The Chosen Ones

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Once again Tyler was dropped off at the O'Hara's, and again Matt felt guilty doing so. He kept telling himself keeping him safe was the main priority. One day soon, after all this was over he was gonna spend every minute of every day with him. He made that promise to himself. Mary and Ben, to their credit, never asked questions or complained, it was always, "Bring him over."

Shannon was already with Daniel. It was 6:00, the plan was to head into the woods around 7:30, and get to the clearing at 8:00, where her friends would be in position to help her..... only if she needed it. She was nervous, scared actually, and hoped this was all in her head.

Right now the others were gathered at Matt's in his basement. They all stared down at the guns on the pool table, nervous and unsure. Matt grabbed his handgun, a 9mm Smith and Wesson. Phil had an AR15 and Casey had her 9mm that Murphy and Burns had given her. Shaun got the hunting rifle, and Gab had the shotgun.

"What the hell do I do with this?" She asked.
The gun looked huge in her arms.
"Just point and shoot." Phil told her.
"Phil! Look how big it is!" Gab said in disbelief.
Matt took it from her and gave her his hand gun.
"Is that better?" He asked.
"I guess." She replied with a frown. "I'm still not shooting anyone." She swore.

Truth was, there was no choice that was going to be "better." Most of them had never shot a gun before. They'd be lucky to hit anything they were aiming at tonight. The fact that they were even attempting this tonight was crazy to all of them. In a million years none of them would have thought they'd be in this position tonight. They were twenty-two year old kids. They still liked to hang out, drink beers and have fun.

They stood there a moment, nobody saying a word. Here they were, holding guns with the intent of possibly shooting them at an actual person. It was really surreal considering where they were just three days ago when they didn't have a care in the world.

Bill was still on their minds. If Daniel was involved, so was Kate, that made it dangerous for Bill, and he had not taken the warnings seriously. Nobody had heard from him, now it was officially time to worry.

They had to deal with one problem at a time, however, and right now Daniel was their main focus.
"So if this goes bad, are we prepared to kill this guy?" Phil asked.
"Yes." Casey answered, without hesitation.
"If we feel Shannon is in danger." Matt added, not as certain about murder as Casey was. "But if she's not, if we get no feeling that she is in any danger, we do nothing. We never come out of hiding. It'll be like we were never there."

They were all wearing black, night would be falling soon and they wanted to blend in. They made their way upstairs and out to Matt's truck.
The ride to the woods was a short one. Matt knew an entrance off a seldom traveled road. He would park his truck there and they would make their way through the woods to the clearing on foot.

The night had a chill in the air. Matt looked up before they entered the trail. The tops of the trees swayed back and forth in the cool breeze. The moon added much needed light as they started their hike. Matt took the lead, with Phil bringing up the rear.

Matt hated to admit it, but he was excited. There was an adrenaline rush to the whole thing. The fear started to fade, and he wasn't ashamed that a part of him wanted Daniel to be evil. He wanted a reason, a reason to avenge Amy, and his parents. He wanted an excuse to show someone that coming after his son was a mistake.

Phil mentioned how they had to stay alert for the random teenager. The woods were sometimes a spot for underage kids to drink and party. They knew this because they used to do it too. In fact, the clearing they were headed to was the spot their group used to hang out at in high school. The perfect spot for a fire and beers on a chilly night.