AN: Sorry yet again that it took so long to post this chapter.

Character's Still Alive:

The Bride and Groom

Christina Evans (Chrissy) - The Bride

Robert Philips (Bobby) - The Groom

The Friends of the Bride and Groom

Emily Stone - The Maid-of-Honor

Victor Ford (Vic) - The Best Man

Allison Little (Alli) - The Athlete

Bruce Kemp - The Partier

Mary Medina - The Sullen

Raymond Cunningham (Ray) - The Go-Getter

Julie Graves - The Outcast

Tom Lane - The Stranger

The Bride's Family

Amy Marshall - The Tyrant

Denise Arnold - The Peacekeeper

Amber Evans - The Tease

Nicole Evans (Nicky) - The Risk Taker

Daniel Marshall - The Mogul

Kyle Arnold - The Good Son-In-Law

Melissa Marshall (Lissa) - The Flower girl

Joseph Marshall (Joey) - The Ring bearer

The Groom's Family

Allen Philips - The Reverend

Lewis Philips - The Loner

Others

Dorothy Rose - The Stripper

Chapter 08: Thud

"Did you hear that?" Nicky asked Amber. The two were still sitting on the couch in the lounge. Amy was trying to get her kids corralled so she could get them upstairs and cleaned up, but Lissa kept on wanting to tell Denise one more thing about the beach. Bruce had come downstairs and collected Kyle, and the two of them had headed outside to the pool patio area.

"No… well maybe. It kinda sounded like the wind," Amber said after trying to listen.

"I thought it sounded like a scream," Nicky said.

Just then, Daniel came down the stairs. When Lissa and Joey noticed him, they screamed for their daddy and ran to him. He picked them both up and gave them each a kiss. Nicky noticed that Amy at first seemed surprised to see her husband, and then seemed angry. Amy walked over to him.

"I thought you would still be on the hike," Amy said.

"I decided to come back early so I wouldn't be late for the party tonight," Daniel replied while still holding both of his children.

"Well, can you help me get the kids cleaned up at least, before you go," Amy said more sternly.

"I'm sorry, but we are leaving right now," Daniel responded.

"OK kids, daddy has to go, so let's get upstairs and get cleaned up," Amy said, taking Lissa's and Joey's hand and going upstairs without giving Daniel another word. Both children look disappointed that their dad was not sticking around. Daniel watched them go up the stairs.

Bruce, Kyle, and Julie came in from the patio right after Amy left. Julie was in her swimsuit and looked like she had just gotten out of the pool.

"He should be down any moment," Julie said to Bruce and Kyle.

"So, are we almost ready to go," Daniel said to the group that just entered.

"Yeah, we're just waiting on Tom," Bruce said. "I guess he's up in his room getting ready."

"Nope, I'm right here," Tom said walking down the stairs.

"Cool. Vic and Bobby are coming as soon as Lewis is ready," Bruce said to his group. "So let's get going. We need to go out the back way and walk down with our other guest."

Tom went over to Julie and gave her a kiss and said goodbye, while Kyle did the same with Denise. The group then headed off to the back of the inn. Nicky was very interested to hear that Lewis was going to the party. Then, after all of the commotion in the lounge was done, she remembered the sound she had heard earlier.

"So Amber, do you want to come with me to go check out what that screaming sound was?" Nicky asked.

"Seriously, we can go wonder the forest in the dark. Hmm, think I'll take a pass," Amber replied sarcastically.

"Anyways little sis, you need to go upstairs and take a shower and get ready for dinner," Denise said. Then to Julie who was still in the room drying off. "Julie, will you join us for dinner?"

"Sure, I'd like that," Julie said. "I just need to go take a shower. Come on Nicky, I'll walk up with you." Nicky got up and headed upstairs with Julie, while Denise and Amber headed to the kitchen. Nicky, though, couldn't get the thought of the sound she heard out of her head.

Mary and Alli arrived back at the inn to find the lobby and lounge empty. They heard some noise coming from the kitchen so they went there. They found Denise and Amber inside making food. Alli asked them if they had seen Emily.

"Yeah, she got back a while ago," Denise said. "I think she's upstairs. We're making dinner for everyone, and it should be ready in about 45 minutes. So come back down and bring Emily and Chrissy, and anybody else with you."

They said they would and went upstairs. They found Emily just leaving her room and heading to Chrissy's room. She looked like she was just getting out of the shower. When Emily saw them, she rushed over to them.

"I'm so happy to see you two," Emily said to them.

"What did you find out?" Mary asked.

"Not much, and if anything, things may be worse then I thought," Emily said. "I haven't been able to find Janice or Troy. And it sounds like Janice just up-and-disappeared from the tour. Also, Adam is gone along with his luggage, just like Robin."

"Did you tell anybody, because we talked to Denise and Amber downstairs and they didn't seem concerned about anything," Mary said.

"I told Vic, but he thought I was overreacting," Emily said. "I'm not sure, maybe there is an explanation for all of this, but I do not want to mention anything about this to Chrissy or her family yet. I don't want to upset Chrissy right before the wedding unless I'm sure. We just need to stick together and quietly try and figure out if anyone else is missing."

"That may be hard, since it sounds like the guys have already headed over to the bachelor party," Alli said.

"We can just do what we can for now. By the way, where is everyone else from the hike? And did you two hear anything on the trail on your way back, like a motorcycle?"

"We came back before everyone else," Alli said. "I think Hurbert and Pamela were planning on being back late tonight, but with how much Sara was complaining, I think her and Ray may come back sooner. And no, we didn't hear anything like that, did you?"

"Yeah, I thought I did and I know there shouldn't be any motorbikes or ATVs on the island." Emily let Alli and Mary think about this new piece of information before continuing. "I'm going to go talk to Chrissy and find out how her day went, you two want to come?"

"Sure, I'll pop in for a second, but I want to take a shower before dinner," Alli said. They headed to Chrissy's room and knocked on the door. When Chrissy answered, she was wearing her wedding dress.

"Hey guys, how was the hike?" Chrissy asked.

"It was nice. Why are you wearing your wedding dress?" Emily asked as the three entered the room.

"Well, with how badly everything went today, I wanted to make sure that my dress hadn't been torn on the trip here. And I wanted to make sure I still fit into it," Chrissy said.

"What happened today?" Emily asked concerned.

"Well, my caterer is missing. Aside from the fact that the reception is probably ruined, everything's fine."

Alli could see that Mary wanted to pipe in, but Emily gave her a stern look. It was a look that said "Don't say a thing."

"Oh no, that's awful Chrissy, but we will definitely be having a reception for you tomorrow if I have to cook everything myself," Emily said.

"Yeah, Chrissy, don't worry about it. We'll figure something out," Alli said. "And you look great in your dress," Alli added hoping to change the topic.

"Thanks Alli. It is fitting better now then it was a few days ago. I guess not eating and running everyday is the secret to weight loss," Chrissy said, smiling for the first time since her friends had arrived. "By the way, did Theresa go with you guys on the hike?"

"No. She wasn't here today?" Emily asked.

"No," Chrissy replied. "Bobby thought she was at breakfast, but we certainly didn't get a chance to talk to her today. I figured she went on the tour or something, but when I talked to Amber and Kyle, they said she wasn't on the tour. Maybe she went to the beach. I guess I'll ask Nicky. Sounds like Janice is being a bit of a flake too. I'm just getting so stressed."

"Don't worry, I'll track down everybody," Emily said as convincingly as she could. "By this time tomorrow, you're going to be married, and I bet you'll be shocked at how well it all went."

"I hope so. I just get the feeling that something bad is happening. I feel like I said something stupid yesterday, and everyone is pissed off at me for it and I don't know what I did."

"You definitely didn't do anything like that," Emily said. "Come on, let's go downstairs and help get ready for dinner. Denise and Amber are cooking."

"I'll see you guys down their, I just need to take a shower after that hike," Alli said.

"Me too," added Mary. Mary literally looked like she was biting her tongue on the way out the room.

"I'll be just a second, I just need to change out of my dress," Chrissy said. When she had changed, Emily and Chrissy went downstairs.

Bruce was already barbecuing when Bobby, Vic, and Lewis arrived. The entire group of guys was standing around outside the bar with beers in their hand. Some had even begun smoking cigars. Everyone was hungry since they were eating dinner so late. Vic immediately got out the shot glasses and poured Jäger for everyone, and started handing them out.

"Hey now, Lewis cannot have any," Bobby said as Vic was handing a shot glass to Lewis.

"Yeah, that's OK," Lewis said indifferently.

"Oh, come on, how often is your brother going to get married," Vic said. "One shot isn't going to kill him."

Bobby considered this for a bit, then said, "OK, just one and that's it."

Lewis took the shot hesitantly, but once it was in his hand it was clear he was excited to get a chance to try the drink and to be included with everyone else. Everyone had their shot and Vic gathered everyone together.

"Alright, so this first toast of the evening will be to Bobby. Bobby, it's about time you married that girl. We'll miss you asyou enter the world of marital bliss. We are all really proud of you, but tonight is dedicated to your last night of being single. So here's to Bobby, and his last night of freedom."

Everyone brought their shots together and cheered Bobby then drank the shots. Lewis almost gagged on his.

"Not a fan, huh," Bobby said to Lewis while putting his arm around Lewis' shoulder. "That's alright; Jäger is a pretty harsh drink."

"Feels a bit like my stomach is on fire," Lewis said.

"Yeah, we'll get you some food. That'll make it feel better. Bruce, you almost have some food ready."

"Yup, but the first burger goes inside for our guest, then I'll have everyone else's ready," Bruce replied.

"So, do I get to know yet who this mystery person is," Bobby asked.

"Not quite yet," Vic replied.

Looking around at the impromptu dinner made the situation seem even more alarming to Emily. What had been a group large enough for five tables the night before was now reduced to two. Most of the absences could be explained away as the bachelor party or those that were still out hiking. But even that was beginning to make her nervous, as she expected that Ray and Sara would have been back by now.

She was sitting at a table with Chrissy, Alli, Mary, Denise, and Amber. At the other table were Julie, Allen, Amy and her kids, and Nicky. Unlike the previous night where they had been spread across the room, they had moved the tables very close for this dinner, leaving the room mostly empty.

Before the dinner had begun, Emily had offered to round everyone up. By that point, everyone she expected from the third floor had come down, so she started on the second floor at Allen's room. When she told him that dinner was almost ready, Allen had tried to find Cort but was unable to.

She had next gone to Eugene and Laura's room. She didn't know whether Eugene had gone to the bachelor party, but she assumed Laura should be around. No one was there. She noted mentally that the last time she had seen them was at dinner the previous night.

She knocked on Theresa's door, and at this point had not expected her to answer. She had learned from Nicky that Theresa had not gone to the beach, so she was completely unaccounted for today.

Denise had also asked her to ask Casey if he wanted to come to dinner, which Emily had noticed made Amber cringe. Emily knocked on his door, and no one answered. She was a bit less worried about him, because he had been on the tour, so he at least had definitely been somewhere today. And maybe he had gone to the bachelor party. Emily hoped that was true.

At dinner, they had managed to cheer Chrissy up considerably. Everyone was at this point well aware that the caterer and photographer were no where to be found. Everyone at dinner said they would help out in anyway they could to make sure the wedding went off without a problem. Chrissy had asked about Robin, and Emily had made up some excuse about her not feeling well. She didn't want Chrissy to get down again, and did not think there was anything anyone could do about Robin at the moment.

The food and the conversation were good for the rest of dinner, but Emily spent most of her time formulating what she would do after dinner.

Dinner at the bachelor party had been great. Everyone, except for Lewis, had already taken a number of shots, so most of the guys' heads were swimming by the time they moved inside the bar.

Vic and Bruce had a short disagreement on whether they should wait for Ray to show up before moving to the next part of the festivities. Since they had no idea when that would be, Vic had successfully convince Bruce they should move on with the party.

Vic got everyone, except Lewis, another shot once they were all inside. As they took their seats, Vic made sure that Bobby sat in a folding seat in the middle of the group.

"So cheers again," Vic said taking his shot along with everyone else. "It's now time that Bobby get his surprise. I just wanted to say up front that to make this surprise happen, Bruce and I had to clean out our savings and defer our student loans, so you'd better enjoy it."

"I'm sure she'll be worth every penny," Daniel said.

"Wait, maybe I should take Lewis back before we get started," Bobby said, looking over his shoulder to where his younger brother was sitting. Vic also looked at Lewis, who looked plenty excited to find out what was going to happen next.

"Not a chance, Bobby. Lewis is definitely staying," Vic said. "And now, without further ado, may I now present the lovely and titillating, Dorothy Rose."

Dorothy came in from the back of the bar wearing a blouse and skirt with high heels, looking as though she had just come from a corporate office job. As her dance got going, she quickly lost the blouse and the skirt to reveal bright red lingerie. As she removed the top potion of the lingerie, she began giving Bobby a lap dance. Bobby seemed hesitant at first, but started to get into it as it the performance went on.

The group of guys was yelling out various cheers. Vic noticed that Lewis was silent, but completely engrossed. Vic also noted that all of the cheers were good natured and suitable, except that some of Daniels' cheers seemed very rude. It started to annoy Vic as the show went on.

Denise and Amy were in the kitchen cleaning up from the dinner. Amy had left Amber and Nicky to look after Lissa and Joey, which should not have been too difficult as Joey had already fallen asleep in his chair. Amy was tired from the day, but knew she wouldn't be getting any sleep any time soon.

Denise groaned a bit and put her hand on her pregnant belly.

"Are you not feeling well again?" Amy asked.

"Oh, my baby has just been doing cartwheels all day. The nausea is not too bad right now," Denise replied.

Amy put her hand on Denise's belly and could feel the baby's moments. "That is the one thing I miss about being pregnant, knowing I had a little person inside of me. The nausea, the soreness, and everything else I certainly do not miss," Amy said with a knowing smile.

Denise and Amy spoke about pregnancy and what Amy's experiences had been with both of hers. She tried to put Denise at ease with the various issues she had with her pregnancy. They went on cleaning and talking.

"Amy, is something bothering you?" Denise asked.

Amy was surprised by the question. The errand she had to run later in night was rarely far from her thoughts, but she had thought she had acted fairly normally. She looked at her sister. She wanted more than anything to tell her what was really happening in her life. She wanted to tell about the troubles in her marriage, the affair she had, and the blackmail scheme that was being perpetrated on her. She wanted to spill her guts, and to get some help with this horrible situation she had gotten into. But, she was still so scared to confide in anyone, especially her family. She knew, deep down, that there were members of her family that would love to see her be not so perfect. She definitely trusted Denise, but she also knew that letting anybody know, even Denise, would create the possibility of everyone knowing.

"Oh, I'm just anxious about all the stuff we're going to need to do tomorrow to make sure this wedding goes off well," Amy said. Amy hoped the lie sounded convincing enough.

"Yeah, it's definitely going to be a lot," Denise replied.

"I really like Bobby, him and Chrissy make a great couple," Amy said. "I'm really proud of Chrissy for this wedding."

"Wow, I never would have thought I would see the day when you would say that you were proud of Chrissy for anything," Denise said smiling. "You should really let her know that, it would mean the world to her."

"Chrissy knows I'm proud of her," Amy said. It was a statement, but Amy made it almost sound like a question. "I'll be sure to let her know tomorrow before the wedding. It will be a nice wedding day gift for her on her wedding day."

"It would be perfect," Denise said.

Emily could hardly wait for everyone to go to bed after dinner. She wanted to do some investigating, and to come up with a game plan with Mary and Alli.

Allen was the first to head off to bed. Not long after, Amy came out of the kitchen and picked up her son, who hadn't stirred for several minutes, and told her daughter it was time for bed. Her daughter didn't really want to go, but Amy insisted.

Denise headed upstairs with Amber and Nicky not long after Amy and her kids. Chrissy, Alli, and Julie had been talking, but Chrissy decided she'd turn in because tomorrow was the big day, and she wanted to be rested. Not long after, Julie got up to leave, but Emily stopped her.

"Julie, I want you to stick around for a bit, if that's alright. I need to talk to you about something."

"Sure Emily, what's up?" Julie asked as she joined the others. Emily then went on to explain all that had happened over the past couple of days as best she could. She listed off all of the people that seemed to be missing, and how some of the rooms were now empty. Julie listened and was clearly becoming more uncomfortable the more she was told.

"It did seem really odd when Janice just took off today. What are you planning to do about all of this?" Julie asked.

"Well, now that everyone else has gone to bed, I think we should open up Laura and Eugene's room, and also Casey's. We need to find out if they ever made it back."

"Wow, that seems a little over the top, Emily," Alli said. "What if you're wrong? I don't think you'd appreciate anyone going through your room without permission."

"I think we're past that point Alli," Emily said. "You have to admit something very wrong is happening. This many people do not just up and disappear on an abandoned island."

"Do you think we should gather everyone and tell them," Julie said. "I mean, go over to the bachelor party right now and get the guys, go wake up everyone upstairs, and then figure out a way off this island."

"I don't want to ruin this weekend for Chrissy if we're wrong," Emily said.

"Chrissy's a big girl; she's not made of glass," Julie said. "If this was my wedding, and people were disappearing, I think I'd want to know."

Emily was shocked by Julie's adamancy. She had forgotten how opinionated her old friend was. She was happy, though, that someone else was taking this whole thing seriously.

"I agree with Julie," Mary said, causing Julie to do a double-take from the agreement from an unexpected quarter.

"Look, I agree, but if we try and breakup a group of drunk guys tonight, there'll be trouble," Emily urged. "Let's just check the rooms tonight and hold tight till morning."

"I'm in for at least checking on the rooms," Julie said.

"I'm out on that," Alli said. "You may be right that something is happening, but you may still be wrong. For all you know, you're going to walk in on Laura and Eugene having sex. Now how embarrassing would that be. I think we should just hold off until morning."

"I'm going to take my chances at this point," Emily said.

"Do you still want me to wake you up to go jogging tomorrow?" Alli asked.

"You cannot be serious. Please don't go jogging in the morning," Emily pleaded.

"I'm not going to live in fear, no matter what. I can take care of myself," Alli said. Alli invited Mary and Julie for the morning jog, but both refused. She wished them luck on searching the rooms and headed off to bed.

"Well, let's go get the keys," Emily said to Mary and Julie.

Dorothy's dancing continued, as did the heavy drinking of those in attendance, until Bobby announced that he needed to get Lewis back to the inn.

"Already! Come on, there's plenty of night left," Vic said.

"If I don't take him back now, I may not be able to make it to the inn and back myself. And I am definitely taking him back. If I kept him here all night, Allen would kill me. Lewis, are you ready?"

Lewis didn't really want to leave. He was having a great time. It wasn't just taking his first shot of alcohol or Dorothy's dancing, but he had a great time hanging out with his brother and Vic and Bruce. Tom had also been really nice to him. This had been about a perfect day for Lewis, and he felt amazingly.

But he also knew that his father would be really angry if he didn't come back to the inn soon. "OK," was all he said.

Tom, Vic, Bruce, Kyle, and Tom all said goodnight to Lewis.

Dorothy walked over to him and Bobby and she also told him goodnight. She then put her hand on his cheek and brought her lips to his other cheek, right at the corner of his mouth. This almost knocked Lewis over. Everyone at the bar cheered on Dorothy and Lewis, as Bobby laughed and took his brother by the arm to lead him out.

"If your not back soon Bobby, we'll send out a search team," Vic said.

"You do that," Bobby said just outside the doorway.

On the trail back to the inn, Bobby asked Lewis if he had had a good time. Lewis knew he had the stupidest smile on his face when he told his brother he had. Bobby just laughed as he put his arm around his brother.

Almost immediately after Bobby left with Lewis, Daniel had hopped out of his seat and had sat down in the seat Bobby had left.

"I think it's time the rest of us got to have some fun," Daniel said to Dorothy. Vic had been indifferent to Daniel before the party, but within the last hour he had grown disdainful of the man. The comments that he had called out to Dorothy had clearly made her uncomfortable, and that had not made Vic very happy. It didn't help that Vic had drank so much. Now, Daniel wanted a private dance, and Vic was having none of it.

"I think Mrs. Rose disserves a break, at least until Bobby gets back," Vic said.

"Come on Vic, you said she was expensive, we might as well get your money's worth. I'll even make it more worth her while," Daniel said, pulling the roll of money out of his pocket.

"No, I think I'll take that break," Dorothy said and she began walking to the bar's back room.

"Now, just wait a minute." Daniel said as he got up from his seat and grabbed Dorothy's arm.

Vic grabbed Daniel and spun him around, forcing him to let go of Dorothy. Dorothy stepped backwards a few steps.

"Don't touch Mrs. Rose, Daniel," Vic said sternly. He stared at Daniel's eyes and kept a crooked smile.

"Or what, Vic. What are you going to do about it?" Daniel said with a great amount of machismo. Daniel shoved Vic backwards. Vic didn't need to be invited to a fight twice, and to Daniel's complete surprise, Vic's fists came fast. Vic's first swing connected with Daniel's jaw, the second was on the opposite side of Daniel's face and higher on his cheek. Vic's third punch caught Daniel on the nose and sent Daniel to the ground. Vic was on top of him and he landed two more punches before Bruce pulled him off.

Dorothy was screaming and covering her eyes when the first punch connected. She quickly ran out of the room as the fight continued. Kyle and Tom watched in shock as the fight unfolded before their eyes.

"That's why you don't touch me fucker!" Vic yelled at Daniel as Bruce was pulling him off. Daniel just lay on the ground bleeding from his face.

"Jesus, Vic! Calm down man," Bruce said as he pushed Vic out of the room. "You can't just do that shit."

Kyle rushed to Daniel's side after Bruce had pushed Vic all the way out of the room.

"Daniel, Daniel, are you alright?" Kyle asked with genuine concern.

"What the fuck do you think?" Daniel replied while bringing his hands to his face. Daniel's nose was oozing blood and his face was bright red where Vic's punches had landed.

"I'm going to go check on Dorothy," Tom said as he left the room.

Amy had put her children to bed. It had not been very difficult after the eventful day they had. She just hoped that eating so soon before bed would not give them bad dreams.

Amy, though, would not get to sleep for a while. The blackmailer had demanded a meeting at 2 AM. So Amy would not be able to sleep until that was done. She desperately hoped that Daniel would not return from the party before the meeting was done. It had been lucky that the party was happening tonight; she just hoped her luck wouldn't turn.

Amy sat on her bed reading and impatiently wishing time would go by faster.

"Why the fuck did you do that," Bruce asked Vic as he was cleaning him up in the bathroom. "Just because we're on an island doesn't mean that you can't get in big trouble for what you just did."

Vic didn't reply, but instead continued to flex his fingers.

"Did you break anything?" Bruce asked.

"I don't think so," Vic said, and then flashed a smile. "Not on me at least."

Both Vic and Bruce started laughing.

"You have to admit, that motherfucker had it coming," Vic said.

"That didn't mean you had to be the one to bring it."

Vic just shrugged his shoulders at this as he started washing the blood off his hands.

It had been perplexing for Emily, Mary, and Julie. They had entered both Eugene and Laura's room and Casey's room to find them empty of people, but not of luggage. It had not looked like anyone had been in either room in a while.

"So it's not like Robin's or Adam's rooms. But it is certainly strange," Emily said.

"Maybe if they were killed today, the killer didn't have enough time to clean these rooms," Mary said. Both Emily and Julie looked at her in shock. Thus far, no one had said out loud what might be happening. Now it was out there, and the theory was not alien abduction or tragic accident, but that someone had killed these people. That someone was killing people on the island.

Emily and Julie continued to stare, but did not argue with what Mary had said. They finally left Casey's room in silence.

"So what do we do now," Julie said.

"We wait till morning, when we can tell everybody what we've found," Emily said.

"Not sure I'm going to be able to sleep tonight," Julie said.

"Well, not getting sleep isn't going to help the situation, so try," Emily said as she began to head to her room.

"One more thing," Mary said, stopping Emily. "If I go missing, know that I didn't do so of my own free will. I have no plans on leaving the island, or going off into the middle of the woods. And if I do, I will tell you guys specifically."

"That goes for me too," Julie said.

"And me. Goodnight," Emily said, leaving the other two in the hallway alone.

"Well, goodnight," Julie said.

"Wait, Julie, can I talk to you for a moment," Mary said. "I just wanted to say, and not because all this crazy shit is happening but… I'm really sorry about what I said to you a year ago. I was wrong to destroy our friendship. And I'm also sorry I waited till now to tell you that."

Julie was shocked by Mary's apology. "I'm… Mary, I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have talked behind your back. And I also haven't been a good friend. I shouldn't have just avoided everyone for the last year. I could have taken the initiative, and I didn't."

"Do you think we can be friends again?" Mary asked. Before Julie could answer, they both almost screamed at the sudden appearance of Lewis in the hallway.

"Hey, you nearly scared us to death," Mary said harshly to Lewis.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Lewis said sincerely.

"No, its OK Lewis, we're just a bit on edge. It's not your fault. Goodnight," Julie said waving Lewis down the hallway.

"On that note, I'm going to bed before something else really scary happens," Julie said. "Goodnight Mary, I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight Julie," Mary said. As she headed to her room, she was scared by everything that was going on, but she also felt like a ton of bricks had been removed from her.

Bobby almost ran into Kyle and Daniel in the doorway of the bar when he returned.

"Whoa! What happened?" Bobby asked seeing Daniel's face.

"Your friends are nuts, Bobby," Kyle said. "Vic attacked Daniel out of nowhere."

"What? He wouldn't…" Bobby started.

"He did," Kyle interrupted. "Your friends are out of control. I'm really nervous about staying on an island with people like that. I cannot believe you put your future family in this situation."

"I… I'm sorry," was all Bobby could manage as Kyle and Daniel walked off back to the inn. Kyle was helping to support Daniel, who was a bit wobbly. Daniel was pressing a bag of ice against his face.

Bobby watched them until they disappeared into the darkness. He walked into the bar's main room to find it empty. Aside from a small number of blood spatters on the floor, there was not much sign of the fight.

"Vic! Bruce! Anybody!" Bobby yelled, but there was no reply.

"I like what you said to Bobby," Daniel said with a hint of sarcasm. Daniel's statement broke the silence as they walked back the inn in the dark

"Huh?" Kyle replied.

"Yeah, I just liked the way you held the fact that he was joining this family over him," Daniel said. "Holding Bobby responsible for what his friend did, to his face, that took balls. I just wish you had shown that same courage when I was getting my ass kicked."

"What?" Kyle said with surprise.

"I'm just saying that your courage is awfully convenient. So is your 'sticking up for your family' bullshit."

"I'm sorry, things just happened so fast in there that…" Kyle said.

"Save your excuses," Daniel interrupted. "I knew you were a save ass pussy before tonight. What you did at the bar doesn't surprise me. I'm just a bit shocked at the gall you showed getting angry with Bobby just so you could pretend to be on my side."

Kyle and Daniel continued to walk, with Kyle still helping to steady Daniel. Kyle was completely shocked by what Daniel had said to him. His anger was also growing.

"Daniel, I…," Kyle started, when he was interrupted by something long and wooden smashing very hard into his face.

"Huh! What the fuck," Daniel said as he was sent to the ground from Kyle being knocked over. Daniel looked at Kyle. Kyle's face looked awful, but he looked like he was still breathing.

"Kyle… Kyle…," Daniel said as he shook Kyle to wake him. Daniel had only seen what had hit Kyle out of the corner of his eye. It had happened so fast.

Then, Daniel heard the rustling in the forest immediately surrounding the trail.

"Hey, who's there! Is someone there? Answer me!" Daniel yelled. A figure came rushing out of the woods and was on top of Daniel before he could get to his feet. Daniel struggled for a few seconds, but then everything went black for him.

Amy had cleaned out the suitcase of the children's toys. Unfortunately, the toys would not be making the trip home. Amy wasn't too worried, her kids had plenty of toys and it wouldn't be too expensive to replace the ones they might miss. She was more concerned about her husband realizing that they were returning without one of their bags. Usually, though, her husband wasn't that perceptive about those kinds of things.

Amy removed the internal lining on the bag. She had been proud of herself for the job she had done hiding the money in the suitcase. Laid out in the suitcase the way it was, the half-million dollars looked like a lot of money.

Amy zipped up the bag. Her stomach felt like it was in knots. Before the last few hours, her main fear was having her husband discovering her affair or him finding out that she was giving half-a-million dollars of what he considered his money to a blackmailer. Her fear was now focused on the idea of going into the forest with a bag full of money to meet someone who obviously thought so little of her to blackmail her.

Rationally, she knew it didn't make sense for the blackmailer to hurt her physically. She knew that rationally it made more sense to be concerned that this would not be the end of the blackmail plot, that the blackmailer would take her money tonight and threaten to expose her again tomorrow.

On the other hand, her gut was telling her not to go. If the blackmailer exposed her, they would lose all of their leverage against her. So they were not likely to do that. She was considering not delivering the money tonight and waiting until getting back to the mainland to force the blackmailer to contact her again. Then, maybe she could force a meeting that was at a location of her liking.

In the end, her hope that this would be the end of it and her desire to put this behind her won out, and she decided she would make the delivery.

Amy went into her children's room. They seemed to be sleeping soundly. Unfortunately, she could not just leave and not let them know. She went to Lissa's side of the bed and gently woke her.

"What is it Mommy," Lissa said sleepily.

"Mommy needs to go somewhere for a bit, I'll be right back. If you or Joey need something, Denise is right across the hall. But only disturb her if it's an emergency. OK."

"Um-hum," Lissa responded with her eyes still shut. Amy was kind of happy that she hadn't completely woken her daughter; she just hoped Lissa would know what to do if anything happened.

Amy gave both her daughter and son a kiss and went back into her room, closing the door in-between. She picked up her bag and went into the hallway. She looked around the hall. No one seemed to be up and around. She went ahead and headed downstairs, then out of the inn, to where the meeting would occur.

Bobby lined up a set of shots for everyone. He had become the bar master and loosened up a bit having returned his younger brother to the inn. But even Bobby was very wobbly at this point. The party was starting to slow down as everyone was reaching their limit. Tom and Vic looked like they were about to pass out. Bruce was even to the point where he was falling down. Dorothy, having come to trust those left in attendance, was joining in on what she hoped was the last drink of the party.

"So, um, what haven't we had a cheer to yet," Vic said, slurring all of his words. "Well, fuck it, here's to all of us," Vic finished causing everyone to clink shot glasses and down there drinks.

Tom sat down on the couch after his drink. His head lulled backwards, and no one else saw him move for the remainder of the evening. Bobby sat in a folding chair, intermittently dozing off. Dorothy sat another folding chair beside him and he lay down on the two chairs in a position which would have seemed incredibly uncomfortable if he had been sober.

Bruce stumbled outside to the patio, mumbling something about wanting to see the stars. Vic tried to pour himself another shot, but Dorothy stopped him. Not long after, he passed out.

Dorothy sat on a folding chair and wondered how long she should wait. Vic and Bruce had already paid her, and she didn't expect that anyone would want anymore dancing. She decided to get up and get fully dressed. Then she waited and wandered if Troy would be awake and if he might take her back to the mainland early. She was thinking that when she too fell asleep.

Amy waited on the path. The note had said there would be a light on the trail and to wait there. As the note had said, there was a flashlight hanging from a tree, but the blackmailer had yet to show themselves.

She looked at her watch. She had been waiting for ten minutes, and getting a worse feeling with each moment that passed. If she was meeting someone to receive five hundred thousand dollars, she would show up on time.

As she waited, she considered what she would say to the blackmailer. She hadn't decided yet if she would act tough and make threats against them if they took the money and still exposed her, or if she would plead for them to honor the deal after she had given them the money. She had no idea which would work better.

Amy had no idea that she would never get the chance to plead or act tough. A figure stood just out of range of the light off of the path studying Amy as she stood there. The figure decided that Amy had been kept waiting for long enough.

The figure approached Amy through the brush. There was no hiding the sound of moving through the rough ground by the trail, so Amy turned towards the sound. Amy had a flashlight of her own, and shined it on the approaching person. The figure that emerged from the brush was wearing a mask.

Amy hesitantly began speaking. "I have been waiting here since a bit before one. I was wondering if you were going to… No, wait…," and then she screamed as the figure brought the crowbar down hard on the top of her. Amy had brought her arms up to block the blow, but enough of the crowbar struck her head to knock her to the ground and to cause her to lose consciousness.

The figure picked up the bag of money and headed off towards the inn, leaving Amy bleeding and unconscious on the trail.

The killer was now in their full body plastic gear. They had taken the time to put the rubber bands on the getup, so that the baggy plastic suit would not make too much noise. They had practiced putting on the outfit numerous times and moving around, as moving silently in this costume was an acquired skill.

The killer walked down the hallway nearly silently, knowing that the slight sound they were making was not audible enough to be heard by the occupants in the rooms. The killer stopped in front of the desired room and prepared themselves. The killer wanted to open the door as little as possible to prevent too much light from rushing in, but enough to be able to get into the room without scrapping the two duffle bags they were carrying on the door or door frame.

The killer was prepared. They put their special key in the lock and turned it slowly. The killer then took a deep breath, opened the door as narrowly as they could and glided into the room. They closed the door quickly, but quietly, behind them.

The killer knew there would be light in the room, which worked to their advantage. The light from the hallway had not caused as dramatic of a change to the light level in the room as the killer had worried it would, and the light would help them work. The problem with the light was that the killer could not effectively hide in the darkness from the room's occupants.

The killer stood still and looked over at the bed. The occupants lay still. Nothing suggested that they had awoken, but the killer counted the seconds in their head, standing still and watching for a full five minutes. Once the killer was sure that Lissa and Joey were in a deep sleep, they slowly and silently moved over to the bed to begin their work.

Kyle awoke groggy, and in searing pain. His abdomen hurt horribly. He moaned and looked down. As he moaned, more of his intestines dislodged and hit the ground with an audible plop.

The horror of what he had just barely been able to see happen, along with the intense pain, caused him to nearly hyperventilate. This caused even more of his innards to fall from his body. It took Kyle a few minutes to finally regain his composure.

He tried to stay as still as possible. His eyes were leaking tears in a steady stream, but he tried his hardest not to sob or have any irregularity to his breathing.

Kyle tried to assess his situation. He was standing nearly upright, but at a slight angle forward to towards the ground. He was against a tree. He was gagged with what he thought was piece of cloth in his mouth being held in with tape. He didn't seem to be able to move his arms or feet away from the tree. From the pain he was feeling in his wrists and ankles, it felt like they had nails through them. He couldn't tell for sure, as he couldn't look up far enough to see his wrists, and it was too dark to see all the way to his ankles.

Kyle stayed still for several minutes, and was rewarded by nothing additional falling from his body. The pain did not relent, though, and the discomfort of gravity tugging at his entrails made him desperately want to move.

He remembered that he had been walking with Daniel. Maybe he was still close by. Kyle tried to make as much noise as he could without moving and through the gag. It sounded loud to him, but it wasn't.

The thought then hit Kyle that Daniel may be in the same condition he was in. Kyle's desperation grew, and he tried harder to scream. He hoped someone at the bar or at the inn would hear. But no one ever did.

Deaths:

Kyle Arnold - The Good Son-In-Law

AN: Luckily I was able to keep most of this chapter intact, as most of what I needed to change was in the second half of the chapter. I spent a good amount of time figuring out what I want to have happen over the next couple of chapters and I think I have the upcoming chapters back on track to get to the ending I want.

The next chapter may take a bit longer to put together, so I am guessing it may be end of next week.

Next Chapter is Chapter 9: Kaboom.