Work Text:
Danny’s hands slide over the wood of the bridge. Hands clammy and covered in a wetness indescribable without prefacing that he’s been crying.
He holds the two by four plank in the old park like it will keep him grounded like he's worried he’ll float away when he in fact feels the opposite. He's holding the bridge because his legs feel as if they will give out from underneath him and he needs to hold on.
He lifts one of his hands shaky with stress and anxiety and rubs at his face.
He probably looks bad like Jack torrance from the shining bad. His hair is messy, his face is wet with his own tears he feels at a loss. He feels hopeless.
He waits ever still. Hands holding the two by four waiting for Cole who was supposed to be here a little while ago. It's his favorite smoke spot, a place to get away from his parents and in between Danny’s house and Cole’s own.
A place they have come together to comfort each other, to talk with each other, and to joke around when things get tough.
Right now Danny needs the usual comfort Cole would provide after a particularly nasty argument with his father or a physical altercation with his mother.
He feels nothing but the anxiety and weight of his fathers words after their firm talking and he can't get any farther from the house then the bridge at the moment worried his legs will give out if he tries to attempt the full walk to Cole's house.
He had used the house phone to call his friend at the time Cole had picked up he had been at work though it wouldn’t delay the taller boy by any means necessary it's hard for him to focus on his breathing and straight forward thinking when his anxiety is telling him Cole isn’t coming,
He hears the sound of boots padding against dirt, the scratch of an abrupt stop as feet connect with the bridge and he knows it's Cole because he can smell the weed in the air. He probably has some on them they’ll roll a blunt together later when Danny calms down he’s sure.
“Danny..? Are you okay man..?”
He sounds worried and has every right to be with how broken Danny must appear. He feels Cole’s hand on his back and he knows the man is trying to calm him with his presence.
“Danny man you gotta breathe with me”
He instructed taking a comically large breath so Danny can hear it and he listens to Danny's shaky inhale as he fights off choking on a sob before he lets out an exaggerated breath blowing Danny’s hair to joke.
Danny releases the breath as Cole goes to instruct the breathing again Danny batts his hand away a glare on his face.
“I g-” He chokes up another sob before stumbling out “I get it ass hole”
Cole chuckles and Danny breathes in again hands and trying to focus on breathing now with Cole hear his anxiety is calmed a fraction and then Cole asks
“Do you wanna maybe talk about it..?”
And Danny starts to cry again full on sobbing. Crocodile tears falling down his face as he chokes again because god does he want to talk about it. The conversation he had with his father is heavy on his mind as he releases the bridge and feels his back connect with the two by four of the railing as he starts to crumple.
His legs shaky he tries in vain to hold himself up as Cole rushes forward holding him up with noodle arms. He may be taller than Danny but he's less muscular. Being that Danny is a football player it shouldn’t be all that surprising that they both fall back onto the bridge Cole using his body to break the fall.
“Is that a no..?”
It’s supposed to lighten the mood but Danny Keeps sobbing as he opens his mouth to silently choke down the worlds he wants to day to his best friend but he can’t his throat constricts and he feels like he’s gonna throw up if he keeps trying so he finally just sobs into Cole.
Cole holds him despite himself. Danny’s tears staining his jacket as he cradles the shorter in his arms watching him cry is a feat in itself as Cole has always been the cry baby but Danny’s crying first seems to come to a coles the sobbing turning into sniffling as he finally relaxes into Coles arms.
Cole sits up adjusting their position as Danny’s cheeks begin to become tacky with his drying tears and Cole feels it safe to whisper again
“Do you wanna talk about it..?”
It’s softer more relaxed and Danny’s eyes seem to harden at the question he can’t talk about it so he just simply mutters ‘No, I’m fine now’ Because he just needed to cry and he gets up offering Cole a hand pulling the blond up into his chest steding him before he says:
“I need to get home”
And Cole shakes his head
“I’ll see you at school tomorrow right..?”
Cole asks he knows the answer but he just wants to confirm
“Yeah you’ll see me”
He gives Cole a far off look before giving a smile that doesn't reach his eyes before walking off in the direction of his house. Cole takes out the baggie in his pocket and starts to roll.
The next morning Cole wakes with the smell of weed in his nose and the relaxed feeling of his muscles he has to go to school today a tribune he knows he will hate but maybe Danny and his girl will come pick him up and they can all ride together.
He steps over piles of dirty clothes getting in the shower and cleaning his hair shampoo and conditioner sure he’s an animal but he doesn’t use a three in one he saw what that did to buddy Ted’s hair and he’s not gonna let that happen to his gorgeous locks.
He pulls his hair back into a ponytail and starts putting clothes on. He is just pulling up his paints when his mom bursts in the door.
“Honey some ones on the phone..!”
He zips his fly, turning to her with an unimpressed look.
“Anybody ever taught you how to knock..?”
He asks before placing a kiss on her forehead. Taking the phone she just laughs.
“You know better then to ask that”
She chides as he lifts the phone to his face he can't get further than the door unfortunately. The home phone cord only drags so far and he doesn't have a phone installed in his room.
“Yello, This is Cole speaking”
“Cole, oh thank god..!”
It's Lidya, her voice sounds panicked and she's talking a mile a minute.
“We went over to- oh god there is so much blood- we went over to Cassie's house to pick her up and she's dead..! Jeasus christ what do we do.!?”
“Blood.!?”
He hears Danny’s panicked breathing and he has his shirt in hand as he walks down the stairs.
“I don't know what to do..! The cops are on the way and Danny's hyperventilating”
Cole bares his teeth with a hiss and pulls some shoes his mother has walked into the foyer that connects the kitchen to the dining room as he walks through the kitchen to get to the door he snags the keys to his moms Acura Integra.
“I’m on my way you said the cops will be there shortly that's good, i need you to keep cool and just touch Danny”
“I’m not gonna touch him..! Thats fucking grosse..!”
“I meant let him know you're there, rub his back or something dumb ass..!”
He gripes as he walks back to the kitchen where he hangs up telling his mom he's gotta go, he's taking the car, she doesn’t need to be worried, he will get to school.
He gets to the house pulling up in his mom’s yellow, beat up, acura Integra. Dannys is seated on the curb, a blanket around his shoulders, eyes wide. Some paramedic is using a flashlight in his eyes to try and see if all of his cognitive functions are working properly and he calls out Danny's name.
Once the boys eyes seem to flicker
Twice danny's pupils grow a little wider
Three times his head snapps in Cole's direction.
“Danny..?”
“Cole..!”
He sounds relives the Paramedic backing up as Danny stands getting closer to the man embracing him in a hug pulling him forward
“Are you okay, where's Lydia..?”
Cole asks the woman nowhere to be seen.
“She's giving her statement to the police,” he says, peeling back. He looks down, eyeballing the white tank top now stained with a bit of Cassie's blood.
“Oh god man i'm so-” he turns away like hs gonna vomit cheeks puffing gup as he covers his mouth with his hand. When he feels better he trunks back around “I’m so sorry I'm all covered in blood” He says and it makes Cole quirk a brow. Why would Danny be covered in blood..? Eh..
He shakes his head pulling the tank top off, holding it balled up in his hand so as to not get his hands tacky with blood. Danny eyes his chest for a moment before looking away Lydia running over.
“Oh my god Cole you came”
He smirks shaking his head the curls bobbing with the sudden movement
“Allways”
He smiles before he carefully maneuvers into her hug. Danny’s taking the blanket off his shoulders at this point peeling off his lettermen and shirt he's wearing to hand over to the police who place it in some sort of bag for evidence later.
“Why were you so covered in blood, man..? I hope you didn’t walk in on the killer”
“No, no, I walked in and slipped”
He says eyes distant just as cold as when he had stopped crying on that bridge.
“All right whatever you say man”
He turns back to Lydia who asks if they can leave and they do.
–
A few weeks later Danny is back at the damn bridge. The one that interlocks Cole’s life with Danny’s. He holds the knife in his hand in a tight grip that's nearly bone crushing as he shakes uncontrollably.
He's waiting for Cole.
Lydia is waiting somewhere in the tree line in case Cole panics and runs after he confronts the man.
Cole’s footsteps ring through the forest he’s running. Danny was just trying to get him here fast, maybe sending him the penick fraze over the phone and hung up so he must be worried sick.
Danny knows the outfit is a little raunchy, the pants mostly inspired By the pair Cole owned from an old halloween costume he wore. It was Lydia's suggestion because then the group would shift blame onto Cole no matter how much that worried Danny.
He didn’t want his best friend hurt but now Cole needed to be on his side or he would die so maybe the shaking was from panic or maybe it was from anticipation but as Cole's feet finally connect with the wood bridge he's eyeing Danny worriedly.
“Hey man, you okay you're shaking..?”
Shit sorry of course your not okay”
Cole recovers a hand raising up to his long lock pushing the hair out of his face
“You can come back to mine, mom would love to have you and you shouldn't be out this late with the killer running around”
“Cole..?’
Cole shifts he can hear it based on the creaking of the bridge, the wood forming under foot as Danny's face finally turns towards the man. The mask is a heavy weight against his face as he makes eye contact with Cole through the clown mask.
“Danny.!?”
Confused and shocked the knife still weighs heavy in his hand as he pushes his mask up with the other one.
“This is a joke right..? I thought that Alaine said the killer was a girl..”
Cole's face is pinched, his eyes are rimmed in red like he was crying and he probably has been cutting back to help with the investigation and after the close call with Danny days ago when high he had sober up for the most part.
“Cole, I-I’m the killer”
He offers a small reserved smile and Coles face pales as he rolls his eyes speaking out a denial of the truth
“No way man, No way”
He chuckles
“Alaine was so sure and you know how smart she is”
Cole chuckles again, shedding his jacket and pulling his hair up a drowsy smile on his face.
“Come on lets cover you up and go to my place”
He takes a step towards Danny and Cole steps back.
“No, Cole. Listen to me”
Tears well in his eyes he doesn’t know why his face drawn into a sneer as he flicksthe knife i his hand before stabbing it into the wood railing of the bridge watching Cole flinch eyeing the knife.
“I’m the killer, do you remember when I sobbed and cried with you last week..? It’s because my father was the original. My father is the Zepotha college ripper. And he told me i need to carry on the mantle”
He shouts into the night air revealing his secrets to the crickets and the mice and more night dwelling animals and Cole’s eye bulge.
“So I need you to trust me and make this decision Cole.. You can join me and help me continue the killings or You can die”
He rips the knife from the wood, the creaking noise of wood splintering a horrible noise in his ears.
“Danny..” Cole's voice is cautious as he grips his jacket tighter, twisting his hands in the fabric “Rita is coming with Alaine. I told them I was worried about you and that we were going to just hang out tonight so you'd feel better. If you put the knife down..”
Danny hisses and takes a big step forward, the bridge creaking as Danny takes a small step back.
“We can get you changed pretend like this didn’t happen this can stop”
Danny reasons as he lifts the jacket close to his chest the wind is nipping at his skin and his hair whip behind his head and Danny takes another predatory step forward Cole doesn’t back up though there is just meat inches between there sheets Danny’s mask has been fastened back on.
“We can get out of here. You didn’t leave any evidence behind no one will suspect its you”
Cole reasons by releasing once hand from the jacket hand lifting to pull Danny's mask off his face. Danny’s not sure why but he lets him let Cole cradle his face. Danny smiles and leans into the touch eyes locked with Cole’s.
“You know i can’t do that”
He’s rearing the knife back stabbing Cole in the side. Cole removed his hand from Danny's face as if he had been burnt, shoves his jacket over his head and runs. He runs past Danny into the woods towards the amusement park he's running through the grass. If he can make it to the amusement park he can lose them in the crowd maybe just maybe.. He reasons.
As he runs branches smack against his legs and he can faintly hear some screaming like a fight breaking out before running ensues.
He's made it to the halfway point ducking behind a tree to peek behind himself looking as a Masked person wearing the same costume as Danny runs through the woods frantically. They have a mallet they are shorter than Danny though and Cole covers his mouth fighting off a gasp. There are Two killers.
His heart beats out of his chest.
He moves away from the tree quiet as a mouse watching the ground as to not step on any branches that could give his position away and then hands wrap around his mouth his back against a firm chest he gasps and bites but it does nothing as he's thrown against the tree.
He feels blood leak down his skull, hands reaching into the grass to pull himself away from Danny who's neglected to put his mask back on.
“Cole, you just need some time to think about it, that's all..”
Danny say solemnly
“Come one man just think about this. You can help me and then my dad will croak eventually and we get the hell outta dodge. I’ll get a full ride scholarship, you'll get some stupid van we’ll run away together with my fathers fortune..”
Danny says leaning down over Cole he places his hands on Cole's neck threatening pressure as he stratals him.
“We can adopt a purgen cat. I can get a well paying job and be the bread winner so you can stay home and get stoned.. Ha ha.. Im making it sound like were in a relationship”
Danny chuckles hands tightening around his neck and anny mutters ‘fuck it’ before he leans down face inches away from closes his breach caressing the mans face as he starts to turn pink.
“Do you want a life with me cole..?”
Dany asks, eyes welling with tears as he releases the pressure from Cole’s neck so he can respond.
“I loved you, daniel. I really did”
Cole mutters he's bleeding out; he knows he is. He hopes Rita, Eileen and Maxine can get away in time and that Eileen can figure out that there are two killers. He hopes that Danny will be put behind bars. Even if Cole loves him, he knows it's too late. Eyes threatening to roll back into his skull.
“Cole..” Danny’s face looks horrifically sober like he's realizing what he's doing before his eyes glaze over with tears and he bares his teeth “I don't want to do this..” Danny says a tear falling.
Cole smiles at Danny lips pulled into a small adoring smirk before he responds
“Then don’t”
Then his eyes roll back into his skull, the pain shooting up his side ebbing and Danny gasps.
“Please..!”
He hears Danny shout into the forest hands leaving his neck to feather lightly over his face cradling him against his chest shifting his weight to hold Cole against his chest.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry”
Danny bloopers against coles forehead kissing his cold lips. Oh god he’s so cold. Cole has never been this cold and Danny doen;t know how to warm him up. He's sobbing his eyes out until he hears the footsteps of Lydia.
“Oh great you found him”
She pauses eyes locked with danny's his eyes are maddeningly wide pupils dilated
“You did this”
Danny hisses dropping Cole’s corpse like a dead weight and Lydia's hands shake.
“No you can’t just blame this on me..!”
She shouts hands lifting; she's dropped the mallet against the ground, hands wearing wildly as she walks up to him pushing his chest. He doesn’t budge.
“This was all our master plan. You knew the risk Cole would be.you gave him the choice he ran” She growled as she shoved at Danny's chest again his face had gone cold his pupils still dilated.
“You need me to finish the stupid plan, you can’t back out now. Five bodies we can finish what your father started, we can bring your mother back..!”
Lydia yelled
“I have been trying to get in your fathers graces for years. Hell, I would have done it myself but I was just a cousin. It had to be someone blood related..!”
Danny twists the knife in his grip he realizes in that moment he could have avoided all of this and he feels overwhelming guilt and sorrow. He bares his teeth watching Lydia walk away from him turning her back to him.
“You know what I don’t really need you anymore I can just-”
Danny stabs her and she falls down to the floor Danny observes the knife in his hand lets her blood fall into his palm before he licks it off.
She uses the forest floor to pull herself towards the mallet she had dropped but Danny just stares for a second before his foot falls down onto her back she shrieks in pain yelling into the forest air.
“You can’t fucking do this to me Danny, we burried Maxine together..!”
She hisses as Danny hefts up the mallet into his hands just as her fingers swipe over the handle.
But what she doesn’t realize is that Danny's already too far gone.
He raises the mallet into the air and slams it down.. Over, and over, and over again.
Blood spirits up into Danny's face as Lydia's face begins to look like tenderized meat with every slam of the metal into her already cracked skull her brains spattering into the grass the anger doesn’t leave him. The anger at himself for being gullible and stupid, the anger at Lydia for puppeteering him, the anger that Cole was so close to being his this entier time and he threw it away..
He loses count on how many times he hits her. All he knows is the cracking of her sull has stopped and the blood is everywhere and then he hears the footsteps the hushed whispering he still has the mallet braced in his hands when the flash light is shined in his face a gasp leaving Rita’s through as Alaine’s shaky hands illuminate his figure.
“Danny..!?”
Alaine gasps and danny with slow methodical movers twirls the mallet in his hand crazed eye still on the girls before he lunges for Alaine
“It’s time to join your precious Maxine in hell”
He gruses before he stabs Mallet repeatedly, mallette forgotten for his knife as RIta screams running off into the woods.
But Danny’s faster, he knows these hunting grounds like the back of hi shands. The space behind his fathers estate is a place he would play and hunt in all of his life while being homeschooled and as he chases they make it to the hunting cabin that Alaine had burned down when running from him with the chainsaw.
The burned down house is a serious thing to walk through, it's a death trap and the creaky floors that are barely any support under foot are just as dangerous as Danny himself. He watches her run up the stairs, her foot breaking through a step cutting open her foot as Danny talks up after her.
She screams, yanking her foot out and peeling some of her skin off. She bares her teeth, even the world one.. Maybe that's what Alaine liked about the sisters Maxien and Rita’s wit and wilde sides.
He nearly has her hand missing her army patterned shirt hair tousled and lipstick smudged; she watches him with a piece of plywood.
He's so close to getting her as he finishes up the stairs into the attic and under the light of the blackened window she shoots him.
“What now danny..? Your partner is dead, looks like that ritual you wanted to perform won't work out huh..?”
She asks weakly and he laughs at himself.
“Yeah guess it wont..” He smiles as Rita falls to the floor mascara running down her cae panic ebbing here eyes start to close.
“I guess I'll see you in hell..?”
She asks like they are old buddies like they didn’t just kill each other. Rita is dying of blood loff Alaine is dead. Maxine is buried. And Cole or god Cole- he prays Cole will forgive him.
Rita’s eyes close and she stops breathing and Danny gasps in realization.
Maxine, Cole, Lydia, Alaine, Rita.. Danny. Five people lift the knife. By a blood relative's hand. He stabs himself piercing his heart and closes his eyes welcoming the hot fires of hell to envelop him in the burned down hunting cabin.
He hopes his blood will be enough.
Maxine’s corpse was cut up into pieces and buried. Cole was stabbed and laid to rest in their favorite forest. Lydia's head smashed to mush with the mallet she loved so much. Alaine was killed with Danny's knife after the smart girl got a little too smart and found out he was the killer. RIta stabbed and bled to death by Danny's hand. He had killed five people..
Might as well kill himself he ruined his own life.
And what's with his fathers god having an issue with the number six..?