Chapter Seven

Sickened, I turned to Tancred. “Is this your idea of some kind of sick joke?!” I demanded angrily. Infuriated, Tancred rounded on me. “Why the hell would I do something like this? This wasn’t even here when I left!” he retorted. “Stop it, you two!” Emma moaned. Tancred and I stopped and looked at her. She glared back defiantly, her hands balled up into tight fists, and said furiously, “You guys are so self-centered! Instead of trying to prove your manhood, why don’t you do something useful, like trying to find out where Chad is and whether or not he needs our help!” A sudden cry of fear from Jessica kept Tanc from venomously spitting out his reply. I whipped my head around in time to see the dark, animalistic shape launch itself from behind a tree and land on top of me. “Getitoffame!” I shrieked, pummeling the thing with my open palms. Laughing maniacally, the creature rose and I saw that it wasn’t a monster at all, but in fact jerk-off Danny Cordova. Growling irritably, I jumped to my feet and slammed into his midriff headfirst, knocking him off balance and propelling him backwards with a loud “Ooof!” The others rushed forward and pulled me off of Cordova. “What the hell is your problem?!” I yelled. Cordova grinned. “Hey, just payback for last Saturday”, was his response. I wheezed and shook my head. “Dude! That was a complete accident,” I said. Cordova raised an eyebrow. “Whatever.” Emma sighed furiously. “Dan, why the hell are you here and what did you do to Chad?” she said, her hands on her hips. “What do you mean,what did I do to Chad? He was right-” Cordova faltered as he spied the blood-splattered mess in front of him. “What the?” He took a step forward, then glanced
nervously at the four of us. “I s-swear! He was right here when I went into the cabin! I mean, I came over to tell him that some of the girls kept seeing a weird animal,” he stammered. I narrowed my eyes, then widened them in shock. There were only five of us there. Spinning around, I asked, “Where’s Tancred?” “He went into the cabin,” said Emma. “I’ll go get him.” She turned and walked into the cabin. The rest of us stood around, shuffling uncomfortably. Jessica opened his mouth. “So, um, Danny. How’s football season going?” Cordova grinned and put his arm around her. Jessica practically fainted, blushing feverishly. I looked away as he began instructing her on his favorite pastime. Noticing movement in one of the windows, I entered the cabin before I barfed (Cordova was now visibly flexing his biceps while Jessica swooned). I was feeling a bit peckish, so I grabbed a sandwich from the mini-fridge in the living room. There weren’t any drinks, so I decided to take one from Tancred (he never left anywhere without a Coke in his book bag). As I walked towards the bedroom, I heard low voices. I recognized them as Emma and Tancred. Frowning slightly, I entered the room, only to drop what was in my hands in painful disbelief. Tanc had backed Emma into a corner and was now kissing her covetously. One hand was on her lower back, holding her tightly against him, while the other was roaming aimlessly up her shirt.