cabin // an ajr short story

e i g h t

"Keep going," Ryan yelled to me as I led the three of us through the woods. I tried to cover my eyes from the hanging tree branches. "Go to the shop, we need to get Emily and Adam."
    I tried not to look behind me, the adrenaline forced the air into and out of my lungs. I felt the hot tears welled in my eyes and I tried to not let the sobs be audible as we ran.
    I could see the lights from the shop from the hill. The fluorescent lights were eerie through the trees with the entire lake being completely dark.
    We all three stopped to catch our breath, but our minds couldn't catch up. My mind was racing with everything that was happening, but my hand was gripping tightly to Ryan's. I wasn't letting him go and he wasn't letting me either.
"We gotta-" Ryan started, catching his breath with heavy gasps. "We have to go get them."
"What if it's too late?" I asked, tears that I didn't even know were falling fell down my cheek. "Wha-what if-"
"Don't say it," Jack said, placing his hands on the top of his head. He turned away from us, trying to pull everything together. He turned back and his face was contorted, sobs falling out of his eyes. "I can't-Its just-"
"Don't think about it," Ryan said, placing both hands firmly on his brother's shoulders. "You can't think about it and give up."
"But," Jack said, the tears even more heavy. "She's gone."
His voice sounded faint, almost nonexistent as he spoke. I could feel my own emotions gathering in the pit of my stomach.
"And so will all of us if we don't keep fighting," Ryan said, sternly in his brother's eyes. "We can't give up."
Jack looked at Ryan with his big eyes. He tried his best to keep his emotions in as they shared the glance of perseverance.
     "We should go," I said. "Now."....

      The man opened up the front door of the cabin, stepping in to the silence. He stood still for a second, trying to hear any more sounds in the cabin. At first he heard nothing, then a silent whimper coming from the two bodies by the kitchen.
     The man turned his attention towards the two piled bodies, noticing the movements coming from the bottom.
     Aubrey started to crawl towards the back door slowly, trying to heave Aidan's body off of her injured self. She struggled crawling, leaving a trail of blood behind her. 
     "Cmon-," She grunted, reaching for the door. She reached up and her bloody hand grasped onto the door knob. She laughed a victorious breath, unaware of the man standing right behind her.
    She twisted the door knob and opened the door slightly. Her victory escape was interrupted by a piercing pain coming down on her ankle. She yelped in pain, looking back to see the masked murderer standing above her, his boot digging into her leg.
    Fear flooded her mind as she hurried tried to reach for the door again, wiggling out from his foot.
    She got up and started running as fast as she could through the trees. Her pace was slowed by her blackening vision and her blood pouring from the slash in her back.
    She wobbled through the woods, using the trees as leverage. She could see the main road with passing cars. She was almost there.
    "Cmon Aubrey," She said to herself, trying her hardest to not pass out from her blood loss. She pushed towards the road, getting passed the tree line.
    She stood in the middle of the road, happiness flooding her mind as she was oncoming headlights. She waved her hands, screaming and yelling for the car to see her.
    Before the car could come any closer, big hands wrapped around her arms, pulling her back into the tree line. She screamed and kicked as hard as she could but the arms were not budging.
     She cried in pain as the man slammed her onto the ground. She could feel even more blood seeping from her back, her head woozy with every move she made. She tried to crawl away again, her energy dwindling.
    The man grabbed her ankles, flipping her onto her back with a painful slash. She tried to scream as loud as she could as the man grabbed for a rock.
     The man stood above her, towering down on her small figure.
     "Please," She said while crying, trying to plead with the man. "Let me see Jack one last-"
      Before she could get her request in, the man slammed the rock on her face, finally killing her in one swoop.
    He threw the rock to the side, wiping the mask free from flying dirt and blood. He took the black mask off to clean it.
    "Nice try," He said, slipping the mask back on and headed towards the light coming at the bottom of the hill.