The Chosen Ones

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

"We have to go." Matt told them.
"We can't just leave him here." Shaun said.
"We have to. I guarantee the police are swarming Maple Brook woods right now after all those gunshots. They are going to find Daniel's body. We can't call them saying we found Bill hanging here, there will be too many questions that we can't give the answers to." Matt explained.
"He's right." Shannon said. "We make an anonymous phone call."

They said their goodbyes to their friend. Shaun crossed Bill's arms on his chest. Matt took the knife that had been embedded in him. The police and coroner would see he was hung and see the stab wound. They'll know he was cut down and placed on the ground. They'll know Bill was murdered, but they won't know why or who did it.

Matt did a quick scan for security cameras inside and out of the garage, but there were none. The place had been abandoned for a long time. They were in the clear as far as he could tell. Just to be safe Phil wiped the handle to the roll up door that he opened and the knob to the office Shannon had turned.

It was a somber ride back to Matt's house. The incident with Daniel seemed like a week ago now instead of just a few hours. They had been on a high from striking first at this cult. The only problem was that they had underestimated them, and Bill paid the price.

Once inside Gab broke down again. Phil took her to the the bedroom they stayed in when they slept at Matt's.
"I don't want to do this anymore! I want to leave! Take me home!" Gab could be heard screaming through her tears.

The others hung around the kitchen table. They gave out hugs to each other, losing Bill was like losing a sibling, that's how tight they all were. They were a family, and they had lost a brother.

About fifteen minutes later Phil rejoined them, telling the others Gab had fallen asleep. They had all been waiting to hear Bill's letter. Matt took it out and read it aloud:

"Hey, if you are reading this I'm probably dead. I don't think I'm going to get out of here alive. Matt you were right, Kate is not who she said she was. That's how I got here. They didn't cover my eyes when they took me to this place, thats how I know I'm never getting out. I'm in the basement of a house in Somerdale, on Woodlawn Ave. Its the last house on the left, kind of run down looking. This group stays here, all of them. They do seances and rituals, chanting, all kinds of weird shit. I don't have much time so here's the details: there are 27 of them, they leave the house every night at 9 and return at 11, at least the last two nights I've been here. I think they search for Tyler and all of us or something. They don't know where any of us live except for me and Shaun. They come down here and do some ritual every night. They have a book they refer to all the time. It's big and says Book of the Damned on it. Get this book, it's important. I love you guys."

"I'm gonna kill her. I'm going to kill Kate." Shannon said, after hearing Bill's last words.
"Twenty-seven?!" Phil remarked. "Jesus Christ."
"That's way more than I ever thought." Casey said.

"Technically twenty-six now." Matt said, referring to the now deceased Daniel.
"Odds still aren't good." Shaun said. He walked away from the table. "I still can't believe he's gone, man." He whispered.
Bill and Shaun were tight. They were roommates, co-workers, and brothers. Not by blood, but they may as well have been.

"We know where they are." Matt told them. He was trying to focus. He hoped when this was all over he would have time to grieve for his friend. He couldn't do it now. Bill's letter had given them a huge advantage. He needed to figure out their next move.

"We know when they leave the house, and when they come back. And they have no idea we have that information." Matt continued.
"So what do we do? Go in shooting?" Shannon asked.
"I don't know that yet. Right now we use that two hour window when they leave to go in there and steal that book." Matt replied.

"Exactly." Casey agreed. "Bill said it's important. We get it, THEN come up with a plan of attack."
"Right." Matt said. "We'll go tomorrow night."
Thanks to Bill they had the upper hand. Now, they just had to use what they knew to their advantage.

Phil returned to the room with Gab to turn in for the night. Shaun fell asleep on the couch. Shannon went up to her room to go to bed, leaving Matt and Casey alone. It had been a hell of a night.

He took the trash bag that contained all their clothes from earlier that night and walked it out to the backyard and over to the fire pit. He put the whole bag in there, sprayed lighter fluid on it, then struck a wooden match.

Standing side by side they watched it burn. Matt took Casey's hand as she leaned her head on his shoulder.
"I'm so sorry about Bill." She said.
He stared into the fire, they could both feel the heat from it and could smell the burning fire that filled the air with the evidence of a night they wouldn't soon forget. Although the fire burned high, they could still feel the chill in the air.

"It's not your fault. It's theirs." Matt told her, echoing Shannon's words from earlier.
"We're going to make them pay." Casey said.
Matt nodded, still staring into the fire.
"Every fucking one of them." He said.