Devil In A White Dress

Seventy Eight

She smashed the barrel of the gun across Emma's face to put up a distraction. Without words, Mrs. Summers started untying Austin.

She didn't even notice Emma walk away.

"Mom," Timothy cried, "Brie has a gun. She's got a gun." But she wasn't paying attention. Everything went deaf for her. Timothy tried explaining to his mother again, "Mom! Brie's got a gun!"

In a flash, Mrs. Summers jerked out of the trance to see Emma run towards the latter with her axe swung in the air.

"Run!", Mrs. Summers roared in Timothy's ear as she shoved him out of the way. Emma's axe landed on the edge of the table. Mrs. Summers, Austin and Brianna moved into the sitting area but none of them saw what Emma had done to Mr. Summers. The gun in Brianna's pants dropped.

"Fuck!", she cursed aloud.

Emma turned her direction towards Timothy, deciding that he should be the one to die first. She caught him run to the room they locked her in and slashed the door, screaming death threats at the boy. Mrs. Summers came rippling through the air and lunged at her from behind but it didn't stop her.

While all this was going on, everybody completely forgot about the gas leaking. The scent was stronger than ever. With Timothy out of the room, Emma took to her heel and pursued him like a monster truck chasing after a fleeing goat. The scissors firmly clutched in her hand this time.

"Stand still!", Emma roared, as though the world had stopped spinning. In the sitting area, Timothy hid underneath the lopsided couch but Emma pounced on it. Perforating the furniture as though she was stabbing one of her childhood dollies to the chest.

"Leave him alone!!", Mrs. Summers shrieked when she clashed right into the madwoman and engaged her with fists. As Brianna tended to a scarred Mr. Summers, Austin peeked behind the sofa where he found the handgun.

"Brie!!"

He flew the gun to her in rapid succession. At approximately 8:01, Brianna fired one shot which hit Emma's back with instant speed. She stumbled to the floor as though pummeled by a heavy blow. For the first time, Emma felt a sign of defeat. Brianna pulled the trigger again but the bullets ran out.

"Brie!!", Mrs. Summers whimpered in shock and amazement. She ran towards her and Austin, engulfing them in a tight hug. She thought Brianna was going through the same post-trauma every teenage girl felt after being forced to take someone's life with a gun in hand, but in reality, she wasn't. Brianna felt some form of empowerment having shot the one woman she despised.

Her hand firmly gripped on the handgun trembled continuously. Brianna wanted to shoot Emma for the rest of the night, because it was a plain fact that the bitch wasn't dead. She pulled the trigger again. Again. Again. And again. But no firepower. Slowly, Mrs. Summers took the gun out of her trembling hand in silence. Simultaneously, she was very proud and scared. She looked into Brianna's eyes, and they watered with tears of complete disorientation.

"Look at me", she said to her daughter," look at me. She's down. Let's get out of here before she gets up, okay?"

"Okay", Brianna replied grimly, not even looking in the direction of Mr. Summers. All this while, none of them were aware of the burning frying pan in the kitchen. With the gas left on, the fire increased and immediately set the stove ablaze. Timothy saw this first. But it was like nothing he had ever seen before in real life. The fire rapidly engulfed the whole kitchen, then spread to the sitting area.

Mrs. Summers saw only two things; the cabin being set ablaze and her scarred husband.

"Let's get out of here! Now!", she roared. She had never seen fire move so quickly. Before any of them could make it out, Emma rose from her unconsciousness and toppled Mrs. Summers over to the floor. Brianna and Austin tripped as well. The roof of the cabin burst into flames and came crumbling down.

This time, Emma had transcended into another feral state. Like a wild animal, she dragged Mrs. Summers by the left heel and bit into her skin, tearing into flesh. Mrs. Summers didn't scream. She finally had the advantage to let out all the anger on her.

She kicked Emma to the face. Hard. Delivering into her a beating that would definitely rid her of the insanity that plagued within. Austin and Brianna got up and assisted their mother in kicking the back and spine of the psychopath to injure her critically. This reminded Timothy of the nightmare. He rummaged his way through the pile of wood crumbling down, fighting for survival using all his best effort.

But he couldn't abandon his family. The voice in his head urged him to keep moving forward. Go. What are you waiting for? If you stay here, you'll die with them, Timmy. Run and don't look back.

When Mrs. Summers called out to him, his heart had stopped beating. The crackling of the fire filled his eardrums. He turned back to gaze at his mother but the fire blocked the path. He couldn't see her. He couldn't hear her. To his assumption, Mrs. Summers was yelling at him to run and don't look back. It was clear that Emma was right all along. Timothy was free to go and leave his family to burn.

But they would all burn along with Emma. Mrs. Summers clutched Austin and Brianna tight in both her arms. Fire surrounded them all and there were zero chances that any of them could make it out. She kissed them both on the forehead, and braced for the worst to happen. This was the death she had yearned for in years.

She felt relieved because of two things; Timothy would live for the rest of the years and Emma Woodburn was going to burn to her death.

Timothy stumbled to the ground real hard and watched the fire consume what he used to call family. Flames started to engulf the other cabins. Frightened and awestruck, Timothy jolted out of sight. He was going to run.

Run all the way home and leave Lake George Wild.