Damn it.

Of all days… I mean, it had to be today, didn’t it?

Daniel and I had run out to retrieve the stuff I had taken with me after that night with my parents. What I really wanted was my dad’s rifle – even though it serves as a reminder of him, it’s still nice to have due to the things happening in our town.

The place I hid for a few days is back in the woods, in this old cabin that lies in the middle of nowhere. There’s an old dirt path that leads to town, but I’m confident that no one uses it. The cabin looks like it hasn’t had anyone living in it for a while, so I thought it was the perfect place to hide.

When we got there, the place was just as I remembered it. Empty of everything – no vines clung to the sides, no animals nested within. It was kind of eerie stepping in there, but Daniel’s company made it better than the other times I had been there alone. He seemed more quiet than normal, though – maybe he was as creeped out as I was. As I gathered my things from what I believe was once the living room, Daniel broke the silence with an uneasy “We should go.”

“… I know. I’ve got my stuff right here.”

Daniel shrugged his shoulders and stared out the window. The sun was already starting to go down and darkness was falling. Earlier, I remembered him saying something along the lines of not wanting to be there after dark. I nodded towards the door. “Alright, time to go.”

There’s a door that leads down into the basement that sits right by the front door. I’d never cared to notice it before now, but when I stepped in front of it something made me stop. I looked down into that darkness and swore I saw something hunched just at the foot of the stairs, looking back up at me. Daniel called from outside and got me moving away from that door before I could go down.

Things were silent between us until Daniel, again, broke the silence by asking me why I hadn’t brought the rifle with me to the hospital. Heh… I explained that to him by saying that I had gone to get some food and was trying to be discreet while I was in town, so I had only kept the baseball bat on me. When I checked Sarah’s blog, well… It was some stroke of luck, I guess. Any other night and I would have missed the post.

When we were off the dirt road and heading back towards Vivian’s, that’s when it happened.

We had just come to a halt at a stop sign when this idiot came out of nowhere and slammed into Daniel’s bumper. It sounds worse than what actually happened; not a lot of damage, but just enough for a lot of repairs.

Daniel kept swearing as he examined his car while this kid who looked like he had just gotten his license stepped out. The poor guy was a nervous wreck and kept apologizing, saying that his brakes were bad and whatnot. “I don’t want your damn apologies, asshole!” Daniel shouted.

“Daniel, calm down,” I said.

The kid stepped forward and tried to talk, but Daniel cut him off. “’Calm down’? Do you realize how hard that is when-” He stopped and scowled, turning back to his car. The kid again tried to say something but stuttered over his words.

And then… just, DAMN IT.

“Look, I’ll call the police,” the kid finally said, taking out his phone. And… upon hearing the word ‘police’, I ended up decking him right in the face, probably breaking his nose. Blood started spewing like a faucet as the kid landed on the ground, groaning.

Daniel at first just stared at me in shock. “Uh, Vincent… May I remind you that we’re trying to keep a low profile?”

He was going to call the police. We would have been found out after that.

The other driver was starting to get up, moving towards the car. I think he had started to put two and two together, because when he looked at me I could see the recognition in his eyes. Daniel moved over to him and wrapped a hand around his neck, pulling the kid over to the back of his vehicle. Daniel shifted his eyes to me and… something changed in him, like how he had been at the house. “Open the trunk,” he said.

When I had done so, I saw the kid being forced into the back of his car. I could hear his frantic beating and yelps as the trunk closed. Daniel came around to the driver’s side and hopped in, giving me instructions to take his car back to Vivian’s. When I asked him what he was going to do with the kid, he got this vacant look in his eyes. “I’ll take care of him,” Daniel replied.

About thirty minutes ago, Daniel came back with blood all over his shirt. He didn’t speak to anyone except Vivian, and they kept their conversation to themselves. After a few moments of their quiet conversation, they both left the house.

I… I hope that the kid isn’t dead. That sounds odd coming from me, doesn’t it? But that kid doesn’t deserve to die, not for hitting Daniel’s car or recognizing me as a killer…

… Just… damn it. Why’d that have to happen?