Chapter Fifteen

Josh gasped, falling to his knees, and felt relived to find Justin and Emily sitting before him.

"What are you doing here?"

Justin yelled, rising to his feet and moving quickly around Josh to close the door left open behind him.

"Where the fuck is Lance?"

"He.....I don't know." Josh breathed, crawling on his hands and knees across the floor to the couch where Emily sat resting.

"He got me down before I knew what happened and had the gun turned on me. That man is crazier than I expected him to be. What the hell is wrong with him?"

He moved up to the couch, sitting down next to Emily, and leaned his head back against the rotting material, catching his breath. Silence hung over them, none of them speaking, or knowing what really to say to the other till Emily could stand the quiet of the night no longer.

"We can't stay here. If Lance is in those woods he won't give up till he finds us."

Justin nodded, peering through the window, and walked back toward Emily, stopping in front of her.

"Get on my back. I'll carry you as much as I can till we have to run again."

"We need something to protect ourselves. Lance has that gun and he's ready to use it. Sick psycho wants to play games."

Josh declared, rising to his feet as Justins angry glared turned on him.

"Game? What type of game?"

"Elmer Fude, if you ask me. A hunting game. We run, he hunts us through the woods like prey and shoots at us the minute he spots us....any of us. I tell you that man is crazy, and if we go out there empty handed then we're at his mercy the minute he finds us."

"WHAT JOSH? What do you suppose we're supposed to arm ourselves with?" Justin yelled, pacing the floor in anger and frustration. "We're in the God for saken woods and there is nothing around to help us....NOTHING."

Josh looked around the crumbling building and walked to what once was the kitchen, pulling open the two drawers that still remained in tact looking through them. Bugs and spider webs filled the drawers along with some rusted spoons and metal lids, but nothing that could be used as protection surfaced. Slamming the drawers, he began to search through his lab coat, pulling out his tranquilizer gun and walked to Justin handing it to him, continuing his search.

"I forgot I had that. OH...here."

He pulled out an object from his pocket, flicking it in his hand, and held up the pocket knife for the two of them to see. It wasn't very big, but it would serve it's purpose should Lance, or anyone for that matter attack any of them.

"You take the gun." Justin said, shoving the object toward Josh and pulled the knife from his hand clicking it closed. "Emily can take the knife."

He opened her hands, placing the object in her palm, and closed her fingers around it squeezing gently as he looked into her eyes.

"You know how to open one of those don't you?"

She nodded, placing her feet to the floor, and stood, holding her breath to block away some of the pain that shot through her feet.

"Get on my back. We'll walk around the back of the cabin and head through the woods that way. I figure if we keep walking straight we're bound to end up near something."

Josh nodded, helping Emily as she resumed her position on Justins back once again, and followed closely behind the two of them with the tranquilizer gun tightly in his hand.

**

He waited from behind the tree as they stepped from the cabin and raised his shotgun, getting his target in sight, placing his finger on the trigger. The fire was shot, and Lance smiled, watching as Josh fell to his knees screaming in pain.

Justin frantically looked around, letting Emily slide from his back, and kneeled down next to Josh, placing his hand on the wounded mans shoulder.

"Run, both of you, just run. I'll be fine."

Justin shook his head, wrapping his arm around Joshs waist, and lifted him from the ground, forcing Joshs arm around his shoulder.

"I'm not leaving you here. Where did he get you?"

"My....my leg." He gasped, and held onto Justin, trying to support his own weight as they began to move again.

"Emily, you go on. Run as fast as you possibly can and don't look back. Josh and I will be behind you. If Lance should catch up to you, you scream, as loud as you can, and fight him for all it's worth. You have the knife, use it."

Tears streamed down her face, and she shook her head, afraid of the thought of leaving Justin behind again.

"No...NO! I won't leave you. Not again....not this time."

"Emily, you have to. you can do this. Just go."

Her crying turned into hysteria, and Justin reached up a shaky hand trailing his fingers along her cheek.

"Baby go. I promise I'll be behind you. We'll be better off separating and confusing him. Trust me."

She wiped at her eyes looking into the distance where they were headed, and looked back to him slowly nodding her head. He gave her a gentle smile, encouraging her on, and yelled for her once she had ran a short distance away from them. She stopped at the sound of his voice, turning to look back at him through her blurred eyes, breaking into tears again as his words echoed through the trees reaching her.

"I love you."

She took a deep breath, gaining courage from his words, and whispered "I love you too" before turning back and running as fast as she could.

**

He cursed softly as he gained on the two men moving through the trees, scanning the area around him for Emily. She had to be near by, couldn't have gone far, there was no way Justin would let her out of his sight knowing he was lurking in those woods.

He had lost sight of them for only a moment when they disappeared behind the shack, but he found them again rather quickly, and he refused to believe she could have gotten away that easily.

The two men were moving at a steady pace, not too fast, yet not too slow. WIth Emily he would be able to get Justin right back into his hands, and with the trail of blood Josh was leaving behind it would be impossible to lose them again. Josh and Justin were now the least of his worries, Emily was his bait and all he needed now was to find her and get her on his hook.

Moving quietly he snuck through the trees around the two men, gaining distance on them, keeping his eyes and ears open until the distinct sound of heavy breathing caught his ears, and with a smile he quickened his pace getting as far in front of her as he could.

**

She stopped for a moment, knowing she shouldn't, but needed to catch her breath if she was going to make it any further. Her mouth had grown dry from the liquor she had consumed hours before, and her head pounded with intense pain with every step she took, but she wasn't about to give up. Not this time. Justin had saved her all those years ago and endured five years of hell she never thought was possible. It was time for her to repay him and give him the life back that he had been denied, and this time she would see to it that it was done right.

Gaining a small bit of energy back, she pushed forward, continuing her way through the woods, stepping over a fallen tree, and paused for a moment, straining to make out the sound she had heard.

Ahead of her was a large hill and she moved a few steps, stopping at the base of it to listen once again. Her mind buzzed at the discovery and for a moment she thought she was going crazy, but as the roaring sound grew closer she began to laugh from pure exhaustion, and struggled to climb the hill to the road she now knew was there.

Her happiness ended as something caught her foot, and her nails dug into the earth, clawing to pull free from whatever had her, but it was persistent, holding her and pulling her down into its grips of death. She grew weak in her struggle, crying as her body refused to fight with the strength her mind wanted it to, and lost the battle, falling helplessly into his arms, begging for mercy.

"Please Lance, Please let me go. Why are you doing this to me?"

He struggled from the ground where he had fallen trying to keep his hold on her, and got to his feet, hugging his arm around her neck, pulling her up against him, squeezing her to his chest.

"Feisty little bitch aren't you? That why Justin kept you around all that time, huh?"

His breath felt dirty against her as he leaned down brushing his lips against her ear, and ran his hand down her side, trailing it back up under his white dress shirt she still wore.

"Maybe I should fuck you one more time to see exactly how feisty you really are."

She fingered the knife in the palm of her hand, flicking it open as subtly as she could, and in one swift movement, slashed the blade across his bicep digging it into his flesh, and feeling the warm liquid as it ran down covering her hand.

"FUCKING BITCH!!"

He released her, grabbing at the wound on his arm, and tripped over his shot gun laying at his feet, falling to the ground before he could catch himself. His hands reached out, grabbing her ankles, pulling her hard to the ground before she could get away, and her scream filled the silence as she struggled once again to get away from him.

His hold on her was firm, fingers bruising the flesh where he gripped as hard as he could, and in one jerk she was at his mercy again as he placed one knee on either side of her, straddling her, and knocked the knife from her hand, slapping her hard across the face.

DIrt mixed with her tears, leaving black streaks down her cheeks, and she stared up at him, her chest rising and falling violently with her heavy breathing as he grabbed her arms, pinning them above her head.

"You whore."

She turned her head, whimpering, as his spit splattered across her face and another scream rang out as his knee slid up kicking her in the ribs and his fist slammed into her jaw silencing her.

"This will be less painful if you'll just cooperate with me Emily darling."

She stilled her struggles beneath him, and closed her eyes, listening to the sounds of their breathing, waiting to see where his fist would strike next.

**

Justin leaned Josh against the tree and waited till the man secure his weight before releasing him.

"Give me your shirt."

Josh struggled free from his lab coat letting it fall to the ground, and pulled the white t-shirt over his head passing it to Justin, wrapping his hands around his wounds, applying pressure to stop the bleeding.

Justin pulled at the shirt till it finally gave way, ripping to shreds, and placed a piece of the material around Joshs leg, tying it off tightly.

"Don't move. I'll be right back to get you. Anyone comes around use the tranquilizer gun on them and yell for me. I'll just be up ahead."

Josh nodded, gritting his teeth as he slid to the ground, and looked back up to the man he had worked so hard to set free.

"Be careful."

Justin turned listening to the sounds in the distance, and took a deep breath, releasing it slowly.

"Do you believe in God?"

Slowly Josh nodded, looking the same direction as Justin as another scream erupted around them and averted his eyes back to the man breathing heavier with fear.

"Then pray for me Josh......if you believe in God above just pray for me."

Josh waited as the man walked away, leaving him alone by the tree and closed his eyes praying that help would arrive soon.

@2004Lancesharmony productions