by Rena Marin
“You find Uncle Joe or Uncle Carl?” Tammy Lynn asks him, completely ignoring me on the ground at her feet.
“Nah, I went all the way back down to the cabin and didn’t spot them. I guess they’re still chasing down that boy.”
“The law made it up here yet?”
“Yeah, there’s a fire truck and a couple of cop cars down there. They don’t seem to be searching the woods yet or anything. They’re focusing on the cabin. It caught fire too.”
“Hell fire. I can’t believe Billy did that. Set the truck a blaze, sure, but the damn cabin? He should’ve known that would bring the law up here.”
“He didn’t mean to, Tammy Lynn. He didn’t know it would catch too.”
“Then he’s a dumb ass. How the hell are we supposed to get her out of here with them running around?”
“They ain’t going to find us. They never have.”
“I don’t see why we’re taking her off the mountain. It would be better to just finish her off up here.”
“No!” Dale interjects quickly. “Granny will have all our asses. She wants to see it. She wants to see her punished for hurting one of her boys.”
“Yeah, yeah, everyone has to listen to Granny, but the law is up here, Dale. We can get this over and done with. If we do that, we can head on home and say fuck it.”
He leans down toward me, a sick little smile on his face. “Is that what you want? Do you want me and Tammy to just put you out of your misery and get this over with?”
I’m not sure what to say. I want to push him; he’s such a dumbass, but this Tammy Lynn is scary. She seems smarter than him and, in all honesty, smart.
“She wants to wait, of course. Think about it, Dale, if we do it now, it’s done. If we wait, she has a chance to get free. Fuck that. Shit went down. Granny will have to get over it.”
“I want her though. Granny said I could have her before we finished her up.”
My head whips toward Tammy Lynn. Her shoulders shrug. “Do it then. I don’t give a damn. If you can get it up, hit it.”
Okay, I can’t keep laying here. I need to figure something out. My gun is gone. I don’t know which one of them has it, but clearly, it’s not accessible to me. They want to take me out, put me out of my misery, but they know they’re breaking the rules they were given. That means they’ll be in a hurry. I don’t have much time.
“Oh, that’s not a problem. She gets me real hard,” he answers her as he grips his junk and massages it a bit. “You know how that goes,” he then adds with a laugh.
I shudder slightly at the admission I just heard. It’s clear this family is way closer than I expected.
“Yeah, yeah, a good hunt makes you horny. You and Billy have a real problem with that shit,” Tammy Lynn tells him with a roll of her eyes.
I’m keeping my eyes locked on her. Is there any womanly camaraderie in her? Will she help me if I show fear? I doubt it. She seems a bit sick in the head too. I don’t know these people, but it seems she may be their plaything when the hunt isn’t so good.
Hearing the unzipping of his jeans, I let my fingers start feeling around on the ground. Surely, there’s something I can use. The idea of this sick fuck inside me is enough for me to want them to take me out. Then I feel it. Something they missed.
“Get her shorts off for me.”
No, there’s no way she’s going to help him with this, right? Is she really that heartless? When she grabs my shorts and yanks them down my legs, I know my answer. I also know it’s time to move.
“Ooh, girly, he’s going to tear your little ass up,” she laughs with a slap to her thigh.
In answer, I bring my leg back and kick her square in the face. As she staggers backward, I grab my knife out of his sheath and quickly turn in Dale’s direction. He lunges toward me and with one swift motion, I slice his throat open.
“Dale!” she cries out.
Above me, I watch as he spits and sputters. The blood from his wound is pouring down on me like a slow running shower. I don’t give a damn. Let it pour. This sick fuck deserves just as much as Cletus Fox did.
The weight of his body falling on me knocks the wind out of me. It also gives me the cover I need. While Tammy Lynn is pulling at him and trying to use her hands to stop the bleeding, I turn the blade and use the sharpness to slice the small piece of rope they’ve used to tie my hands.
I push at him, trying to get free. His dead weight and that of big ass Tammy isn’t easy to move but somehow, I slip out.
“You fucking whore!” she rages at me. “Now, now you’re going to die. I don’t give a fuck what Granny or anyone else says.”
I’ve made it to my knees and look up at her. She wants a fight. That’s fine. I’ll give the bitch one. Without a second thought, I throw myself at her, blade raised in hopes of making this quick.
It doesn’t take me long to understand what the others meant when they talked about Tammy Lynn being a handful. She tosses me around like a sack of potatoes. She’s strong as hell. Still, I’m a country girl too. I know how to fight. I know how to take care of myself. I may be a bit slower right now, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to give it my all.
I feel her hand tighten in my hair and know she’s going to throw me around. I brace for it. This time she doesn’t take me to the ground, and I get a swing in. The blade meets with her rounded stomach but doesn’t go as deep as I want. Hell, it’s not even enough to make her flinch. I, however, flinch quite a bit when she throws a straight punch to my nose, making blood fly and my eyes start to water.
“Now, you’re mine, bitch!”
My breath leaves my body as she uses a full-on tackle to take me to the ground. Her mistake is she didn’t get the blade out of my hand. While she levels punches to the side of my face, my hand is taking on the same motion, burying the knife into her side over and over.
“Get the hell off me,” I screech as I feel her blood oozing over my hand.
I don’t give a damn anymore. I want her dead. I want all of them dead. I’m so fucking tired of all of this. Just as it feels my arm can’t move anymore, like it’s going to fall the hell off, she slows her movement. The pounding she’s giving me begins to cease as a spit trail of blood slowly seeps from her mouth and onto my face.
“You’ll…pay…” she whispers through her last breath before collapsing completely on top of me.
Chapter Eleven
It’s like I’m drifting through time. I don’t know how long I’ve laid here, her weight pressing down on me while the blood from her side seeps ever so slowly onto my hand. It feels as if I’ve lost time here and there. I know it’s felt like I was dozing, no matter how hard I fight not to. It must be my head. Her pounding fists nearly knocked me out, I’m sure.
I heave at her, feeling the dead weight and exhaustion getting the better of me. I wait, breathing deeply a few times before trying again. Using all the strength I have left; I push her mostly off me. With the space I have, I’m able to wiggle out from under her, but getting to my feet is another story. The pain in my ankle and the tiredness I’m feeling is almost too much. Still, it’s nothing like that night. I can do this.
Using her lifeless body as a prop, I push myself upward and teeter on my feet unsteadily. With the other maniacs following Dean, I can’t wait around. Staying here may be safer for me, but he’s out there. He’s trying to save us and has no idea they’re on his tail. When he left me, he thought he’d given them the slip, but he had no clue just how many of them were actually out there.
I stumble over to grab my bloodied walking stick Dean left me. Once it’s in my hands and I feel I can handle the trek down the mountain, I take off. My gait is slower than I’d like, but it is what it is. I’d crawl through the damn woods if it meant keeping those bastards away from Dean.
As I walk, stumbling over thick chunks of grass, wild bushes, and even logs, I think back to the peace and quiet I took for granted over the past two years. Yes, I’m damaged, but Dean never treated me th
at way. He knew how scared I was of practically everything, but he didn’t seem to mind. All he’s ever wants to do is take care of me. It’s been that way all along.
I guess, if I’m being honest, I’ve loved Dean for years. Sure, I tried to play it off as just being friends, but it was always more than that. He was the only one, other than the girls I could trust. That didn’t change after what Cletus Fox did. If nothing else, losing them made me lean on him even more. He was the one I told every, gruesome detail to. The police knew, my dad knew, even mom, but I didn’t press the small things to them. I did with Dean. I needed to get it off my chest, and he listened. He sat there, each night after he finished up on the farm and heard me out.
It started out as being a strong shoulder to lean on. Then it became a tender hand holding mine as I talked. I can’t pinpoint when all that changed, but the first time he whispered that he’d loved me since we were kids, I didn’t dispute it. I believed it wholeheartedly. From that moment on, we were together, inseparable, and hopelessly devoted to one another.
Now, he’s in danger and it’s all my fault.
I know it’s all my fault. If I hadn’t let him get close to me, knowing what was still out there waiting on me, he wouldn’t be in this situation. I expected to see the boy again, but I never imagined the entire Fox family would come my way. I guess something inside me hoped they would realize just how sick Cletus really was. I get how blind people can be of those they love, but this? This is too much.
Needing a few minutes to rest, I find an old stump and carefully settle myself down. I debate whether I should take a look at my foot. It still hurts like a bitch, but I’m not seeing much blood. Throwing caution to the wind, I slowly unwrap the bandana and use it to wipe away as much of the drying blood as I can.
It looks like shit. The holes where the teeth of the trap went in are deep, and of course, jagged where I struggled against the confines. If I could’ve stayed calm there may not be as much damage, but when I’m in pain, my mind doesn’t function properly.
Trying to avoid looking at the yuckiness, I wrap it back up, yelping slightly when I tie it off. I’ll need treatment for it as soon as possible. If not, they’ll be another infection just like the one I got in my feet. That was painful. At one point, in the hospital, they thought I may lose my right foot. Thank goodness they were able to treat me and get the infection cleared up.
I pull myself back up and get moving again. My tiredness is making it harder to see through the darkness. I’m trying to be as careful as possible. I know there’s more traps out here; I just have no idea where. If they have known about us coming, they had plenty of time to set this up. I still can’t figure out how that happened. Did someone at the rental place tell them? If Dean didn’t tell anyone else, they couldn’t have overheard something. I know my dad wouldn’t have uttered a damn word.
If they were watching us, they wouldn’t have had that much time to plan this. We hadn’t been at the cabin but a few hours when all hell broke loose. They had to have an in at the rental place. It’s the only answer. How could they convince someone to give that information? It’s such bullshit.
A familiar whizzing sound by my ear sends a sense of panic throughout me. Immediately, I drop to the ground seeing the crossbow arrow strike a tree directly in front of me. Obviously, someone isn’t as good of a shot as their brother once was.
I crawl across the ground quickly, trying to find some kind of cover but there isn’t any. I’m a sitting duck. If he fires off another shot, with decent aim, I’m gone. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. My only hope is the trees. I can duck behind one but that doesn’t mean he can’t get a shot.
Reaching the one he hit with his arrow I duck down and wonder which one of them it is. Who came back for me? Uncle Joe? Uncle Carl? According to the other bastards, Uncle Joe seems to be in charge of whatever is happening here. Would he want me, or would he be more concerned about Dean getting away? I guess it doesn’t matter either way.
I pull the knife out of the sheath and wait. It’s the only weapon I have and the only hope I have of fighting back. I just don’t know if I can take another one. I don’t want to hurt anymore. I can’t take much more of that either.
“I can see you, girly. You can’t hide from me.”
“Fuck you!” I yell back.
The answering laughter is unsettling. “Joe says we need to take you to Momma. After what you’ve done though, leaving this mountain ain’t happening. The law is already at the cabin. They know something is going on. Your time’s up. You die here and now to pay for what you did my brother.”
“Your brother was a sick fuck. All of you are. They’ll figure it out. They’ll figure out who did this. It doesn’t matter if I die or not, you’ll all pay for this.”
“You may be right. They may know, but they’ll have to find us first.”
Goddammit he has a point. Cletus stayed off the radar for years. I have no doubts these hillbilly fucks can hide just as well.
“I was smarter than him,” I call out trying to piss him off. Hearing his voice again and pinpointing it may help me avoid an arrow.
“I never said my little brother was the smartest, did I?”
It’s hard to judge where his voice is coming from, but I think he’s to my left.
“You think you’re smarter? You decide to try this the first time I leave the safety of my home? You gave yourself up the minute you tried.”
“We could’ve got you at that farm of yours. We could’ve made your momma and daddy bleed too. They watch that place pretty good. Your daddy is a smart man. Even his friends keep watch.”
“Yeah, he’s smart. He knew this wasn’t over. He knew the boy would be back. He just didn’t know it would be the whole damn family.”
“That boy is the only thing we have left of Cletus. You shut the hell up about him.”
“Why? He didn’t come with you? Was he afraid? Did I fuck with him too much last time?”
“Go to hell, you little bitch. He ain’t afraid of anything. Cletus taught him well while he had him. We’ve made sure his education continued.”
There’s the answer to one of the questions that’s been on my mind. That little fucker is still out there. He made his way to the rest of the family. My hopes that he was far away were just pipedreams, I guess.
“That little shit is just as sick as all of you. That’s all you’ve taught him. How to be a psycho fuck!”
I guess my words are working. He’s angry and tired of hiding. I shrink back as he steps out of the woods to my left, the crossbow aimed directly at me. It’s the one we saw on the road.
“You’ve run your mouth about my family long enough. It’s time for you to shut your damn mouth for good.”
“You didn’t bring him with you? The boy? Why not? Is he still at home on your momma’s teat? Doesn’t that make you jealous? I bet she loved Cletus more, and now she’s all about that sick little fucker, right?”
“Shut the hell up!” he roars as he lifts the crossbow. “Don’t talk about that.”
I’ve hit a nerve. I may not get out of this, but at least I know this fucker is going to remember what I’ve said.
“Why not? Doesn’t Mommy love you?”
“I said shut up!”
I brace myself for the bolt from the crossbow. I know it’s coming. Instead, I hear complete music to my ears.
“GET ON THE GROUND NOW!!”
I whip my head around to see three deputies, guns drawn and aimed at the bearded bastard a few feet from me.
He doesn’t react at first. All he does is stare at me. He wants me dead. Their arrival means he’s lost his chance. I know how that thirst is. I’ve felt it. I’m sure it’s similar to how I felt about Cletus Fox, himself.
“GET DOWN!”
I see the anger. I see the rage. Instead of doing as he’s told, he fires the bolt as the gunshot ring out. No amount of bracing helps the impact I feel when the arrow penetrates my skin and stays in my arm. The pistol shots ri
ng out, and I can’t tear my eyes away as his body rocks, taking the impact of each bullet before slowly falling to his knees, then onto the floor.
“SISSY!”
Dean’s voice rings out as he rushes toward me. The relief that floods me is immeasurable. I expect him to be injured. From the looks of him, he’s completely fine. My bad ass country boy went through the woods for help just like he promised.
I grab his face and kiss him hard as he reaches me. I don’t care about the pain. I could care less about what’s happening around us. All I care about is him being here, with me, and in one piece.
“Are you alright?” he asks, his hand instantly going to the bolt stuck in my arm.
“I’ll live,” I laugh hysterically.
“Let me get this out.”
He grabs the crossbow bolt and quickly pulls it free of my flesh. I bury my head against his shoulder to avoid another cry of pain.
“There, I’ve got you,” he continues as he holds me close.
“I didn’t know if you made it. They said some of them followed you.”
“They did but I gave them the slip. I’m good at that ya know.” He smiles down at me, and my heart melts.
“I love you,” I whisper as the tears stream down my cheeks.
“I love you too,” he returns with a kiss to my forehead. “Let’s get you up and out of here,” he finishes as he gets to his feet.
The sound takes me and the deputies by surprise. The scene in front of me is what guts me. That’s what rips out my heart and literally crushes it into a million pieces. My Dean. My precious, amazing, Dean gets to his feet as a shotgun shell meets with the back of his head.
“NO!! DEAN, NO!” I cry out as my entire world falls to the earth with his lifeless body.
“Now, you know what it feels like.”
I tear my eyes from the hole in the back of Dean’s head long enough to see the one known as Uncle Joe smiling at me. He’s the one who did the talking at the truck. He’s the one who led these sick fucks up on this mountain to torture us for what his brother did.
