𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬━𝙖𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙣 𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙡

ⅩⅤ

IT WASN'T UNTiL EARLY THE NEXT MORNING when Reagan and the old woman had finally arrived in Knockemstiff. The small car pulled up infront of a beaten down building. One man sat outside the building, enjoying the morning air. Reagan smiled as she said goodbye to the woman and got her things from out of the back. When she shut the door, the woman's car drove off once more.

Reagan stood where she was for a minute, trying to take in all of the scenery of the area. She sighed as she walked over to the man that sat on the porch. "'Scuse me." She said, making the man look up at her.

"Well, hi there. How can I help you?"

"I'm wonderin' if someone's come 'round here....He used to live here, when he was a little boy."

The man made a face, looking like he was trying to remember something. It went silent for a moment before he had a look of realization on his face. "Oh! D'you mean the boy who's mama and daddy both died here? Up on the house on the hill?" He questioned, pointing to the hill that wasn't that far behind them. Reagan nodded and the man smiled.

"Yeah, he was here. Told me he was gonna go and find 'em." Reagan stopped and just looked at the man. That caught her a little off guard. "Find 'em? What do you mean find 'em?" She asked him, taking a few steps closer. The man pointed to the hill. "He said he was gonna pay 'em a visit, talk to 'em, you know? Sounded a little crazy if you ask me."

Reagan looked back towards the hill, not getting a good feeling from the sight she was seeing. Without thinking, she dropped her bags where she stood and sprinted off towards the woods. The only thing she knew she had on her, was her gun. She didn't put it in her bag in case of emergency and she had to get it fast.

Reagan's heart nearly pounded out of her chest, when she stopped to catch her breath. As she stood there, looking out into the distance, she could see the faint symbol of a cross. "Gotcha." She mumbled to herself as she started walking. As she walked, the forest grew quiet. Eerily quiet. Something was wrong, it was obvious by how quiet the forest had gotten.

Then, gunshots.

She started up her running pace again. Looking straight ahead, not minding to look behind her. Reagan kept her eyes on the cross as she ran. Her only mind was that the one person she cared the most about right now, was not going to be alive when she had arrived there.

She soon grew closer to the cross, this time, slowing her pace into a creep, grabbing her gun out of her pocket and holding it out in front of her. In the distance, she could see someone's body.

"Hey!" She called out, making the person turn towards her. The body turned towards her, the shotgun being pointed at her. "Who're you lookin' for?" She asked ahead. The person started to walk a little closer to her. "Arvin. Russel. You know him?" She had to think quick on her feet.

"No. I don't. Is he important or somethin'?" She had asked once more. The person nodded, before they had both noticed the shift in the leaves that sat behind a log next to them. Reagan's heart stopped as the man kicked the log a little. All she could do was stand there. She thought for a moment before seeing a shoe at the end of the log that she recognized. The man's focus was still on the log.

Reagan cocked her gun, making him turn his attention to her. "Move away from the log." She instructed him, pointing her gun at him. He laughed a little, acting like he knew she wasn't going to shoot the gun. She cocked her head to the side and shot over to the side. "Move away from the damn log." 

The man did as he was told, still smiling slyly at the girl. Reagan stood there, unsure of what to do, but every so often, she'd glance over at the log, seeing that the feet had moved. "You're just gonna stand there with your gun pointed at me? Or are you gonna do something?" 

She sighed. Reagan didn't know what to do. Technically, in all the murders that had happened, she had never been directly involved, so this was conflicting. If she shot him, she would be a murderer, she would have that feeling on her conscience. But if she didn't, Arvin was in danger. That was the only thing she had to think of before noticing that she had been so caught up in her thoughts that the man had turned his back. 

Reagan took a deep breath and put her finger on the trigger. The whole moment after that seemed to move in slow motion. She released the trigger, feeling the motion of the bullet leave the barrel. She watched as the bullet mad it into the back of his chest. Going right through where his heart would be. She watched as the man dropped his gun and dropped to the ground. His eyes still wide open in pain. She winced at the sight of the man lying on the ground. 

Reagan felt two hands grab her waist and turn her towards the body they were attached to, taking her sight off the body. Reagan felt the tears come on. Not ones of sadness or fear. 

The ones of guilt.