Joe stands behind a tree, his sword gripped lightly in his hand. He can't help but realize how horribly things are going for him. Just earlier, he got shooed away by a horny couple about to have sex on a rock. He hadn't wanted to stay near the house—it only reminded him of his friends. But now, he had nowhere to go. Every part of the forest was being slowly broken down. It wasn't his safe haven anymore.
He looks around the tree, eyeing the bunny over his trap. It was small, innocent, and Joe felt bad for having to kill it. But he needed to survive, so he runs over to it, yelling about no fear. His sword pierced the skin of the innocent bunny, and a shrill noise emits from the animal. He looks down at it in shame; he hadn't wanted to hurt anyone. He was just hungry.
While he was walking away, bunny in hand, he decided to apologize to the creature. "Sorry. We were just...hungry. I guess we were all just hungry. Sorry I yelled." He solemnly walked back to the house, prepping himself for what was next to come.
He stood there with the rabbit in one hand and a pocketknife in the other. He tried to skin the rabbit so he could cook it. His hands were covered in blood, and he tried to read up on how to properly skin the animal. ""Save the heart and liver if you wish and cut from rectum to collar bone,"" he read aloud. He looked at his work and tried to mimic what the book said, but he couldn't. He ended up getting so frustrated; he threw the book as far as he could.
Joe Toy needed his friends.
The teen boy then began to cook the animal, hoping that it came out good enough for him to consume.
Once the rabbit was finished cooking, he sat down at the table inside. It was the same table that Charlie and her friends sat at. It was the same table that ruined his friendship with Patrick. It was the same table that he hated so much.
Dinner that night was lonely, and he tries to recall the good times him and his friends had together.
~
"Well, anyway, if you guys are going to go hunting, you're going to need these," Patrick says, pulling out two masks for Joe and Biaggio. They were quite terrifying, if you asked Joe. "Uh, they're masks that you wear on the back of your head to keep the animals away from you."
"To keep them from stalking you, essentially," Charlie finishes. She looked up at Patrick and smiled proudly at him. Joe had to refrain from barfing everywhere. They laugh before Charlie grabs one mask, handing it to Joe. It was an ugly mask, sure to scare any animals away. It didn't have spikes on it like Biaggio's did, but it had menacing eyes and a frowned mouth.
Joe laughs. "This one's supposed to be me?" Charlie nods, and a small chuckle comes from her lips. She walks closer to him, giving him a quick peck on the lips before speaking.
"Don't worry. You're way cuter than the mask."
~
Joe stares at the empty chair across from him. He could've been eating dinner with Charlie. Or Patrick. Or even Biaggio. He silently wishes that they were here right now, that their fighting had never happened. Joe wishes that he didn't react the way he did.
There is an eerie silence in the room, and, out of the corner of his eye, Joe swears he sees the chair across from him move. It couldn't be Patrick, Charlie, or Biaggio—he had kicked them out.
His heart begins to beat faster before he musters up enough courage to ask the simple question, "Hello?" There is no answer—Joe hadn't really expected one—and that only heightens his fear. It could be a dangerous animal. It could be someone who snuck in here while he was gone—after all, he didn't build the wall back up again.
Slowly, he lowers his head down to see what was causing the chair to move. There, he sees a large snake. Its beady eyes were staring straight at Joe, and it was hissing rapidly. The teen can faintly recall Patrick mentioning something about a snake and how improper disposal of food can attract them.
Joe mutters a profanity. He had forgotten to properly dispose of the rabbit skin when he brutally murdered it.
The snake beings slithering quite quickly to Joe, making him stumble back in his chair and hit a wall. His heart beats even faster as the snake slithers close to his calf. He didn't want to be bitten by a venomous snake. That isn't how he wanted to die.
He remains completely still, not wanting the snake to sense him. It worked for a while, until Joe felt his eyelids getting increasingly heavier and heavier. He wondered how on earth he could be sleepy in a situation like this.
But that didn't stop him from falling into a deep sleep, silently praying that the snake wouldn't kill him before he could apologize to his friends.
__________
Word Count: 867
THIS IS THE SHORTEST CHAPTER I HAVE EVER WRITTEN I'M SORRY.
I just really want to update with smaller chapters since I'm nearing the end of the book.
Thank you guys for 2K reads!!!!!!! I am so happy that this story got so many reads, and I am really excited to write for everyone reading.
I just wanted to dedicate this chapter to -BeautifulObsession- because she is bomb af--and we might be cowriting a story together so...
Go check out her profile pleaseeeeeee!
Anyway, thank you all for reading. And I'm sorry if this chapter was bad. I tried hahaha
YOU ARE READING
The Kings of Summer
Teen Fiction"Why live when you can rule?" **** I OWN NOTHING BUT CHARLIE YOUNG, HER THOUGHTS, AND ALL ORIGINAL DIALOGUE. EVERYTHING ELSE--INCLUDING CHARACTERS, DIALOGUE, PLOT, AND EVENTS--IS OWNED BY THE WRITERS AND CREATORS AND PRODUCERS OF THIS MOVIE.
