They took exit 46 off the express way towards Mountain Lake. When they passed the Shell station with the Jack in the Box next to it they turned right and took the empty farmland road for about a mile till they saw route marker 155. They slowed the car down to make sure they were headed the right way. She got out of the car and looked to make sure that the old metal cross, covered with ivy was there. It was. So that must be where they had to turn she thought. It was very dark and they ha to use the high beams of the car as to not miss the nasty turn in the road they were warned about and hit the ditch. The trees had an ominous look as they swayed in the wind, arms waving a warning to those who dared listen. John often talked about this place being ideal for writing because it scared him. When he was afraid the words seemed to flow out of him onto the page. Melissa would miss her talks with him a lot. But right now as she sat in Brad’s car, rolling slowly down the road her mind was more on survival. Brad still had tears in his eyes, not an hour before he found what could have been true love at the instant that she had died. He tried to block the thought of her out of his mind. Why hadn’t he tried to pull her out? 5 seconds… all he would have needed is five small seconds. He could have run in, he could have grabbed her on his way out. Could have, would have, should have… He didn’t even have time to think. He didn’t care anymore. Nothing else really mattered. Rebecca needed him there and he would be there for her. He had to be strong for her. He wanted to protect her if he could. He had his hunting riffle from the weekend he and John had had in the woods last week. Fishing and hunting like when he was young with his dad. He preferred fishing though, but John wanted to shoot some cans and bottles. They reached the end of the road and a wooden cabin that Becca had described to them. He drove the truck past the min gate and down a little, just to leave it out of sight. They got out of the car and looked around them and towards the house. A faint glimmer of light could be seen from an upstairs window. Brad grabbed the riffle out of the back of his truck and walked past the front of his truck towards the front door of the house with Melissa in tow.

  Jody was quiet the whole ride over. Becca had finally stopped breathing hard now that she had her asthma pump with her. A quick shot of her steroids seemed to calm down the attacks and she was staring ahead of her down the road. Matt kept fiddling with the radio dial and was cursing that this place was so far from everything. They stopped at Jack in the Box (or Jack in the Crack as John called it), since neither of them had eaten all day. Becca took a one look at her double ultimate cheeseburger and tossed it out the window. "Why the hell did you do that Becca?" Matt asked. "It was John’s favorite… that’s probably why he chose to set up the cabin here." she answered. As they pulled up to the cabin they say two figures creep along the road and duck into the dirt driveway leading up to the house. Matt cut the engine and the light and reached over to the glove box and pulled out a gun he kept there since Bryan Phreak had tried to kill him years ago after the incident in Flipside. Bryan came up to him after closing time when Matt had struck out with some girl called Ashley who was teasing him all night long. He got out and walked to his car that was parked in the alley next to the building. Bryan was waiting next to a dumpster with a knife. Matt got stabbed in the shoulder but Bryan had let go of the blade when he saw the blood. Bryan was mad and wanted revenge but he wasn’t a killer. Matt running more on adrenaline than logic pulled the knife out and into Bryan’s chest. The look of horror on Bryan’s face was something Matt would never forget. The squelching sound of the blade as it ripped fabric and muscle. Piercing flesh and tissue digging its corrugated blade deeper and deeper in the minutes that were actually split seconds. Matt stood in the alley and looked at what he had done. He didn’t mean to do it. He just wanted to defend himself. John showed up minutes later and helped him load the body in the trunk after wrapping it in a painting tarp that was rolled up next to the dumpster.

  They dumped the body down into the lake near John’s cabin and went inside for a drink. Since then Matt and John were closer friends, yet Matt feared John for the ease and causality he took it all in with. The detachment and lack of emotion on john’s face showed Matt a side of him he would never want to cross. He got a gun just in case he would.

  Matt saw the crouched figure next to the wall next to a female figure. He yelled to get the persons attention: "Hey asshole real slow and real carefully…" The figure bolted upright with a two barreled shotgun aimed right at Matt’s chest. On instinct Matt yanked the trigger and a blast echoed into the night.

  Melissa told Brad to get down when she saw the light of the incoming car. They rushed across the road and down towards the house. The grass smelled funny. Brad pulled out the flashlight he still had and lit it. He followed the trail to the house where a pool of blood and someone’s head was laying at his feet. Some animal had gnawed at it and an ear was missing from the scalp. Melissa turned it with her foot and wasn’t able to recognize the face. Brad was freaking out. That’s probably why he didn’t recognize the voice behind him that yelled for him to get up. He leveled his riffle at the voice and squeezed the trigger.

  Both bodies hit the ground at the same time, and the lights came on from the house. The door opened and a man walked out holding a machine gun. "Brad drop the hunting riffle please. I don’t want to have to kill you just yet. Besides, Matt is already lying there bleeding from the wound you have just inflicted upon him. It wont take long he is almost gone. Seems he took out Melissa, good shot Matt… didn’t think you had it in you." He looked down from the porch as Brad lay the riffle on the ground. The lights were so strong that they all had problems seeing him clearly. Another shape emerged from the house and shot a series of bullets into Matt’s body as he tried to raise his arm at the man on the porch. "Tsk Tsk Tsk Matty…" she said. Becca was the first to see them both. "John… Michele… what the fuck is going on? Why are you doing this to us?"

To be continued…