The Leap Year Massacre

“Hey,” Jordan tapped Elliot on the shoulder, forcing her to wake up so she could get the home on tape as they drove up.

Elliot shook her head, grabbing he camera from the Toyotas dashboard and flipping it on. She cleared her throat. “This is the home. We have been on the road for about forty five minutes, and we are finally here.” Elliot yawned, shaking her head as she focused the camera on the home.

The house was Victorian, rural. There were a few trees outside the home, but no others could be seen from anyone’s vision. Abigail didn’t seem to notice anything except that fact that there wasn’t any civilization for miles, and that meant that she couldn’t sneak off and go sleep in a hotel, returning in the morning, the only survivor.

Malachi didn’t even notice they were there, he was so engrossed in his iPod that Elliot could have videotaped him for an hour, getting everything he does on tape, and he wouldn’t even notice.

Elliot’s mouth dropped open when she saw the swing set hooked up to the oak tree out front of the house. It was just like the one she used have at her home in Main. She moved to California because of her father’s job, who forced him to move to a new place every few years. However, because her father died here, her mother wouldn’t leave. Elliot claimed that it was foolish to stay in a place where her father hated everything, but this was the only place that Elliot’s mother could maintain a job and not get into crack or some other outrageous drug that distorted one’s mental tissues.

Elliot wasn’t into drugs like many of the kids she went to school with. She hated to see half of the student body doped up, sitting around, and barley-making good grades because they can’t comprehend what the teachers are saying. Elliot’s mother was the same way for a year or two after her husband’s death. She got into drugs, neglecting to take care of Elliot, meaning she would have to fend for herself. Elliot was strong because of this, and she knew that if anyone was going to survive this ordeal, it was going to be her.

“This place is amazing.” Elliot got a full shot of the house, extremely pleased with her camera angles.

“It’s a dump if you ask me.” Abigail snorted.

With a laugh Elliot returned to documenting their ride up the long gravel road, the sound of rocks hitting the car got louder as he sped up to get there faster. He had been driving for a long time, his ass hurt, his fingers were white, and he was about to piss his pants. He wanted to stop as soon as possible and find a bathroom, or at least a tree that was out of the way. He knew that Abigail didn’t mind seeing Jordan with his pants unzipped, but he didn’t want to make Elliot feel awkward. He also wasn’t too sure about Malachi’s personal preference; after all, he did dress like a faggot.

Elliot ignored the fact that the car had filled with a sort of panic and tension. “We have arrived at the Andersons’ house. It looks empty from outside, no cars anywhere to be found, a few trees outside, but otherwise, nothing.”

“There are a few toys on the front lawn.” Jordan was right. There was an old toy car that a toddler could ride around in, and some sports equipment.

Elliot pursed her lips, “it seems as if the Andersons had a son or two.” Elliot was unable to think about the children, knowing what had happened here so long ago, it was terrible.
“Better gone than living here, I would hate to live in this dump.” Elliot had had enough of Abigail’s self-righteous ways.

Elliot turned around, forcing all of her anger on Abigail. “You are such a bitch. Do you even know what happened to those children? Their skin was peeled off their bones. How would you like that, because really, I’m not too keen on murder but I can make an exception for you?”

Jordan grabbed Elliot’s shoulder and forced her to sit down. “You can beat her after we get out of the car, okay.” Jordan smiled at Elliot, making heart drop into the pit of her stomach.
Elliot had a crush on Jordan, but she always acted as if she didn’t. He mother wouldn’t allow her to date; it would mess up her career. Just like a father, Elliot’s mother threatens any boy she is friends with, or likes, with a shotgun, and her mother wasn’t scared to use it.
Jordan continued to drive, and Elliot focused on filming the home, admiring the beautiful architecture. It had been made my Mr. Anderson himself, over fifty years ago. It still held up beautifully, although the inside had been hacked to shreds, molded, dusty, broken, and filled with hundreds of insects that Abigail would complain about instead of kill.

“Jordan, you’re supposed to be on my side, not with these shitty idiots.” Abigail crossed her arms over her chest, exploiting her discomfort and anger.

At first, no one noticed that there had been something tied to the swing until Elliot zoomed in with her camera onto the tree. “Do you guys see that?” Elliot’s eyebrows stitched together as she tried to figure out what she was seeing.

“What?” Suddenly Malachi was interested in their trip.

Although Malachi wasn’t into being Emo, he didn’t mind blood and gore. Actually, he is obsessed with horror movies; sometimes he would even get a boner while watching one. Sadly, that is the way he discovered he was bisexual, in his room, in the basement, with his best friend Daniel. He has never kissed a girl; he said nothing about not kissing boys.
“I don’t know.” Elliot couldn’t make her camera focus on the object that was tied to the metal chains of the swing.

Jordan stopped the car, now that he was all the way up the driveway. Elliot unbuckled her seat belt before Jordan stopped and threw herself out of the car. She stumbled a bit, but managed to land on her feet. She ran behind Jordan’s truck, the back filled with supplies for the night ahead of them. She wasn’t usually this uncaring, but she needed to know what was hanging from that tree, whether she really wanted to see it or not.

Jordan rolled down the window. “Elliot, it’s not safe. Come back.” Jordan shut the car off ran after her, a lot faster than both Malachi and Abigail had managed.

“Stop,” Elliot yelled abruptly, not caring that there could possibly be a killer on the loose out here who was going to kill three of them, but rather interested in what was in front of her.
She zoomed out with the video camera, focusing on the dead bird in front of her. It was strange. There was a nylon cloth wrapped around the young blue bird’s neck. It had been tied so tight that the cloth had cut into the bird’s flesh, creating a sickening wound and snapping its spine. The bird hadn’t died without a fight; it was visible with the blood splatter across the nylon.

The strip of cloth had been tied to the swing allowing the bird swing with the wind.
Jordan put his hand on Elliot’s shoulder, the wind causing the smell of the decaying bird to float up his nose. He gagged and turned away just as Elliot caught a maggot crawling out of one of the birds gouged eyes. She didn’t turn away, she couldn’t. Elliot was horrified, yet something about it drew her attention. The allure of death, the pain that it had suffered only made her feel more sympathetic towards the carrion.

Abigail couldn’t hold it back. She ran to a bush and began to puke up her lunch. She had had sushi, a mistake on her part.

Jordan recovered and held his wrist to his nose, hoping to stop the smell from attacking him again. It was a mix of shit and rotten meat. Jordan didn’t really get a chance to see what it was when he first walked over, but now that he got a full view of the bird before him, he couldn’t help but feel sorry. That and think that the bird was a representation of one of the student’s deaths.

“What kind of sick masochistic bastard would do this kind of thing?” Elliot pointed the camera at Jordan to stare at something a bit more appetizing, not that she wanted to eat Jordan; she just didn’t want to stare at a dead bird.

“No way, this is so sadistic.” Malachi came up to Elliot and Jordan, his eyes wide with excitement.

Abigail wiped at her mouth. “How can you think that is cool?”

“I don’t think this is cool. However, I do know that only someone with a mind for horror would do this.” Malachi’s smile was sickening to everyone. “Either we are in for a night full of pain and misery, or they got some wicked asshole to set this kind of special effects up.” Malachi shook his head and pushed Elliot aside.

She scrunched her nose at the smell. “I hope that this is just special effects and that kind of crap. Otherwise, Malachi’s right, we are in for a night of hell.” Elliot pointed the camera at Malachi and watched him as he leaned in closer to the bird, the smell unbelievably nauseating.

“Mal, you have to have a strong stomach to do that.” Jordan looked away, not wanting to barf all over Elliot.

Elliot shook her head in disbelief. “No, don’t do it.”

Malachi reached out and grabbed the bird, his fingerless gloves being saturated with the fresh warm blood of the bird. “Guys, this is fresh.” Without a warning, his ripped the bird’s body from the head, holding it in his hand. “It’s fake see; otherwise it would have been harder for me to rip it off.”

Both Elliot and Jordan were relived, Abigail still puking in the bush. She was scared of being bitten by a scorpion or a snake, maybe even a spider; all three were common out here. Nevertheless, she would rather be bit than allow anyone to see her kneeling over, puking her guts out.

“Come on, everyone grab something and help us load it into the house.” Jordan was going to step up and be the leader.

Elliot turned off the camera and held it in her hand as she watched Malachi chuck the bird into the desert, then wiping his hands on his pants, heading over to grab the cooler. She grabbed his shoulder.

“Take something else, something that can’t be contaminated by bird flu.” Elliot smiled and took the water cooler in her hands.

Malachi grabbed his backpack and the portable battery, his mind blank. He couldn’t help but question where the stench of rotting flesh had come from, it wasn’t from the bird, it was too fresh. It had to be from some kind of dump, a place where the bodies had been disposed of.