Chapter Fourteen

"You won't get away with this Joshua. You know that, don't you? You haven't won this game yet."

His smirk was that of satisfied evil, and Josh shuddered, knowing the man was more crazy than he had ever labeled Justin to be.

"Your game has been over for awhile now Mr. Bass. We just needed the last bit of evidence to take you down, and you were stupid enough to lead us right to it."

Moving his foot, he rolled Lance to his stomach and pulled both hands behind his back, laying the gun down for a brief moment to pull the belt around his waist loose, intending to use it to tie Lances hands together, but in that one brief moment the tables turned, and Lance had Josh on the ground with the gun pointed down to him.

"Ready for the fast round of the game Joshua? You see, we could do this one of two ways. One, I pull all the bullets from here, except one, and fire three shots. If the bullet is not one of those three rounds then you can kiss your ass lucky and walk. A Russian Roulette you could say. Or two, I let you up, give you a five minute head start, and you head any direction you want to go. After five minutes I come after you, but....Oh no....don't make any sounds, cause Lance will have his gun ready to shoot. That one I like to call the hunt. It's much more fun to me."

He broke into laughter, one so evil that only one who was insane could use, and lowered the gun, stepping away from Josh, waiting for him to move.

"Come on boy. Not as brave as you were earlier? Cat got your tongue or something?"

Josh slowly stood from the ground, backing away from the crazed man, looking to his right as the bright headlights coming up the driveway shown like a spotlight on the two of them, drawing Lances attention as well. He looked around, casing the area for which way to run, and took off in full force toward the woods.

Lance turned his head, watching him as he ran, and laughed, waving his gun high into the air, firing off one shot.

"GOOD CHOICE MAN, GOOD CHOICE. Run, run, as fast as you can, if I can't catch you, my bullet can."

Josh could still hear the shrill laughter as he pushed his way through the thick trees, getting as deep into the woods as he possibly could, hoping to get out alive.

*****

Her feet were bleeding from the gashes she had received running through the debris floor of the woods, and her chest hurt from the gasping of breath she had tried so desperately to catch.

Justin was faster than she was, a lot faster, and she had tried her best to keep up with him and hold him in her sight so as not to get lost. She didn't know how far from the house they were, or for how long they had actually been running, but it seemed as though hours had passed, and she didn't think she could go much further.

They had run straight for the woods the minute the car had stopped and Joey stepped out of it, yelling at the two of them, and neither one of them looked back or paid any attention to where they were going. Justin had taken the lead, making sure to dodge fallen trees, snakes, and low hanging branches, to avoid Emily getting any more hurt than she already was.

The rage that Lance had stirred inside him with his words had kept him going, kept him running further and further, blowing off the steam he needed to release, but as that energy began to fade, and he himself began to grow tired, he remembered poor Emily behind him, and knew she must be exhausted.

The danger of them stopping to rest was far too great, but he had too, he needed to catch his breath and get a better view of what was around, but he needed to find the safest place possible that he could first.

He pushed the low hanging branches out of his way, spotting a crumbling shack not too far in the distance, and stepped to the side, holding back the limbs to let Emily walk through safely. Pain and fear were etched into her face, and he looked around, making sure no one was in sight, before turning his back to her, crouching down on the ground.

"Hop on my back. I'm going to carry you."

She shook her head, taking a moment to catch her breath and rest her tired aching legs.

"I'm ok. Give me a minute and we can keep going."

"No. Hop on. There's a shack up ahead. We're going there to hide out for just a minute. Now come on. There is no time to argue."

She hesitated, begining to protest again, but quickly wrapped her arms around his neck as a rustling noise sounded in the distant, and wrapped her legs around his waist when he stood, hanging on to him for dear life.

The weak structure that looked to have once been a small cabin, creaked beneath his feet as Justin stepped inside, crouching down again to let Emily slip from his back to the floor. Trees grew through the busted windows and dirt and debris covered the splitting wooden floor, where gaps made it easy for small critters to crawl through, but there was a wall that surrounded them, and a roof over their heads, and that was all that mattered to him at the moment.

An old torn and battered couch sat along a wall underneath branches that had grown through the broken picture window, and Justin moved it to the center of the floor motioning for Emily to sit down.

"Prop your feet up, I'm going to check around, see what I can find."

She moved carefully to the couch, finding a spot where the rusted springs had yet to bust through, and sat down sideways, pulling her feet up to stretch them out in front of her. Her feet were dirty, clumps of dirt sticking to them where the blood from her wounds had dried, and she sighed wiggling the stiffness from her toes, relieved to be able to prop them up for awhile to ease the pain.

The night seemed so unreal to her, like she was in a dream, a nightmare, and she wanted to wake up in the arms of Justin where everything was safe and ok, and fear no longer existed. She wanted to find her way from those woods and go home, forgetting any of this ever happened. But the night wasn't over yet, and though Josh had Lance at gun point she feared that safety would never come to them.

Justin sat down on the edge of the couch next to her, pulling his shirt over his head, and her feet into his lap, using the shirt to gently wipe away the dirt to inspect her wounds. She watched him in silence, still not believing he was really real, and closed her eyes letting his tender hands care for her.

"I thought it was you.....tonight....making love to me. Your face was all I saw. I......"

He remained silent, his eyes focusing on his task, as Lances words echoed through his head, blocking out her voice.

"She's fucking good in bed don't ya think Justin? Those legs wrapped around you, her body beneath yours quivering, begging you to fuck her more. She was so damn good."

His anger began to stir again, causing his energy to flow strong through him.

"....contract.........party......drank too much......"

Now and then her words broke through his thoughts, but the visions of Lance touching her made his stomach churn and he felt himself wanting to heave as the words continued to play over and over. He was a monster. Always had been, and Justin had always tried to get along with him, but over time he grew to hate the blond headed man, and now he despised him, hated him more than he had ever hated anyone in his whole life. Hated him more than he even hated his stepfather.

She had stopped talking, when, he didn't know, but she was watching him and she reached down placing her hands on top of his, squeezing gently.

"Justin, that hurts."

His tender touch had turned to rough hands during his thoughts, and he stilled them, sliding them from under hers, looking up to meet her eyes.

"I'm.....I'm sorry."

She stared, watching as his intense gaze held her, and they began to inch closer to one another, their lips just a breath apart, waiting to take the kiss they had so longed to all these years. The door opened, and their breathing halted, their bodies tensed, and their eyes turned to see who had caught them.....who had managed to find them hiding.

**

Joey moved through the woods following Lances lead, and held his shot gun close to him, waiting to shoot at any sound he heard moving in the forest.

"Lets split up. You go that way." Lance said, pointing to his left. "..and I'll go this direction."

Joey nodded, turning to follow his orders and felt the hand land hard on his shoulder stopping him.

"Remember, shoot them, any of them, but don't shoot to kill. That's a privilege I have been waiting for for a long time."

Joey nodded, a smile creasing his face, and headed toward his destination after Lance had walked away leaving him standing alone.

A cool breeze whisked across his face and he smiled, leaning back against a tree, taking in the woodsy smell that surrounded him in the night. He loved this game, the thrill of the hunt, watching his victims scurry through the woods destined to find their way to freedom. But freedom never came to them, he had always found them, always stayed close behind them, watching them with excitement, waiting for the right moment to poise his gun and shoot.

The feel of power excited him more than anything in life, and having those crazed worthless people laying at his feet like helpless animals made him feel that power. Their eyes looking up at him, pleading for him to end their misery, and the feel of the gun as it jumped in his hand, sending off that final blow, ending the waisted breath of those worthless humans, those creatures, made his blood flow sweetly through his veins.

But this was the hunt he had longed for, this was the kill he was determined to have, and his heart beat faster knowing that that kill laid just ahead of him right where he knew they would be.

@2004Lancesharmony Productions

Chapter Fifteen