Endure The Night
written by: Mary Kloster
The Camaro’s tires screeched as Jed took a right turn too fast, turning off of the main road onto the dirt one that led to their destination. Elias stared out of the window, gazing at the thick forest that surrounded his home. He ignored, or tried to, rather, Jed’s horrible singing.
“Six o’clock on Saturday, her folks don’t know he’s on his way,” Jed sang along with the radio.
“Dude, seriously, how are you even able to get a signal up here?”
“Sirius, my friend, best investment I ever made, especially when I’m having to haul your ass all the way up here.”
Elias faked a smile. He was glad for the ride; he had sold his Honda, and it was a real bitch bike riding all the way down to the bus stop. Sometimes being around Jed was hard, even though he meant well, his happy-go-lucky personality was just not something Elias could handle anymore, not after what had happened.
Jed pulled up to the house, it looked abandoned, and just a few months ago, it had been, until Elias had moved in. He had been there for over two months, and it still looked just as bad as the day he’d given up the keys to his studio and packed up all his belongings, what few he had, and moved up here, to Grandma’s old house.
Elias got out of the car as soon as it stopped, he wasn’t in the mood to talk, but Jed got out just as fast.
“You know, could use some new paint? Maybe a roof too,” Jed said, pointing to a hole the size of a basketball over the attic.
“Someday maybe,” Elias said. He stared at the new boards that were stacked up by the side of the porch, just waiting for something to nail them up. He couldn’t look at them and not think of his father.
“Why did your parents keep this place anyway,” Jed asked.
Elias slung his backpack over his shoulder, “They planned on fixing it up for a summer home. Apparently, Grandma told mom she wasn’t allowed to sell it ever.”
“You sure you wanna stay out here? I got a couch, you know,” Jed offered.
“Yeah, I’m good, but thanks,” Elias said, picking up a crate of goods from the back seat.
“Ok, man, see you next week.”
Elias merely nodded and headed inside as Jed started the car back up. He gripped the doorknob and walked right in, he didn’t have keys, the door had a lock from the inside, but that was about it.
Elias dumped his bag on the floor right by the door and kicked off his shoes. As horrible as the outside of the house looked, the inside wasn’t as bad. He had water and electricity, no phone or internet, he was pretty much cut off from the world, which was exactly what he wanted.
He was twenty-four years old; he should have been going out every weekend, going to parties, going on dates, and until two months before, he had been that person. Until one night, while on a blind date, he’d gotten the call. His parents and his sixteen-year-old sister had been killed by a drunk driver on the way home from a softball game.
For three days, Elias had shut himself up in his apartment, unable to cope with the loss, the reality that he had no family left. The bank seized his parents’ house to pay off their outstanding debts. Elias, tried to go back to work, but he couldn’t take the personal interactions anymore. He left the insurance agency a week later. He’d forgotten all about his grandparents’ house until the lawyer informed him that it was bequeathed to him. He knew right away it was the only place for him. Within two days, he was completely moved in, completely alone from the outside world.
The crate was heavy in his arms, he carried it to the kitchen and set it on the table, and then proceeded to put his groceries away.
Next time, he thought, I’ll have Jed just pick up the stuff for me, save him a trip.
A cool October breeze was blowing in the kitchen. Elias realized a small window over the sink he swung open, he reached up and latched it shut, but the latch was broken, like most things in the house. He moved one of his grandma’s ceramics, an ugly Cupie doll, over to hold the window in place. Its creepy smile didn’t go with its naked body. Elias reached back out and turned it around backwards. He’d decided he’d rather stare at its bare ass than its creepy smile.
After putting the few things away that he’d bought, he sat on an old dusty couch in the sitting room. He stared at the fireplace, not caring that the room smelled musty, or that he started itching as soon as he had sat down on the couch.
He thought back to what he’d been doing if his whole world hadn’t come crashing down. He’d collapse onto his leather couch after coming home from work, he’d been on his cell phone nonstop, placing his Grubhub order. He’d start surfing Insta, checking up on his ex and her new boyfriend.
Living here, in the forest, in Oregon, was like living in the past. This old house, full of the leftover things his grandparents hadn’t taken with them when they’d moved to town over fifteen years ago, was a shrine to the old days, a world he’d never been a part of until now. He had a TV, an old 60’s box TV that somehow magically still worked, even if the picture was fuzzy. He didn’t use it, he did, however, occasionally use his grandpa’s old record player. The only records he’d found that worked were Johnny and Elvis, they were his companions now. They became Twitter and Facebook.
It had been suggested that he buy a strong router and get some phone and internet hooked up when he’d said he was moving out here. It was possible, his neighbors, if you could call someone who lived five miles away a neighbor, had them, but he didn’t want it, not anymore.
He’d brought his guitar with him, but like the rest of the house, it too just collected dust now. He had a few books, some of his favorites he couldn’t part with, even if he didn’t plan on ever reading a book again, and that was about it.
Today was the first time he’d had a chance to shop at the store without Jed breathing down his neck. Finally, he was able to purchase the one thing he truly needed.
Elias sat on the couch, staring at the pages of the photo album. He’d gone through it so many times, he knew what was next on each page. Just like his life, there were no more surprises, nothing left to look forward to. The sun had set, as he’d stared at his favorite photo. It was all four of them outside of their home, they’d gotten a neighbor to take a quick photo one time before they’d left for dinner. It was no special occasion; it was an ordinary Saturday when Elias was still in high school. They all looked so happy and full of life.
He didn’t realize he was crying until a tear rolled down his cheek. He couldn’t take it, not anymore, the pain was too much, the guilt was unbearable. He used to be someone who believed that everything happened for a reason, that belief died with his family.
Elias picked up a cartridge from the box and loaded the shotgun with one shell. One was all he needed.
He cocked it and set the butt of it on the floor at his feet. Slowly, he rested his chin over the barrel. Johnny stopped singing and the house was filled with silence again.
Elias’ heart beat harder than he’d ever felt it before, it was painful. He reached down to the trigger. Images of his family flashed before his eyes.
Just as his finger hovered over the trigger, a loud thud sounded upstairs, startling Elias.
He nearly jumped out of his skin, he was so shocked.
The noise sounded again; it was right over his head. He couldn’t tell if it was the second floor or the third, the attic.
Elias shivered, and turned to the stairs. Getting up from the couch, he held onto the gun as he made his way to the stairs. Curiosity is a strong, powerful feeling, it kept Elias moving forward.
Ever since he’d moved in, the only noises he’d ever heard were the occasional animal outside, the record player, and the normal creaking of the house, this however, was different.
Pissed off, Elias moved upstairs to his grandmother’s sewing room, the room that rested right above the sitting room. The door was ajar just like it had always been. The room still held some of his grandma’s sewing accessories she’d been unable to use anymore. Just like the kitchen window, the main window in the bedroom had a latch to keep it shut, only this one worked. Not seeing anything, Elias doublechecked the window was shut, to make sure a squirrel hadn’t gotten inside. That was the last thing he needed, to spend his last moments with a rodent scurrying around.
It had gotten really dark fast outside, and with the light on in the room, Elias couldn’t see outside at all, he moved to turn to leave when he noticed it. In the dust at the foot of the windowsill, there were finger marks, eight long drag marks in the dust. They were fresh, as if someone had just made them. A chill went through Elias, and he shivered involuntarily. It’s probably always looked like that, he thought, and I just didn’t notice.
He clutched the shotgun tighter as he made his way downstairs, his eyes specifically avoiding looking around the house as he moved, but he turned on all the lights that he passed.
What the fuck does it even matter, he thought, you were about to finish yourself off.
But he knew it did matter.
I’ll listen to Johnny again, he thought, and then I’ll do it. He turned the record back on, took a deep breath, and then turned back to the couch and froze.
The box full of cartridges he’d bought, that he’d left on the couch, was gone.
“Holy shit,” he said out loud.
A pang of fear went through him as he realized he wasn’t alone, not anymore.
He started sweating even though he was cold.
Ok, ok, he thought, think. Right now, he was in a corner, and he wanted to stay there, but he felt too exposed, he felt like he was being watched, and he realized, most likely, he was. Suddenly, he craved a small confined space. Unlike most people, big open areas made him uncomfortable, he thought he’d gotten over it, until now it all came back to him.
He moved to the front door and opened it. It was pitch dark outside, there were no street lights, and no moon to light up the sky. “Shit,” he said again out loud.
It was too dark and too open outside. He didn’t even have a flashlight. He had a cell phone but didn’t remember what he’d done with it, since he got no signal here, he’d set it down somewhere in the house and hadn’t touched it since moving in. Elias closed the door and immediately locked it with the flimsy deadbolt that looked weak enough that a toddler could kick in the door.
Elias thought about turning off the music, but decided not to, it would cover up any noise he’d make. Instead of going to the right to the sitting room he’d been in, he turned to the left to the main living room and, holding the shotgun out in front of him, moved to turn on more lights. He started checking windows on the front of the house before moving past some old chairs to reach the ones on the side. Keeping his back towards the wall, he nervously checked the windows, getting more and more nervous as he realized most of them hadn’t been locked.
Why did the house have to be so big, he thought as he made his way to the dining room. My god, he thought, what if someone had been squatting here the whole time and he hadn’t realized it? Most days, he didn’t even move around the house, he’d sleep on the couch, meander into the kitchen on occasion, and use the closest bathroom. What if he’d never been alone?
He was about to leave the dining room when he saw the kitchen light suddenly go out.
A swing door separated him from the kitchen, he’d seen the light through the big gap at the bottom. He jumped when it turned out. Without thinking, he kicked the door open and fired the gun.
“Fuck” he screamed as he hurriedly flipped the light on and saw he’d merely put a big hole in a kitchen cabinet.
That was it, he was out of shells. At least he didn’t know that, he thought, the squatter would assume he had another shot. Why would anyone carry around a half-loaded weapon?
Oh, right, only he would.
He still had half of the bottom floor to check, he hadn’t made it very far. Only now he was unarmed. At least in the kitchen, he knew he wasn’t watched, the kitchen had two doors, both of which were closed. He took the opportunity to look for something he could use as a weapon. He found one knife with a chipped blade. He stuck it in his belt. He found his grandmother’s rolling pin and only thought of it as a last resort. He could really use a baseball bat right about now, he thought.
Moving slowly and quietly, he went back out through the swing door to the hallway, and prepared to move to the bathroom. He was about to open the bathroom door, when he looked up and saw that the back door to the house was wide open. He knew he didn’t do that. That door had been stuck shut ever since he’d moved in.
He realized anyone could have busted it open while he was listening to music, and he’d have never heard it. For the first time, he regretted his decision to move here so suddenly without really thinking about it. He should have at least made the house secure.
He thought about running outside and around the house where the boards were left, he knew his dad had left his toolbox out there with the boards. There would be things he could use in there.
He decided against it, and checked the bathroom instead, finding it empty. He left the light on but closed the door. He felt eyes on him, he could sense, someone was watching him, and it scared the shit out of him.
Ok, he thought, time to go upstairs again. He turned around and saw a door he didn’t remember.
Ah shit, he thought. He’d completely forgotten about the cellar. Bottom first, then the top. Taking a breath, he gripped the handle to the cellar and cracked it open. He’d never been down there, not even when he was a little kid and had stayed with his grandparents, even then, he didn’t like the idea of going down there into the dark.
“Woo,” a breath sounded, blowing cool and strong on the back of his neck.
Elias spun around, terrified, but before he could fully turn around, a tall figure pushed him with incredible force. He screamed as he fell. Crashing down the stairs, he plummeted to the bottom, cutting his leg on something during the fall. He hit his head on the cement below.
Folsom Prison blasted throughout the house, waking Elias up. He slowly sat up, rubbing his head. He was in complete darkness.
That wasn’t the record he’d been listening to. That song was on a different one. For some reason, that scared him more than being in the dark. He moved to sit up and rubbed his thigh, feeling warm blood sweep from a cut he couldn’t see. He stood up, his hands out in front of him, afraid someone would approach him again; he reached for the knife and realized it was gone. He wondered if that was how he’d gotten cut, probably. He reached up in the air, hoping to find a string for a pull light, but when he couldn’t find one, he headed straight until he found a wall and moved along it until he found the light switch. Luckily, there was one at the bottom of the stairs.
His panic subsided slightly when he could see that he was alone. The cellar was smaller than he’d imagined, he could see there was no one there but himself. It was full of old junk, and the walls were covered in shelves that had molded preserves.
The shotgun was gone. He’d dropped it in the fall, but it was nowhere to be found. Elias realized that whoever was here, was toying with him. They were deliberately trying to scare him. They could’ve killed him, but they’d left him here. Unless, he thought, maybe they assumed I was dead. He had been out cold for who knows how long.
One thing was for sure, they were upstairs now, or had just been by the record player. Elias looked at the cut on his right thigh, it was long but not too deep. He hunted around and found an old rag to tie the wound up with. The lack of cleanliness of the rag was probably more dangerous than the cut itself, but he didn’t want to leave a trail of blood. He looked around for something he could use to defend himself with, but sadly, there wasn’t much but some old furniture and the preserves.
Well, I suppose I could stuff the peaches down their throat and kill them that way, he thought. He picked a jar up in his hand and tested the weight. Would it hurt anyone if he hurled it at them? Not enough. Johnny was just at the high point in the song, Elias took the opportunity and lifted a wooden chair up in the air and then threw it down, breaking it in multiple places. He picked out a pointy piece of wood and gripped it tightly, better than nothing, he thought.
He was afraid and pissed off at the same time. Clutching the wood, he walked back up the stairs.
The cellar door opened silently. Elias cautiously stepped out, feeling too out in the open in the hallway. At least all the lights were still on, he thought.
He’s moving around just as much as I am, he thought, going from room to room was useless without being able to secure any of the rooms. None of the doors had locks, so his checking the rooms was a waste of time. I’d have to catch him, he thought. And then what?
He’s got my gun and my cartridges, he thought. Fuck this.
Time to brave the outside world again. He turned to the back door that was still wide open and ran for it. He ran outside off of the back porch, the lights from the house at least lit up the back yard. He ran around to the front of the house, towards the dirt road.
He turned for a second and looked up, all the lights were on in the house, not just the ones downstairs that he’d turned on. It was like he was laughing at him; he wasn’t afraid of the lights being on, of being seen. For some reason, that scared Elias more than anything else.
Elias had been on the track team in high school, and he was still an excellent runner. It had been a while since he’d gone on a daily run, but that didn’t stop him from going full speed, away from the house, as fast as he could go.
The farther he went, the darker it got. Soon, he wouldn’t be able to see the road, he’d have to slow down.
He turned a corner and almost ran right into something, just stopping in the nick of time. Sweat dripped down his back. He reached out to touch it just to make sure it was real.
Jed’s blue Camaro was parked in the middle of the road. It was facing away from the house, as if he’d been stopped on his way back from dropping off Elias. But that had been hours ago.
Oh my god, Elias thought, as he looked into the car and saw that it was empty. He’s got Jed. He’s had Jed this whole time.
He knew right away he had to go back. He couldn’t leave Jed. He was his only friend left; he was all he had in the world.
First thing Elias did was check the vehicle for the keys. It was unlocked, but the keys were gone. He looked in the glovebox and then the trunk for anything useful. The only thing he found was a tire iron. He grabbed it and slowly made his way back up to the house.
Before, Elias had been scared, and he still was, but right now he was pissed off. First of all, his plans had been ruined, and now, he’s taken Jed.
Elias was almost at the house; he came up around a corner and stopped. Standing at the window of the sewing room on the second floor was a figure. A man. He was staring right at Elias, as if he’d been waiting for him to come back. Suddenly, a gunshot sounded.
Elias jumped, the man in the window darted away, and without thinking, Elias took off running towards the house.
Holy shit, he thought, there were two of them. The one in the window had not fired the
shot, and surely Jed didn’t have the shotgun. That meant there had to be two, and the other one
must’ve shot at Jed.
Bounding up the dirt path, he raced up the steps of the porch and into the foyer of the house. Standing at the top of the stairs was the man from the window, at least that’s who Elias assumed it was, he was tall and thin, dressed all in black with a black hood concealing his entire face. He laughed at Elias. Infuriating him, Elias started for the stairs.
“Help,” a voice yelled from the kitchen. Elias recognized it instantly as Jed. He went to the kitchen instead. Another figure, stood in the sitting room, just standing there, watching him as he went past.
“Jed,” he called as he made it inside. He slammed the door shut behind him and quickly pulled a kitchen chair to prop under the handle.
Jed was lying on the ground. Elias stepped over him and went to secure the swing door, but quickly realized there was no way to do so.
“Elias,” Jed called shallowly.
“What the fuck happened?”
“Someone was standing in the middle of the road. I had to stop,” he said.
Elias reached down and helped prop Jed up. He’d been shot in the right shoulder, his shirt was soaked with blood.
Elias unbuttoned his outer shirt and used it to help soak up the blood.
“I honked the horn, but he wouldn’t budge. I tried to go around him, but he kept moving. It started to freak me out; so fucking weird. I finally got out, and someone came up behind me and knocked me out. I woke up in that shed and came in here when one of them shot me.”
“Elias,” he said. “What are we going to do.”
“Do you have your phone?”
“There’s no service here,” he said. “Besides, one of them took it.”
“Where are your keys?”
Jed tried to reach into his pocket, Elias helped him, but the keys were not there either.
“Bastards,” Jed said.
“We’ve got to get out of here,” Elias said, “Can you walk?”
“Hells yes, I can walk.”
“We’re gonna have to just try for it, without the car.”
“It’s seven miles to the intersection,” Jed said as Elias helped him stand up.
“But it’s only five to the nearest neighbor, there’s a house to the east. If you’re ok going through the woods.”
“Better than getting shot again,” Jed said.
“Elias,” Jed said. “They could’ve killed me at any time, why didn’t they?”
Elias looked at his friend, “I don’t know, the same thing with me too, I don’t understand it.”
“Here,” he said, handing Jed the rolling pin. He was desperate now.
“Ok,” he said quietly, “We’re gonna go out that door,” he motioned to the one with the chair blocking it, “Hopefully they will think we’re going out the other one, then, we make a run for it out the door and head to the right, to the trees. They will think we’re going for the road; we have to go fast, away from the light so that they don’t see us.”
“What if they got those night vision goggles or something?”
Elias sighed, now more than ever, he needed Jed to be his happy-go-lucky self.
“We’ll just have to make it.”
Quietly, Elias moved the chair and slowly opened the door. He imagined one of them standing right outside of it, pointing the shotgun right at his face, but to his surprise, the room was empty.
Elvis’ “You’re the devil in disguise” was playing on the record player.
“Seriously,” Jed said as they made a break for the front door.
Elias felt eyes on him again. Just as they reached the front door, he turned briefly and sitting on the bottom stairs was one of them. He was holding a knife, looking at it, before leaning up and looking right at Elias. His bagged hood covering his face.
They say it’s impossible to hear someone smile, but Elias heard it, he heard the man smile.
“Move,” he said as they left the house. The man in the hood stood up and slowly walked towards the door. They didn’t look back; they just ran for the forest as fast as they could.
“I guess they know where were going,” Jed said, sounding out of breath already.
“I don’t care, we just need to put as much distance as we can between us and them.”
Jed tripped over a log and fell forward; he used the rolling pin to prop himself back up and continued moving onward.
Together they ran as fast as they could and in as straight a line as they could, not knowing how close behind them they were.
Even moving as fast as they were, they were still slow going thanks to the darkness around them.
“I miss the city,” Jed said, “Could use some lights right now.”
“We have to make do with what we got,” Elias said. “Come on,” he grabbed him and helped pull him forward.
After a while, Jed had to stop, his shoulder wound still seeping blood, it was running all down the length of his arm now.
“Should’ve gone to med school like my parents wanted,” Jed said laughing slightly.
“Let me see it.” Elias did his best to examine the wound, but there was nothing he could do for his friend, all he could do was fight to keep him alive.
“Elias, listen,” Jed said. “This was premeditated. Whatever this is, these guys planned it. They must’ve been watching you; they know you’re alone up here.”
“Way to creep me out even more,” Elias said. “Why did they take you? Why not just let you leave and then go their thing?”
“Because they’re sick fucks and wanted another victim,” Jed said.
“We’re being hunted,” Elias said, the realization dawning on him. “That’s why they’re taking their time, letting us get away.”
“They must be from around here,” Jed said. “They must have known you were up here. Elias, what if the house we’re heading to is theirs?”
“Fuck me,” Elias said. “Now what? Hide out somewhere until dawn, when we can see better?”
“Frankly, dude, the idea of staying in one place scares the hell out of me, they could be listening to us right now.”
“Alright then,” Elias said, standing back up, “Let’s keep moving, let’s turn north.”
“Fine by me,” Jed said.
They continued moving for what felt like hours. They’d stopped running long ago, and were at a slow walk now. Every once in a while, Elias thought he heard someone trailing them. The idea seemed very plausible, and it absolutely terrified him.
“Dude, I can’t go any further,” Jed said, nearly collapsing.
“Come on, Jed,” Elias commanded as he tried to drag him to his feet.
“Elias, stop,” Jed begged, “I can’t, I’m so dizzy, I can’t see straight. I feel sick. Two more steps and I’ll pass out.”
“We can’t stop, we have to keep going!”
“You go, go get help.”
“I’m not leaving you, and that’s it,” Elias snapped.
“Dude, you have to keep going.”
Elias felt on the verge of tears, he was afraid to leave Jed, he was afraid he’d never see him again. “Jed, you’re all I got.”
“You got more to live for than just me, man,” Jed said half-smiling.
“No, I don’t,” Elias half-whispered.
“Elias,” Jed said.
“No, you listen, you don’t even know, you don’t know what I was about to do, I-“ Elias said before breaking down.
“There’s nothing to live for anymore, Jed, you don’t know what it’s like, this pain I feel all the time. I’m just a corpse walking around, my spirit died with them, it’s time I let my body die as well.”
“You selfish son of a bitch,” Jed said. “We’ve been best friends since we were eight, your family was as much a part of mine as my own. How dare you dishonor them like that. They’d be ashamed of you if they knew what you were thinking.”
Elias wiped his eyes in frustration. “I can’t take it anymore, Jed!”
“Then why are you running? Why are you even out here? Why not let them finish you off back there? What’s there to be afraid of?”
“I couldn’t just leave you.”
“Bull shit, you can’t live just for one person, Elias. That’s not how life works. You have to live for yourself and for those you’ve lost. How dare you even think about wasting the time you’ve been given.”
With tear-filled eyes, Elias looked at Jed, knowing he was right.
“You have to hold onto each day. Time isn’t earned, it’s given, it’s up to you to decide what you do with it, but don’t you back down.”
Elias shut his eyes tight and then opened them, the tears drying up.
“Ok,” he said.
“Now, what are we going to do,” Jed asked.
Elias thought about it. They couldn’t just keep heading deeper into the woods. There was nowhere to go except the road, and he knew Jed couldn’t make it in his condition. Elias didn’t think he could head there by himself. He had a feeling they’d come after Jed and finish him off if they thought Elias was going to get away.
“There’s only one way,” Elias said.
“Lay it on me,” Jed said.
It only took about ten more minutes to find a thickly dense area of foliage for Elias to hide Jed in. He laid him down and covered him up with branches and tree debris.
“Well, at least I won’t be cold,” Jed joked.
Elias smiled. “It’s probably better you don’t move anyhow. Can I get you anything,” he asked without thinking.
Jed smiled, “Sure, how about a doctor, a hot blonde doctor, and some licorice.”
“Licorice?” Elias shook his head.
“Yeah, I’m craving Red Vines really bad. You want the rolling pin?” he offered.
“Nah, save it to show your hot doc, you can tell her you bake.”
Jed laughed a little. “Just make sure you come back.”
“I swear I will.”
Elias took off, heading back in the direction they came from. He didn’t even try to be quiet this time. He made sure his presence was known.
He was able to go a lot faster, without Jed, he was able to run again, ignoring the pain in his leg. His eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and he was able to jump over logs and avoid tripping.
He started to hear someone behind him, running as well. Good, he thought. They’re following, at least one of them.
He picked up his pace. He heard a strange hissing noise, like something flying through the air. He ran past a tree right as a blade fled past him, landing in the trunk of the tree. The man was closer than Elias thought, and he was trying to kill him, for real now.
Shit, he thought, running as fast as he could. They must be getting desperate now. They must be getting nervous that he and Jed would get away, that they’d be found out.
Light began filtering through the trees up ahead. Elias knew he was almost there; he was almost home. The trees became less dense. He heard footsteps behind and turned and saw that the man was only a few feet away, he was holding the knife in his hand.
Fuck, he thought. He needed to get to the house, he needed cover. He gripped the tire iron tighter and burst through the trees. Running right past the shed. A shot fired, the sound deafening to his ears. For a second, he thought he’d been hit, but the pain was from the cut on his leg. To his right, the other hooded man stood, in the road, facing the house, he pointed the gun again towards Elias.
He went to fire, and nothing happened.
“Fuck!” he said, as the gun jammed.
The other one was right on his heels, spinning quickly, Elias swung the tire iron out and hit the man behind him right in the side of the head. The man fell instantly, gripping his head, he didn’t go down, not all the way. But it gave Elias enough time to make it inside and slam the door and deadbolt in place.
Elias immediately went to work, following the plan he’d come up with while running.
He turned on the record player, as loud as it would go. He swung the tire iron at the lamps, breaking all the downstairs ones before running upstairs. Leaving the downstairs in complete darkness.
He did the same thing upstairs so that the entire house was shrouded in darkness. Next, he went to the main bedroom upstairs and began dragging the mattress that was full of mouse holes over to the top of the stairs. He turned it longways and propped it up. He went to the spare bedroom, urgently looking for anything he could possibly use.
He tripped on a loose board and fell to the ground.
Outside, he heard a car, he imagined one of them went and brought Jed’s car up so that they could use the headlights to see, or to have a quick getaway ready.
Elias turned, rolling over, and a smile spread across his face as he found, under the floorboard, his old secret place, he’d completely forgotten about it until now. He’d stayed at his grandparents’ house every summer, but it had been over ten years.
Praying it was still there, he reached in and grinned, feeling the bow, he pulled it out along with a quiver and three arrows.
He remembered learning how to shoot at summer camp and how horrified his grandmother had been when he’d brought it with him, telling her he planned on shooting squirrels with it with grandpa.
“You will do no such thing,” she said, scolding him. “What did the poor squirrels ever do to you?”
Grandma, had been a vegan, and for the first time, Elias was thankful that he’d been forced to eat nothing but vegetables while staying with them.
Elias tucked the tire iron through his belt. He stood up with the bow, and practiced holding an arrow to it. It had been years, but the familiar feeling came back right away.
I only have three shots, he thought.
Elias heard a noise downstairs; he knew at least one of them was looking for him. He left the room and headed to the top of the stairs. He was right, they’d parked the Camaro as close to the house as possible, with the lights shining into the bottom floor. The floor creaked downstairs.
Peeking around the mattress, he saw one of them, passing to the sitting room.
Loudly, he whistled to be heard over the music.
The man popped back around and shot up towards the stairs, hitting the mattress. Elias shot an arrow, striking the man right in the center of his chest. He flew back, hitting the wall behind him, and collapsed, dead instantly.
The shotgun, he dropped at his feet.
Elias let out a yell, “You hear that, you fucker? I just killed your buddy.”
He pushed the mattress aside and raced down the stairs to the gun. He checked it, it had one shot left. He scanned the rooms nearby to make sure the other one wasn’t there. He was alone. Quickly, he searched the guy’s pockets. He found a phone with no signal, of course, but a timer was counting down, it was almost to zero, only 13 minutes left. Elias wondered what the initial time had been.
He stood up, looking at the man. He’d never killed anyone before. He’d only been in one fight his whole life, back in high school. Strangely, he didn’t feel bad about what he’d done, he felt vindicated.
“Let’s see who you are,” he said. He reached out and yanked the hood off.
He was surprised to see it was just a kid, probably no more than seventeen. He’d killed a kid.
What kind of sick twisted fuck were you, he wondered.
He still didn’t feel bad, he’d probably done society a favor.
Just then, the music stopped, and once again the house was filled with silence.
Elias thought he heard someone, possibly outside on the porch. Holding the gun, he opened the door and pointed it outside. No one was there but he heard footsteps running.
The back door, he thought. He ran to the bathroom by the back door and, standing inside of it, he left the door open.
Gingerly, the other man entered the house, he moved slowly and quietly.
Elias waiting, until just the right moment. Right as the man took a step forward by the door, Elias fired.
Nothing happened. The gun jammed again.
He shouldn’t have relied on it, he thought.
Instantly the man sprang into action, slicing out at him with a knife. He cut Elias across the middle. Elias backed up and swung the gun out towards the man like a club but he ducked it and dove at Elias. Grabbing him around the middle, he shoved him back into the room. He reached up with the hand holding the knife, and tried to stab Elias. He did the only thing he could, he swung around with the man and slammed him into the ceramic pedestal sink.
The force, caused the man to fall backwards, Elias had hoped the sink would break, but it was too durable, so it didn’t do nearly as much damage as he’d hoped.
He reached for his bow but didn’t get the chance before the man was on him again. He had an arrow, though; he used it to stab the man in the shoulder.
He squealed in pain and anger, and stabbed Elias in the arm, the blade sticking in his spine.
Elias yelled in pain.
He had a fucking knife stuck in his arm.
His body had reflexively dropped the arrow. The man in the hood screamed at him and charged.
He knocked him out of the bathroom altogether and onto the floor in the hallway.
He began pummeling him in the face and chest.
Elias realized he was about to die if he didn’t do something fast.
His mind took him to that night, the night his family had been killed.
He was back at the bar, sitting at a table with his blind date, the girl Jed’s girlfriend had set him up with. He was only mildly interested in her, and his attention had been waning. He’d noticed a drunk at the end of the bar, a heavy-set middle-aged man, who had finally been cut off, staggered out of the bar towards his vehicle.
“Take a look at that boozer,” he’d said to his date, pointing and laughing.
It was only two days later when a witness to the crash helped the cops discover the car and the owner who had killed his family that night. When they’d showed him the picture of the man, he recognized him immediately. It had been him, the drunk at the bar. He’d killed Elias’ parents and sister. And he’d seen the man and let him walk right by him, right to his car, to get onto the road that night.
For the briefest of moments, Elias thought about giving up, about letting the man take him out once and for all. It would be so much easier; all the pain would be gone. But then he remembered what Jed had said. He decided right then, and there, he wouldn’t back down. Life was hard, if it were easy, there would be no point to it.
Elias took a deep breath, reached a leg up, and kicked the man away from him. He rolled, and with one quick, painful tug, he yanked the knife out of his arm.
He stood up, holding it out towards the man.
“Come on,” he said, blood dripping from a cut above his eye.
The man charged him again, only this time, he was able to duck his blow. He reached his arm up, holding the knife, and stabbed the man in the gut. He didn’t hesitate, he pulled the blade out and stabbed him again and again. He pulled the blade out, and the man fell to the floor.
Elias knelt down and removed his hood. He was still breathing, barely. He glared at Elias. He was older than the other one, but not by much.
“Why,” Elias demanded.
But the man died before he could answer. His life leaving his eyes as the blood left his body.
Elias looked at the other man’s phone again, it was locked, but the timer was still counting down, about seven minutes were left. A notification had popped up, a calendar item was showing up prematurely as overdue. “Initiation,” it said.
“You got to be fucking kidding me,” he said out loud.
He pocketed the phone and went back for his bow and quiver. Who knew if there were any more of those fuckers around. So now he knew why, apparently the two had wanted to join some sort of gang or cult or who knows what. Nothing good was what he knew.
Elias stood and looked around outside, he didn’t feel eyes on him anymore. For the first time in a long time, he felt at peace. He took off his belt and wrapped it around the knife wound on his arm. He started towards the forest towards the shed. He stopped when he saw the wheelbarrow and smiled.
It was dawning by the time he made it back to the house with Jed. By then, he was dripping with sweat, and Jed was back to his happy-go-lucky self.
“Wait here,” he said, dropping the wheel on the ground.
He went inside and searched the other man’s pockets and found the car keys.
Carefully, he helped Jed into the passenger seat.
“Time to find blondie,” he said.
Elias, as tired as he was, smiled.
He got in and started the car, turning it around to face the road.
“You know,” Jed said, “You might want to think about moving.”
Elias fixed the rearview mirror, seeing the house that his grandpa had built behind him. He decided right then and there, he was going to fix it up, he was going to make it like new again. It was time to start over.
“This house is not for sale.”
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