Flight of the Blue Jay Part Five: The Hunters become the Hunted

Stale coffee stunk up the air, the files scattered in front me. My murder board was full of organized chaos, lots of names floating around. However my eyes fell to the picture of my ex-husband Raoul, or was it Ben as he told me for years of our marriage. Ultimately, it was Raoul, not Ben. Had he done something in another state to make him change his name?

“Getting anywhere?” Sammy inquired, rubbing my shoulders. “It looks a little messy right now.” Rolling my eyes, my arms crossed. A sly grin spread across my painted lips, my silk purple robe floating over my body.

“You act like there aren't a bunch of names to trudge through.” I growled, turning towards him. “The real work is finding out what they all do now.” Blue light blinded my eyes, my fingers flicking over my keys. My social media page popped up, my fingers typing in a few names to no avail. A crooked grin danced across my face, an older picture of Ditty Smillit. His current occupation was a butcher, his hobby hunting. The shrill ring of Sammy’s phone woke me out of my trance, a grimace forming on his face.

“All of the suspects that tried to harm you were found murdered in their hospital rooms.” He uttered in disbelief, a scowl darkening his face. “I don’t understand how. Half of the force was there watching them.” Flipping through all of the files, younger photos of police officers stared up at me. Chills shot up my spine, evil grins on all of their freckled youthful faces.

“Look familiar?” I questioned, shoving the files in his hands. “We should get going, like right now?” Sweeping all of the files into a fireproof box, his eyes darkened with terror. His mouth fell open at the sight of a dozen masked men surrounding the house. Pulling him to the front door, our feet pounded towards his car. Leaping in, my hands gripped the box tightly. Headlights flicked on, illuminating the starless night. The engine roared to life, the tires squealing as we peeled down the long twisty dirt road to civilization. Aggressive engines roared behind us, a line of cars chasing us onto the cracked concrete road. Cold sweat dripped down my forehead, my trembling hands shoving the files of the officers into the worn black box.

“Where are we going?” He asked urgently, eyeing the headlights behind us. “What did you drag me into!” My eyebrow cocked, a lump forming in my throat.

“You gave me the files in the first place!” I shouted, waving my hands around. “You dragged me into this.” His lips parted to speak, a bullet shattering the windshield in front of us. Shards of glass covered our laps, my fingers wrapping around my gun. Aiming, the air hissed out of the front tires of the car behind us, a loud pop ringing in my ear as the bullet left my gun. Metal groaned, glass shattered. A couple of the cars crashed into the other, a third car flying up in the air. Metal crunched, glass coating the road as it flipped three times. The remaining cars disappeared into the woods next to the road, reappearing behind us. My finger wrapped around the trigger, only to hear a soft click with no bullet coming out. A dirt road sat on the left of us, Sammy nodding. Burnt rubber wafted up my nose, his car flying down the dirt road. Dark storm clouds rolled in, heavy raindrops splattering his windshield. Thunder crashed loudly around us, lightning illuminating the dark road ahead of us. An orange sign saying that the bridge was out raised a bit of panic inside of me. A calm look sat on his face, his foot pressing the pedal to the floor. The car sped forward flying off the curved up branches, my long hair floating around us. Fear ripe in our eyes, an odd sense of calm washing over me. All of the objects in the car hovered around us, a small scream pouring from our lips. The car cried, the sturdy car landing on the other side. All of the other cars stood rumbling on the other side, shouts of anger ringing out in the middle of the night. He sped on until an abandoned cabin sat sadly in front of us, his car hissing in pure fury. The engine clunked to a stop, curse words streaming from his kissable lips. The door squeaked open, his irritated face was inches from mine.

“What is all of this!” He yelled, gripping my shoulders. “I need to know right now.” Rolling my eyes, I stepped back. Holding my box, wet rain soaking me as I sauntered into the crumbling cabin. His sharp footfalls followed after me, heated words waiting on the tip of his tongue.

“We are dealing with the after school special club of murderers.” I explained before he could shout at me. “We need to find the leader, but I have no clue who it is. The adventure we are about to trek on is dangerous and dark. Also we won’t be able to go back home until this is solved.” His shoulders slagged forward, his hand running through his hair.

“Okay.” He uttered grumpily, the bushes rustled outside. “Are there more of these psychos?” Smiling to myself, I shook my head. A deer crept out of the woods, its brown eyes gazing into mine. Sighing to myself, my eyes searched the bleak darkness around for a set of tools. Relief washed over me, rusty tools sitting in the corner. The storm cleared up, leaving me a space of time to fix his car. His eyes followed me, shock filling his eyes as I passed him my silky purple robe. Popping the hood, a dim realization dawned on me. The engine was busted, fright gripping my face.

“It’s broken.” I whispered, pointing to the belt that was snapped in half. “Do you have a spare belt on you?” Shaking his head, he groaned in pain at the loss of his car. Snapping branches jerked me out of our conversation as an older lady in a blue quilted nightgown came out of a nearby log cabin. She waved us over, her warm smile putting me off slightly. Sammy stepped forward, but my arm stopped him. Her body slumped forward, a man in a Black Goat head stepped out from behind her. His black gloves were dripping with blood, a blade shimmering in the gentle yellow light of her cabin.

“You know too much.” A disguised voice commented, sauntering towards us. “Now I have to delete the two of you.” Cold sweat dripped down my forehead, Sammy stepping in front of me. His gun was raised, a flashlight trembling on top. Cowering behind him, a sense of patheticness sickened me. With a stern look, his face told me to just let him protect me. My white silk nightgown clung to my clammy skin, the familiar sense of fear gripping me. His slender tall body skipped towards us, his head jerking oddly. Dirt crunched underneath our shoes, attempting to run. More than a dozen white masked men circled us, each with a garish weapon in their hands. My cast made me feel extremely useless, the goat man approaching us.

“The files, and we will give you a twenty minute head start.” He offered, trying to grab the worn black box in my hands. “Either that, we kill you all.” Swallowing a lump in my throat, my quaking hands passed the box to him. The men relaxed around us, the goat man tilted his head to the left. With the snap of a finger, a pathway was cleared. Sammy glared over at me, my fingers intertwining with his. The dead leaves crunched beneath our feet, a red four wheeler sitting in someone’s yard. Better yet, the key sat waiting for an eager hand to turn her on. Hopping on, the small engine rumbled. A stream of curse words exploded in the woods behind us, with a rip of the engine the wilderness flashed by us. Neon lights were a beacon in a crappy situation, a cheap motel coming up to the left.

“Leave this here, and I will check us in at The Oasis.” He stammered, pulling out his wallet. “I will use an alias to keep us covered, and then in the morning we will shoot over to my crazy friend with a bunker.” Nodding, I let him carry me on his back. Dirt turned to cracked concrete, weak white lines fading away along with the pink motel. Setting me down, the rugged clerk looked up from his celebrity magazine. His brown beard shook as he talked to Sammy. With the slide of an extra fifty and the flash of a badge, the gaudy pink key swung in his hands. Flamingos flashed above our heads, the bell ringing behind us. Hot breath caught in my chest, only to see an elderly couple creeping in. Icy blue hair curled tightly on top of her wrinkled head, her cataract ridden eyes focusing on me specifically. The older gentleman with liver spots all over his body, and deep wrinkles pleasantly chatted with the clerk. Something was off, especially with the lady.

Pink walls bombarded our eyes, paintings of flamingos on every wall. Walls shook as the door slammed shut, the clicks of the locks sounding like music in my ears. His eyebrows cocked, his hand on his gun.

“What did you do with the files?” He inquired intensely, wrapping his arms around my waist. “When did you switch them?” Pulling out a brown paper bag from underneath my robe, he peeled it open. His jaw dropped to the ground, the files sitting neatly in the bottom.

“I knew that they would be watching, so I put fake files in the box.” I explained calmly, watching the elderly couple walk by. “I saw them when I was looking at the files, so I put a bunch of blank papers and copies of each photo.” His finger lifted my chin, his lips pressing against mine hungrily. Pulling back, he tossed me onto the bed. His handsome face hovered above mine, his hair hung messily around his face.

“I want you so bad right now.” He whispered huskily in my ear, his body pressed against mine. “Do you want me to?” My lips parted to answer, a loud knock shaking the door.