DO NOT DO NOT

Chapter 16

"Attention! We are victims!...Well I'm a victim. She's a woman." John exclaimed as he and Gail burst through the doors of the nearest police station.

Gail nodded her head in agreement as the cops ignored them and just continued about their work. One, however, took notice of them and walked towards them to see what they were yelling about. After telling him about their stolen helicopter, the officer encouraged them to fill out a police report and reassured them that he would do everything he could to help them find it.

John finished filling out the paperwork because he was convinced that Gail couldn't, and then promptly handed it back to the helpful officer. He read over it quickly, but saw something that caught his eye and struggled to form words.

"Are you..are you sure that you filled this out correctly? Your helicopter was stolen by a..um..murderer?

"Yes, but the important thing is that we need that helicopter back. It has valuable recordings inside" John insisted.

"But if this person has murdered people that clearly takes priority over a stolen helicop-"

"No, no, no, no, you don't understand," Gail interrupted. "John is the real victim here. The murders are irrelevant."

Realizing he wouldn't get anywhere with those two, he alerted the captain of the precinct and they assembled a team to head to Aubrey's camp and hunt down the killer starting from his last known location.

*****************************

As Beca awoke the next morning, she was grateful for the exhaustion that had taken over her body the night before and allowed her some sleep. She continued lying down next to the remaining Bellas, while pushing away the memory of having Chloe by her side. Due to so much happening over the past five days, none of the girls wanted to go to the police station today and have to relive the horrors that had happened. They figured they would take the day to prepare for their trip there and regain their strength.

Beca looked over at Emily, who was still out cold. Of all the Bellas, Beca was the most worried about her. Being the youngest of their group, she had looked up to the rest of the girls even though she had only known them for a short time. Beca knew she looked up to her, and was scared of how these recent events would affect her. If they had taken such a toll on everyone else, how much more would they hurt Emily? As much as Beca hated to admit it out loud, she really did love each of the Bellas and hoped that everyone would help each other through this nightmare that was happening. As horrible as it was, all she could hope for was that Flo was right, and this would be the end of it.

Suddenly, Beca wasn't so sure she wanted to go home. Sure, this was a nightmare, but she wished she would just wake up and not have to keep living in it. The thought of returning home without her best friends was more than she could bear. She wouldn't even let Jesse cross her mind. She wasn't ready to admit he was gone. Part of her hoped maybe Chloe had made a mistake and Jesse wasn't dead. Maybe he was just lost in the woods or managed to get away to go find help. But she also knew her bargaining was useless, and eventually she'd have to admit he was gone....just...not yet.

The day passed faster than the Bellas wished, and before they knew it, it was already the afternoon and they were planning to have Karen drive them to the nearest police station the next morning. Why Karen didn't offer this before or even mention she had a minivan here was a mystery to the rest of them, but she refused to give any explanation. As they were all sitting in the main building, grilling Karen, Emily quickly silenced them, sure she heard a noise from outside. Aubrey assured her she was just being paranoid, reminding her of wind or wildlife that could have made noise outside. However, Emily was convinced the noise she heard sounded like an engine. Before she could even finish her sentence, they all heard a car door slam.

Suddenly, everyone was in a whirlwind of panic, fearing the worst. Aubrey immediately grabbed her gun, and everyone attempted to hide for fear of the killer breaking in. There was then a loud bang on the door. Aubrey motioned for them to be silent and carefully aimed her rifle at the door.

"Atlanta PD! Open up!" a voice shouted.

The Bellas exchanged confused looks, and Beca carefully peered out the window, and sure enough she saw three police officers standing outside the door. She assured the Bella's they were telling the truth and Aubrey turned to put the gun away while the others opened the door. They were all a bit relieved to see the officers, but they didn't realize how many questions they would have to answer before completely understanding how the cops found out about their situation.

Everyone was exhausted but had relaxed after seeing the cops arrive and not the killer. Maybe it really was over and they were safe. Maybe the cops would catch whoever did this to them and bring him justice. Maybe they could finally leave the camp and get a fresh start somewhere new.

As they were packing up their belongings, Emily and Beca brought some bags out to Karen's van so they would be ready to leave first thing in the morning. They had just shut the van door and locked the vehicle when an officer walked up to them. Emily relaxed when she saw the uniform, but her breath hitched when she caught a glimpse of a dagger in his hand. Before she could scream, the man had his arm around Beca's neck and the dagger pointed at her throat. He threatened Emily not to make any loud noises.

"Please-" Emily begged through uncontrolled sobs. "Don't do it. I can't take this anymore. Why are you doing this to us?"

Without any response the killer looked deep into Emily's eyes and slit Beca's throat. Emily could swear she saw joy in the man's eyes as he watched her face pale at her friend's death. She fell at the feet of the murderer and looked up at him.

"Please. Take me next" she begged with tears in her eyes. "I want...I need this."

She couldn't get anymore words to form but to her surprise and disdain, the killer just stood there watching her.

"I'm not done with you yet," he said as he gently touched her chin. "I'm enjoying this little game of ours too much to end it so soon."

"Game? This isn't a ga-"

"I'll see you soon, Emily. And don't forget: this is all happening because of you."

"Who are you?!" Emily blurted.

He ignored her and turned and walked away leaving Emily to process what had just happened. Finally, the other girls came outside with the rest of their bags and saw Emily lying in the bloody grass next to Beca's body. They were soon joined by the real cops who called in the murders of Beca and their partner from whom the killer's uniform was taken. Emily refused to let anyone move her and seemed to be off in her own world shutting out everyone else. With Beca dead, there was no way she could continue living.