Breaks And Bodies

It’s now Sunday, and following a visit from law enforcement early the previous morning which woke the trio of adolescents up, they are now fully aware that there is a criminal on the loose who may or may not be in the area still.

The police had stressed that if they see this man, Preston Burich; they get inside and call the authorities immediately. It was stressed they not approach, chat or attempt to apprehend him. That had, unsurprisingly, panicked the three teenagers. Gray had even suggested they cut this vacation short and return home. Briana had refused outright with lots of gesticulating involved during her reasons as to why. Cody had sided with her for no other reason than because he still hoped to gain favour and get closer to her. It certainly helped, but after the police visit they’d soon returned to their day of lounging about enjoying the cabin as well as the sunny summer weather.

With them on their second full day of a three day vacation and having slept since the police warning, the trio have forgotten all about the potentially dangerous convict who may or may not be on the loose. Instead, they have elected to do some fishing in the lake. Well, Cody and Gray have. Briana isn’t inclined. She doesn’t like fish; whether that is looking at or eating them. She finds them yucky. Those were her exact words when Cody asked if she wanted to join in. Still, she’s going to be close by working on her tan from the comfort of one of the sun loungers. She’s already chosen the one.

To that end Gray is preparing the rods and bait when Briana appears from inside the cabin wearing her bikini. It’s a bright red colour and leaves nothing to the imagination. Not that bikini’s ever do. As a result Gray can’t resist getting quite the eyeful.

“Not got your fill yet?” Briana cries loudly. Gray goes red in response. Briana chuckles playfully, winks and then does a spin on the spot to give him a full look at her in the bikini from all angles. Right after that she clambers onto the sun lounger, dons her mirrored sunglasses and fidgets a bit to get comfy.

The lounger is more rigid than she’d anticipated but regardless she manages to find a comfortable position that involves her arms being outstretched over her head and up the back of the lounger. It’ll allow for maximum tan, until she turns over. At that point she’ll be forced to find a new position to lie in.

With the show now over, Gray shakes himself out of his gawping and returns to the fishing rods. A smile breaks across Briana’s face. She loves to tease Gray. He comes across as so proper and innocent which she finds abundantly cute. Unlike…. At that moment Cody appears as if by magic. He’s clad in a tight fitting t-shirt that has to be a size too small at the very least but is clearly meant to show off his muscles. If he had any to brag about it might work in his favour. In addition to the tight t-shirt he’s wearing white and blue shorts and boy are they short. They end way above his knees, which means his tanned chicken legs are on full display. Briana raises an eyebrow at the sight but passes no comment during Cody’s bounds over to them.

The sun lounger with Briana splayed out positioned relatively close to the dock that Gray and Cody will be finishing from.

“Hey, we ready to fish!” Cody looks and sounds eager. He punches the air as if fishing is somehow the greatest act ever to have been invented by mankind. If only he knew that humans are not the only species who fish. It’s pretty common in the animal kingdom even if rods are not.

“What are you wearing?” Gray has to ask once Cody is close enough that Briana shouldn’t be able to easily hear whatever conversations they might have.

“This, this is my summer attire, awesome right?” Cody is beaming. Gray doesn’t think he’s ever seen his friend look this happy before. Sadly, Gray has never been good at lying and so when he utters, “Yeah,” in response it is immediately clear that he doesn’t agree.

“What? You don’t like it, do you, I can tell.” Cody sounds taken aback by Gray’s lack of enthusiasm.

In contrast, Gray is adorned in a pair of past the knee dark green shorts and a loose fitting grey tank top. And the tank top is only a thing because Gray thinks it’s going to get really hot and he doesn’t want to overheat. Otherwise, he’d be wearing a long sleeved t-shirt. It’s what Gray wears ninety percent of the time and is the sole reason as to why his arms are as pale as they are.

“Sorry Cody, not my thing. You know me, I…” Gray trails off his explanation lost as a voice calls, “Hey, hello there.”

Gray and Cody both turn the direction the voice is emanating from to find a guy with a shaved head and snarl slinking their way. He’s wearing a pair of cream shorts and a floral short sleeved shirt, the top two buttons of which are not fastened. The floral piece hangs off the man in a way which suggests it either isn’t his or he used to be a much heavier set guy. Cody and Gray exchange glances a little perplexed. Yet, they both get the feeling this man is familiar. Though, neither can place as to how or why. Regardless, they both offer in response, “Hi” and “Hello.” After all they don’t wish to be considered rude. For all they know this bald guy might live here and could, if feeling slighted, get them banned from returning in the future, if they so wished too.

The bald guy stops a few metres from them with a smirk on his snarling face. The smirk makes him look scary but is nothing compared to his intense, burning blue eyes. They flit from Gray to Cody and back again.

“Not seen you up this way before.” The blue eyed man begins. He has to resist the urge to lick his lips. He knows the police paid them a visit early yesterday but if they showed them a picture of the man they’re searching for they show signs of recognition, which is a good sign.

“Yeah, we arrived late Friday night.” Cody admits rubbing the back of his neck as he speaks. Then adds, “I’m Cody by the way and this…” He gestures to Gray who is stood beside him, “…is Gray.” Gray raises his open hand for little more than a second to show acknowledge of the bald man.

“And that back there is Brie…I mean Briana.” Cody fumbles his word but has an outstretched thumb jabbing back over his shoulder to point out the seemingly oblivious young woman clad in a bikini who is sprawled across a sun lounger.

“I’m Preston, nice to meet you all. So what brings you up this way? We don’t get many visitors.” The serial killer hasn’t a clue if that is true. He isn’t from around here. Before Friday night he’d never even set foot in this place or heard of it. He hopes this trio of adolescents know even less about where they are than he does. If they don’t…well, it won’t matter much. They won’t be leaving this place, at least not alive that is. Even then they probably still won’t be leaving. Preston isn’t so reckless with his kills that he just leaves the remains lying around for anybody to find. No, that would be careless. Rather, he likes to dispose of his kills properly. It’s not a part of the process he particularly enjoys. However, it is necessary if you wish to keep secret how many bodies you truly have to your name. It’s fifty four. He’s the only soul who is aware of that. The only living one anyway. If he does ever tell any of his soon to be victims, which has been seldom, they aren’t alive long enough afterwards to do a thing with that knowledge.

“Really? Brie said this place can get pretty busy a few weeks from now and for the remainder of the summer after that.” Cody blurts without thinking. Meanwhile, Gray has a bad feeling. Both the face and the name ring a bell and he’s desperately searching for the reason as to why. Frustratingly, as of yet he is coming up short.

“Brie, didn’t you say this place gets busy?” Cody turns side on to Preston and bellows at the lounging blonde who completely ignores him.

“She can’t hear you Cody, she has…” Gray begins to inform.

“Oh right, yeah yeah, I forgot.” Cody remembering talks over Gray, drowning out what he was about to say because of course Briana is listening to music.

She adores pop, the stuff that fills the charts. Gray and Cody can’t stand it. Cody likes gangster rap while Gray listens to classical and jazz. The trio’s music tastes have virtually no overlap, which made the drive out here interesting to say the least.

Gray, having decided he’d get Briana’s attention, is almost alongside her. Once he is he is careful not to touch her. It’ll make her jump, he is convinced of it. Principally because it would make him jump and so cannot imagine her reaction would be any different. Plus, seeing her lying there it’s difficult to keep his eyes from roaming. That is why he softly murmurs without much delay, “Brie, we have a visitor. Brie, can you hear me? Brie…?”

His efforts do not work in the slightest. Cody rolls his eyes exhausted by Gray’s continued insistence on being the gentlemen. It’s cute, according to some girls apparently, but now really is not the time. That is why Cody strides over confidently, his arms swinging back and forth until he reaches the sun lounger. He moves Gray out of the way. Then gestures Gray leave it to him before his friend can protest.

Gray shrugs in defeat aware that the decision is made regardless of whether he agrees with it or not. Cody nods satisfied, turns toward Briana and with no tact whatsoever places his hand upon her bare arm. Her response, as you would expect, is a startled squeal, pausing of the music playing in her ears, a removal of her sunglasses and a judging glare at Cody that damns him for being the way he is.

“Why are you creeping on me Cody? What is your problem? You don’t just go touching me. It’s called consent. Ever heard of it? Yuuuuuuuuuuck.” Briana shivers and then brushes the section of her arm that Cody touched as if it is in some way stained or marked due to his touch.

“We have a visitor.” Cody announces ignoring Briana’s rant for the moment.

“That does not excuse…” Briana begins as she turns toward the figure that she assumes is their visitor. They have, since her disturbance, loomed in the periphery of her vision.

At the sight of the bald man with blue eyes her blue-grey eyes go wide. She gulps. Her breathing turns deep, far deeper than it ought to needs to be. This change is impossible to miss and concerns Gray.

“Brie are you O…?” Gray begins to query only for Cody to cut him off yet again and exclaim, “Come-on Brie don’t be rude. This is Preston. He says it doesn’t get busy up here. I thought you said that it…”

Briana leaps off the sun lounger and to her feet. Her eyes remain wide as she starts to back away in the direction of their cabin. The expression on her face is similar to one you might expect if you’ve seen a ghost, pale and drained of blood.

“Brie, what is it?” Gray questions now very worried about her.

“We need to get inside, right now.” Briana blurts. She couldn’t forget the face the three of them were shown by the police if she tried. Sadly, the same cannot be said of Cody and Gray.

“What? Don’t be stupid the weather out here is gorgeous. What’s got into you?” Cody rambles with a confused expression upon his face.

Gray then realises where he remembers this guy’s face from. His jaw drops. He feels panic well up from deep within and expects the look on his face is much the same as Briana’s.

Cody meanwhile remains is oblivious to the danger and as such needs to be warned. While Briana continues to backpedal Gray turns toward Cody. Just as he does he sees Preston finish raising his arm high into the air. There is something in it, it’s long and looks heavy.

“Cody!” Gray screams. He points with the index finger of his left arm but the warning has come far too late.

Cody does manage to turn maybe eight degrees of the one hundred and eighty he’d need to before the bolt cutters slam down on the back of his skull. The teenage boy collapses to the grass like a sack of potatoes. Gray instinctively begins to rush forward. Briana stops him. She grabbed hold of his hand and pulls him back. He looks like a dog on a lead that isn’t aware of the length and almost stumbles backward as a result. He regains his balance just in time to see the conclusion of Preston concluding his assault on Cody’s skull. Briana is screaming, her free hand covering her mouth. She is hysterical but Gray hadn’t been aware of her screams until right this moment.

“You’re next.” Preston cackles while licking his lips greedily. His blue eyes burn with violent desire as he saunters towards them.

“We’ve got to get inside.” Briana demands. Gray obliges. He isn’t inclined to disagree. Still, leaving their friend seems so… He’s dead, a voice in his head screams. He doesn’t want to accept it but that is the truth. Cody is gone. There is nothing to save. It’s too late for that. It was the moment those cutters were raised up into the air ready to be brought down on the unsuspecting adolescents skull.

Briana and Gray rush inside the cabin. They are frantic, terrified, but manage to slam the door closed behind them and then lock it with bolts and key. Their backs against the door they both sink to the floor. They can hear and feel their hearts thundering in their chests. Neither tries to calm themselves down.

“W-w-what are we going to do?” Briana blurts with a shaking hand still covering her mouth. It partially muffles her stammering voice.

Gray doesn’t hear her question. At least not at first he doesn’t. His mind is too busy spinning. It’s going so fast he can’t discern any of the thoughts in his head. They’re jumbled, a mess, a tangled weave of pieces he can’t slow or have any hope of putting together. Finally, Briana’s unrepeated words sink in.

“W-we c-call t-the p-police.” As a young boy Gray had suffered from a stammer. Over the year he’d learned to work around it. But it’s back with a vengeance now.

“Where’s your phone?” Briana queries without mention of where hers might be.

The tank top wearing teen checks himself over only to realise it’ll be outside, near the dock. He’d set it down while getting the fishing rods ready. He chastises himself. Briana asks, “What? Where is it Gray?”

“I-it’s next to the dock.” Gray re-conquers his stammer. It’s a small victory but any at the moment is welcome he feels. “What about yours Brie?” Are the next words out his mouth.

“It was next to me on the lounger. I didn’t think to grab it before…” The blonde seventeen year old trails off. Gray nods. He doesn’t need her to say it. He is incapable of forgetting what happened out there.

“Cody might’ve left his in here.” Gray offers hopefully.

“Yeah, he mi…” Briana begins only for a trio of slow pounding knocks with two seconds between them boom against the door at their backs. Briana screams while Gray explodes into a panicked pant.

“If you’re hoping for your friends phone to be accessible I thought I’d just let you know, it’s out here with me. Open the door and you can have it.” Preston sounds as he would normally, crazed.

“No you psycho we’re not opening this door!” Briana shrieks back in forced defiance. Sadly, she doesn’t sound as confident as she might have hoped too. Her voice instead cracked while being expelled from between her thin lips.

“Have it your way!” Preston barks.

The sound of something being dropped reaches Gray and Briana’s ears. Both dread to think what might have caused the sound. The pause and silence that follow are long enough for them to draw conclusions. After that they are confirmed when there is the unmistakable sound of something electronic being crushed beneath the heel of a shoe. Without a doubt the heel belongs to Preston, the serial killer on the loose. He’s the only other person up here at the lake.

As for the electronic being crushed, that is Cody’s phone. It fell out of his pocket during his slaughter and with the adolescents having fled into the cabin Preston took the time to dispose of the other two phones carelessly left where they had been set down. Right now, both are on their way to the bottom of the lake. Even if they weren’t it wouldn’t matter because only a couple seconds after they hit the water they became useless.

“I should let you know…” Preston forces his voice creepier than it would typically be.

Playing with his victims isn’t usually his bag but after so long without this kind of fun it’s a nice change, he must admit.

“…you’re not getting out of her alive. I’m a patient man. I can wait for hours. Days, if I have to. How long do you think you can truly hold out? Be honest with yourselves. Is it long enough that someone will come looking for you? You’ll want to think so but truth is, no. You’re young and while your families might promise it is out of character, the police, well the police will do nothing for the first twenty four hours at least. And by the time your disappearances will be reported…” Preston pauses. He can smell panic in the air. It doesn’t matter that there is a door between him and his victims. The stench is intoxicating in all the right ways. How he has missed this. Cody’s death was good, but he needs more. His thirst is incredible.

“…you’ll be dead, butchered and buried. No one will ever find you or me. I’ll disappear. Your families will be left to wonder. I might even send them a gift ever few years to keep them hoping.” Preston erupts into raucous laughter. He isn’t forcing a thing now. This is him, all him, how he is naturally.

“You’re sick! You’re insane!” Briana is crying now. Tears are streaming down her face. Gray wishes he could release his emotions in the same way but try as he might he cannot. All he can do is feel panic tightening its grasp upon him.

“See you soon.” Preston sounds mad but his voice suggests he is drifting off, moving away from the door. It sounds too good to be true and yet Gray breathes a sigh of relief. He thinks, for the moment, it might be over. Then there is a series of brutal slams against the door to prove that it is not. The wooden door jumps and flexes under the force of the strikes. Briana is back to screaming, Gray joins in. They grab a hold of each other sure they are both about to be crushed beneath the door. They are not. The banging ends abruptly leaving the pair to whimper in each other’s arms no longer able to trust their judgement.