“You really must be new here,” Ricky said, “because Hell Night is all about trouble. You don’t have to ask for it. You don’t even have to want it. We deliver it to you.”

“On the house,” said the Party-Monster.

“Besides,” said Ricky, “we owe you. You whupped our asses first time we met, didn’t you? We had no idea you and your friends could fight like that. Guess you showed us, huh?”

“I’m sorry,” Kelly said. “I’m sorry, all right?”

“Little late for apologies. When it got out that I’d had the shit kicked out of me by a dyke, you know what happened? Ridicule. Public ridicule.”

“So what is this?” Kelly asked. “This is all because I’m gay, is that it?”

“Gay or straight’s got nothing to do with it,” said Ricky. “Hell, I was screwing the Party-Monster not half an hour ago in the middle of Main Street.”

“That’s right, he was,” said the Party-Monster.

“Walking around in the daytime, we got all these little fears and insecurities and prejudices and they all mean so very much there, in the sunlight … but y’know what? When Hell Night rolls around, no one gives a good goddamn about any of that stuff. When we’re like this, we do what we wanna do. We do who we wanna do.”

“It’s a very liberating experience,” said the Party-Monster.

“So ask,” said Ricky.

Kelly could feel the cold metal of the gun against her hip. “I don’t understand. Ask what?”

“You know.”

“I don’t. I swear.”

Ricky chuckled. “Ask us what we’re gonna do with you. Go on. Ask. You know you want to.”

Kelly blinked. “What … what are you going to do with me?”

The Party-Monster howled with laughter.

“We’re gonna kill you,” said Dave, delighted.

“Every year,” said Ricky, “we try to kill someone in a new way. You know what we’ve never tried? Guess.”

“I … I don’t …”

“Go on, guess. Guess how we’re gonna kill you. Hey, we’re not totally unreasonable. We’re actually pretty nice guys once you get to know us. So we’ll give you a chance to get out of this in one piece, how’s that? If you guess correctly how we’re gonna kill you, we’ll let you go.”

Dave slapped Ricky on the back. “Nice one! Genius! How about it, Red?”

“No,” said Kelly. “No, I can’t play that. But, if you let me go, you’ll—”

“We’re not letting you go,” said Ricky. “You’re playing the game or you forfeit. If you forfeit, we kill you. So … now do you wanna play? You can have three guesses.”

“Play!” the Party-Monster chanted. “Play! Play! Play!”

No way out. Kelly swallowed. “If I get it right, you’ll let me go?”

“Yes,” said Ricky. “Guys, you good with that?”