"Hey what are you doing out of bed?" Roman asked.
"John never came to bed, have you seen him?" Jey asked.
"No, I was with Chevonne. Maybe he is still out by the fire." Roman said.
"I'll go check." Jey said.
Jey opened the sliding glass door to the back deck and stepped outside. He saw the fire was just about out, just a few glowing embers. He walked down and looked at John's chair and saw there was blood on it. Frowning he hurried back into the house.
"Rome…John isn't out there and there is blood on his chair." Jey said.
"Well don't panic. Maybe he hurt himself. Go check the downstairs bathroom and I will see if he is with Randy." Roman said. "He probably just didn't want to wake anyone up."
Jey hurried to the downstairs bathroom and looked inside. It was empty and clean. Roman walked upstairs and could hear Chevonne was still in the shower. He knocked on the door to Randy's room.
"Yeah?" Randy called out.
Roman opened the door and looked in. He didn't see John anywhere. "Have you seen John? We can't find him. Jey said he found blood. He must've hurt himself or something."
"Oh great." Randy climbed out of bed.
Roman walked down the hall to where Jimmy and Naomi were staying he gently knocked on the door. "Have you guys seen John?"
Jimmy answered the door. "What?"
"I asked if you guys have seen John. We can't find him and Jey said there was blood on his chair out by the fire pit." Roman said.
"No, we haven't seen him. Give us a minute and we'll come downstairs. Figure out what is going on." Jimmy sighed.
Roman walked down the hall to the bathroom. He knocked on the door then went in. Chevonne was still in the shower.
"Who is it?" she asked.
"It's me. Baby, has John been in here?" Roman asked.
"Why would John be in here with me? I am naked and he knows you would choke the life out of him." Chevonne peeked her head out of curtain.
"He never went to bed and Jey found blood. I thought maybe he had hurt himself and came in here to clean up. You are so maternal, showering or not you would try to help." Roman laughed.
"No, I haven't see him." She shut off the water and stepped out.
"You feeling okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, a little sore but nothing bad. Naomi said it's to be expected and goes away pretty quickly." She wrapped a towel around herself.
"I'm glad because we are so doing that again." He chuckled. "I'm going to see if they found John yet."
"I'll be out in a few minutes." She smiled.
Roman walked out of the bathroom and back down the stairs. Randy was in the kitchen with Jey.
"Did you find John?" Roman asked.
"No, I checked everywhere downstairs and didn't find him." Jey frowned.
"I checked the empty rooms upstairs and didn't find anything." Randy said.
"Well he isn't with Chevonne or Jimmy and Naomi. Where could he have gone?" Roman sighed.
"You think maybe he drove into town or something?" Randy asked.
"Maybe, but why didn't he tell one of us where he was going?" Roman asked.
Jimmy and Naomi walked into the room. Chevonne walked in behind them. Everyone looked tired and was dressed in their sleep clothes.
"Well what should we do? If he is hurt he might need stitches or something?" Naomi said.
"I'll call dad and see what he thinks we should do." Jey walked into the living room.
Jey picked up the phone and found it was dead. He hung it up and tried again, but it was still dead.
"Jimmy, try the phone in the kitchen. This phone is not working." Jey called in to him.
Jimmy walked over to the phone in the kitchen and picked it up, he frowned as he found it also was not working.
"This one is not working either." Jimmy said.
"Okay this is getting weird. What the fuck is going on? Are you guys pulling a prank?" Naomi looked at them.
"No, this isn't a prank." Roman said.
"Well we need to figure out something. John may be hurt." Chevonne said.
"I am gonna drive back to town and wake up dad, see what he thinks. Maybe call the police while I am at it." Jey said.
"I'll go with you." Randy said. "Jimmy, Roman, stay with the girls and keep the house locked. Better to be safe than sorry."
"Are you sure you should?" Naomi asked.
"Like Chevonne said, John may need help." Jey said.
Jey and Randy both hurried and pulled on shirts and shoes. They grabbed the keys and hurried out to the cars, making sure they locked the door behind them. They climbed in the twins' car and tried to start it. After several tries, Jey threw his hands up.
"What is wrong with this car?" Jey yelled.
"I don't know, maybe we can take Roman's." Randy got out.
He started to walk towards Roman's car when he looked down. He noticed the twins' car had two flat tires.
"Jey, look at this." Randy said.
Jey looked down at the tires and then cursed. He leaned down to inspect them closer. "Fuck, they have been slashed."
They hurried over to Roman's car and found that it also had two slashed tires.
"Fuck, where is my bike?" Randy yelled.
He walked over to where he had parked his bike and saw both tires on it had also been slashed.
"Okay who the fuck has been messing with our stuff? This is fucking insane." Randy cursed.
"We better get inside and try to decide what to do." Jey said.
Jey and Randy hurried back up the steps of the cabin and unlocked the front door. They went inside and found the others sitting in the living room.
"What's going on? Did you find John?" Jimmy asked.
"No we didn't. Our car won't start. And both cars and Randy's bike has flat tires…they've been slashed." Jey said.
"What?" Naomi yelled.
Chevonne grabbed Roman's hand starting to panic.
"Okay, something is definitely wrong here." Roman said.
"The question is what? Do you think someone purposely hurt John?" Jey asked.
"I don't know, but someone purposely slashed our tires." Randy said.
"Dad keeps a few shotguns for hunting in that old shed. I think we should get them. At least we would have some kind of protection." Jimmy said.
"You're right. The keys are in the kitchen." Jey said.
"I'll go with him. You two stay here with the girls." Randy said.
Jey hurried into the kitchen with Randy close behind him and grabbed the keys out of a cabinet. Randy grabbed a flashlight. They ran out the back door making sure to lock the door behind them. They ran across the yard to the shed. They stopped when they saw the lock had been broken off.
"What the fuck? Who broke the lock off?" Jey asked.
"I dunno, but we need those guns." Randy said.
They slowly opened the door, ready to fight if need be. They slowly walked into the shed. They stopped in their tracks when they saw John lying on the ground.
"Shit!" Randy knelt down beside him. He grabbed his wrist. "He's dead."
He shined the light over John's body and it was clear that his throat had been cut.
"Don't touch him. The police will need everything like it is. This can't be happening again." Jey said.
"They said Luke Harper was dead." Randy stood up.
"Well we don't have time to check with the coroner. Help me get the guns, we need to get back to the others." Jey said.
Randy flashed the light around the shed and found the shotguns hanging on the wall. He and Jey each grabbed a gun, Jey grabbed a box of loaded shells, and backed out of the shed. They both ran back to the house. Jey opened the door and they hurried inside, locking the door behind them.
"Jimmy, Roman!" Jey called out as they hurried into the living room.
"What is going on? What happened?" Chevonne asked.
"We found John…he's dead." Jey said.
"What? No!" Naomi yelled.
"Not again. This can't happen again! No!" Chevonne screamed.
"Baby! Clam down, we can't panic." Roman grabbed her shoulders.
"Roman, someone killed John!" she yelled.
Naomi went to Chevonne and hugged her. "We will be okay. We're locked in the house and we have guns. Try not to panic. I'm scared too."
"What happened to John?" Roman asked.
"Looks like his throat was cut. Someone broke the lock off the shed and put him in there." Jey said as he and Randy loaded the shotguns.
"Well what are we going to do? The phones are out, the cars are out and we have a dead friend." Jimmy asked, trying to help comfort the girls.
"We have to find a way to get help out here." Roman said.
"I don't know. We gotta do something." Jey sighed.
"I'm gonna take a gun and walk into town and get help." Randy finished loading his gun.
"Randy, no!" Chevonne grabbed him.
"Someone has to go get help. I have a gun, I'll be fine." He hugged her.
"Don't go. If something happened to you…..Randy, we need you here." She pleaded with him.
"Chevonne, listen to me. Jey has a gun too, he will stay here with you. Keep the cabin locked. You guys will be safe until I can get back. I have to go get us help. We can't sit here waiting to get hurt." Randy said. "I'll be okay."
"Randy, are you sure about this?" Jimmy asked.
"Do you have any other ideas?" Randy asked.
"There is another cabin about two miles down the road. Maybe someone is there and will let you use the phone." Jey said.
"Okay, make sure you keep the cabin locked. Stay together." Randy said.
"Be careful out there. You sure about this?" Roman asked.
"I don't see any other options right now." Randy said.
"I don't know about this." Chevonne said.
"I promise, I will be okay." Randy hugged her. "Jey, lock the door after I go. You guys stay together. Roman, you take care of my sister!"
"You know I will." Roman said.
Jey followed Randy to the front door. They both looked out the window and seeing nothing, Randy walked out, gun in hand. Jey locked the door behind him. He walked back into the living room where the others were waiting. Roman was holding Chevonne while Jimmy was holding Naomi.
"Coast was clear, Randy took off." Jey said.
"Guess all we can do now is wait." Jimmy said.
"I am worried about Randy." Naomi said.
"Stop, you'll upset Chevonne." Jimmy whispered to her.
"No she won't. I know how tough Randy is. I am worried but flipping out won't do any good." Chevonne said as Roman hugged her.
They sat quietly in the living room as the minutes seemed to crawl by. They kept looking around.
"This waiting is killing me." Jey said.
"What else can we do?" Jimmy asked as the entire house went dark.
"Fuck, what the hell happened now?" Jey yelled.
"I'll go check the fuse box." Jimmy stood up.
"I don't think you should." Naomi said.
"It's just down the hall, I will be fine." He assured her.
"Wait…do you smell that?" Roman asked.
"Smells like smoke." Jey said.
"Did one of you start cooking something earlier? Smells like it is coming from the kitchen." Roman said.
Roman started towards the kitchen and saw that the back deck was on fire. "Shit, the deck is on fire!"
"What?" they all yelled and took off after Roman.
In the kitchen they could all see that the back deck was on fire.
"There are a couple of fire extinguishers under the sink." Jimmy said.
Roman and Jimmy hurried over and opened the cabinet. They each grabbed an extinguisher and opened the glass door to the back deck.
"Girls stand back!" Jimmy yelled.
They both began using the extinguishers on the fire. The fire didn't seem to be going out despite their best efforts.
"This isn't working. The flames just pop right back up." Jimmy yelled.
"Someone must have used an accelerant." Roman yelled.
Suddenly two figures appeared out of the darkness attacking Jimmy and Roman. The girls screamed as the boys tried to fight back. Jimmy screamed out in pain and collapsed to the floor. Jey raised the shotgun and fired off a shot. One of the intruders fell while the other released Roman and took off, running right through the fire.
"Jimmy, oh my god!" Naomi ran over to him. She knelt down beside him and saw blood pouring out of his shoulder.
"He stabbed me." Jimmy said.
"Just stay calm." Jey said. "Shit this fire is spreading."
Roman picked himself up and looked at the intruder lying dead on the floor. He could see blood pouring out of a wound in the intruder's chest.
"It's Erick Rowan!" Chevonne said.
"Well leave him here and let's move. We have to get out of this cabin, the fire is spreading." Jey said as he helped Naomi get Jimmy off the floor. "Come on front door."
"But where do we go?" Chevonne yelled as she tried to help them move Jimmy.
"Head towards the lake. If we can make it to the boat we can cross the lake and maybe get help from one of the other cabins." Roman pulled her towards the door.
"What about Randy? Oh my god….they were out there…Randy is…no no no!" she screamed.
"Chevonne, come on, we have to get out of here!" Roman yelled.
They managed to make it to the front door, Naomi and Jey helped Jimmy outside and down the steps. He was losing a lot of blood. Roman pulled Chevonne out as she was crying and screaming, realizing that Randy must be dead.
"Around the back, we have to get to the lake." Roman yelled.
"Take the gun. One of them is still out there!" Jey handed the gun to Roman. "We better hurry, Jimmy is losing a lot of blood."
As they made it around the back of the cabin they could see the fire had spread into the kitchen of the cabin. They hurried as fast as they could considering Jimmy's injury down the path that led to the lake.
"Get him on board and lay him out on one of the seats. There should be some towels. Press them into the wound." Roman yelled. "I will untie the boat and get us out on the lake. Chevonne, help Naomi. Jey help me."
Chevonne took Jey's place and helped Naomi get Jimmy onto the boat and then they helped him lay down on the bench. She looked around and found a towel under one of the chairs.
"Here, press it to his wound." She handed it to Naomi. "Jimmy, stay with us."
"I wanna puke." He said.
"Hang in there. We are getting help. We can't lose you too!" she said as Naomi pressed the towel against his shoulder wound.
Jey and Roman got the boat untied and Roman raised the anchor out of the water. Roman started the boat and pulled them away from the pier.
"Head towards the other cabins across the lake." Jey said.
Roman nodded. Jey knelt down to check on his brother. Naomi was crying but holding the towel against his shoulder. Chevonne left them and went to where Roman was steering the boat. She threw her arms around him, crying. He wrapped his arm around her, trying to comfort her.
"We're getting help. We're safe here. We're in the middle of the lake." Roman said.
"Randy….they killed Randy!" she cried.
"I know….I'm sorry. I don't know what to say." Roman tried to comfort her.
"How….I don't….oh my god!" she cried.
Roman let her cry realizing the loss of her pseudo-sibling was devastating. He rubbed her back and looked over to make sure Jimmy was okay. He was still bleeding but had Jey and Naomi looking after him.
"How much further?" Naomi asked.
"We're about halfway." Roman said.
An unknown figure swung down from the upper deck attacking Roman. Chevonne was knocked to the ground and screamed as Roman attempted to fight back. Naomi screamed out as Jey jumped to his feet. Roman cried out and fell to the floor of the boat.
"Roman!" Chevonne crawled over to him seeing that he had been stabbed in the side. "Roman, hang on."
Jey picked up the shotgun from where Roman had set it against the rail. The attacker saw what he had and jerked it out of his hands, throwing it overboard to sink in the lake. Naomi jumped on the attacker's back as Jey charged at him. The attacker still holding his knife stabbed Jey in the thigh, making him yell in pain.
"Jey!" Chevonne yelled as she desperately searched for something to use as a weapon.
The attacker then lifted the knife and cut along Naomi's arm. As she screamed she let go of him. Seeing his chance the attacker turned and pushed her overboard.
"Naomi!" Jimmy tried to stand but was weak from blood loss.
Jey picked himself up and charged again, struggling to get the knife away from the attacker. Chevonne saw a fire extinguisher under the bench. She moved to grab it, thinking she could use it as a weapon.
"Stop! Move and he's dead!" the attacker said.
She looked up to see the attacker had gained the upper hand on Jey and had the knife to his throat.
"Bray? Why?" she cried as she recognized the attacker. "Why are you doing this? We never did anything to you!"
Bray laughed, sending chills down her spine. "Do you know who my father was? He was the preacher of Communion of God Temple. And nineteen years ago, the fathers of these so called victims destroyed the commune with fire and killed my father."
"No, that is just an old ghost story!" she yelled, as she tried to keep Roman lying still.
Bray laughed again. "Oh no, it was a very real place. And my father was the preacher. Erick Rowan and Luke Harper's parents were among his followers and they too perished in the flames that night. And do you know who brought about the flames that night? Fatu Uso, Bob Orton, John Cena Sr., Rocky Johnson, Ted DiBiase and Dusty Rhodes. You see my mother survived that fire and told me all about that night. She told me of the men that killed the innocent and no one in this town did a thing about it. And now the children are paying for the sins of their father's….except Nikki, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time but in life that sometimes happens."
Chevonne could see Jey trying to stand still as Bray had the knife pressed tightly against his skin.
"You mean you killed them all? Nikki? Dustin? Brett? John? Randy?" she cried.
"And Mr. Johnson….that was so easy to make look like an accident. Oh yes, the era of vengeance has come!" he said.
"Why hurt Roman? His father didn't even live here then even if your stupid story is true!" she yelled.
"He shares the blood of the murderers. Murderers who killed innocent people in the middle of the night, leaving the widows and orphans to grieve without justice." Bray said.
"Look, I never knew my father. He never wanted me so don't blame me if he was among the killing posse that night!" she yelled.
Bray laughed again. Chevonne was truly frightened, thinking he would kill Jey and she would be next.
"Oh my sweet sister Abigail, it is time you learned the truth." Bray laughed.
"You're crazy! What are you talking about?" she yelled.
"Years ago I found a box of my father's things that my mom pulled from the ruins of the commune. She would never look through them…always said it was too painful and hid them away in the attic. As a child I snuck up there to look through them. I found my father's journal." Bray said. "And as I turned the pages of that book I learned my father was having an affair…said he was in love with two women and didn't know what to do about it…..under the assumed name of Michael Rotunda he fell in love with a young nursing student….Judi Williamson."
"No, no, no, no! I don't believe you! My mother would never date a married man!" Chevonne yelled.
"Oh yes, it's true. He wrote of the day Judi confessed to him she was pregnant, said if it was a girl he wanted to name her Abigail. Mom was carrying me at the time. Dad wasn't sure what to do." Bray said. "And you are right about your mother…when she learned the truth about who my father was and that he was married…she broke things off."
"None of this is true. Why are you making this up?" she cried.
"No Abigail, now you finally know the truth. Our father died in the fire the week after he found out your mom was with child. Even as a small child it was easy for me to figure out that you were my sister Abigail…I have known for years that you were my sister." Bray said. "Sister Abigail. And now, I have come to let you exact revenge on those that stole our father from us, just as they stole the families of Rowan and Harper."
"I don't believe you!" she yelled.
"It's all true." He whispered.
"No! Bob Orton is my father! Randy was my brother. You took him away from me!" she cried. "Why hurt us?"
"Don't you understand? We grew up without a father because of them. All those years you put up with dirty looks and snide comments were because their father's killed yours leaving your mother to tell you he abandoned you!" Bray said.
Chevonne slowly crawled to her feet and stepped over Roman. "No! Bob raised me as his own. He is my father. You are not my brother! Randy was my brother! Didn't your father's insane religion teach about love and forgiveness if this stupid story is true?!"
"I do love you Abigail and dad would've loved you too. That's why I sent you a rose before prom and sent you a graduation present. He deserved to be there but it was stolen from him!" Bray said.
"Rose on my locker…..the music box?" realization dawned on her. "It was you."
"Do you understand now?" he asked.
Behind her Roman groaned as he tried to move. She turned back to check on him.
"Stay away from him!" Bray yelled as he tossed Jey aside. He grabbed Chevonne and turned her around to face him. "You can't care for these people!"
"Stop it! I love him!" she yelled.
"NO!" Bray pushed her aside and started towards Roman.
Roman rolled over and revealed he had managed to grab the fire extinguisher. He sprayed the powder from the extinguisher in Bray's face. Bray was disoriented and couldn't see which allowed Jey to charge him again. Bray dropped the knife and attempted to defend himself from Jey. Bray managed to get his hands around Jey's neck.
Chevonne picked up the discarded knife and plunged it into Bray's back. Bray screamed in agony and let go of Jey. He turned to face Chevonne, rage in his eyes. She stabbed him again in the chest, causing him to stumble backwards. Jey saw the opening and opened the railing on the deck. Chevonne saw what he was doing. Jey grabbed the knife sticking out of Bray's chest and pushed hard against it, causing Bray to scream more. As they struggled, Chevonne grabbed the fire extinguisher from Roman who was trying to stand. She swung it, hitting Bray in the face and that allowed Jey to push him off the boat and into the water.
Jey closed the gate on the railing as Chevonne fell to the deck crying. Jey knelt down and hugged her.
"It's over. It's over. He's dead." Jey said even though he was shaking.
"He killed our friends! He killed Randy! He killed Naomi!" she cried.
"Chevonne!" he shook her. "Get it together! We have to get help or Roman and my brother are gonna bleed to death!"
She stared at him. "Can you drive the boat?"
"I think so. I ain't hurt too bad. You see what you can do for them, I will handle the boat." Jey said.
Chevonne crawled over to Roman who was in obvious pain and losing blood. Jimmy was lying on the deck after trying to get up to help fight but blood loss wouldn't allow it.
"Roman, hold on. We're getting help. Don't you die. Don't you dare let him take one more person I love away from me." She said.
"Fuck it hurts!" Roman said.
"Chevonne, are you hurt? Could you go for help?" Jey yelled as he steered the boat back towards the cabin.
"Yeah, I guess so." She said as she tried to check Jimmy. He still had a pulse.
"When we get to shore, you go for help. I'll stay with the others." Jey said. "Fuck, there is Naomi!"
"What?" Chevonne stood up.
She looked ahead and saw Naomi swimming towards the shore. "She's alive. Jey slow down so we can help her aboard."
Jey slowed down the boat as Chevonne opened the railing.
"Naomi, come on its safe. Bray is dead." She yelled.
Naomi swam to the boat and Chevonne helped pull her aboard, hugging her tight. When Jey saw she was safely on board he sped the boat up again, knowing that every moment counted.
"Oh sweetie are you okay? How bad are you hurt?" Chevonne asked.
"Cut…..so tired." Naomi managed to get out. "After…threw me over…started swimming to…."
"Shhhh, just rest. Just rest." Chevonne held her.
"Jimmy?" Naomi looked at him.
"Lost a lot of blood. We're going to get him help. Roman is hurt too. I don't know how bad." She reached over and took his hand. "I'm here baby. I'm here."
The shore was soon in sight. Jey pulled the boat up to the pier. He hurried to tie the boat up. They could see the cabin still burning and would soon be destroyed.
"Chevonne, you sure about this?" Jey yelled.
"If I stay on the road, I can get help." She said. She turned to Roman. "I will be back as soon as I can. You hang on. I promise I will get help."
"Be careful." He squeezed her hand.
She nodded and kissed him. She turned to Naomi. "You help take care of him and Jimmy."
She stood up and Jey helped her off the boat. They hurried onto the shore.
"You sure about this? I can…"
"No, you are hurt. We got two badly wounded, you stay. I will do this." She assured him.
"Stay on the road. If you stay on…."
Before Jey could finish Bray leaped out of the water and tackled Jey to the ground. Chevonne screamed as she saw Bray pull another knife out of his belt. She ran forward and tried to grab the knife but Bray threw her off him.
She screamed again seeing Bray lift the knife to stab Jey. Gunshots rang out and Bray fell dead, dropping the knife. Jey hurried to scoot away from him. Chevonne looked up and saw Randy covered in blood and filthy but holding the shotgun.
"Randy!" she yelled and ran to him. She threw her arms around him, crying and clinging to him.
"Easy….easy!" he held her.
"Bray….you were dead?" she cried.
"They jumped me…..stabbed me in the stomach. I don't remember anything else until I came to." He said. "They must've thought I was dead."
"Thank god you're safe. I love you so much!" she cried.
"The others?" Randy collapsed to the ground coughing.
"I gotta get help! Jey, Randy is hurt!" Chevonne yelled.
Jey hurried over to them. "Shit, Roman, Jimmy, now Randy…."
"I'm going for help. No time to wait!" she stood up.
"You hear that?" Jey asked.
"Huh?" then she heard it too. Sirens and they sounded like they were getting closer. She took off running up the path towards the burning cabin. She stayed as far away as she could from the flames and ran to the front of the house. Fire trucks and police cars were pulling in the driveway. She ran waving her arms.
"Help! My friends…at the lake! Down at the lake, they're hurt!" she yelled then passed out, falling to the ground.