The Only Escape

I just ran. The wind flowing through my hair. The salty ocean air smacking my face. I had no idea where I was going. I didn't even have a clue about where the hell I even was. All I knew was that I was not to let that maniac behind me catch up to me.

Tonight started off as a pretty great night. My childhood best friend, Gabi, planned out a whole night where we were to spend the entire night in some abandoned camp located on the water. Supposedly it was supposed to be the "best oceanfront campsite in all of California". Gabi swore that tonight was going to be the best one yet; she was so excited. She invited her entire "squad" out for this night.. and of course, me. I was so hesitant at first but she insisted. Tonight was supposed to be so innocent. We were just going to spend the night around a campfire.. maybe tell a few ghost stories.. but, of course nothing's innocent when it came to Gabi's friends.

Gabi's boyfriend cracked open the first beer of the night. Followed by a couple of his friends. Soon enough, Gabi was downing a couple. She was hesitant to have them at first.. but her boyfriend insisted; almost in the way she insisted I came tonight. I remember how one of the other guys kept trying to hand me a beer of my own, no matter how many times I'd tell him no. He was so set on me drinking tonight. Almost as if he was counting on it. Another guy eventually convinced him to stop; Peter, was his name.

Gabi told me so many great things about this Peter guy. Apparently he was the sweetest of the bunch. One of a kind. An angel. Gabi would tell me often about how he was always asking about me. I swear, she was always trying to set us up. Peter spent the entire night staying close to me. He was constantly telling the other guys to stay away; almost as if I had an "off-limits" sign nailed to my forehead. He was so sweet. Such an angel. He was so much of an angel, he never did understand that the intruder who broke into our camp wasn't just going to go away simply because he asked him to. He was so kind that he actually thought he could talk the intruder out of causing harm to our little group. He was so one of a kind that he actually stepped in front of someone's knife to prevent it from being lodged into my own torso. I don't think I'll ever forget the look of terror in his eyes as he stared back at me, while a knife was plunged straight into his back.

Peter's death didn't really cause as much panic as you'd think. I was in such a deep shock that I couldn't find use of my legs until Gabi pulled me under a picnic table with her. It was the worst hiding spot with no blind spots, but it was so much better than standing in front of the intruder with Peter's lifeless body laying at his feet. Gabi squeezed my hand so tight that I loss a bit of feeling. We watched as Gabi's boyfriend tried to attack the intruder himself; that's so Tommy, being the hero.

"To-" Gabi went to shout out but I covered her mouth.

"Do you want to lead the killer straight to us?" I whispered to her.

"But T-" I cut her off.

"I'm sure he'll be alri-" My voice faded off as I watched the killer plunge his knife into Tommy's face, right between the eyes. Gabi tried to scream out, but I pulled her into my shoulder. I scanned the camp for the killer or any of the other guys who had been with us, but nobody came into view.

"Is he-" Gabi brought her head back up to look out at the camp.

"I don't know," I shrugged, "I don't see him. I can't even see the others who were with us."

"They probably fled the second Tommy was-" She didn't even finish her sentence, "I think he's gone now."

"We can't be so sure."

"C'mon Hana," She grabbed my hand and crawled out from under the picnic table, "We'll just buddy system our way out of here."

"We can't just buddy system our way out of this." I stated.

"Sure we can," She said with such confidence, "If we stay together, we can be each other's witness."

Yes, because that worked out so well for Peter and Tommy. "You were here before, right?"

"Hana."

"Gabi," I let go of her hand, "Peter was killed right in front of me. Tommy was killed.. right in front of us. Clearly, having a witness means nothing to whoever that killer is."

"Stop it."

"I didn't even want to come here in the first place."

"Hana."

"You pretty much made me come," I continued, "You insisted. You swore this was going to be the best night ever. I should've just stayed home. I should've just told you no. I should've-"

A knife plunged into her eye socket before I even had a chance to finish my sentence.

"Gabi?"

"D-did he h-hit m-me?" She was frozen in place.

"Gabi." I grabbed ahold of her hand while holding onto the knife with the other.

"P-pull it o-out." She told me, "P-Please."

"I-I c-can't."

"Hana." I could hear the pain in her voice.

"It looks like it's in there deep," I told her, "I don't want to take the entire-"

A hand pressed against the top of mine, plunging the knife deeper into her eye. I couldn't push the hand off. All I was able to do was watch as my best friend closed her eyes for the final time. My eyes scanned up from the hand to the torso to the face of the man that caused all the hurt around me. There was nothing else I could do. I just got up and ran. I had no idea where I was running to. I had no idea where the hell I was currently. Gabi picked this place. I just followed along.. like a lost puppy. I ran past the others as I ran ahead. I guess they didn't manage to get away.

I ran so far straight that I eventually made it towards the end of the dock. The salty air was stronger than ever. The chilling of the wind smacked against my face as I stared off into the distance. I sat on the edge of the dock, my feet hanging over the edge. Tonight was supposed to be perfect. Why didn't I stay home? Why didn't I just tell Gabi no? I always seemed to want to follow her like a puppy dog. I didn't even feel connected to her friend group.. I just liked the idea of being around her. I held my face in my hands. Why did I have to be so obsessed with being accepted by her? What was it about her?

Footsteps sounding behind me got me back to my feet. I turned around to see the intruder walking toward me.

"P-Please."

He kept stepping towards me.

"I didn't do anything to you." I took a step back.

He continued stepping towards me.

"You already hurt me." I pleaded.

He didn't stop.

Fear flushed into my cheeks by now. There was only one option now. I turned around and sat on the edge of the dock. Placing my hands behind me, I proceeded to jump into the water.

But a hand grabbed ahold of my hair. Before I had a chance to look behind me, a knife slit across my neck before the hand's grip let go of my hair and I fell into the water. I tried to grab something to pull myself back up, but I was starting to feel lightheaded. The mixture of red and darkness began to cloud my sight. Suddenly, everything began to flash before my eyes. Gabi. Tommy. Peter. This night. I reached my hand out once more only for it to fall back on the ocean waters. My eyes began to close. This was it. This was the end. Tonight was the finale.