Page 142 of Love Me in the Dark

I can hear them screaming after me, but I don’t have time to waste. Tonight is going downhill and I don’t want the wrath of my father coming down on me.

A minute later, I hear the roar of their ATV as they come flying up behind me. Guess the same realization that hit me smacked them upside the face.

The closer I get to my destination, a heavy feeling builds in the pit of my stomach. My mind fears the worst is about to happen. The guys probably have the same thoughts racing through their minds.

Dylan needs to be alive and exactly how we left him, or shit’s going to hit the fan. We’ll tear this school apart until we find the fucker who is messing with us.

I come to a skidding halt when I reach the clearing, already knowing it’s going to be a shit show when we get there.

Once I have the ATV turned off, I jump off and rush toward where we left Dylan’s body. He’s on the other side of the tree, so I can’t see him. I stumble as I stop; no way in hell am I going unarmed. I rush back to the cart, reaching in and pulling out my cleaver, just as Hals and Jonas pull up beside me.

“We’re taking this fucker down,” Jonas growls as he takes his bat from their cart and hands Hals his machete.

“Do you think he’s here? He could just have been fucking with us and he doesn’t know about Dylan,” Hals adds, and I roll my eyes.

We move toward the tree with caution, not knowing what’s waiting on the other side for us. As we turn the corner, my eyes catch the first glimpse of the sight before me.

Dylan is where we left him, but not exactly how he was the last time we saw him. He’s still tied to the tree, but he’s not completely whole. There’s an ax lodged into the tree, right through his stomach. His guts are spilling out, trailing down to the ground with a red puddle beneath him.

“What the fuck is going on? This has to be a dream. It’s the only explanation.” Jonas drops his bat to the ground as he slaps himself in the face, only he’s not waking up. This is reality.

“Check his chest,” I order. Maybe there’s a note.

Hals steps forward lifting the red drenched shirt, but nothing. No words are covering his chest, only cuts—lots of them—and tiny slashes.

“There’s nothing,” Hals informs us. “If I knew our fathers weren’t going to kill us when they find out about this, I’d admire this dickheads’ craftsmanship. He knows how to kill a man.”

Somehow, I don’t think our fathers are going to feel the same way. How are we going to clean up this shit show of a night? I pace back and forth across the field, playing different scenarios through my mind as Jonas and Hals talk about the body. Then it hits me.

“This is what we’re going to do. We may not have gotten all our targets tonight, but we’re going to salvage this shit show. There’s still Hilary. Jonas, you need to get cleaned up and meet her as planned. We’ll show up and then we have our fun.”

“Hell yeah, we will!” Jonas shouts as he swings his bat into the air, hitting an imaginary ball.

“Shut the hell up and listen. Once we’re done with her, then we’ll go back to Philip and shred his skin so that there’s no evidence of any writing carved on him. Once we’re done, we’ll call the clean-up crew. That way, if they decide to give our dads proof of our final kill, they won’t be none the wiser.”

They both nod their head in agreement.

“Jonas, you need to get to Hilary. You can hopefully be there before she arrives.”

“Okay. Hold his head up, Hals. I want to get at least one good swing in. I’ve been cheated out of making them bleed.” Jonas laughs.

Hals moves over, takes hold of Dylan’s hair, and pulls his head up so we can finally see his face.

“What the fuck is that?” I bark as I storm over to his lifeless body.

Carved across his forehead is1 left.

“One left. What does that even fucking mean?” Jonas scratches his head.

The answer hits all of us at the same time and we rush back over, jumping on our ATVs, heading to the only other spot left and to the person we know should be or will be waiting there within minutes.

Hilary.

It’s still a little early, so there’s hope we can catch this asshole and deal with him before she arrives. She’s been nothing but punctual. Let’s hope she continues to be.

We race down the path, ducking to avoid the low-hanging branches. My heart racing in anticipation of what we’re going to find. I’m going to end the asshole doing this to us.

When we get near the clearing, I slow down. We need to be smart. There’s no telling what we might be walking into.