***KATE’S POV***

When I heard Brooklyn’s second scream I knew something was wrong, this scream was different from the first one, it was terrified, and I knew the man had found them. I wanted to cry, she had to be in the basement… I was just praying she was ok. 

She had to be, right?

Brooklyn was strong, strong minded, she was motivational, never ever giving up no matter what…

If she died… I don’t know if I could push through and make it out without her. 

She was my best friend… and losing her and Nathan? Well, I don’t know if I was strong enough for that, I just wasn’t. 

Lyle grabbed my hand, “We need to move, if we don’t he’s gonna find us.”

I nodded, feeling pain in my heart, I was sweating, and I didn’t want to move. The fear practically had me petrified. 

Lyle pulled me out of the room’s closet, and he went first, I watched him as he moved silently against the walls. He held out his hand for me to grab, and I did, to afraid for him to leave me behind. I wouldn’t be caught alone… there was no way in hell. 

Lyle’s hand was sweaty, and my hair was damp, had the heat been turned up or what? Was he trying to cook us? Or was it because I was so afraid? The blood was pumping through my body like I had worked out for two hours without stopping. 

Maybe that was it. 

I wanted to find Brooklyn, or Allison, just so I could have a little peace of mind. I wanted to see someone else besides me, Lyle, and the masked murderer. 

Lyle pulled me close behind him, it was dark now, and I was guessing it was probably around 9:30 at night. It felt like the entire night had passed but I was wrong, barely anything had passed, especially since Nathan’s death.

Everything was going in slow motion. 

I felt exhausted  and the night had just started, most likely because I was sweating my ass off. 

Then I was shoved back against the wall, Lyle covering my mouth with his hand. My heart rate went frantic, the heat suddenly getting twenty degrees hotter then it was before, and I knew exactly why Lyle was keeping me quiet. 

The man was getting out what looked like a trap door, it was the trap door to the basement. 

It was dark in the room we were in, so we were hidden quite well, but if we made a noise we would be done. The man slammed the trap door down, covering it with a rug and standing still, as if he was listening.

I held my breath, praying to God that he wouldn’t hear us and turn around. 

It felt like an entire year passed as we stood there, still as can be, like statues. I tried to calm my heart but I couldn’t, sweat was falling slowly down the sides of my face and making my hair cling to my face even more. 

Then he started moving, and he was out the door within seconds, dragging his axe along.

I let out a sigh, feeling as if my heart was going to explode from the fright, “God… that was horrifying.”

Lyle looked at me, nodding, his shaggy hair was clinging to his face as well. He sighed, “What next?”

I shook my head, feeling like I needed a long nap, and a shower, but realizing there was absolutely no reason. I spoke, “I want to find Brooklyn…”

He nodded, I could see the pain in his eyes, I knew what he was feeling. He was so sad, just like me, knowing that two of our best friends were gone already, and praying that Brooklyn and Allison were ok as well. 

I couldn’t lose them to. 

“Are there any phones in here? Land lines?”

I shrugged, “I don’t know..”

I just wanted to see Brooklyn, I needed to, I needed to know she was ok. Her and Allison and Lyle were the only things that were keeping me going. Other then that… I had nothing else left. 

I followed Lyle out and I saw the busted front door, it wasn’t even a door anymore really. I was terrified, what if she came back? We were out in the open, it would be cake for him to take us out. 

All I could keep asking myself was “why”? Why us? Of all people… 

It was still hard to believe, these things happened in movies, horror stories… nothing like this happened in real life.

But it’s happening to us right now. 

Did I want to make it out here? What if Brooklyn and Allison were already dead? Nathan and Zeke were gone… and I already felt like giving up. I was tired… not physically but mentally. I was a wreck, on the inside and most likely out. 

What if I was the only one that would make it out? Or me and Lyle? Where would we end up? The crazy house? Jail?

Framed for murder on our four best friends?

I could never imagine. 

Then I heard a loud shattering noise, and my eyes quickly found the two glass doors that lead towards the porch. I screamed a little, and I saw the man stepping through the broken glass, hit heavy hiking boots stomping through the living room. 

Lyle was pulling me, and we ended up in a room, he slammed the door behind us and it was only then that I realized I almost died. 

I was petrified by the fear a second ago. 

Lyle shook me, “Kate? We have to find a way out.”

I was back in reality, realizing Lyle was pushing a dresser in front of the door, and I rushed to help him. This never worked in movies, but it was ok to try. We needed to break the window, but we could hurt ourselves without something to do it. 

The banging on the door increased and the axe was hammering through it like nothing. The only thing stopping him was the dresser. 

I screamed, and Lyle ripped the curtain rod off of it’s hinges, and slammed it through the glass, shattering the window. 

He helped me out of the window and then he stepped through himself, and I turned back seeing the mangled dresser and door, but no man. 

He was gone. 

Had he given up trying to get through the door? Was he coming meet us now?

I felt the fear well up in my chest again, and Lyle had a cut on his face, red slowly seeping out of it. He was panting, “We need to find the car keys.”

I shook my head, “No, we can’t leave Brooklyn and Allison…”

He nodded, as if hesitating, and forgetting about the other two. I couldn’t leave them here, I didn’t even know if they were dead or not…

But I wasn’t leaving without proof.

Then I heard my name, as if it was somewhere in the distance, I looked up, seeing Brooklyn and Allison in the woods. They were about thirty yards away from me, and I smiled, my heart lifting with relief. 

They were alive!

I stood, feeling like a million weights had been lifted off of my shoulders, and I started towards them.

Then everything changed, Brooklyn’s face turned from joy to bitterness, and then frantic hysteria. I couldn’t understand why, I was alive weren’t I?

What had changed her mood so suddenly?

Then she screamed, her voice echoing through the woods, “Kate!,” her finger pointing behind me, and all of a sudden I knew what she was so terrified of. 

It was like everything flashes before me, my family, my life, me and Brooklyn becoming best friends, me and Nathan meeting, kissing, all the times all six of us hung out together. The football games, the nights we got drunk, the parties, the nights we all almost got arrested. 

Everything happy came to mind in that one split second. 

And that was the last thought I ever had.