THE BEGINNING OF THE END
CHAPTER 17- THOUGHTS OF THE NIGHT


Rob stood in silence under the porch of cabin five, with one eye focused intently on the trap tent, and the other fixed on the woods looking for any movement. No matter if it was a leaf blowing in the cool air or a masked figure carrying a machete, Rob was ready.

He too noticed the almost eerie silence. With the exception of Jenny having a fit inside the cabin, the rest of the night was completely quiet.

Even the owls quit hooting and the crickets quit cackling.

The only thing wrong with this, Rob thought to himself, is that there's nothing wrong at all.

Then he started to wonder if this was even going to work, or if he just led everyone out here to a huge slaughterhouse.

‘That's nonsense to think that,’ a voice told him in his head. For a minute, he thought it was Krista’s voice, but then shook it off quickly, focusing on the task at hand.

He then noticed a twig move directly to his right, and every muscle in his body completely froze as he awaited any follow-up movement.

There was none, and he was able to relax again.

Then he heard Jenny's voice quietly whisper down to him from above, "Rob, hunney, I miss you."

It took everything he had not to burst out laughing, but then he heard C.J. tell her to shut up, so, after a little bit of a scramble, the silence returned.

Rob laughed to himself. Why can't I attract beautiful women any other time? He thought. I don't want to be on the brink of insanity, hunting down a psychopathic killer every time I want some pussy.


***


Tyrone found it harder than he thought to keep his mind focused. It seemed as if every other minute he pictured Kisha walking out of the woods, her beautiful black body calling him to come take her home where she could be safe and warm.

Then he pictured himself visiting her grave. He was carrying pink carnations, her favorite, and laying them next to her tombstone, which read: 'Here lies Kisha Williams, because her boyfriend wasn't man enough to protect her.'

Tyrone gritted out a scream of anger through his teeth and muffled it to make no sound.

“I’ll find you baby, I promise, just stay where you’re at, I'm coming to get you at the first crack of daylight,” Tyrone said, as if she were right next to him.

“Damnit now, I have to stay focused!” Tyrone yelled at himself. "I have to keep my mind right if I’m going to live up to my promise.”

With that, he was able to fully focus on his duty, knowing one thing for sure: He sure as hell wasn't going to fail everyone else like he failed Kisha.


***


Meanwhile, Jordan had no difficulty keeping on task.

He lived for this kind of thing. This is the closest he’d ever come to real-life combat, and his finger was just itching to pull the trigger.

Both his dad and his grandfather served in war, and Jordan always figured it was his destiny to somehow serve his country. Not only that, but he felt that if he could rid the world of an unstoppable killing machine, then he’d be doing the whole world a pretty damn good favor.

The lake, dark and mysterious as ever, looked weird at night. Placid and motionless, it wasn't really moving much at all. In fact, it looked like pond water.

Just then, Jordan felt a chilly breeze soar up his spine. It’s chilly out here, he thought. But that didn't bother him one bit.

Hell, if we get 10 feet of snow tonight, I wouldn't give a damn, Jordan thought to himself. I'm not leaving my post.

His mind eventually wandered, not to disturbing thoughts or visions of Jason, but to happy thoughts. Thoughts of his magic act.

Magic was his second favorite thing in the world.

He remembered his last family reunion, when he pulled magic tricks on all his little cousins. His favorite trick was pulling out a never-ending rope from his sleeve. It was really easy to do, but it drove the kids crazy nonetheless.

His mind then drifted to the cabin directly behind him, and to Rebecca. It was obvious she wanted him, and he sort of hoped he would be able to get to know her a little better tomorrow after all was said and done.

He thought of her for a while, then cleared his mind and focused back on the lakefront, waiting for the first shot to break the silence of the night.


***


Drake found himself spaced out, not really concentrating on the matter at hand. He just stared blankly at the tent, then gazed across the woods before looking back to the tent again.

He broke a small twig off of a nearby tree and started to play with it, when suddenly, a large object loudly startled him back to his senses.

With his heart racing, he spun around and was surprised to see that a huge owl landed on the same branch he sat on and was staring directly at him.

That's funny, Drake thought. I thought owls usually hoot or something.

Not this owl.

It just sat there, silent, staring at him as if it were wondering what the hell he was doing in its tree.

For a few minutes, Drake and the owl just stared at each other, neither one moving or making a sound. Then Drake jerked a little, hoping to scare the owl away, but it didn't.

The owl just blinked at him a couple times and continued to stare.

Well whatever then, have it your way, he jokingly thought. You watch that way for me and I'll watch this way, okay?

The owl just sat there and stared at him, while Drake looked down at the tent, feeling more ambitious than before.

“Alright Jason, come out, come out, wherever you are,” Drake mumbled to himself.

Little did he know that only 50 feet directly behind him stood Jason, peering at the tent through his one good eye like a lion ready to pounce on its prey.


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