"It still amazes me how stupid they were" Ke$ha said, facing Mike.
"What do you mean by that?" he questioned, looking at her intently.
"I mean that they should have all just swam across the lake together. Like herded into a group. At least they would have been on mainland."
"Why do you think they didn't think of that?"
"They were too caught up in the moment."
"How many more died?"
"Let me finish."
Peter's body lay pushed against the wall, the splatter of blood becoming dark red as is seeped into the lining.
"I could've stopped him" Jane muttered through short breaths.
The entire group had come to see what had happened, and all of them were surprised. First off, why would Peter kill himself? Secondly, why didn't Jane do anything to stop him?
"Jane, why didn't you grab the gun while you had the chance" Mark prodded, giving her a stern look.
"It was so short notice and so spontaneous. I didn't think fast enough and didn't think he would do it. Are you accusing me of assisting him in suicide – better yet, encouraging him?"
The group stared at Jane as she began to cry again.
"I know why he did it" Alex said, rubbing Jane on the back.
"Why did he?" Vivian questioned, raising her neck at Alex.
"He thought he was going to die anyways" Alex remarked.
The group shared an uncomfortable look as he continued.
"He was under the impression that all of us were going to die by the time the police got here, two days… well, now more like one and a half – but anyways. He thought that he, or she, would get to us before we could get to them, and continue picking us off one by one until none of us were left. He didn't think any of us would survive, specifically him. I guess he had kind of planned it all along."
Mark looked up and walked towards Peter's body.
"He's in a better place than we are right now," he stated, slinging the body over his shoulders and heading for the door.
An eerie silence wafted through the house. Night was beginning to fall, and the doors and windows had been bolted.
Mark sat in his room, flipping through a culture studies book. There was nary a time that you could find him without one. He sped through the text, digesting every word with precision and accuracy.
A soft knock came from his door.
"Hey" the voice said from the outside.
It was Jane.
Mark jumped up, opening the door for his friend.
"What's up?" he said, making sure she was okay.
"I just wanted to talk."
"Come on in."
Marks side of the room he and Lauri shared was full of books that he had been able to bring with him. Neuroscience, Law, and Political study books lined the walls. Jane picked up a particular book and laughed.
"Why Republicans Are Elephants: A Study Of Obesity In The Republican Party" she said, laughing aloud.
"It was a good read," Mark said, looking up from his other endeavors.
"What did you want to talk about?" he asked, gesturing Jane to sit at the end of the bed.
"Just what happened today, I guess" she replied.
"Did he talk to you before he did it?" Mark asked.
Jane looked down.
"Sorry if it's too early, I didn't mean to-"
"You're fine" Jane responded, brushing Marks embarrassment away.
"He talked to me before it. He explained what was going on in his head. He talked about how he thought he was going to die and that there was no point hanging around like sheep in a herd."
"Wow."
"Yeah."
"Did you try to grab the gun?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because he wouldn't put it down and I got caught up in the moment. So much was going on and I was trying to process the entire situation. I didn't know right away he was going to shoot himself. I didn't know until the very last few sentences."
"Did he even say sorry?"
"No."
"Jeez, that's horrible."
"Yeah, yeah…it is."
Jane's faced flushed and she began crying again. This time, she found it harder to control her tears, since she was in front of Mark. Her leaned into his shoulder, wailing out words of misery.
"It's alright, it's going to be okay" Mark said, rubbing her back.
"Thank you"
Lauri sat alone in the kitchen, her blonde hair swinging as she mixed a drink. She was contemplating Peter's suicide and the reasons behind it as she heard footsteps approaching. Claire walked in.
"Hey" Claire mumbled, walking towards the coffee machine.
"You do realize it's like six-thirty PM, right?" Lauri asked, looking at Claire.
"I need to stay awake. I don't feel like dying tonight" she said as Lauri crushed up a lemon.
"You aren't going to die."
"How do you know that? It's not like the nine dead bodies piled up around the island wanted to die either" Claire said, taking a sharp sip from her mug.
"Some of us did plan to die though," she said, reflecting on the most recent death.
"He thought we were all going to die" Claire said, staring into her drink.
"Not likely" Lauri said, smiling.
A loud flicker came from the ceiling, and within seconds, the power was out.
Michelle screamed, and Alex ran into a wall.
Darkness enveloped the house, but luckily the moon threw off enough light though the large windows to give the group room to see and move. All had assembled in the living room, the usual meeting spot.
"Is anyone having trouble seeing?" Vivian asked, handing everyone a flashlight.
Everybody responded with a curt "no" as Vivian gave directions.
"The power may be out, but the doors and windows stay locked. Everybody gets one of these. If there's ever a situation where you can't see, just flick it on and you'll be safe, got it? Good."
The group settled in for the night, a restless wave buzzing through them.
It had been less than an hour when Jan caught something out of the corner of his eye.
"What the fuck was that?" he said, peering into the darkness.
He flicked on his flashlight, peering around the room.
It landed on a hooded figure.
"It's in here!" Jane shouted. The group sprung up, screaming.
The figure ran at the teens, which had split up in all different directions, most of them taking exits outside.
Michelle had grabbed Steven and Jane, rushing out of the back door down towards the beach.
"Just keep running!" Jane screamed, huffing loudly.
"You're not going to die on me" Michelle said to Steven as they sprinted to the shoreline.
They all collapsed on the sandy beach, which was giving off a creepy, luminescent glow due to the bright moon above them.
"If he even tries to get over here we'll see him" Steven commented, leaning back into the sand, sweat beading across his forehead.
He pointed the flashlight into the distance, and a figure could be seen turning around, making it's way back to the house.
Inside the house, Lauri and Mark had buried themselves in a closet deep within the downstairs.
They heard the back door creak open, and heavy footsteps could be heard coming down the hall.
"Quiet" Lauri whispered to mark. They had covered themselves in clothes and hangers, attempting to divert attention from themselves.
The door at the end of the hallway creaked open, and there was a pause. The killer was taking it's time to examine.
The door slammed shut, and the heavy thudded footsteps returned, this time coming closer.
It opened the bathroom door just before theirs, this time walking inside. The shower curtain could be heard being flung open, and it checked the cabinets and closet. It turned back around, walking towards the hall.
It stopped in front of the closet.
Lauri heard the door open, it's rough bottom scratching against the wooden floor.
The figure paused. Mark could hear it's heavy breathing, shifting up and down.
It leaned down and picked up a large piece of clothing. Lauri felt some of the weight above her release. She heard the killers breath even cleared now.
It leaned back up, shifting through the clothes that were hung up on the clothing rack. Mark had pressed himself in a separate pile in the corner, closer to the rack.
The killer shifted and shifted, at one point coming so close to Marks body that he could feel the heat from its breath touch his face.
The figure gave up, and slammed the door shut.
Lauri and Mark sat in silence for the next thirty minutes, unaware of the events transpiring outside.
Vivian rushed up to Jan hiding place, near the shrubbery close to the house.
"Vivian!" Jan hissed from inside the ferns.
Vivian whipped her head around, blinking her flashlight, trying to find Jan's voice.
"Behind the pink flowers!" Jan whispered again.
Vivian rushed over, nestling herself inside of the shrubs next to him.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fucking fine, thanks for asking."
"Now's not really the time to be bitchy" Jan quipped, glaring at her.
"Now's the perfect time to be bitchy. There's blood all over my house and I'm probably going to get my neck slashed open at some point tonight. Get that dick out of your ass and stop being retarded."
"Jesus Viv, you would think you'd show a little more compassion."
"Jan. Nearly nine of my friends have died, and probably more will by the time we get out of here – if we get out of here."
"Do you seriously think we're going to die?"
"We have a pretty high chance, don't you think?"
"Pretty much. We'll live though, Viv."
"Promise"
"Pinky promise"
The front door burst open, and the figure ran outside. Jan and Vivian ducked further into the bushes, the killer taking no notice to them.
"Where the fuck is it headed?" Vivian gulped.
"The woods" Jan replied, watching the hooded figure disappear into the forest.
Claire and Alex had ended up in a large clearing. The tree's were high, but open enough so that the moon cast an uncomfortable and ghostly light around the brush and debris littering the forest.
"We'll be safe here" Alex assured Claire.
Claire's eyes darted from tree to tree, praying she didn't see a figure come rushing out at her.
"Claire, relax" Alex said, patting her shoulder as the continued walking through the open space.
No sooner than he had said that, the sound of a car engine echoed through the forest.
"That sounds like Jan's car" Alex mumbled.
Within seconds, the cars headlights appear over the ditch, heading straight towards the two. Claire froze, staring at the bright eyes plummeting towards her.
She yanked out her flare gun, and a 'bang' rang through the woods.
"Cla-!"
The car smacked into her, sending her flying, mid-air, into the brush.
The car stopped and a hooded figure jumped out of the drivers seat.
Before Alex had time to think, the figure grabbed him by the next and gouged it's blade into his throat, pulling through his tendons to ensure a quick, yet painful death.
Alex collapsed to the ground, red blood pouring into the weeds below.
The figure took out a tube of bright red lipstick, and applied it to it's lips. It leaned down, leaving a large red kiss on Alex's jeep.
The car engine started again, and the figure drove off, leaving Alex's body in a heap.
"Are you sure you got her?" the figure muttered to it's accomplice at the wheel.
"She went flying at least forty feet, there's no way she's alive"
"Hopefully not. The quicker we can get this done, the quicker I can go home."
"Amen."
The figure parked the car by the side of the house, and the two of them got out.
"Did you leave the mark?" the figure asked.
"You bet I did" the other responded, taking out the tube of lipstick previously retrieved out of it's pocket, shaking it victoriously in the dim moonlight.
The two walked into the house, and entered the living room. They walked through the back hallway, and into the office, where Peter's bloodstained the walls.
"Idiots" the figure mumbled as it picked up the shotgun in Peters hand, reloading it with a loud click.