Walking, walking, walking. It seems like he's been walking forever. Still covered in blood, still trying to get away. He's far enough now, but he wont stop moving. He cant deal with what happened back there. He doesn't want to think about it, but he cant get it out of his head. How did that happen? WHY did it happen? Elena is gone now, and he'll have to face it that he just couldn't stop it from happening. Stopping to rest on a fallen log, he rubbed his hands over his face and tried to answer his own questions.

They arrived at the campsite right on schedule. That first night was great, they'd done some fishing and hiking, and even shared some intimate moments before falling asleep to the soft sounds of the river gurgling nearby. Before light the next morning a park ranger had been making his rounds and they'd shared some good conversation over coffee before Elena had awaken. Everything was going good.

After Elena emerged from the tent looking rumpled and beautiful, the park ranger offered to take them to the head of the hiking trail they couldn't find the day before. It was supposed to be a beautiful, very scenic trail and he and Elena were anxious to get going. After walking a short distance through a trail that was not as worn as the others they were there. Elena, being the forgetful woman she was, realized she left the pack with her sunscreen at the site. Since she had lovely fair skin, she burned easily and was, in fact, already beginning to pink on her nose. "Jake, could you get it for me?", she'd asked. Of course he went, he loved her. She understood him. She never laughed at his ideas. The ranger agreed to wait with Elena for the few minutes it would take him to jog the short distance to the campground. He wasn't worried in the least. Turns out he was wrong not to worry.

When he returned to the trailhead minutes later with Elena's pack over his shoulder, he stopped short with shock at what he saw. The ranger and Elena were sitting on the rocks at the trail opening talking softly about something. Jake knew they were talking about him. He knew it. They were laughing now and the ranger was just sitting too close for Jake's liking. When they noticed him, they actually acted like nothing was amiss. What did they think he was? A fool? No, he was not a fool. He'd show them. It wasn't that difficult to get rid of the ranger, no he wasn't any trouble at all. But when he tried to reason with Elena about how the ranger was trying to take her away from himself, well she didn't want to hear it and actually started to scream. She told him he was crazy, that the ranger wasn't trying to do anything they were just talking. Yeah, just talking. ABOUT HIM! He was NOT crazy. This **** happened before with Claire and that bartender and he wasn't going to be laughed at again. After that, instinct took over and it was done. He dragged them one at a time to the cliff looking over the waterfall a mile down the trail and tossed them off.

Then he just started walking. He had to get away. He'd had no choice. The trail was quite beautiful though. The ranger was right about that.

Keyword: hiking

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Comments (8)

Posted by resistanceisfreedom 2008-05-21 13:16:54 .... disturbing, but i liked this alot. makes you see how one's past can alter their future for better or in this case for the worse. + Report this comment
Posted by Hodders 2008-05-21 13:21:25 Well written. I enjoyed this story a lot, I liked the simplicity of it. + Report this comment
Posted by Juda 2008-05-24 22:56:11 ... chilling read. I like the psychology of the protagonist, the way he just killed two people in on instance then was able to notice the trail was beautiful. + Report this comment
Posted by C.R. Vard 2008-05-25 21:10:58 .... i think you should expand it more so we understand jake's thought process better. i liked the end sentence. + Report this comment
Posted by strawberrywino 2008-06-20 17:12:10 great story After walking a short distance through a trail that was not as worn as the others they were there. i wonder if their bodies were ever found, and i wonder what he'll do with his next girl. + Report this comment
Posted by flossy 2008-06-28 14:06:06 .... Holy moly Amie.and you say I'm scary.Been plodding through a few of your stories.You actually remind me of Potter.His writing is very diverse too.Enjoyed this, good story.Could have been longer and you could of explained more about their relationship but that may have ruined the man's surprising reaction.Now I'm off to read something fluffy and nice. + Report this comment
Posted by lemon 2008-06-28 16:32:13 .... flossy, you think this one is freaky try reading 'broken glass' or 'blood on the tile' I swear I dont know where that stuff comes from.. I swear I'm a nice person =] lol + Report this comment
Posted by Something Indecent 2008-06-28 16:42:08 .... HA! That was good. I wasn't sure what was going to happen until he came back to find the two talking. Am I sick or was this just a little humorous? Telling himself that he's not crazy right after he killed his girl and a ranger for talking? I did really like this. Perfect ending lines. Kudos. + Report this comment

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