The leaves crunched under his feet. The sound of his breath filling the chilling silence of the graveyard.

“1.” They spread out, even going to the deepest parts of the graveyard to hide.

“2.” A thump resounded into the night, where one of the kids tripped over a stone.

“3.” Tommy shifted his feet.

“4…5.” He unsheathed the ax and dropped the cover on the ground.

“6.” He started to swing it.

“7…8….9…”

“Ready or not, here I come.” Tommy yelled with a pitch in his voice. The wind started to pick up, blowing the falling leaves into his path. He turned around, facing where they ran.

He started off slow, looking around but finding nothing besides a pair of footprints in the mud. He followed them to the large statue that was covered in moss and ivy. He walked around the whole tomb, checking for any means of entry. He pushed on one of the walls and fell in.

“Gottcha.” Tommy’s voice resounded off the walls. He looked up and made eye contact with 

Maria.

“Aww man, Tommy. I thought I picked a good hiding spot.” She whined.

“I followed your footprints, you should have been more careful.” Tommy warned. “Come on, I got other people to find as well.” 

Maria went in front of him and crossed over the threshold. She saw the glint of the moon shine in her eye behind her. She turned around to ask Tommy what it was, but he was there holding an ax. He swung it towards her throat and embedded it into her carotid. She fell to the ground, dead. 

A puddle of blood began to fill below his feet. “God damn it. These are new shoes.” He cussed.

He tried pulling the ax out in one fell swoop but it was stuck. “I knew I should have sharpened it.” He put his foot on top of her chest and yanked a little harder. When the ax finally came out, so did the rest of her blood. It reminded Tommy of Niagara Falls.

He kicked her body to the side and shut the tomb door, so no one else would see her. The sound of wind blowing and the leaves rustling made it the perfect night for his revenge. He continued on his way, checking behind every possible hiding spot, until he heard a shift near him.

He made his way to the right, where Jason liked to hide when they were little. Where he said he hid that night. 

“BOO!” Tommy jumped behind the stone. 

“AHH!!” Two little kids jumped up and started crying. One even went as far as to wet himself. Tommy dropped the ax behind his back and went to go comfort the kids.

“Good going Tommy, you made him piss himself.” Jason said as he came from behind a nearby tree.

“I thought it was you, dumbass.” The little kids took off, probably in search of their parents and a new pair of pants. Tommy looked around them, seeing if anyone else was in sight. He backed up a little bit, to cover the ax.

“Well, I guess you got me.” Jason said while walking up to Tommy. “Am I the first person that you have found?”

“No. I found Maria first.”

“Then where is she? I thought we were supposed to follow you around afterwards.”

“You’ll see her later. She is a little indisposed at the moment.” Jason gave Tommy a weird look. “She’s passed out behind a tomb. I saw a bottle of liquor about 5 feet from her. She was definitely getting the party started early.”

“Sounds like her.” Jason said laughing. “I remember this one time..” He trailed off. He looked behind Tommy. “What’s that?” He asked.

“You forgot me that night.” Tommy whispered.

“What?” Jason asked.

“You forgot me that night. When we were nine.” Tommy looked at him. “I was out there alone. For the rest of the night, until the caretaker found me in the morning. Shivering from the cold and blood dripping from my ear.”

“Tommy,” Jason got a better look at the ax. Tommy started to bend down to grab it.

“A wild animal bit my ear off!” Tommy screamed, now holding the ax at his side. 

“You’re crazy!” Jason screamed.

“Crazy for wanting revenge? Crazy for killing Maria? Or crazy for killing you?” Tommy charged toward Jason and swung with his weight behind it. Jason ducked, but not in time, because the ax was able to knick the top of his head. 

Tommy whipped his head back to look at Jason. He laid on the ground cradling his head. “Because either one is a good reason.”

Jason tried getting up, but failed each time. “Payback’s a bitch, isn’t it?” Tommy raised the ax and landed right on Jason’s corpus callosum. He was able to rip it out much easier than Maria’s throat, because of the hat he wore. His body fell back like a sack of potatoes. Jason laid there, with his eyes wide open and blood pouring from his head. 

“Check. Mate.” Tommy said. He kicked Jason’s body and put his hat on his own head. Tommy continued to find the others. He went up the hill and followed the path to the old caretaker building, where a light was shining.

Tommy started to hum, “Lizzie Borden took an axe, and gave her mother forty whacks; when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one.” 

He opened the door, making his presence known. Lisa sat in a rolly chair that was covered in cobwebs. She was on her phone, scrolling through Instagram. 

She looked up at him, “Hey Tommy.” She did a double take when she saw him covered in blood. She looked down at his side, noticing the blood dripping from the ax. She got up quickly, pushing the chair back. “What did you do?” She cried.

“I’m just playing a game. That’s what we are doing, right?”

“Jesus, Tommy, is that Jason’s hat?”

“It’s his blood too!” Tommy lifted up a foot, “Well, not this though, that’s Maria’s.” He said while grinning. 

“You sick bastard,” she backed away from him. She grabbed the rake beside her, ready to attack. “You’re fucking crazy.”

“Jason said the same thing, and he’s now dead.” He started to count on his fingers. “One…two…and now three, four after you.”

She gripped the handle harder, “You should find another victim.” She swiped the rake towards him, wacking him in the head. He dropped to the ground, fumbling for his now lost ax. She made a beeline for the door, jumping over Tommy. He got up slowly, feeling very dizzy. He felt around him for the ax, making contact with the handle. He gripped it and slowly stood up.

“What a naughty girl.” He took off out the door in search of Lisa. It only took him a minute to find her. Her foot was caught in between two boulders, completely smashed.

“Maybe it’s God’s redemption for leaving me that night.” He approached her.

“Tommy, you don’t have to do this. I’m sorry about that night. I think about it all the time. I’m so sorry.” She confessed.

“I lost my ear that night, because your idea of fun was different from mine.”

She made eye contact with something behind him. A gun was fired and Tommy’s brain matter splattered on Lisa. She spit out the pieces that got in her mouth. There stood Mitch, the last of the bunch. He ran up to her.

“Shit, Lisa, are you ok?” He wiped her face. 

“Yeah, but my foot is stuck.”

“EMS and the police should be here soon.” She gave him a funny look.

“How did you know about Tommy?”

“I found Jason with his head chopped in half.” The sirens started to get louder as they came down the street. He pulled her head to his chest. “Everything should be ok now.”

She lifted her head, “But where did you get the gun?” She asked.

“I was really hoping you wouldn’t ask that.” He backed up. “Because I’m gonna have to kill you now.”