Page 65 of Hurts So Good

“We’re taking this fucker down,” Jonas growls as he takes his bat from their cart and hands Hals his machete.

“Do you think he’s here? He could just have been fucking with us and he doesn’t know about Dylan,” Hals adds, and I roll my eyes.

We move toward the tree with caution, not knowing what’s waiting on the other side for us. As we turn the corner, my eyes catch the first glimpse of the sight before me.

Dylan is where we left him, but not exactly how he was the last time we saw him. He’s still tied to the tree, but he’s not completely whole. There’s an ax lodged into the tree, right through his stomach. His guts are spilling out, trailing down to the ground with a red puddle beneath him.

“What the fuck is going on? This has to be a dream. It’s the only explanation.” Jonas drops his bat to the ground as he slaps himself in the face, only he’s not waking up. This is reality.

“Check his chest,” I order. Maybe there’s a note.

Hals steps forward lifting the red drenched shirt, but nothing. No words are covering his chest, only cuts—lots of them—and tiny slashes.

“There’s nothing,” Hals informs us. “If I knew our fathers weren’t going to kill us when they find out about this, I’d admire this dickheads’ craftsmanship. He knows how to kill a man.”

Somehow, I don’t think our fathers are going to feel the same way. How are we going to clean up this shit show of a night? I pace back and forth across the field, playing different scenarios through my mind as Jonas and Hals talk about the body. Then it hits me.

“This is what we’re going to do. We may not have gotten all our targets tonight, but we’re going to salvage this shit show. There’s still Hilary. Jonas, you need to get cleaned up and meet her as planned. We’ll show up and then we have our fun.”

“Hell yeah, we will!” Jonas shouts as he swings his bat into the air, hitting an imaginary ball.

“Shut the hell up and listen. Once we’re done with her, then we’ll go back to Philip and shred his skin so that there’s no evidence of any writing carved on him. Once we’re done, we’ll call the clean-up crew. That way, if they decide to give our dads proof of our final kill, they won’t be none the wiser.”

They both nod their head in agreement.

“Jonas, you need to get to Hilary. You can hopefully be there before she arrives.”

“Okay. Hold his head up, Hals. I want to get at least one good swing in. I’ve been cheated out of making them bleed.” Jonas laughs.

Hals moves over, takes hold of Dylan’s hair, and pulls his head up so we can finally see his face.

“What the fuck is that?” I bark as I storm over to his lifeless body.

Carved across his forehead is 1 left.

“One left. What does that even fucking mean?” Jonas scratches his head.

The answer hits all of us at the same time and we rush back over, jumping on our ATVs, heading to the only other spot left and to the person we know should be or will be waiting there within minutes.

Hilary.

It’s still a little early, so there’s hope we can catch this asshole and deal with him before she arrives. She’s been nothing but punctual. Let’s hope she continues to be.

We race down the path, ducking to avoid the low-hanging branches. My heart racing in anticipation of what we’re going to find. I’m going to end the asshole doing this to us.

When we get near the clearing, I slow down. We need to be smart. There’s no telling what we might be walking into.

The only thing I can focus on right now is getting this disastrous night under control.

I stop at the edge of the wood line, Hals pulling up beside me.

“Why are you stopping here?” he asks.

“We’re going the rest of the way on foot. He’s probably already heard the ATVs, but we need to surprise him as much as we can.” Hals nods and parks. “Be prepared for anything,” I tell them as we make our way into the woods.

I put my finger up to my mouth, telling them to be quiet as we make our way to the outskirts of the field.

As the clearing comes into view, my mouth drops at what I see before me. This can’t be happening. It’s not real. There’s no way.