finish Susie off.” And with that he disappeared back into the workshop with his knife . . . a knife?
I looked at Noah and my eyes widened. “Finish Susie off?” I mouthed.
“Come! Come! No point in staying out in this terrible weather.” Mienkie waved her arm at us and then disappeared into the house.
“Who’s Susie?” I hissed at Noah. “What does he mean, finish her off?”
THWAK! A loud sound, so loud that we heard it over the rain, came from the workshop and Noah and I both jumped.
“Um . . . what’s going on here?” I asked.
“I don’t know . . .” Noah looked around the place, and so did I. And that’s when I noticed all the chainsaws lined up against the wall.
“Why do you need so many chainsaws?”
“I don’t know,” Noah whispered back to me.
THWAK! And another sound, followed by another.
“Noah, I don’t know about this place.” I took a step back towards the car.
“Me neither.” Noah also took a backward step.
“I’m getting a weird feeling here.” A shiver ran down my spine, into my feet and toes.
“And she was so insistent we come here . . .” Noah sounded thoughtful. As if he was connecting dots in his head. I knew what those dots were, and scarily, the picture was starting to come into focus.
“Maybe we should get out of here.” I shuffled further away from the house.
And just when the feeling couldn’t get any worse, Mienkie stuck her head out the door and held a box in the air.
“Tiiiaaan!”
“Yes, liefie!” Tiaan stuck his head out the workshop again.
“What’s in here?” She waved the box at him.
“It arrived for you when you were out!”
Mienkie looked at the box excitedly. “Oooh! I think it’s Lucy’s eyes! I’ve been waiting so long for these.”
“That’s nice, liefie,” Tiaan shouted. “I’ll be in soon, I’ve just peeled Susie’s leg.” And with that, both their heads disappeared around their respective doors and Noah and I were left blinking at each other.
“That’s it! Let’s get the hell out of here. GO!” I ran for the car, Noah close behind me, we flung the doors open and jumped in.
“Oh my God!” I grabbed at the seatbelt but pulled too fast and it jerked. “Did you see that knife he had! And why is he peeling someone’s leg? And why are there so many chainsaws? And who is Lucy and why are her eyes in a box? Oh. My. God. Where the hell are we? I’ve watched enough crime shows to know what happens next. Why did we come here?”
Noah turned the engine on. “Who are these people?”
“Let’s not find out. Go! Go! Go!” I patted him on the shoulder frantically as he plunged the keys in and the engine sprang to life.
“And was that . . . dried blood on his hands?” I gasped.
Noah slammed the car into reverse and swung around in his seat. I was looking forward to our speedy getaway. The car lurched back, but then stopped so hard my head hit the back of the seat.
“Shit! How did he get there?”
“Where?” I swung around, only to see Tiaan standing behind the car. I squinted to get a better look at him, and when I did . . .
“GOOOOO!” I smacked Noah on the leg. “He’s wearing a mask! A mask! Like in Friday the Thirteenth, and he has a knife in his hand. Go! Go!” This was the documentary, right here! And at this moment, the director was busy cutting between the scenes of a dramatic re-enactment of Noah and I desperately trying to escape the scene of the crime.
“Shittttt!” Noah looked at me with the widest eyes I’d ever seen.
“Reverse!”
“We’ll run him over!”
“Do it!” I wailed in panic. “Before he kills us and they do God knows what with our legs and eyes!”
“Uh . . . I don’t think I can run someone over!”
“He’s coming towards the door! Go forward and through there!” I pointed at the gap between the workshop and the house. “DRIVE!” With all my might, I pushed Noah’s leg down on the accelerator. The tires spun and tossed water into the air before we flew forward through the gap and onto another dirt road.
“We’re FREEEE!” I yelled, looking over my shoulder at Tiaan. And then, the car stopped.
“Why are you stopping?”
“We’re stuck!” Noah’s voice trembled.
“What?”
“In this muddy puddle!”
“Reverse!”
Noah ground the gears into reverse and we both looked behind us. The wheels spun again, throwing an avalanche of brown mud into the air.