, she found what happened to her best friend Casey Hartley here, and of course she had to talk with that thing, She still had nightmares about it.

She got to the demolished well after the rain stopped. After everything grateful that happened here, she was just sickened. She couldn't stand to be here for long, getting reminded of deep memories from months ago.

The mine went farther then many knew, it was carved and mined by crazy people after all. The forest paths got smaller and smaller until there was just footwork cemented in the wet and slippery mud. Her shoes were already muddy so it didn't matter so much. What matters was that light was approaching soon, and it seemed she had walked the entire night through this forest of theirs.

Although she could go anywhere, she had at least some direction in her head. She was going by the salty creek and through there passing by some neighborhood towns of old. If she could make it.

She had destroyed her life, so this journey at least made it up to her. It was becoming midnight, so she had to hurry before the sun rose into the sky. She had to hurry before the killer comes after her next''. ''

But when she got to where the elevator was down below, she expected the body the cultist that was named, Eide, was. But... it was gone!

"W-W... WHAT?! Wha-I-What the-Where's the body? Where is it?! H-How, I..." Mae began to loose the brain compacity to form words, she was stammering all over the place. She was completely baffled! Then it hit her even harder; Eide must've survived somehow, and wanted revenge on her, and her friends, for ruining everything the Cult had planned. Mostly because they tried to kill him and seal his friends, partners or whatnot, inside the mines.

Eide must've wanted her to loose everything, just like he did.

That must be his masterplan all along, and now it was taking full-swing. First, he killed Mr. Penderson, next the cook, then Mr. Chasokov. Then Mae thought about who he's going to kill next. But she couldn't tell who. Mae began to think, to get to a killer, I'd have to think like one. So she began to sit down and think who Eide will strike next. Until she shot up a look of horror... "Mom! Dad!"

It was approximately 1:41 in the morning when Mae sprinted out of the mine, down the hill, through the woods and down the street all the way back home. She opened the door and looked around, nobody was present.

"Mom?! Dad?!" Mae called out. No one answered. Probably already asleep. But Mae knew something as wrong and she could tell by the lit fireplace. The fireplace was untouched when she left. "Hello?!" Still, no one answered. "Oh my god! Oh my god! Please be okay!"

She began to pray to whatever god may hear her as she ascended up the stairs and into her parents' bedroom. She could see that they were still gone, which was weird because she knew they would be home around this time. She entered to look around, until she heard the door close, and a familiar voice saying cruelly...

"Turn around..."

She did as the voice said, with a look of pure and up-most terror, and suddenly, she was face-to-face with none other... than Eide; his right arm replaced with a severed stump where an arm should be. In his left hand held a firearm that's pointing at her head. Mae gasped for breath as her thoughts were a hundred percent correct.

"It's you..." Mae said timidly, "It's been you all along."

"What's the matter? Lost for words? I expected more... I thought you were more braver than this. Heh, guess I was wrong."

"I... I thought you were dead..." Mae said, still timid by Eide's sudden return.

Eide growled in fury, "How long did you wait before killing me, huh? A month? A week? I trusted you! And you just left me to die!"

"Wait, what? What do you mean 'I trusted you?' You were trying to kill me!"

Eide paused, then rolled his eyes in frustration. "You really have no idea, do you, Mae?"

"How did you know my name?" Mae asked flatly, clearly she was blown back a bit by Eide saying her name.

Eide suddenly turned off the light on his miner's helmet, took it off, including his hood, revealing something Mae did not expect to see.

Eide has the same fur color, and the same eye color as hers! "Because... We used to be family..."

Mae placed one paw on her mouth, and her eyes became as wide as two skillets. "No, no, no, this can't be happening!"

"You don't remember me? You don't remember your big brother?"

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because mom and dad never told you, they wanted to tell you when your old enough to understand. But I guess they suffered from amnesia, because they forgot about me, and erased me from their thoughts completely after I was taken to that fucking asylum!"

Mae was floored by this revelation, why hasn't Candy tell her daughter that she had a brother?

Eide continued his rant, "You think you had it rough, just be grateful that you're not me! When I was your age, I was diagnosed with bipolar schizophrenia; I saw things that weren't even there, and my emotions caused me to become more violent, so I had to take pills to help me get rid of those things. When I ran out, I mauled a man to death with gardening tools, and was sent to a nearby mental hospital. When I came out, I was fine and normal. But one day in college, it happened again. And again, and again, until I got a major bad reputation amongst students and college professors. So I dropped out and went home. Sounds familiar, correct? Then mom and dad said that I needed help, and, they think it's best if they took me to a special place. That being that disgusting, shit-shack they call an 'asylum'! For years they gave me shock therapy, had me attacked by other inmates, pricked with needles, and fed me nothing but slop. So at the age of twenty-two, I escaped and made a name for myself by joining a cult here in Possum Springs. And as years went by, that's when I saw you. God how you've grown... I knew, I knew, I knew you'd be the one to lead the Cult into their ever-lasting paradise... But you chose to go down a different route, and try to kill me and trap us all in that mine. I guess you can't count on just everyone, huh? But, now that's about to change. Besides, mom and dad always liked you better, they would never love me the same way. I guess it's time that I get my revenge."

Mae just watches as Eide points the gun at her and begins to pull back the hammer.

She dodges the first bullet and runs to another room, there she hides in the darkness as Eide searches around the home with tremendous stealth. Mae continues to hide in the shadows for what felt like hours, until she knows the coast is clear. She lurks up to her room, grabs the bat that is nearly burnt, and goes back down to where Eide is, and attempts to bash him over the head with it. To no avail.

Eide tries to fire his gun at her, but all of his shots end up missing, then Mae whacks him again, and Eide would miss a shot at her. This went for quite some time till he runs out of ammunition. So he uses one of the largest knives in the knife holder to take some swings of his own. The two went back and forth for hours on end, and the light of the morning began to come through as both sister and brother began to resemble two demons at war with one another.

Angus, Gregg, Bea, Germ and Selmers race down the road towards the Borowski home, Mae must've texted them about Eide when she was hiding earlier, and they were more than ready to face the madman.

Mae and Eide were now covered in slashes, bruises, and bathed in their own blood, and they continued to fight in the living room as the fire in the fireplace made it look like two animals wrestling around a campfire. Mae and Eide were out of breath, and they circled around each other for just a few moments before Eide took a swing first, and Mae ducked and swung her bat at his head for what felt like the thousandth time before he stumbled towards the fireplace. Mae knew this was her opportunity and pushed him inside, lighting him ablaze!

Eide shrieked and flailed as he was now a man on fire; the blood all over his body ignited the flames like gasoline! The blood also covered the floor, causing that to be engulfed as well. Mae just stood there and watched her only brother burn alive as he now collapsed on the floor, and dies.

The gang burst through the door and saw what was happening.

"Mae!" Gregg said, "We got your text, where is he?!"

"Right here..." Mae said, she was completely out of breath. Gregg saw the burnt remains of Eide.

"Dammit, you get to kill him..." Gregg huffed.

"Gregg, it's my fight, okay?"

"Oh, alright. But still, it's no fun when everybody gets to kill someone besides me."

"You know that's a federal crime, right?" Angus asked.

"Yeah, so what?"

"So, that's the guy, huh?" Bea asked through a puff of her cigarette. "Just desserts, I say."

"But, what did he mean about him being your brother?" Selmers asked.

"Let's go upstairs and I'll tell you everything." Mae suggested.

And as they go upstairs, police sirens can be heard outside, and a whole bunch of people were already beginning to swarm the scene.

---

The Borowski's were now comfortable since the death of Eide, and Mae's father had already clicked on the news channel as he watched the latest case being solved.

"We have breaking news: The serial killer's identity has finally been found, and it is revealed to be 'Edward Isaac Borowski': the older brother of the victim, Margaret Borowski, after escaping Lockwood Asylum years ago, and was never caught. Edward was seen in the Borowski's living room, with his right arm missing and was set on fire after a brutal confrontation with the victim. Now his body is being taken to the county morgue, and the Borowski family can now sleep safely. And now for the weather."

Mae just stood in front of the mirror, gazing into her reflection. Her eyes now glowing as they usually do. If only she knew a way to get rid of them, if only she knew. Then, she thought about what Eide has said, how her family could care less about her brother, and saw her as a miracle. Why would they care? She killed someone out of insanity years ago in a softball match, and now Eide made her do it again. She stared, and stared, and stared hard enough to actually see the details in her eyes. Until, she heard a loud "SNAP!" inside her brain.

The shapes she mentioned months ago came back, she thought she got rid of them, smashed them to kingdom come, but they're back. She didn't fight them though, she kind of gotten use to them. She picked up a red marker, and wrote "SHAPES" on the glass of the mirror. She even began to write those words on the walls, the window, and inside the walls of her closet. Hell, she even wrote on the floor boards. If she lost her mind during that softball match, she defiantly lost it now. Only this time, permanently.

She did this while cackling to herself, her eye and right hand twitching as she wrote everywhere. Until she heard her dad coughing downstairs. She knew what she had to do, she didn't like the feeling at first, but, who really gives a fuck now. She grabbed her bat, and exited her room quietly and ominously, dragging the bat across the floor.

Nobody knew what happened that night, but maybe it's because Eide had finally got to her. Or, it's something much, much worse than that... Maybe, Eide forgot to mention that whatever was effecting him, might of past it on to Mae as well...