{Reader's POV}
Thump, thump.
I gave a start at the sound, my head snapping to the front door in shock. Was that... knocking? As I stared at it in shock, the knocking sounded again, confirming my fears. Immediately my mind began racing, a giant jumble of confused thoughts and anxiety. Why was there someone knocking on the door? It was too soon for Jack to be back, and even then he wouldn't knock, the door was unlocked. Who knew about the cabin? Jack had admitted most of his friends didn't know about the cabin, there shouldn't be anyone who would come here.
My thoughts were interrupted once more by another round of knocking. Rising from the chair somewhat shakily, I slowly made my way to the door, trying to be as quiet as possible. Luckily for me the front door had a peephole, and taking a deep, shaky breath, I peered through it. Standing on the porch were two people, a man and woman, the man knocking on the door once more. What stood out about them, though, were their clothes. My breath hitched as I recognized the distinct uniforms.
Police officers.
There were two police officers standing at the door.
My breath hitched at the realization, my heart pounding even more. Why? Why were there police officers here? I backed away, hoping they'd think the cabin was empty and leave, when one of them called out. "Open up, we know you're there." This made me freeze. Well, so much for that. Finally, taking another shaky breath, I slowly reached for the door, putting the chain-lock in place before I opened it a crack and peered out.
"Hello?" I asked, trying to act totally natural even though on the inside I was freaking out. Can you blame me? I'm a missing person living with an organ-eating killer in the middle of the woods. Being found by police officers was literally the worst case scenario. Seeming to sense my anxiety, the female officer quickly offered me a reassuring smile.
"Hello, miss. Sorry to disturb you, I know this is unexpected. We were going through the woods, and happened to see this cabin and thought we'd stop by. Again, I'm sorry, I know this must be really surprising for you. We just want to ask a couple questions, it won't take more than a few minutes. You don't even need to let us in. Okay?" Hesitating for only a few seconds, I slowly nodded.
"...Alright..." More than anything I just wanted to say "no", but I knew refusing would just be suspicious. The quicker I cooperated, the sooner they'd leave.
"Okay, good! Anyways, do you recognize this person?" As she spoke she pulled out a photo and showed it to me. Peering at it, I found myself looking at a young man's smiling face. The photo meant nothing to me; I had no idea who he was, which was honestly a bit of a relief.
"I don't, sorry." I gave a small shrug, and the officers nodded, the woman pocketing the photo.
"Okay then. Moving on, have you noticed anything, ah, unusual around the forest, seen anyone out of place...?"
"Not really... I don't go out that much." Also true. At most I'd usually just sit on the porch, and sometimes I'd go on a walk with Jack but otherwise I just stayed inside. The female officer nodded again.
"I see. So then you also haven't seen any campers or campsites... or anything?" At that moment my stomach sank, realization suddenly hitting me. My mind flashed back to the day at the clearing weeks ago, how Jack had wandered off, and then... that scream... Thanks to everything that happened afterwards I'd totally forgotten about it, but the fact remained: Jack had killed a person that day. And most likely, these officers were looking for him.
"No." I slowly shook my head, though inwardly I was cringing and starting to panic. The female officer just nodded.
"I see. Well, thanks anyway. We might have more questions later, so could we possibly have your name and number...?" Once more, my stomach sank, but I didn't let my panic show and replied almost instantly.
"It's [Name]. [Name] Smith." Smith? Seriously? Well THAT sounded real, but I ignored it and continued. "And, uh, there's no phone here..." She looked at me in surprise.
"Not even a cell phone?" I shook my head. "Seriously? What if you have an emergency?"
"Well, uh... My roommate went to med school, so if we get hurt he can take care of it... And not many people come to the woods, so..." I gave a feeble shrug.
"Oh," the woman mumbled. "I see..." Throughout the conversation the male officer had just watched silently, staring at me, and at this point he finally spoke up.
"You said your name is [Name]?" he asked, surprising me. Swallowing, I nodded.
"Um, yeah...?"
"By any chance, is your full name actually [full name]?" Instantly my blood ran cold, my stomach sinking as I stared at him.
"...No, you must be mistaken," I replied. However, at this point I knew too much time had passed between the question and my answer. My heart pounded as their faces instantly became suspicious, and I began shaking. This was it. I knew my cover was blown.
"Ma'am—" The man's voice was suddenly cut off by a loud shriek of pain from the female officer, making us both jump. Turning to her in shock, we saw blood pouring down from the back of her neck as she screamed in pain, tears in her eyes. Then she was shoved to the ground, revealing none other than Jack standing behind her, his scalpel bloody.
Moving swiftly and skillfully, he dodged the male officer's attempt to lunge at him, ducking low and slicing his wrists as the officer tried to reach for his gun. Crying out in pain, the officer stumbled back while Jack quickly swiped his scalpel at his neck, slicing it across the jugular and causing blood to pour out as he kicked the officer down. Clutching at her neck, the female officer rolled onto her back just in time for Jack to stomp on her stomach and slit her throat, eliciting a cry of pain that quickly turned to gurgling.
As he slit their shirts and chests open and quickly stabbed their hearts, I just stared in shock, numbness overcoming me. For the first time in my life, I saw Jack kill someone. I'd seen Buddy die of course, and that hadn't been pretty, but this... this was different. His death hadn't been nearly this brutal, this efficient. Jack moved quickly and without hesitation, as if he'd done this all thousands of times.
And he probably had.
The whole scene took only a couple minutes at most, happening so fast it felt like a dream. Soon enough the officers' bodies were limp and bloodied, and Jack just stood there, blood splattered across his clothes as he towered over them. Panting heavily as he stared them, his gaze then lifted to me, making me freeze and my blood run cold.
"[Name]," he started, his tone matter-of-fact, but then he paused, just... staring at me. I shrunk back under his gaze, my body shaking violently. After a few moments of silence that felt like hours, he shook his head. "Open the door." Immediately I did so, closing it and undoing the chain before quickly backing away. Opening it, he stepped inside and looked at me for a moment before sighing. "Grab whatever you can and pack up. We need to go."
Nodding weakly, I quickly ran off to my room to start packing, Jack following at a slower pace as he headed to his own room. At this point, everything felt surreal. Jack was a killer, humans were his prey. In the time I'd gotten to know him I'd forgotten about that, or rather, I guess it didn't fully register. But now... Now I had been given the most brutal reminder of his TRUE nature, of how he REALLY was.
I pulled everything out of the drawers and dumped it into a duffel bag he tossed into my room, packing everything in. Soon the drawers were empty and I zipped the bag, cautiously heading out of my room. As I walked down the hall I froze, though, my eyes widening when the kitchen table came into sight.
The laptop.
It was still open to Buddy's account.
Racing to the table, I found the screen now dim, having entered sleep mode. Quickly rousing it, I hurriedly closed out of everything and then logged out, shutting the laptop with a small, shaky sigh. At least Jack hadn't seen it... As I sat there I suddenly heard footsteps, making me tense. Slowly I turned to see Jack approaching me, but what I saw in his hands made my blood run cold once more:
Duct tape.