Chapter 61: Searching the Manor

Chapter 61: Chapter 61: Searching the Manor

Chapter 61: Searching the Manor

The basement beneath the Carson estate was dim enough that everyone eventually returned to the vehicles for flashlights before continuing the search. Axel Vance led the way down the stone steps, his beam cutting through damp air filled with the smell of mold, rust, and something far less pleasant. Ryan followed closely behind while gripping the broken length of wood he had taken from upstairs as a makeshift weapon, and Heather Miller and Nikki stayed together near the back.

"Kenny? Kenny, are you down here?" Ryan’s voice traveled through the basement without receiving an answer. The flashlight beams swept across piles of old junk, stained concrete, and rows of heavy iron hooks hanging from the walls. Seth Brundle stared at them uneasily and muttered, "Why does somebody’s basement look like the back room of a slaughterhouse?"

Lionel Cosgrove nudged the same metal feeding bowl he had accidentally kicked during his earlier encounter with Leatherface. Some unrecognizable scraps of spoiled food still remained inside, giving off a sour odor that made him wrinkle his nose. "Forget the serial killer. Somebody needs to report this place for health-code violations."

Axel ignored him and kept his attention on the far end of the basement. His flashlight finally landed on a heavy metal door with frost clinging to its surface, clearly belonging to an old walk-in cooler or freezer. The door was not locked, but it stood slightly open, which somehow made it more unsettling than if it had been sealed.

Everyone stopped.

Heather’s breathing became noticeably faster as her fingers tightened around Nikki’s arm. "Kenny couldn’t be in there, could he?" Nikki asked weakly, already sounding like she regretted coming downstairs.

Axel gave Lionel a look and stepped toward the cooler. Lionel moved beside him without needing an explanation, while the others remained several feet back. Axel caught the edge of the heavy door and slowly pulled it open.

Cold air rolled out.

So did the smell of blood and rotting flesh.

Nikki immediately covered her mouth and retched.

Axel swept his flashlight through the interior. The cooler itself was not especially large, but a huge stainless-steel worktable stood in the center beneath the harsh beam, and dark-red pieces of human remains had been piled across its surface. The closer everyone moved, the clearer the scene became.

Two heads rested among the dismembered remains.

One belonged to Kenny.

The other belonged to Darryl, the hitchhiker Heather’s group had picked up before leaving him alone in the mansion.

"My God..." Ryan’s voice broke. "He killed Kenny."

Ryan rushed forward before anyone could stop him and reached toward his friend with trembling hands. The moment he saw Kenny’s face clearly, his entire body froze, because the dead man’s eyes remained wide open while terror was permanently locked into his expression. Ryan stood there staring as if some part of him still expected Kenny to suddenly speak.

Heather screamed.

Her knees gave way almost immediately, and she collapsed onto the floor with both hands over her mouth.

Nikki looked past her.

This time she did not even manage a proper scream.

Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted for what had now become an almost impressive fourth time.

Ryan barely noticed.

He lifted Kenny’s cold head with shaking hands before a broken sound escaped his throat. Then anger overwhelmed grief, and he slammed his fist against the stainless-steel table again and again until his knuckles split and left red streaks across the metal.

Only Axel, Seth, and Lionel remained relatively composed. Axel had seen enough murder scenes as a police officer to keep functioning, while Seth’s scientific instincts seemed to override his disgust whenever something impossible appeared in front of him. Lionel, meanwhile, took advantage of everyone looking elsewhere to pull several wrapped pieces of his own flesh from his pocket.

He glanced around once.

Then he started pressing the scraps back into the hole through his chest.

Seth happened to notice and stared for a second.

Lionel quietly said, "Don’t ask."

Seth decided he had enough mysteries for one evening.

Axel stepped closer to the worktable and carefully examined the remains. Kenny and Darryl had both been cut into relatively small pieces, and the dismemberment looked deliberate rather than random. Seth leaned over from the other side and frowned.

"What was Leatherface trying to accomplish by doing this?" he asked.

Axel continued searching the remains. "Stop asking what cult-modified killers are trying to accomplish. Look at what they leave behind instead." His flashlight moved across Kenny’s arms until something about one hand caught his attention.

The fingers were clenched tightly.

Too tightly for a relaxed corpse.

Axel leaned closer. "He was holding something."

He carefully worked Kenny’s stiff fingers open one at a time. It took more effort than expected, but eventually a small metal badge slipped free from the dead man’s palm and hit the table with a faint clink.

Axel stared at it.

His expression immediately hardened.

"Not this again."

Seth moved beside him while Lionel abandoned his self-repair long enough to look. The badge carried a twisted occult insignia that Axel recognized immediately, close enough to the strange markings and ritual symbols he had encountered during the Miami investigations that there was no realistic chance of coincidence. He picked it up between two fingers and turned toward Seth.

"Looks like your theory wasn’t crazy."

Seth’s face lost its usual enthusiasm. "So this estate really is connected to the same organization?" Axel nodded slightly while studying the emblem.

"If this place belongs to their network, Leatherface can’t be the only one involved," Seth said. "He’s physically dangerous, but he doesn’t exactly look like the person designing experiments, handling records, acquiring subjects, or coordinating operations." His gaze shifted toward the basement around them as he added, "Somebody else had to be running things."

The others gradually followed his line of thought.

Then almost everyone looked toward Heather.

She was still sitting on the floor beside Nikki.

Heather noticed the sudden attention and visibly recoiled. The mansion was her inheritance, the dead killer had been hidden beneath it, and now the basement contained evidence tying the property to an organization Axel clearly considered dangerous.

"I don’t know anything about this," Heather said immediately. Her voice trembled as she looked between Axel and the bodies. "I swear I didn’t even know this basement existed before today."

Fear continued building in her expression until she suddenly blurted, "I want to call the police."

Axel reached into his jacket.

"That part’s easy."

He pulled out his credentials and opened them.

"I am the police."

For the first time since they entered the basement, Heather looked slightly relieved. Ryan also stopped glaring at Axel with quite as much suspicion, while Seth glanced at the badge as though he had forgotten Axel was technically an actual cop beneath all the supernatural equipment.

Heather pushed herself upright and hurried toward Axel. "Mr. Vance, you have to believe me. None of this has anything to do with me, so please don’t arrest me."

Axel placed one hand on her shoulder. "Relax. I’ve dealt with the people connected to this organization before, and nothing about you looks like their usual behavior." He paused before adding dryly, "If you suddenly started trying to murder us with supernatural body modifications, this conversation would become a lot shorter."

Heather stared at him.

That did not seem particularly comforting.

Axel continued before she could decide whether to be more frightened. "The previous owner of this estate was related to you by blood, so think carefully. Did your lawyer give you anything besides the property itself—letters, old records, a will, family documents, anything that might explain what was happening here?"

Heather froze.

Then her eyes widened.

"Yes."

Everyone turned toward her.

"My lawyer gave me a whole packet when he told me about the inheritance," Heather said quickly. "There were property documents, some family papers, and my grandmother’s will. I haven’t even read most of them yet because everything happened so fast."

"Where are they?"

"In my room upstairs."

Axel nodded. "Good. We start there."

For the moment, there was nothing else useful they could do in the cooler. They found a clean sheet and covered Kenny and Darryl’s remains as respectfully as possible before Ryan finally allowed himself to be pulled away from the table. Heather and Lionel helped carry the still-unconscious Nikki back upstairs while Axel kept the cult badge.

The group climbed to the second floor and headed toward Heather’s room. She had barely reached the doorway when Axel suddenly stopped behind her. His nose twitched once, and his expression changed.

"Hold up."

Everyone froze.

Axel looked slowly around the hallway. "There’s a dead body in this room."

Heather’s face went white. "Another one?"

The group entered cautiously and began searching. Seth checked near the bed, Ryan looked behind furniture, and Lionel wandered toward the windows while Heather stood in the middle of the room wondering what else her inheritance could possibly contain.

Axel followed the odor.

It grew stronger near a large wardrobe in the corner.

He stopped in front of it.

"Here."

Heather backed away as Axel caught both handles.

He pulled the doors open.

A dried human corpse was curled tightly inside the wardrobe.

The body had been reduced almost to skin stretched over bone, with clothing still clinging to the mummified remains. Heather made a strangled sound and stumbled backward while Seth immediately stepped closer, his horror quickly giving way to professional curiosity.

Seth crouched and carefully studied the corpse without disturbing it. He examined the skull, facial structure, clothing, and remaining physical features before looking toward Heather. "Based on what’s left of her face and skeletal proportions, I think this woman was probably your grandmother."

Heather stared at him.

"Verna Carson?"

Seth nodded slowly.

Then his expression became puzzled.

"But there’s a problem."

Axel looked toward him. "What?"

Seth gestured toward the dried remains inside the wardrobe. "You told us your grandmother died recently, right?"

Heather nodded numbly.

Seth looked back at the corpse.

"With this level of mummification, she didn’t die recently."

His voice became more serious.

"This body looks like it’s been here for years."

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