December 13 2021

Arc 3: Smoke Signals

While Alex was ready to kill the couple whose names are revealed to be Bill and Maria Banks for what they have been doing. Meanwhile at Iron Lake High School, Harrison and Ethan were standing in the hallways by the lockers as Winters had a plan to prank Zach back for bullying Ethan.

Harrison and Ethan saw Zach along with Scott and the wrestling team talking to each other by the lockers as Winters told him to send the picture and Ethan nodded before he pulled his phone out and sent the picture as they were now waiting for a response from him.

Zach heard a notification on his phone as he pulled it out of his pocket and saw it was a picture from Ethan as Scott and the others were laughing and wondered what he sent to him. The moment Zach saw what the picture was, his eyes were widen in shock and felt embarrassed as Scott and the team saw the picture and began laughing at their friend.

Ethan sent a photoshopped picture of Zach making out with a goat as he was shocked and looked at the duo who was smiling at him until Ethan gave Zach the middle finger which made him even more anger and began walking towards him, with an intention to hit Ethan for what he did.

Zach: You think your so funny!?

He was about to attack Ethan until Harrison grabbed his arm and grabbed Zach by the throat as he was shocked and saw Winters glaring at him as Ethan had a small smile formed on his face.

Harrison continued staring at Zach as he was scared and terrified until Winters said something to him which sent chills running down his spine.

Harrison: Leave Ethan alone or I do this to you every. . . . single. . . . f******. . . . . day.

Scott along with all the students in the hallway were shocked by what he did as Harrison pushed Zach away who was still scared by what Winters did until Harrison heard someone calling his name as he turned around and saw Samantha walking towards him as she said something.

Samantha: What's going on?

Harrison: Nothing. We're just chilling.

Samantha: Okay then, need a ride back home?

Harrison nodded and both of them were about to walk away until Winters stopped and turned back to look at Zach, Scott and the team before he said something to them.

Harrison: Oh, by the way. Coach said I made the wrestling team. I'll see you guys on the mat.

Soon both of them walked out of the school as Samantha and Harrison got inside the car before she said something to him.

Samantha: You free tonight?

Harrison: Yeah I have no plans. Why?

Samantha: Oh I was wondering if you like to have dinner at my house.

Harrison: Sure.

Samantha: [Smiles] That's great. We're heading to the butcher shop to grab something.

Harrison: Sure.

Samantha smiled at him and started the car as they began driving away from the high school and began driving towards the butcher shop while talking to each other.

Twenty minutes later

Harrison and Samantha made it to the butcher shop as they saw George counting the money before he put it back on the cash register until he noticed the duo and smiled at them before Jones said something to him.

Samantha: [Smiles] Hey, George. Got any of your homemade Italian sausage? Extra spicy? Mom's cooking pasta salsiccia tonight.

George: [Smiles] Sure. How much you need?

Samantha: Two pounds should do it.

George: Coming right up. By the way you're Jim Lindsay's kid, right?

Harrison: [Smiles] That's what they say.

George: [Smiles] Welcome to Iron Lake.

Harrison and Samantha smiled at him as George was getting the sausage for them from the refrigerator while speaking to the duo until he said something which shocked Jones.

George: Sure will be glad when your mom gets that deer out of my shop.

Samantha: What?!

George: Yeah. It's been in the cooler for almost a week.

Samantha: You've got to be kidding me.

She immediately rushed towards the cooler and opened the door as George told her to stop but Samantha didn't listen and went inside the cooler until she saw the deer laying on the ground as her eyes were widen in shock and she felt her heart crushed at the sight of the deer as Harrison felt bad until the butcher said something to them.

George: They brought it from the crime scene.

Samantha: What a shame. . . . .

Harrison: What are you gonna do with it?

George: Once Samantha's mom no longer needs it for evidence, I'll call Sanitation to dispose of the carcass.

Samantha:. . . . . . . I cannot believe they're gonna treat this amazing creature like. . . . . roadkill.

Harrison: We should do something before they do.

Meanwhile back at the cabin, Maria and Bill both slowly opened their eyes as their visions were blurry and felt a headache. Sometime ago, they were talking to each other in the room until someone entered the room and hit both of them in the head with a plank, knocking them out.

Bill: What the? What happened?

Maria: I have no idea-

Once their vision was back to normal, Bill and Maria noticed there was plastic around the living room as they were confused and creeped out as they tried to get up until they noticed both of them were tied up in a table and were wrapped around with plastic and duct tape as they were shocked.

Maria: What the f***!? What the hell is this!?

Bill: Hey! Hey! This isn't funny! You hear me!

Alex: Scream all you want, nobody is gonna hear you.

Maria and Bill looked to the side and saw Alex sitting by the couch as he slowly got up and they noticed Winters outfit.

Alex put on a plastic face shield as he had a sadistic smile on his face and was holding a kitchen knife while slowly walking towards them as Bill and Maria were horrified that it was Jim that did all this. They knew him for sometime now, Jim Lindsay was the nicest man in the town and he couldn't hurt anyone because his heart was pure but now in front of them, they didn't saw him, they saw a monster wearing the mask of Jim.

Bill: Jim! What the hell!?

Maria: Let us out! You let us out now!

They began screaming at him as Alex began mocking them by screaming and then yelling the same words they said as the couple immediately went silent and fear began coursing through their veins until Winters said something to them.

Alex: You know normally I would have a long talk with my victims but at the moment, I have a schedule and I don't want to screw it up.

Bill: Jim! Why are you doing this!?

Maria: This isn't you! Let us go!

Alex: Let you two go? So that you two will take pictures of those students changing in the gym locker room and then blackmail them to send you greedy monsters every last penny until they can't take it anymore and they end their own lives while you two will laugh it off and target your next victim!?

Bill and Maria immediately went silent after what Alex said until Winters said something to them.

Alex: Look at the wall. . . . .

They were silent and scared until Alex gritted his teeth in anger and said something to the couple.

Alex: I SAID LOOK AT THE WALL!

They immediately jumped and looked at the wall as they saw pictures of all the victims that ended their lives because of what they did to them before the couple were scared and said something to Winters.

Bill: Okay! Okay! Yes! We did all of this because we desperately needed cash!

Maria: We're so sorry! Please let us go! We will turn ourselves in to the police!

Alex had a sinister stare on his face before he said something to the couple.

Alex: No, I don't think so.

He placed tape on both of their mouths as Winters heard their muffled screams but he ignored them until Alex pulled out a power saw and turned it on as the couple's eyes were widen in shock and horror until he slowly walked towards them while they began screaming even louder.

Meanwhile Harrison was at his room until Ethan video called him as Winters had a smile on his face and answered the call.

Harrison: [Smiles] Hey Ethan.

Ethan: [Smiles] I wanted to thank you for today.

Harrison: Yeah, don't worry about it.

Ethan: I've always fantasized about hurting Zach like that, but you actually did.

Harrison: [Chuckles] Screw those guys. They just think they're hard
Because they hunt and s*** but they don't know anything about real violence.

Both of them chuckled before Ethan said something to Harrison as he was listening to him.

Ethan: I got a bunch of drawings of those assholes. You want to see?

Harrison: Thrill me.

Ethan showed his drawing book which had drawings of him attacking the bullies with a knife and blood was splattered on the ground, next drawing showed him torturing them using different torture tools and weapons, the last drawing showed Ethan wearing a punisher outfit and shooting Zach and Scott.

Harrison was staring at the drawings and was in deep thoughts until he snapped out of it and said something to him.

Harrison: What are you, like, The Punisher or something?

Ethan: They'd be scared of me if I was, huh?

Meanwhile Alex was removing the plastic around the living room as he looked at the table and saw garbage bags which had the remains of Bill and Maria as he sighed to himself and gritted his teeth in anger until Winters heard Olivia speaking to him.

Olivia: As if you didn't have enough problems. Now you have three remains that you need to hide! What were you thinking!?

Alex was gonna say something until he heard his phone ring and he immediately pulled his phone out and saw Katherine calling him until he answered the call.

Alex: Hey, Kate. What's up?

Katherine: Just seeing if you want to come over for dinner tonight.

Alex: Tonight? Ummm, I'm not sure I'm up for it. I'm kind of exhausted. Rain check?

Katherine: I know. I'm exhausted, too. You think I feel like cooking for Samantha and Harrison?

Alex: Harrison?

Katherine: Yeah. Samantha invited him over.

Alex: Sure, I'll be there.

Katherine: See you soon, love.

Alex: You too, love

Winters disconnected the call and looked at the garbage bags before he put his jacket on and said something.

Alex: I obviously can't take you two. Don't run anywhere!

Winters immediately left the cabin and got inside the truck as he started the vehicle and began driving back to the store while thinking about everything that has happened.

Night-time [Nine P.M]

[Bears, dogs. I miss the days when the only animals I had to worry about were alligators.]

Alex was looking at the base camp through the window as he was fixing his jacket until Harrison left the room as both of them left the cabin and walked towards the truck as they were gonna head towards Katherine's house.

Twenty eight minutes later

Katherine: And the dogs spent the whole day literally barking up the wrong tree. They couldn't find anything out there.

Samantha: I saw. I mean, what do you think it means?

Katherine: I don't know, but I'm going to see again at the crime scene tomorrow and what do you mean, you saw?

Samantha: On the Merry f****** Kills Instagram. Can you believe Gionna and Caleb are in Iron Lake?

Katherine: What!? Let me see that.

Samantha pulled out her phone and showed the Instagram picture and the picture showed Gionna and Caleb looking at the crime scene until Jones said something to her daughter.

Katherine: Wait, so those two are podcasters?

Samantha: It's only like the most popular true crime podcast out there. I mean they have a million followers on Instagram.

Harrison: You're into true crime?

Samantha: It's murder but it's funny. I'll text you my top five.

They continued eating their meals until Katherine said something to her daughter.

Katherine: So I got a call from Abraham Brown today. He said you guys took a little drive out to the Reservation. Did you think I wasn't gonna find out?

Samantha: I was trying to do the right thing.

Katherine: By going behind my back?

Samantha: The way that deer's being treated is messed up. Even though it's dead, it still deserves dignity.

Katherine: I agree.

Samantha: Then why didn't you do something?

Katherine: I'm in the middle of a criminal investigation. I've been a little busy and please Sam, next time, just come to me and we can find a solution together. This isn't some parenting mind trick. This is me on your side.

Samantha was silent and knew her mother was right as she looked at Kate before Jones said something to her.

Samantha: I spoke with Abraham. We came up with a plan for the deer, Just need you to release it.

Katherine: Sure, Say we are done with it. What's the plan?

Samantha: They're gonna do a bonfire.

[Who would have thought I would find this. A family in Iron Lake. A family that I very nearly lost because of an impulsive kill. I don't want to lose this.]

Harrison: Jim would drive his tractor.

[All that's left is to find a spot to move the body.]

Katherine: Jim.

Alex: What?

Harrison: You could help us move
the deer's body, right? Your truck bed's big enough?

Alex: Yeah. Should be.

Katherine: Sounds like a plan.

Samantha: Great. Because I already told them we'd be doing it tonight.

One hour later

The deer was taken to the Reservation and soon the ceremony was held as Katherine, Samantha, Miraim and Abraham were looking at the bonfire.

[Humans have always dealt with death through rituals. Guess mine are just a little unique.]

Alex and Harrison were watching the bonfire before Winters said something to his son.

Alex: Hey, we should go.

Harrison nodded and began walking towards the truck and got inside as Winters was staring at the bonfire.

[Look at them as close as people can be and here I stand, ten feet, miles away from my own son.]

Alex got inside the truck as both father and son were silent as they stared at the bonfire before Winters said something to his son.

Alex:. . . . . I should've stood up for you at school yesterday. I was wrong.

Harrison:. . . . . . . Yeah, you were.

He sighed to himself and looked at the bonfire before Alex said something to his son.

Alex: Well, from now on. This is me on your side.

Harrison looked at his father and tears fell from his eyes as he had a small smile on his face and looked at him before he said something to him.

Harrison: Thanks, Dad.

["Dad." Wow. My new favorite word.]

Alex had a small smile on his face and nodded before he started the truck and began driving away as Winters was thinking about something.

[I only wish the rest of my problems would go up in smoke. . . . . Wait a minute.]

Three hours later

Alex was at the Iron Lake Sanitation Incinerator as he threw the bags which had the remains of Matt Caldwell along with Maria and Bill Banks onto the incinerator as he watched the flames burned the remains and Winters was staring at it.

[Finally. Rid of their remains for good and now back to a normal life.]

Alex was watching the flames incinerate the remains before he closed the doors of the incinerator and got inside his truck before he drove away from the sanitation.

Winters drove past the bridge as he continued driving through the streets while looking at the town.

[But I don't know. What if it's not the killing that got me in trouble?What if it's the not killing?]

Alex was gonna drive past the Tavern until he saw someone singing in happiness and left the tavern until Winters saw who it was.

It was Kurt Caldwell, he looked happy and was singing in excitement. Alex found it odd because he didn't even look like he was grieving. Winters stopped the truck and exited the vehicle as he went to check up on him.

Alex: Hey Kurt.

Kurt: [Smiles] Hey! Hey! How are you brother?

Kurt: [Laughs] Did you hear the news?

Alex: [Smiles] What news?

Caldwell broke the hug as he smiled in happiness until he said something to Winters.

Kurt: [Smiles] My son is alive!

Alex:. . . . . . [Smiles] How do you know?

Kurt: Well, he called me and we had the best talk. Really great talk.

Alex: Must've been amazing to hear his voice.

Kurt: Oh, yeah, well, I did more than hear him. We FaceTimed.

Alex: FaceTime?

Kurt: [Smiles] Yeah! I actually saw the face of the son that I thought I had lost. That's unbelievable.

Alex:. . . . . I know, right? Hey, come on. Why don't you let me give you a ride home?

Kurt: It's okay, I'm just right here-

Alex: [Smiles] I insist.

Kurt: [Smiles] You're such a good friend, Jim. I'm so happy my son is alright. Can you believe that?

Alex: [Smiles] Yeah

[Actually, no. And why would he lie?]

Kurt smiled at him and got inside the truck as Winters was looking at the snow falling, however he was in deep thoughts about what Kurt said to him.

End Of Arc 3
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Coming up next:

Olivia: You tried to make him into a monster like you but he's nothing like you.

Before she could walk away, Alex had a knife in his hand and slashed his sister in the leg as blood splattered on the wall.

Harrison: I want to get back to a routine.

Alex: I totally get that.
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Caleb: Some entitled rich guy shoots a deer at reservation land and then suddenly disappears?

Gionna: Was that his dad you were talking too?

Kurt: I was just relieved that my son is alive.
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Alex: Why did Kurt lie about his son?

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Alex opened a small bag and saw something as he picked it up until his eyes were widen in shock and fear by what he saw.

Alex: No. . . . . .

Darkly Dreaming Winters

A/N: Thanks For Reading And Stay Cool :)