Just a Night in the Woods

Others Stories | Nov 9, 2011 | 28 min read
40 Votes, average: 4 out of 5
Others Stories

Just a Night in the Woods

Clyde sat on the passenger side of Ray's Chevy Nova wringing his hands together so hard he could feel them starting to blister. He couldn't take the awkward silence a minute longer so he reached over and turned on the radio, hoping a little background noise would help calm his nerves. He saw Ray glance over at him as he went from country station to country station searching for something to listen to and wondered why he was even bothering with it in the first place. Ray's Nova didn't have a muffler so it was so loud it made it nearly impossible to even hear the radio anyway.

"Quit fucking with the radio, you're getting on my nerves!" Ray barked, making Clyde pull his hand away from the dial as if it had burned his fingers.

They drove along in silence for a while and Clyde could barely hear the DJ's voice on the radio over the roar of the Nova's engine. The car was a giant piece of shit that sounded like lawnmower but it was Ray's pride and joy. It was probably the only thing in the entire world that Ray  loved and since it was obviously living on borrowed time Clyde wondered if he would break down and cry when it inevitably died.

Ray stomped down on the gas pedal and the noise the engine made was so loud  Clyde was tempted to cover his ears to keep his eardrums from popping. Instead he just looked over at Ray and nodded as if he was impressed with how loud the Nova was. Ray loved the way his car sounded and refused to buy a muffler for it even though he'd been warned several times by local law enforcement that he had to get one or he would be ticketed. Thus far no one on the sheriff's department had followed through on the threat and Clyde assumed that it hadn't been done because they were just as terrified of Ray as everyone else in town was.

To say that there were a lot of reasons to be afraid of Ray would be a huge understatement. He was a huge mountain of a man who weighed in at well over three hundred pounds and stood at almost seven feet tall. He was completely bald as he shaved his head so he would look more like his idol, the wrestler "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. He had grown a goatee like Austin's as well except that it was a lot more scraggly and unkempt. He walked around with a permanent scowl on his face that made him look meaner than Satan and the only time he ever smiled was when he was beating the shit out of someone.

Most of the locals who had a brain in their head avoided Ray like he was the plague. He was a legitimate tough guy who had a volatile temper and only the bravest (or stupidest) of souls dared to take him on in a fight. To date he had beaten up everyone he'd ever gotten into a fight with and most of those people had ended up in the hospital with numerous broken bones and other injuries. He'd served a term in prison when he was younger after beating a man outside of a bar so badly that the guy was left with a permanent limp as well as hearing loss in one ear. Supposedly during his stint in prison he was so feared by his fellow inmates and the prison guards that no one ever once tried to mess with him.

He was currently unemployed after being fired from the dog food factory where he worked (he was let go after breaking his supervisor's jaw with a single punch after he dared to try to discipline Ray for coming back from lunch almost an hour late). Since he wasn't working he spent most of his time sleeping until late afternoon, drinking from the time he got up until he went to bed, working on his beloved Nova, and hunting. He didn't have a wife or girlfriend (no woman in her right mind would have anything to do with him as he had no problem slapping the fairer sex around when he felt that they needed it) so he also spent a great deal of time watching porn (the nastier and more bizarre the better).

Clyde met Ray at the dog food factory where they both worked. He knew who Ray was and had heard countless stories about him but their paths didn't cross until one warm July afternoon in the employee break room. Clyde was sitting in the room all by himself trying to choke down a tuna fish sandwich that tasted like it might have been spoiled he'd gotten out of one of the vending machines when Ray came storming in and slid a dollar into one of the Coke machines. When the machine took his money without giving him anything in return Ray started punching and kicking it in retaliation.  As Ray continued to assault the machine Clyde slowly approached him and gave him a handful of quarters (partially because he felt sorry for Ray because he didn't have anything to drink but mostly because he was scared out of his mind). He was worried that it was only a matter of seconds before Ray took out his aggression on him instead of the poor Coke machine since he was the only other person in the room and he figured that giving him some change would calm him down and  convince him not to kick his ass all over the place.

To Clyde's relief his plan worked and after Ray bought a drink he actually thanked him and promised to pay him back. He followed Clyde back to his table where they sat and talked for a few moments. Once Clyde got over his initial terror he realized that he actually enjoyed talking to him and by the time he made his way back to work after his lunch period was over they had become friends.

They started hanging out together on a daily basis and even though Clyde liked Ray and enjoyed spending time with him there was still a small part of him that was terrified of him. Every time that he went over to Ray's trailer he couldn't help but feel a little nervous as he was worried that he was going to do something that set Ray off. One night he made the mistake of spilling a beer all over Ray's living room carpet and his life flashed before his eyes. He knew that he was seconds away from receiving the worst beating of his life and was on the verge of begging for his life when Ray just laughed it off and told him that it was no big deal. Once it sunk in that he wasn't going to be killed Clyde went into the bathroom for a few moments to regain his composure and to check to make sure that he hadn't soiled himself.

Other than constantly worrying that Ray was going to snap one day and beat the shit out of him Clyde couldn't deny that there was a definite benefit to being pals with someone that everyone was afraid of. Clyde was a short, scrawny guy with a greasy mullet and bad skin who had been picked on his entire life. He didn't have to worry about people picking on him anymore as everyone knew if they messed with him they would have to face the wraith of Ray. Knowing this Clyde had become a lot more brave and actually went out of his way to pick fights with the local rednecks at the bar because of the fact that Ray had his back and would step in if he needed any help.

"So where are we headed?" Clyde asked, noticing that they were heading down a gravel road in the middle of the woods that he wasn't familiar with.

"There's an old deserted camp out here," Ray answered with a slight trace of irritation in his voice that let Clyde know he probably shouldn't ask any more questions, "I really can't see anyone bothering us out there, the place has been empty for years."

"Sounds good to me." Clyde mumbled, wishing he was anywhere else in the world and wondering why he let Ray talk him into going  along with everything in the first place.

They continued down the bumpy gravel road and Clyde couldn't help but notice how dark it was outside. Since the Nova only had one working headlight it made it almost impossible to see what was in front of them and he prayed that they would just hurry up and get wherever it was they were going before the ran off the road and ended up in a ditch or wrapped around a tree.

The DJ on the radio continued to ramble on and Clyde didn't really pay much attention to what he was saying until he hear him mention something about another body being found. Straining to hear over the engine (he didn't dare turn up the radio as he was afraid it would piss Ray off) he was able to make out that the latest victim was a young woman in her twenties who had last been seen jogging on the outskirts of town. A hunter had come across her remains earlier in the morning and even though the DJ didn't go into great detail Clyde just knew that she'd been mutilated like all the others.

The first murder had taken place a few weeks earlier when a young college student disappeared from her home without a trace. She was discovered a couple of days later in the woods by an elementary school science class out on a nature walk. Instead of see the different species of birds and insects they were searching for they are able to find her dismembered body. Several days later another body, a teenage boy who was best known for selling pot to his classmates, was found by the swings at the city park. His head had been removed by the police were able to find it in the trash can (along with his hands and one of his feet) in the trashcan in front of the monkey bars. About a week after that the body of a woman who had just started teaching at the local middle school was found down by the river by a couple of fishermen. Her eyes and tongue had been cut out and were placed in the pocket of her jeans.

Rumors started to circulate that there was a serial killer walking the streets among the good townspeople but the sheriff's department denied this claim to keep people from panicking (which turned out to be a stupid decision as it made people even more afraid as they thought that there may be more than one murderer lurking in the shadows). Local law enforcement officials were clueless as to who was behind the murders (which was no big shock to anyone as everyone knew that the sheriff's department was made up of a bunch of incompetent alcoholics who made Barney Fife look like Dirty Harry) so they instigated a curfew and told people to make sure that their doors and windows were locked up nice and tight. There was a rumor that the FBI was stepping in and an agent was supposedly being sent down to take over the investigation.

Ray stomped the gas pedal down to the floor, spitting gravel everywhere before pulling up to the campground. Clyde looked out the window and saw several dilapidated cabins that looked like they could fall down at any given moment. They drove past an old basketball court that was overgrown with grass and weeds but strangely enough had a basketball goal complete with what looked like a brand new net still attached to it. Behind the basketball court was an old mess hall that was full of broken windows that looked like it hadn‘t been painted since JFK was still in office. . Something about the whole area gave Clyde the creeps and though he'd never admit it out loud he couldn't help but feel a little scared. They drove by several cabins and he thought that he saw the curtain in the window of one of them flutter as if someone was inside standing behind it watching them as they passed.

Ray pulled up in front of one of the cabins toward the back of the campground and shut off the engine. It sputtered loudly for several minutes making him curse under his breath before turning and glaring at Clyde.

"So what do you think?" he asked, lighting up a Camel non-filtered cigarette and taking a huge drag off of it.

"How did you find this place?" Clyde inquired, looking around and trying to shake the feeling that they were being watched.

"I came to camp here when I was a kid, I got laid for the first time in this cabin right here when I was just twelve."

"You had sex when you were that young?"

"Sure did. The bitch was gorgeous too. She wasn't into to at first so I had to persuade her a little bit with my fists." he said with a smile, making Clyde's blood run cold as he thought about Ray forcing himself on some poor young girl.

Ray finished up the rest of his cigarette in a few puffs (he was a four pack a day smoker) and threw the butt out of the window. He turned back to Clyde with an evil gleam in his eye and a sinister smile on his face.

"You ready to do this?"

"I guess so." Clyde responded, trying and failing to hide the nervousness in his voice.

"What do you mean you guess so? What the fuck is your problem?"

"Nothing."

"Bullshit. You've been acting weird all night, don't tell me you're having second thoughts about doing this."

"No, not at all."

"Then get off of your ass and get it out of the trunk, I'm going on inside to set things up." Ray growled, opening the driver side door.

"Sure, no problem." Clyde replied meekly, feeling the beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead.

He sat there watching silently as Ray grabbed a burlap bag out of the backseat and then made his way to the cabin. He kicked open the front door of the cabin (which knocked it right off of its rusted hinges) and went inside. Clyde had to take a couple of deep breaths to keep from throwing up and for a minute or two he thought about climbing behind the wheel of the Nova and getting the hell out of there while Ray was preoccupied. He decided against it when he thought about what Ray would probably do to him later if he took off without him and reluctantly opened the passenger side door, finding himself (for probably the first time in his entire life) wishing that someone from the sheriff department or a state trooper would magically show up out of nowhere.

He got out of the car and slowly made his way to the trunk. With his hands shaking like he was suffering from Parkinson's Disease he stuck the key in the lock and popped the trunk open. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he prepared himself for what was inside the trunk along with the spare tire and the jumper cables.

Laying there with her hands and feet bound by rope was a pretty young woman in her early twenties with long black hair and a nice figure. She was a very attractive woman who Clyde has seen countless times around town. Her name was Faith something or other and she was one of those weird goth chicks  that hang out down by the river with all of the other weirdoes in town who dressed like vampires and were obsessed with death and depressing things that Clyde didn't quite understand. Faith only wore the color black and had several tattoos and piercing as well as hot pink streaks in her hair. While Clyde would never deny that fact that she was very pretty he also thought that she would look a lot better if she cleaned herself up and didn't dress like she lived in the fucking dark ages. He felt bad about what was going to happen to her but since she was so fascinated with death she might've been happy to know that she was minutes away from being personally introduced to it up close.

He reached over to grab her with a trembling hand and she pulled away from him. She tried to say something but since there was duct tape across her mouth he couldn't quite make out what she was attempting to say. One of her eyes was puffy and swollen and there was dried blood caked on her face where her nose had been bleeding. Her bottom lip was split and there were angry red whelps on her throat where both Ray and Clyde had grabbed her while they were struggling with her earlier. She'd put up one hell of a fight when they picked her up and hand come damn close to getting away from them. She's landed a few good kicks and punches on both of them and most likely would've escaped if Ray hadn't clobbered her in the back of the head with his flashlight while she was busy kicking Clyde in the face over and over again.

"Come on now, don't make this any harder than it has to be." he said, grabbing her by the arm and trying to pull her out of the trunk.

She resisted of course and he grit his teeth as he pulled harder on her arm in an attempt to get her out. She was a tough cat, that was for sure and it was obvious that she wasn't going to make anything easy for them. Had Clyde known that she was going to be such a pain in the ass he would've suggested to Ray that they drive on by her when they spotted her trying to change the flat tire on her car on side of the road. She had looked like such a helpless little thing but both of them now knew better.

"Get out of the car you stupid bitch!" Don't make me smack you around again!" he said, grabbing a huge handful of hair and pulling on it as hard as he could.

She squealed in pain behind the tape on her mouth as he yanked on her hair but still she refused to budge. He grabbed another handful and tugged so hard that he actually pulled her out of the trunk by her hair. He slammed her down on the ground, making her hit the back of her head. She lay there with a dazed look on her face staring up at the sky and he reached over and kicked her hard in the side, once again making her yelp in agony.

"Not such a badass now are you, bitch?" he asked, feeling like a tough guy since she was bound and had absolutely no way to fight back or defend herself.

He thought about how she'd kicked him between the legs earlier and his blood boiled with anger. He kicked her in the side again and then picked her up off the ground by the hair before shoving her toward the cabin where Ray was waiting inside.

As soon as they walked in the cabin he saw that it looked just as bad on the inside as it had on the outside. It was run-down and stunk so bad Clyde had to look and make sure that there wasn't already a dead body in one of the corners. The floor was stained and cracked and it looked as if someone had poured a bottle of bleach all over it for some unknown reason. Most of the windows had been broken and were boarded up with pieces of rotting wood, and there was a huge hole in the floor toward the back of the cabin. There was graffiti written on the wall and when Clyde saw "VL loves BC" scrawled over the fireplace he found himself absently wondering if Veronica Lodge and Betty Cooper from the Archie comic books had become lesbians (it made more sense to him that they would be attracted to each other since they were both hot young ladies and Archie was one ugly motherfucker. He never could figure out how Archie got so much ass when he looked the way he did).

Ray walked over to them with a huge smile on his face that made Clyde's skin crawl. He pushed Faith toward him and walked over to one of the only windows that still had glass in it where he stood peering out so he wouldn't have to look at the sinister smile on Ray's face any longer.  It was beyond rare to ever see a smile on his face and when there was one it usually meant that something very bad was about to happen. Clyde didn't know what exactly it was that Ray had in store for Faith but he knew that he definitely wouldn't want to he in her shoes at the moment.

"You're scared, aren't you?" Ray asked her as he grabbed her by the front of the shirt and pulled her face close to his, "You better be if you've got a brain in that head of yours."

She tried to respond but it was impossible to understand her once again due to the tape across her mouth. Clyde wasn't positive but he was pretty sure he heard her call Ray a cocksucker and he hoped for her sake that he was wrong. The last thing she needed to do was piss Ray off any more than he already was as it meant the difference a quick death or a slow and painless one.

"What did you just say, you vampire-looking bitch?" he roared at her, making Clyde wince.

She glared at him for a moment before once again trying to say something. It was obvious to Clyde that she had just called him a shit head and he could tell by the look on Ray's face that he was able to decipher what she was saying as well. She was a gutsy gal if nothing else, and if she was the least bit intimidated she wasn't showing any signs of it. It was too bad they were going to kill her as Clyde was started to find himself becoming more and more attracted to her.

Ray's face turned bright red and his eyes grew wide in a combination of anger and disbelief. He grabbed her by the throat and started to squeeze, making Clyde close his eyes as he waited to hear the grisly snap of her neck breaking. Instead he threw her across the room, making her bounce her head off of the fireplace before she crashed onto the floor in a heap. Clyde couldn't help but feel sorry for her as it quite obvious that Ray was going to take his time in killing her and was going to make her suffer as much as possible in the process. Then again she had brought it all on herself since she'd gone out of her way to make Ray angry.

"Tie her up over there," Ray demanded, pointing to a pole that ran from the ceiling to the floor, "It's time to get started."

Clyde pulled her up off of the floor and pushed her back against the pole. Using the extra rope they'd brought with them he quickly tied her hands and feet around the pole so tightly that there was not a chance in hell that she could get away. Of course she struggled and squirmed the entire time in an attempt to escape so Clyde had to punch her in the face a few more times so that she would cooperate.

"We're going to have a lot of fun here tonight." Ray chuckled as he reached into his duffel bag that he'd placed on the floor.

He pulled out a large hunting knife, a hatchet, and a hammer then placed them on the floor in front of Faith. She tried to act like she wasn't intimidated but Clyde could tell that she was terrified. He wondered if she would eventually drop the tough girl bullshit and beg for her life before they were done with her.

"Which one do you want me to us on you first?" Ray asked as he ran his fingers through her hair.

Clyde could see tears welling up in her eyes and she tried to say something. Ray ripped the tape off of her mouth so she could talk but mostly he did it because he wanted to savor the sounds of her screams once they started in on her.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked as the tears began to stream down her cheeks, "I haven't done anything to you!"

"I know you haven't darlin' but it doesn't matter," Ray smiled as he wiped her tears away, "you're still going to die tonight."

"Why?"

"What the hell, I guess you deserve to know why you're about the be slaughtered. What do you think, Clyde, should we tell her?"

"Sure." Clyde said, looking around the room anxiously.

"So I'm sure you've heard about all the murders that have been taking place around here of late, right?" Ray asked as he picked up the hunting knife and admired it.

"You two are the ones doing it?" Faith asked, a frightened look on her face.

"Oh no, we ain't killed nobody. You're going to be our first."

"But why? I don't understand!"

"Well you see me and Clyde over there were hanging out bullshitting and killing some beers the other night when we both decided that we wanted to kill somebody. Since all these murders are going on we thought that now would be the perfect time to do it." Ray explained as he lit a cigarette, "we figured we'd kill someone, chop them up like all the others and everybody would just think that the same person did it."

"But why me? You still haven't told me why you picked me!" she sobbed.

"It's nothing personal, you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It could've been anyone. I guess you just have shitty luck."

Ray went on to tell her in gruesome detail what they were going to do with her body after she was dead. He let her know that they were going to cut it up and then dump it in the woods. Since the real killer dumped the victims' bodies in random places Ray didn't really think that they had to put much thought into where to dispose of her.

Clyde stood at the window looking out as he listened to Ray carry on about all the horrible things he was going to do to Faith's body. It was around the time that he told her that he was going to cut off her head and spit down her neck that he saw some movement behind some of the trees outside. At first he thought that it was just the wind but realized that there was someone out there when he caught a glimpse of them running between the trees.

"Motherfucker!" he yelled as he backed away from the window.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Ray grumbled, staring daggers at him.

"There's somebody out there!"

"Horseshit!"

"I swear to God I just saw someone out there running around!"

"You're crazy as shit. Nobody lives around here for ten miles at least. You're just seeing things!"

"But…"

"But nothing, asshole. You didn't see nobody! It was probably just a deer or something."

Clyde opened his mouth to disagree but decided that it probably wasn't the wisest decision in the world. Instead he just nodded and continued to look out of the window trying to get another glimpse of whatever it was he'd seen.

"Now get your ass over here, I'm ready to get started," Ray said, "and since I'm such a nice guy I'm going to let you have the first shot at her."

Clyde started to walk toward Faith and fought the urge to vomit everywhere as his stomach started to churn. He picked up the hatchet off of the floor with a trembling hand then turned to look at Ray who smiled in approval.

"Just be careful with that fucking thing," Ray said, motioning toward the hatchet in Clyde's hand," You better make sure to save some for me. You kill her and you get to take her place."

"Please don't hurt me," Faith sobbed, "I'll do anything, just let me go!"

"Shut up, just shut your fucking mouth!" Clyde snapped as he raised the hatchet high in the air over her.

"Tonight, Clyde." Ray said in an impatient tone.

"I know, I know, I'm just taking my time. I want to enjoy it!" Clyde said, hoping that Ray would believe him.

"Do it then!" Ray hissed.

Clyde stood there with the hatchet for what seemed like an eternity as he tried to figure out what to do. There was no way he could ever actually use the hatchet on her and he knew that if he didn't there would be hell to pay.

"What are you waiting for?" Ray asked with an angry look on his face, "Are you going to do it or not?"

Clyde closed his eyes and said a prayer asking God to forgive him for what he was about to do. As sweat poured down into his face he started to bring the hatchet down toward Faith when the sound of glass breaking behind him caused him to stop.

He turned around and saw that the window by Ray was broken and there was a large rock on the floor along with the pieces of shattered glass. Ray stood there staring down at the rock with a furious look on his face for a few seconds before he turned and looked out of the window.

"What happened?" Clyde asked, taking a moment to thank God for stepping in to provide a distraction before he was forced to use the hatchet on Faith.

"Some bastard just threw a rock through the window!" Ray growled.

"I told you there was someone out there!" Clyde said, regretting his words as soon as they were out of his mouth. No one ever told Ray "I told you so" about anything without having their ass kicked a few seconds later.

"Aren't you just a fucking know-it-all?" Ray asked, taking a menacing step toward him.

"It's probably the real killer! We have to get out of here!" Faith said as she struggled to free herself.

"Don't be stupid, bitch!" Ray shouted, "It's probably just some damn…"

He stopped in mid-sentence when he heard the sound of glass breaking coming from outside. Clyde knew at once that it was the sound of one of the Nova's windows being shattered and he could tell by the expression on Ray's face that he knew it as well.

"Somebody out there wants to die tonight!" Ray said as he snatched up the hammer and started to walk toward the door.

"What are you doing?" Clyde asked, stepping out of the way before Ray barreled over him.

"To crack some fucker's head open," Ray snarled, "You stay here with the chick, we'll take care of her when I get back."

Clyde was about to protest but Ray didn't give him a chance to do so as he stormed out of the door with the hammer in his hand, eager and willing to bash someone's brains out.

Ray walked up to the Nova and saw at once that someone had smashed the windshield. He didn't know who had done it but knew that they had a death wish and that Faith wouldn't be the only person he was going to kill before the night was over. He ran his hand across the hood of the Nova softly before he roared in anger and stomped off to find the person responsible for hurting his baby. He didn't see anyone but heard a rustling sound coming from behind the cabin so he stormed off in that direction, looking forward to taking out his aggression on someone.

"Come on out you chicken shit! I got something for you, motherfucker!" he called out as he rounded the corner of the cabin.

He didn't see anyone behind the cabin so he turned back around only to be punched hard right in the face. He fell back to the ground, sending the hammer flying out of his hand and hitting the back of his head on a large rock on the ground. He tried to get to his feet but was kicked hard in the side of the head a few times. He didn't even catch a glimpse of whoever it was that was attacking and the last thing he saw before he passed out was the person's boot right before it struck him right in the face.

Clyde paced around the cabin nervously as he once again tried to decide what he should do. He couldn't hear Ray outside anymore and when he looked out of the window there was no sign of him anywhere. He thought about going out to check on him but since he had no idea who (or what) might have been outside he decided it was a bad idea (besides that if whoever it was had taken Ray out it would certainly make short work of him as well).

"Hey, your name's Clyde, right?" Faith asked.

"Shh. Don't talk to me, leave me alone." he responded as he continued to pace.

"I know you're not a bad person and you really don't want to hurt me. You're just doing all of this because of him, aren't you?"

"Shut up, you don't know nothing!"

"I'm right, aren't I? Why would you do what he wanted? Are you scared of him?"

"Just shut up or you'll be sorry!"

"Are you in love with him? Is that it? Is that why you do whatever it is he wants?"

"I told you to shut your fucking mouth!" Clyde snapped, slapping her across the face, "Don't say another word or you'll see for yourself just how much I don't want to kill you when I slit your throat from ear-to-ear!"

He walked back over to the window and glanced outside but still didn't see any sign of Ray anywhere.

"He's been gone a while, " Faith said, "where do you think he went?"

"He'll be back." he replied, hoping that she wouldn't hear the doubt in his voice.

"What if the real killer got him? That's probably who was out there."

"Just shut up before you piss me off again!"

"Look, please just let me go," she said softly, "we can take the car and get the hell out of here before he comes back."

"No," he said, shaking his head, "I can't do that so you might as well save your breath."

"I promise you won't get in any trouble! I'll tell the cops that it was all his idea. I'll say he made you bring me out here and that you didn't want to have anything to do with it."

"Just shut up! I'm not telling you again!"

"Please Clyde, I don't want to die out here like this! If you don't let me go he's going to kill me! Do you really want to have to live with that for the rest of your life?"

"Yes…I mean no…I don't know!" Clyde said as he paced around the room rubbing his head, "Just leave me alone, you're driving me nuts!"

"Just let me go, Clyde. You know deep down that it's the right thing to do!"

"Don't say another word, I mean it!" he said, grabbing her by the throat, "When Ray gets back we're going to kill you, and nothing is going to change that. Do you understand?"

She didn't bother to respond to his question so he tightened his grip on her throat, making it hard for her to breath.

"Do you understand?" he repeated with a crazed look on his face.

Faith tried to answer but could only gasp for air as he wrapped his other hand around her throat and squeezed tighter. Panic started to set in when she realized that he had snapped and had every intention of strangling her to death right then and there. He dug his thumbs into her windpipe and she found herself wondering if he was going to crush her trachea. As he continued to squeeze harder and harder her throat started to burn and her lungs felt like they were going to burst due to the lack of oxygen. She became lightheaded and started to feel herself slipping away into oblivion when she spotted the tall man with the long dirty hair walk in the door and sneak up behind Clyde.

Clyde was so into choking her that he never heard the man walk up behind him. The man hit him hard in the back of the head with Ray's hammer and he let go of Faith before hitting the ground like he'd been shot.

Faith got a good look at the man as she gasped for air and started to wonder if she wasn't better off with Clyde and Ray. The man was as tall as Ray and had a long unruly beard that went down to his chest. He was very skinny and since he was only wearing a pair of bib overalls with no shirt on underneath she could see all of his ribs. He had very few teeth in his mouth and the ones that he did have were rotten and broken.

He stood over Clyde and stared down at him for a bit before he turned his attention to Faith. She started screaming when he picked up the hunting knife and started walking toward her with it.

"No! Get away from me!" she cried as she tried desperately to free herself once again.

He walked behind her and she just knew that she was mere seconds from being stabbed in the back. To her surprise he didn't stab her and instead used the knife to cut the ropes around her wrists, freeing her arms.

"Thank you," she said as she leaned down and started undoing the rope around her ankles.

"You're welcome lady," he said, "my name's Caleb. Why did those men tie you up like that?"

"They kidnapped me and were going to kill me." she said, realizing that he was a mentally handicapped man who didn't mean her any harm.

"They were bad men?"

"Yes they were."

"I thought so, only bad men would tie up a pretty girl like that. Did I save the day?"

"You sure did, Caleb, you're my hero."

"Yay! I'm a hero!" he shouted, throwing his hands up in victory, "I beat the bad men and saved the damsel in distress! Mama will be so proud of me!"

"I'm sure she will be, Caleb." she said with a smile before leaning down beside Clyde and checking to see if he was still breathing.

"Come on, my mama and me live in a cabin out there, we'll be safe there. Mama will know what to do."

"Hold on just a second and we'll go." she replied, seeing that Clyde was still alive and was just unconscious.

"Is he killed?" Caleb asked, looking toward Clyde with a pitiful look on his face that made Faith feel sad.

"Not quite yet."

She picked up the hatchet and hit Clyde with it over and over again, chopping him to pieces as Caleb stood there watching with a curious expression on his face. She kept hitting him with it until she'd removed his arms, legs, and head from his body like she'd done to all the others and then turned to Caleb who seemed unfazed by the fact that he'd just witnessed her killing a man and then dismembering him.

"Now he's dead." she said with a smile on her face as she wiped Clyde's blood off of her face.

"Can we go home now?" Caleb whined, "Mama will be worried."

"Sure, but there's something I have to take care of first."

"What do you have to take care of?"

"You!" she roared, swinging the hatchet at him and burying the blade of it into his abdomen.

He looked down at the hatchet sticking out of him and then looked up at her with a shocked and hurt expression on his face. She pulled it out of him and swung it at him again but he brought his hand up to protect himself, resulting in him losing most of his fingers.

He took a step back and cried out in a combination of horror and pain when he saw that three of the fingers on his right hand were missing. Faith swung the hatchet at him a third time, catching him in the chest and making him fall backward to the ground.

She was on top of him in an instant and pulled the hatchet out of his chest. She brought it back down on his repeatedly for several minutes even though it was apparent he was dead. She went ahead and started chopping him to pieces as well and was almost done with him when she heard the sound of someone clapping coming from behind her.

"Good job," Ray said, standing in the doorway clapping loudly, "you really fucked both of those guys up real good!"

Faith got to her feet when she saw him and raised the hatchet to defend herself. To her surprise he made to attempt to attack her and just stood there smiling at her.

"I'll be damned, so you're the real killer, huh? I never in a million years would have guessed it," he chuckled, "of all the people we could've brought out here to kill tonight we end up with the mysterious slasher who has been killing people and cutting them all up. What are the chances?"

"Come on then, let's get it over with!" she said, taking a step toward him with the hatchet raised in the air.

"Oh no, you've got it all wrong. I don't want to kill you anymore. Now that I know who you really are I've got a different idea."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"I've got a proposition for you. I want to help you."

"You want to help me what?"

"I want to help you kill people," he said, putting his hands up to show her that he had no intention of trying to harm her any longer, "think of how many people we could take out if we worked together!"

"Are you serious?" she asked, lowering the hatchet to her side.

"Serious as a heart attack, sweetheart!" he said as he walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder, "I want to kill people and you can show me how to do it right. What do you think?"

"I think you're a fucking idiot." she said, swinging the hatchet at him and burying the blade into his crotch.

He made a howling sound that reminded her of a wounded animal. He fell to his knees and tried to pull the hatchet out by the handle but was unable to do so. She kicked him in the face and made him fall over backward onto the floor. She grabbed the handle of the hatchet and twisted it, making him scream in agony before she pulled it out and threw it across the room.

"It's like you said earlier, we're going to have a lot of fun here tonight!" she said as she reached over and picked up the hunting knife.

Ray writhed around on the floor holding what was left of his crotch and straddled him. She slashed his face and chest with the knife, laughing maniacally each time that she cut him.

"See, you're having fun, right?" she asked as she stabbed him in the cheek.

She continued stabbing him for several more minutes until she grew bored with it and then slit his throat. As he lay there spitting up blood and making a series of gurgling sounds she decided that he hadn't quite suffered enough so she stabbed him in the eye with such force that the blade came out of the back of his head and basically pinned him to the floor.

She climbed off of the top of him and picked the hatchet back up. She made short work of his body, chopping him into pieces in just a few minutes. After she was done with him she scattered his body parts all over the cabin and then did the same with what was left of Clyde and Caleb.

She sat there for a few moments admiring her work before she fished the keys to the Nova out of Ray's pocket. She got to her feet and grabbed Ray's head before taking another long look around and making her way outside.

She got into the Nova and started it up, annoyed by how loud it was. Ever since she was a little girl loud noises bothered her and hurt her ears, but since she was in the middle of nowhere she knew that she didn't really have much choice in the matter unless she wanted to walk all the way back to town.

She pulled over in front of the basketball goal and hopped out with Ray's head in her hands. She tossed it toward the basket and to her amazement she scored two points with it. It got stuck in the net and she couldn't help but giggle when she thought about someone finding it there later.

After standing there for several minutes looking at Ray's head (and wishing she had a camera so she could preserve the moment in film) she got back in the Nova and drove away. As she made her way down the gravel road that seemed to go on forever she wondered how long it would be before someone discovered the bodies. She thought that it would most likely be a while since the cabin was in such a desolate area and didn't envy the unlucky person that did find them. Just the very thought of how they would most likely smell made her retch so she forced herself to think about something else other than their rotten and decomposing bodies.

The Nova broke down about three miles down the road (it must have known that Ray was dead so it lost its will to live as it knew it would never see him again) so Faith got out and started walking. She didn't really think anyone would come along since it was almost four in the morning and she was wandering around on a country road that never had much traffic on it, even during the day.

She'd walked about half a mile or so when a yellow Ford Explorer pulled up beside her. A young woman in her early twenties with blonde hair poked her head out of the passenger side window and smiled at her.

"Kind of late for a walk, isn't it?" the woman asked in a squeaky voice, "You want a ride?"

"Sure, if you don't mind," Faith replied, hoping that they wouldn't notice all the blood stains on her clothes.

"Hop in!" said the driver, a pretty red-headed woman who had obviously spent way too much time in the tanning bed since her skin had an orange hue to it.

Faith climbed in the back seat and immediately became aware of the fact that the inside of the Explorer smelled like a brewery. She didn't know exactly what her new friends had been up to before they happened along and picked her up but it was obvious that it involved heavy drinking.

"You're lucky we came along when we did," the blonde said, lighting a cigarette, "it's not very smart to be wandering around out here by yourself. Don't you watch the news? There's some nut running around cutting people up!"

"You know what else isn't very smart?" Faith asked, pulling the hunting knife out of her pocket.

"What's that?" the driver asked, looking back at her in the rearview mirror.

"Picking up a complete stranger when you are well aware of the fact that there is someone going around slaughtering people!" she said, leaning up and plunging the knife into the blonde's neck.

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Reviews

Ruby Feb 15, 2014

oh my goodness this story was amazingly good! ive read alot of them on here but this one is my favorite so far

Nikki Jul 24, 2012

This is like one of those Criminal Minds episode ... Always a nice twist

Anita Mar 3, 2012

very nice story, however, it was a long one. Good going Todd :)

Amit Nov 10, 2011

long but awesome story. i like it

Richard Schnelzer Nov 10, 2011

This is so real!!! I grew up in the sticks, and can think of a few people, like these characters. You're an amazing writer.

Jagrit Nov 9, 2011

Another Good story my friend... but really a long one :)

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