“Didn’t Jude seem off to you guys?” I asked
“What do you mean, Amy? He was just startled we showed up at his doorstep without telling him beforehand,” Riley answered
“I don’t know, he seemed more shocked than what he should have been,” I replied
Rebecca huffed, “It’s Jude, of course he’d act oddly.”
“Don’t be like that, we all know how unsocial Jude is, he was probably just surprised is all,” Riley said
While I didn’t say anything more, I found Jude’s recent behavior odd. Sure he is antisocial, but he has been more shut-in and reserved from us these past few months. When we do see him, he seems off, like he is anxious. He gets so anxious sometimes he ends up leaving our gatherings.
I heard a ding and looked at my phone.
“What is it?” I’d rather not look since I’m driving,” Riley said.
It was Jude, he messaged the group-chat, “It’s Jude, he said he’d like to hang out with us at a cabin in the mountains. As a way to apologize for his recent behavior.”
“That sounds awesome, tell him I’m in,” Riley said.
Well it can’t hurt and Jude is doing this to apologize for his behavior. I messaged him back that both me and Riley were in.
“What about you Rebecca? You’re coming as well, right?” I asked
She rolled her eyes, “I guess, I can’t let you fools go by yourself.”
She messaged the group chat that she was going as well. Jude messaged back.
“Jude said if it is alright if we all go this Saturday,” I told Riley.
“Hmm, fine by me,” Riley replied.
I nodded my head and responded back to Jude. Riley dropped us all off at our homes. I walked in and turned the TV on. The news came on about the recent killings in the area.
“Who would be so sick to do that?” I said.
Days passed by until it was finally Saturday. Jude said he’d already be up at the cabin to get everything prepared. He gave the address of the cabin to Riley. Riley swung by and picked me up and then we got Rebecca.
The drive there didn’t feel as long as it was and when we finally got there it was mid-day. We pulled up and saw a nice cabin. Jude was sitting outside on the front porch. When he saw us pull up he got up.
Riley parked the car and we all got out.
“Hi everyone, I’m glad you all could make it,” Jude welcomed us.
“Yeah no problem man, you know we wouldn’t miss out on this,” Riley replied
“Really thanks for this Jude,” I said.
“It’s alright,” Rebecca said.
“Let me help with your bags, and then I’ll show you around,” Jude said.
He grabbed a few bags and we all walked in. Once we had everything settled, Jude showed us around. The cabin looked more like a house than an actual cabin.
“How did you manage this?” I asked
“A friend of my dad’s owns it, I got in contact with him and he rented it out for cheap to me,” Jude answered
“Wow, having connections is nice,” Riley replied.
Jude nodded. That’s odd. Jude hardly speaks of his father. Why would he get in contact with his dad’s friend just for us to hang out. Things felt so odd, Jude’s behavior this week is even more odd than his previous behavior.
Hours passed and we were sitting outside around a campfire. Just talking about random things and having a good time.
“Did y’all see on the news about the recent murders?” I asked
Jude’s facial expression immediately changed, how odd.
“Yeah, I saw it, what type of psycho would do something like that?” Rebecca said.
Riley nodded his head, “Yeah, it’s just sick.”
Jude cleared his throat, “Yeah, it’s horrible. But I brought you all here to relax, let’s not focus on stuff like that.”
Why was he trying to change the topic? Is it uncomfortable for him or is it something more?
“Totally agree with you for once, I’d rather not think about that,” Rebecca said.
“Same here,” Riley replied.
“Sorry for bringing it up, I just wanted to make sure you all were aware,” I answered
“No no, don’t worry about it, we all know you meant well,” Jude said.
After that we talked about more random stuff before we headed off to bed.
I was asleep in bed when I heard a muffled scream. I shot out of bed and grabbed my phone for light. I crept out of my bedroom towards Riley’s room. Riley came out of his room with a baseball bat.
“D-did you hear that,” He asked.
I nodded, “Didn’t it sound like Rebecca to you?”
We rushed over to Rebecca’s room to see a horrible sight. She had been murdered. Her eyes were wide open with fear. Her chest had so many stab wounds you could almost see in it. We heard someone come up behind us and turned around.
It was just Jude, he looked like he just woke up. He looked past us and saw Rebecca and paled instantly, “W-what happened t-to Rebecca?!”
“Did you see anything Jude?” Riley asked
Jude peeled his eyes off of Rebecca and looked at Riley, “N-no, I heard muffled screams and went to check on y’all, but you weren’t in your rooms, so I was coming here to check on Rebecca. I-I who did t-this?”
We didn’t know who would do this.
“Aren’t we the only ones up here?” I asked
“We were supposed to be the only ones here. Do you think there is someone else here?” Jude responded
“Amy, go back to your room and find whatever weapon you can. Lock yourself in the room. Jude and I will search around for whoever did that to Rebecca. If you get any cell service, call the police,” Riley said.
“Are you sure about this?” I asked.
They both nodded their heads.
I sighed, “Alright, fine. But what should I do if someone knocks on the door and I’m not sure if it is either of you?”
“A secret code. You’ll say ‘bears’ and if it is either one of us, we will say ‘cougars’,” Jude said
“Alright, you both be safe,” I said and headed back to my room.
I kept watch of the time, but more than an hour passed and I heard no one outside. I unlocked my door and walked out of my room. I saw no signs of anyone. Did the killer get them both?
I walked around on the first floor and then headed up to the second floor. I shined my light in the den and on the floor laid Riley. Riley, unlike Rebecca, seemed to have been killed in a more peaceful way. He didn’t have so many stab wounds, but he had a big slice on his neck. His blood had already pooled around him.
Tears that wanted to fall when I saw Rebecca, finally fell as my knees hit the floor. I heard the floorboard creek behind me and saw Jude’s silhouette.
“J-Jude, we need t-to leave. The killer g-got R-Riley,” I said through sobs.
Jude said nothing as he walked closer to me.
“J-Jude? This i-isn’t funny!” I said.
“Actually it is,” He said as I grabbed my phone light and shined it on him. He looked quite pleased with himself. He had blood coated on his clothes.
“Jude, what is the meaning of this?!” I asked
He propped his chin on his hand before he laughed, “Well, you see, I couldn’t have y’all figuring out what I had done and telling the police. So what better way to silence you than to do it permanently!”
“You mean, you are the one behind those murders?” I asked
“Bingo! I was just cleaning up when y’all arrived at my house,” he said as his smile widened.
I crawled away from him, “You’re a sick bastard!”
“Hmmm, a very interesting opinion. It’s the same as what the owner of this cabin said as well,” He laughed maniacally.
He walked closer to me, “Stay back!” I yelled
My back hit the wall, fuck, I was trapped.
“Like a rabbit chased by a wolf, you have nowhere to go now,” Jude said as he squatted before me.
I fumbled my hands around until I felt something firm in my hand. I gripped it tight and waited for the perfect moment.
“I don’t understand, they were your friends, why would you kill them? And why in suck a way? I asked
“Well Rebecca died like that cause she was always a bitch to me,” he responded
“What about Riley? He was your bestfriend,” I said
He smiled, “It’s because he was my bestfriend I killed him in the most painless way I knew of.”
He leaned towards me and I swung at his head. The bat connected with his head and he fell over. He didn’t get up. I got up and ran to Riley’s body and searched his pockets. I got his keys and ran to his car. I turned it on and floored it all the way to my house.
I got home and locked my door. I breathed a sigh of relief and went to call the police on my phone, it was dead. That’s fine, I can call the police on my house phone. I rushed to it but it was dead as well. What the hell was going on? Then my lights cut off.
My heart raced with fear, surely it wasn’t Jude. He was passed out when I left, he wouldn’t be up for an hour at the least. The air turned frighteningly cold which nipped at my skin. I looked around hoping to see something, but all I saw was darkness.
I heard my floorboards creak behind me and felt warm air breathe against my neck. I froze up with fear.
“I told you, I’d silence you all permanently,” Jude’s disembodied voice said.