“Hey LJ, check out what I found on that stump over there.” said Shane as he lifted the axe up to Laughing Jack.
Laughing Jack looked at the axe, “This will do much better than that little old pocket knife I gave you. You may keep it.”
They continued walking in utter silence for the next few minutes. Shane started hearing familiar voices and saw the flicker of a campfire just a little ways ahead. Then he heard something that made him stop dead in his tracks.
“I wish Shane was here to enjoy this with us, I hate leaving him there alone and bored.” said a voice whom Shane recognized as his mom’s.
“Aaah to hell with him, Laura, that kid is more trouble than he’s worth.” said another voice whom Shane realized was his stepdad’s. Shane hated his stepdad with a passion, not because he beat him or anything, but because he has no respect for other people, especially women.
“John! How the hell could you say that! He’s our son, and the only child we have ever since Susan went missing.” scolded Laura
“No, that piece of shit is your son, not mine. Now shut up and go grab me a beer from the cooler, you dumb slut.”
Shane’s mom did as she was told. “I still hope he’s alright.”
“Oh shut up about him!” said John as he drank, “If you mention that punk again, you’ll regret it.
Shane got furious and started running towards them, but Laughing Jack grabbed Shane’s hood and yanked him backwards. Shane landed on his back with a thud. Laughing Jack stood over him and said, “Where the hell do you think your going?”
“I can’t listen to that asshole anymore, please LJ, let me take care of him.”
“First of all, stop calling me ‘LJ’ you have not earned it yet. Second of all, you will get your chance but first I am going to teach you the art of the kill.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good, see that stump over there? Go sit there and watch me closely ‘cuz I’m not doing a repeat.”
Shane went and sat where he was told. He watched Laughing Jack as closely as he could. He turned into a thick cloud of black fog and Shane lost sight of him. Shane heard an echoing laugh and he knew it was Laughing Jack, the fire then went out and it was dark, the only light was coming from the moon. Laughing Jack then reappeared behind Laura. He grabbed her and covered her mouth with one hand and, with the other, he took one long, sharp fingernail across her throat. Shane noticed the thin line of blood starting to leak out from under Laughing Jack’s finger.
Shane shot up and ran towards Laughing Jack, “No stop, don’t do it!!”
Laughing Jack let go of Shane’s mom’s lifeless body, “What the hell! I told you to watch, not interfere.”
Shane ran over to his mother’s body, “Mom, mom, please wake up, I’m so sorry.” he said between sobs.
“You little fucker!” said John as he stomped on Shane’s back. “You killed her! Now she’s dead! Who the hell is going to do my laundry now?”
“Maybe the devil will when you find him in hell!” screamed Shane as he grabbed John’s leg and broke it at the knee causing him to fall on his back. “You should learn some respect Jonathan.” Shane started kicking John in the ribs. Blood started gushing out of John’s mouth.
“You will pay for this, you shit.” said John as he shoved Shane back and reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun. He fired two shots at Shane, the first one missed and hit a tree, the second one hit Shane in the heart and blew a hole all the way to the back and out, lodging itself in a tree straight behind Shane.
