Handsome Lying Jerks

Chapter 43

Chapter Forty-three

Hell to the "What?"

Upon reaching the cabin, Richard Grayson got goose bumps as he and Jude O'Brien saw the cabin's gate wide open. JudeO'Brien pulled over outside the gates. The cabin looked like it was abandoned for years even though it was just left a couple of months ago.

"I remembered leaving the gates locked," Jude said.

"You're the only one with the keys, right?" Richard asked.

"Yeah."

Both were definitely freaked out. Richard grabbed a flashlight in his compartment and the fake diary lying on the dashboard.

"Why did you bring that?" Jude pointed on the diary.

"Nothing," Richard answered. "Let's go!"

They raced to the cabin without hesitation. As they walked on rocky granite flooring, Richard noticed something rustled on the bushes. He paused and listened.

"What was that?" Jude spat.

It rustled again. It made him think that someone was there watching them.

"Who's there?" Richard demanded as he shined the flashlight to the bushes. "Show yourselves!"

"Come on, man. Let's go," Jude recommended.

Then, they emerged inside cabin. As Jude held on to the door knob, he got confused for it wasn't locked.

"I swore I locked this," Jude recalled. "Someone's really here."

"I know," Richard said.

As they stood the doorway, Jude's mouth dropped. The cabin was filthy. Dust were flying around. The furniture were disarranged. Leftovers from the party last July were still there. There was also no electrical source.

"What the hell? This was clean when we left this!"

Richard ignored Jude. His mind was totally on Brittany. "Let's split up."

"Some freakshow trashed my cabin. If my mom sees this, I'm gonna be screwed!" He was so paranoid with all the mess, so he started picking up bottles and cups on the floor.

"Jude!" Richard yelled.

Jude got startled. He rose and wrinkled his eyebrows. "What?"

"Are you gonna help me or not?"

"Right," Jude remembered that he offered Richard's company to help him search Brittany, not to clean up. Well, that was secondary. "I'll search outside."

The boys parted ways. Richard searched inside while Jude scanned the vicinity outside.

As he saw Jude headed outside, he quickly grabbed his iPhone and texted E. He typed that he brought the diary and the footage. He asked him for an exchange and surrender Brittany safe and sound.

He looked at the kitchen. He switched the lights on but there was really no power. All he could sense was the pungent odor of the kitchen. It smelled like rotten corpse of a rat mixed with spoiled pizza. And indeed, there were two slices of leftover pizza on the table. Even though there were no lights, he could identify it was a pizza on the bar thanks to the moonlight. Then, he headed to the main hall. He was like searching for nothing because all he could see was a mountain of trash.

"Did he really clean this place?" Richard asked himself.

Suddenly, he heard a footstep heading towards the cabin. It was getting louder. He could see a shadowy hooded figure casted on the door floor. Richard inched closer to the door when...