Beautiful Death (Bella Morté Trilogy Book 1) (6 page)

They were twisted sisters of fate.

That was how close they were. With so much in common, it was bound to happen. They ate lunch, took breaks, as well as hung out together after work as well. It didn’t stop there either. They took vacations together, usually with Zach and Candice footing most of the bill, but that was what best friends did. When the office laid Janet off, due to her contract expiring, Candice talked to the boss and got her a permanent spot, just so she didn’t lose her best friend.

Janet was compassionate: giving her last dollar to someone else, especially if she had it to give and sometimes when she didn’t. Every day people held up signs about how their lives were horrible and needed money to survive. Panhandlers, Candice called them, but Janet never did. They knew her car, lining up like kids to see Santa for the few bucks she offered. Traffic didn’t matter to her; she made sure everyone got something. She was very generous. Many people took advantage of that: especially Todd.

When the two first met, Janet was hooked on his bad-boy charm and devil may care attitude. After their first meeting and a wild night in bed, he promised her eternity. Candice tried making her see the real Todd, but Janet wouldn’t hear any of it. He was a God in her eyes.

It only took the bloody scene, for Candice to realize eternity came too quickly. Pieces of Janet were scattered around the tent: hanging off the ceiling, and sliding down the walls. It looked like someone filled her full of dynamite and she imploded.

It was horrible, and she would have nightmares for the rest of her life. However, the worst part was Janet. There was a jagged hole in the middle of her stomach with threads of pink meat hanging out. It resembled an empty bowl of raw hamburger with her internal organs yanked out and tossed around the room.

He had ripped off one of her legs, which laid half on and half off the tent wall with bite-sized chunks missing with shreds hanging in tattered pieces. Her brown eyes were wide with horror and pain. Her jaw hung ripped open in a grotesque, frightening position. With her dying screams, she choked to death on her own blood. The rest of her body looked as if she got into a fight with a wild animal.

Candice screamed again, crying in raging sobs. She couldn’t move, frozen, as she gripped the shredded tent to stop herself from passing out. Tears flowed down her face like a waterfall after heavy rain.

Meanwhile, Todd wasn’t standing still or taking the time to smell the flowers. He moved towards her, and every step got a little better. He wasn’t so much like a toddler just learning to walk, but more like one who knew how to without staggering. He was also bee-lined in her direction.

Zach stopped moving backward. It was obvious Todd was tired of their song and dance and had turned to the easier game: Candice, who stood still so he could catch her. Rushing behind him, Zach scanned the ground for a weapon. Passing by the firewood pile, he picked up a log that required both hands and nailed Todd in the shoulder. Back in the day, he was one of the town’s favorite baseball players; sending many hundred-mile-an-hour balls out of the park for screaming home runs, so there was some punch in that hit.

It worked. He got Todd’s attention. Turning, he raced back towards Zach. His pace was much faster.

Zach had to jog to stay away from him. “Come on man, can’t we talk about this?” He looked behind him, shuffling his feet to keep from falling. “Obviously
something
has ya mad. Talk to me about it. Get it off your chest. You just might feel better,
bro
.”

Todd continued the chase, quietly, eyes never leaving Zach for a moment until…

Candice was disgusted. It was one thing watching blood and gore on the big screen, but it was entirely another seeing it in reality. All she could remember was how kind Janet was and how that son-of-a-bitch took advantage of her every day they were together. Nothing was ever good enough for him. No matter how much she drained her bank account dry, he always wanted more. Only now, she was dead and
he
killed her.

Looking up, she saw that Todd ran after Zach. She didn’t even think. The only thing she saw was Janet’s face: before and after. Screaming loudly, she turned her anger on Todd. “
You son-of-a-bitch, you killed her!
”

Zach looked over, blinking in shock. “She’s really dead?”

Todd stopped chasing Zach. Turning, he ran straight at Candice. By this time, he moved the same speed as a marathon runner with that last burst before crossing the finish line. If she wanted him to come after her, she got her wish.

It wasn’t exactly what she
wanted
. She watched in fright as he growled, snarling like some wild beast. Here was this enraged bull, rushing straight at her, without any way to defend herself. Quickly, she looked around for something that might even the odds.

Stick, nope that would just break. A rock, she could be dead by the time he was close enough for her to hit him, especially in the dark. Dirt in his eyes, again he would have to be
too
close for comfort. Just as she was getting ready to run for it, abandoning any thought of fighting, her toe kicked something hard. Glancing down, she saw the ax. It wasn’t there a moment ago, but now it rested right at her feet.

Special delivery!

“Thank you, Lord.” It was like a gift from God and she looked up thanking him, before turning back to Todd with a renewed sense of bravery. She could do this. Hell, she wanted to run him over with the truck a few moments ago, so she could easily chop off his head. She beckoned him closer. “Yeah, come on you son-of-a-bitch. Come and get some.”

Being as it was dark outside, Zach didn’t notice anything, but the fact that she wasn’t moving and Todd was at an accelerated rate. Why
wasn’t
she running? She stood there, watching him getting too close for Zach’s comfort. Turning, he ran for Todd, yelling to get his attention, but nothing worked. For whatever reason, he really wanted Candice. Picking up a heavy rock, he winged it at him and watched as it bounced off his shoulder but didn’t stop him. He grabbed another log, tossing it at his head, but that had no effect.

Taking a deep breath, saying a silent prayer, he pushed off the ground, lunging in the air. He had to tackle him! With his arms outstretched, he braced for the collision in three… two… He almost had him and even saw pieces of flesh in his hair… when the shot pierced the night, dropping him.

Five

It was one thing to tackle a monster to the ground, which was his exact thoughts about Todd. However, it was entirely another to tackle a headless corpse to the ground which was still moving. Todd’s head exploded, leaving blood and brain matter flying off in all directions. Some hit the trees, the ground, but most landed on Zach and he could literally feel his skin crawling.

Hearing the shot echo around her, she ducked down, looking around for the source. Frightened eyes turned as she frantically searched for Zach. It was dark out and all she could see was a jumbled mess of bodies on the ground. Her heart lurched up into her throat as tears filled her eyes. “No!” She couldn’t tell if Zach was hurt or not, but there was a lot of blood. Turning, she ducked down, racing in his direction as quickly as her feet would run. “Zach!” She ran the distance in record timing. “Zach! Are you okay?”

Zach was not your typical type of man. He didn’t like blood, mud, cooking, or anything that was watery-messy. Rolling away disgusted, pushing, he kicked to be free of the body on top of him. Todd oozed blood and gunk as hands clawed the ground for a few seconds, before stopping altogether. “Ew! What the hell?”

Seeing he still had a head, Candice breathed a sigh of relief. “Did you get shot? Are you okay?”

“No. Get this freak off me!”

She looked at him. “No, you’re not okay, or no you didn’t get shot?”

“Both!”

Rolling her eyes, she closed the distance between them. “Why didn’t you just let him come at me? I had the ax.”

“Like I knew that? Looked to me like you were about to become dinner. Then as I grabbed him, his fucking head exploded.”

Standing behind him, she pushed her hands under his armpits and pulled, tugging backward. “I think he had a little help with that.”

He grunted, kicking his feet as he pushed back with her help and finally escaped. “Yeah, well I hope they’re on our side.”

The sound of someone tromping through the leaves grew closer as it echoed. Oddly enough, the screaming heard earlier had quieted and the woods were silent, but the
swish
,
swish
,
swish
drew closer. Zach took her hand and they stood ready to run. He wasn’t sure who shot Todd, but if they had to make a run for it, he didn’t want to lose her in the woods.

They saw the short, reddish, brown hair even in the darkness. The man stepped out holding a rifle in his hand with the barrel resting on his shoulder. He looked like a Greek God, standing in at a whopping five-foot-nine. Bright blue eyes shined as he smiled, revealing deep dimples in his cheeks. That brought instant attention to his boyish face, making him more appealing. They gave him
hot
character, which was something men strive for that women notice… apparently.

Brandon Ayres was also the first to arrive. He smiled, motioning to the corpse on the ground. “Now that was a pretty close call there. You’re either brave or foolish, attackin’ without a weapon. Are y’all okay?” His West Virginia Southern accent was just as sexy as the rest of him.

Another person joined him. Trevor Santella was taller. He stood in at a cool six feet, with short, dark hair, and eyes that couldn’t hide the boyish features or his actual age of nineteen. He grinned, standing next to Brandon. “Other ‘an needin’ a nice hot shower?”

“We shot the right guy, right?”

Trevor scoffed, turning to glare at him, slapping him on the shoulder. “What the fuck dude? You ruined a perfectly good rescue scene!” He mimicked Brandon; “
We shot the right guy, right?
”

Brandon scoffed in return. “I did not! We still hit the guy, didn’t we? Besides, it’s dark out here. How do we know? One guy runnin’ after another from far away, it’s hard to tell!”

“Considerin’ they’re both talkin’ an’ shit, I’d say it was a lucky guess that we did!”

“Oh, that sounds much better.” Sheepishly, Brandon looked at Candice and Zach. “Um, we did shoot the right guy, right?”

Whispering to Candice, Zach shook his head. “Well, that’s encouraging. The rescuers don’t know
if
they shot the
right
guy and if they did it was a
lucky
guess because we’re
talkin’ an’ shit
.”

She winced. He was right. It didn’t sound encouraging and seemed even worse stated aloud, but they did rescue them from the jaws of death. “Zach, give them a break. It
is
dark out here. After all, they
did
shoot the right guy.” She shrugged as he glared at her. “Well, it’s true.”

Another man ran towards them also carrying a rifle. It looked as if the
Hunters Club
came to their rescue. Montana was the safety director. No one knew his last name. Everyone just called him
Montana
. Then again, all of the guides had nicknames, so this wasn’t a big deal. None of them went by their actual names, save Trevor and Brandon. Never mind, Montana was the one who started the ritual. People didn’t need to know anything about him, other than he was the safety director. That was one reason the campsite was a good career. No one ever went wandering into the woods to ask questions. He didn’t want people to know his real name and they had
no never mind
knowing his business. His silver hair was the same shade seen on the backs of gorillas with blue eyes the color of a summer sky. He wore light brown-rimmed bifocals needed for
reading
. “Is this everyone?”

Zach gagged, plucking a piece of Todd’s skin out of his hair. Tossing it to the ground, he wiped his hand on his jeans. He coughed, struggling not to throw up. That was just beyond gross and it flagged his gag reflexes. He was wearing another person’s skin! That man was infected or sick too. He prayed he wasn’t about to get whatever the hell turned Todd into a cannibalistic lunatic. “No, we’re all that’s left.” Rolling his eyes, he looked at Brandon. “Congratulations. You shot the right guy.”

Brandon held his fist up for Trevor to bump. “Score!” Of which Trevor complied, smirking. “I told ya we shot the right one!”

“I didn’t doubt it,” Trevor looked around, cautiously. “I just didn’t think ya needed to tell people there was even a question in your mind ‘at we did. It makes us look bad.”

“Uh-huh.” He leaned down to look under the truck. “Are there any other…
weirdoes
hangin’ ‘round?”

Another man joined them, carrying a hunting rifle. He shook his head in answer, pointing to the woods around them. “No, I think we got ‘em all from this site.”

Justice, no known last name, had black hair kept in a tight ponytail with the top-slicked back with enough hair gel that even the winds of a tornado wouldn’t budge it out of place. His intense blue eyes sparkled with excitement and he had the same physique as Brandon but towered over him by more than a few inches.