She saw the steel blade coming directly at her face. She screamed a scream that was cut off as abruptly and as violently as it had begun, cut off as it tore from her throat. The steel blade struck her face and she felt the numbing force of its impact. That and nothing more, just one incandescently brief agonizing blow as it was buried in her forehead, splitting the skull, biting deep into the cranium. She was already dead as she fell back against the wall of the shower cabinet. Blood, running down her face. The axe, embedded in her forehead like some macabre Halloween prop, but the blood was real. It streamed from the deep gash and pattered to the floor like raindrops, running in red streams down the drain. The overhead light swaying crazily back and forth as the door was open briefly and a gust of wind blew through the bathroom. The door swung closed and everything was quiet again. Only the light fixture swung back and forth, back and forth, briefly illuminating Marcie's body slumped in the shower stall. Then it gradually stopped swinging, leaving her in darkness.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Bill was down to his bare feet and he had already lost his shirt. Shoes and socks were the first casualties of the game and since neither of the girls were wearing socks, he thought they would be even fairly quickly. But Brenda and Alice had managed to stay ahead. Now, the tide of the game had turned and things were starting to get interesting. Brenda had lost her shorts on her last turn and now she rolled the dice and moved her game token across the board. Bill saw she was going to land on one of his properties again.

"Hello!" He grinned.

Brenda scowled.

"Worst run of bad luck since Richard Nixon." She pulled her shirt off. She had a pretty pink bra underneath, the sheer kind with Demi cuffs that exposed most of her breasts and left practically nothing to the imagination. It matched her pink bikini panties.

Poor Ned, Bill thought, Look what you're missing. Well, that's what happens when you leave the party early.

He smiled at Brenda as she dropped her shirt on the floor beside her chair.

"Well, you can always call it quits if you want to," he said, making it a challenge.

"Fat Chance," countered Brenda as Alice reached for the dice.

"You're two steps from Pacific Avenue and Skin City."

"Oooooh," said Bill in mock fright. He thought of Steve Christie coming back from town and walking in on them playing Monopoly stark naked. The thought of the expression on Steve's face almost make him choke on his beer.

"Whoops," said Alice as she landed on one of Bill's streets. Brenda laughed.

"Well, what can I say?" Bill said with an elaborate shrug, "It's not much, but I call it home."

He watched appreciatively as Alice started to unbutton her blouse.