Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Jensen

“ J ensen, pretty sure the fucker’s dead,” Jonas states, but his brow’s raised like he’s questioning it himself.

“Yeah, we need to move on to the next one anyway, so we can get cleaned up in time for Hilary.” I lift my mask, wiping the sweat from my forehead as I step over to my ATV to get a bottle of water.

“You mean Hals needs to change. We get to have more fun when he’s just the decoy.” Jonas laughs as he takes his bat, rearing it back and swinging, hitting Jack right in the head. The fucker’s dead for sure now.

“Dude, your love of that show knows no bounds.” We all laugh at Hals’ words as we toss our weapons into the cart and climb on the ATVs.

“On to the next. Friday the thirteenth is the best.” Hals takes off just as Jonas stops yelling, causing him to fall backward on the seat.

He’s not wrong. This is the best night ever.

We make our way along the path through the trees. Our next spot is about fifteen minutes away.

Next up for tonight is none other than Philip Masterson. We have a lot of fun planned for him. Fucking sadist.

The closer we get to the next stop, the more pumped I feel. Hals starts to slow his ATV down as we near our destination. Pulling off into a clearing, he parks it. We’ll have to walk through the brush to get to the clearing he’s in.

“Can’t wait to beat the fucker’s face in,” Jonas jokes as he swings his bat.

“Well, he’s all yours first. Just don’t kill him right off the bat,” I warn him. Jonas is known to get a little overzealous. It’s no fun for anyone when you kill with one blow. We want to play with our food a little, letting it marinate.

As we step through the trees into the clearing, Hals and Jonas come to a screeching halt, causing me to crash into them.

“Hey, motherfuckers! Give me a warning next time,” I bitch at them.

A choked gasp escapes Jonas’ mouth as he stares at the sight in front of us. But after the three or four seconds it takes for his brain to reboot, he takes off, running toward Philip’s body hanging from a tree. It took two of us pulling on the rope earlier to get his ass up there; his hands remain tied above his head as his feet dangle, barely touching the ground.

“No, no, no,” Jonas chants, each word rising in volume as he rounds the body until it crescendos with a bellow. “NO!” he roars.

“What the fuck?” Hals and I both blurt out in unison.

Philip’s corpse is a bloodied mess, a pool of crimson on the ground below him.

“When and how did one of you get back here to do this without me knowing?” I rip the mask off my head as I move closer, taking in the scene before me.

“We didn’t do this,” Hals snaps. “How did someone know he was here?”

“The better question is, who knew we’d be here? Look at his chest.” Jonas' voice is void of emotion now, which is kind of creepy.

“What are you talking about? I don’t give a shit about his chest. I want to know what the hell happened here. If you two didn’t have a part in this, then someone knows about us. If our fathers get wind of it, they’ll kill us.” I’m pacing, my fingers running through my hair as I pull on the ends. This can’t be happening.

“Who the fuck cares about them? We have bigger fish to fry. Look at his chest!” he shouts, gesturing his hands toward the body.

It’s then I pay closer attention, actually looking at what he wants me to. His face is black and blue, and the blood that once flowed from his mouth has stained streaks down his chin. I try not to focus on what else is wrong with him, letting my eyes drift to his chest that’s covered by a ripped shirt, splotches of the fabric dyed in shades of crimson.

I step closer, moving the shirt to get a better look even though I could read it. I just need to know if there’s more. Some clue as to who did this.

Someone crudely carved Too Late and a smiley face into his chest.

“Who the hell knew? We’re meticulous about keeping our tracks covered.” Hals kicks at a rock on the ground, sending it flying toward a tree.

“Shit, shit, shit!” I blurt, pulling my mask back on before racing over to the ATV, climbing on it, and shooting off down the path. We were too late for Philip, but we still have Dylan. If the fucker knows what we’re doing, then he’s heading to him next and we need to stop him.

I can hear them screaming after me, but I don’t have time to waste. Tonight is going downhill and I don’t want the wrath of my father coming down on me.

A minute later, I hear the roar of their ATV as they come flying up behind me. Guess the same realization that hit me smacked them upside the face.

The closer I get to my destination, a heavy feeling builds in the pit of my stomach. My mind fears the worst is about to happen. The guys probably have the same thoughts racing through their minds.

Dylan needs to be alive and exactly how we left him, or shit’s going to hit the fan. We’ll tear this school apart until we find the fucker who is messing with us.

I come to a skidding halt when I reach the clearing, already knowing it’s going to be a shit show when we get there.

Once I have the ATV turned off, I jump off and rush toward where we left Dylan’s body. He’s on the other side of the tree, so I can’t see him. I stumble as I stop; no way in hell am I going unarmed. I rush back to the cart, reaching in and pulling out my cleaver, just as Hals and Jonas pull up beside me.

“We’re taking this fucker down,” Jonas growls as he takes his bat from their cart and hands Hals his machete.

“Do you think he’s here? He could just have been fucking with us and he doesn’t know about Dylan,” Hals adds, and I roll my eyes.

We move toward the tree with caution, not knowing what’s waiting on the other side for us. As we turn the corner, my eyes catch the first glimpse of the sight before me.

Dylan is where we left him, but not exactly how he was the last time we saw him. He’s still tied to the tree, but he’s not completely whole. There’s an ax lodged into the tree, right through his stomach. His guts are spilling out, trailing down to the ground with a red puddle beneath him.

“What the fuck is going on? This has to be a dream. It’s the only explanation.” Jonas drops his bat to the ground as he slaps himself in the face, only he’s not waking up. This is reality.

“Check his chest,” I order. Maybe there’s a note.

Hals steps forward lifting the red drenched shirt, but nothing. No words are covering his chest, only cuts—lots of them—and tiny slashes.

“There’s nothing,” Hals informs us. “If I knew our fathers weren’t going to kill us when they find out about this, I’d admire this dickheads’ craftsmanship. He knows how to kill a man.”

Somehow, I don’t think our fathers are going to feel the same way. How are we going to clean up this shit show of a night? I pace back and forth across the field, playing different scenarios through my mind as Jonas and Hals talk about the body. Then it hits me.

“This is what we’re going to do. We may not have gotten all our targets tonight, but we’re going to salvage this shit show. There’s still Hilary. Jonas, you need to get cleaned up and meet her as planned. We’ll show up and then we have our fun.”

“Hell yeah, we will!” Jonas shouts as he swings his bat into the air, hitting an imaginary ball.

“Shut the hell up and listen. Once we’re done with her, then we’ll go back to Philip and shred his skin so that there’s no evidence of any writing carved on him. Once we’re done, we’ll call the clean-up crew. That way, if they decide to give our dads proof of our final kill, they won’t be none the wiser.”

They both nod their head in agreement.

“Jonas, you need to get to Hilary. You can hopefully be there before she arrives.”

“Okay. Hold his head up, Hals. I want to get at least one good swing in. I’ve been cheated out of making them bleed.” Jonas laughs.

Hals moves over, takes hold of Dylan’s hair, and pulls his head up so we can finally see his face.

“What the fuck is that?” I bark as I storm over to his lifeless body.

Carved across his forehead is 1 left.

“One left. What does that even fucking mean?” Jonas scratches his head.

The answer hits all of us at the same time and we rush back over, jumping on our ATVs, heading to the only other spot left and to the person we know should be or will be waiting there within minutes.

Hilary.

It’s still a little early, so there’s hope we can catch this asshole and deal with him before she arrives. She’s been nothing but punctual. Let’s hope she continues to be.

We race down the path, ducking to avoid the low-hanging branches. My heart racing in anticipation of what we’re going to find. I’m going to end the asshole doing this to us.

When we get near the clearing, I slow down. We need to be smart. There’s no telling what we might be walking into.

The only thing I can focus on right now is getting this disastrous night under control.

I stop at the edge of the wood line, Hals pulling up beside me.

“Why are you stopping here?” he asks.

“We’re going the rest of the way on foot. He’s probably already heard the ATVs, but we need to surprise him as much as we can.” Hals nods and parks. “Be prepared for anything,” I tell them as we make our way into the woods.

I put my finger up to my mouth, telling them to be quiet as we make our way to the outskirts of the field.

As the clearing comes into view, my mouth drops at what I see before me. This can’t be happening. It’s not real. There’s no way.

But it is.

There before us are Ellie, Allie, and Jenny.