This time as the sun once again crested the jagged horizon, it’s pale light was not as welcome a sight as it had been before. Everyone would rather last night’s incident was a fever dream, or some horrid nightmare. No one seemed eager to leave their tent, either, as though they expected to be greeted by the sight of a crazed murderer, or some horror movie slasher.

Alex didn’t feel any more safe inside his tent than outside of it after the previous night. Thus, he was the exception and readily left the confines of his canvas dwelling, reluctantly determined to face what the day had in store. Instead he just found Dr. Forisch waiting, sitting by a rekindled campfire, poking it with a stick.

Upon seeing Alex he smiled broadly. “Ah, Alex. You’re awake. I have good news.”

“What’s that?” Alex said drowsily, still rubbing sleep from his eyes.

“I’ve found a path down to the other party. We can rendezvous with them in three quarters of an hour, if we’re quick.”

Alex perked up slightly. “Really? That’s great! With all that’s been going on lately, we needed a lucky break. I’ll wake the others.”

Alex prodded the cowering campers awake, and they rapidly dismantled the camp. With Dr. Forisch in the lead, they strode energetically down the path. A half-mile down the path the doctor veered suddenly toward the cliff’s edge. Tucked away there was a very narrow goat trail that wound its way down the cliff face and into the valley below. The trek was tricky and even treacherous at portions, but they made it to the valley floor without incident. There, they doubled back in search of the other party, praying for no surprises.

Jason’s party was found in the clearing where they had been the day before. Alex and the others found a few of them idling themselves in their camp, looking somewhat bored. They had evidently not been getting the wonderful adventure for which they had been hoping. Their expressions changed, though, when the haggard group of fellow adventurers wandered into their camp.

“Hello?” One of them said, somewhat hesitantly. “Aren’t you that other group that we started with?”

“We are,” Mark growled in reply. He evidently was in no mood for pleasantries. “Where is your guide? We need to speak with him immediately.”

“He’s over that way.” The person pointed off in a direction. “He’s trying to find a way up the cliff to reach you.”

“Well I guess he no longer needs to worry about that.”

Mark marched in the direction the person had indicated. They found Jason examining the cliff wall, searching for a way up. Upon hearing the sound of people approaching, he glanced their way and displayed a stupendous double take upon seeing them that would be comical in other circumstances.

“It’s you! We’ve been trying to reach you since yesterday. We heard that older man and that woman shouting yesterday but couldn’t understand what they were saying. It did seem urgent, though, is there a problem?”

“To say there’s a problem is a bit of an understatement. Kathy’s been missing fer over a day, an’ one of ours was attacked in his tent last night.” Jack said, stepping forward as spokesman. “We don’ know why these things happened, but it’s generally agreed that we need yer help to rectify the situation.”

Jason froze for a moment before quickly adopting a confident expression, like slapping a sticker on a white board. “Well, we’re going to have to act quickly then. Can anyone tell me where Kathy was last seen?”

There was some uncertain murmuring that followed this simple question. Jason sighed. “Can anyone tell me why anyone would want to hurt anyone in your group?”

“No. None of it makes sense. Not unless there’s a madman out there who enjoys hurting people!” Susan exclaimed. She looked as though she was about to cry, and she probably was.

“Listen. I’ll take a group and go to your camp. We’ll sweep the area, but there’s not much more we can do than that. We may have to double back and get the rangers to send out a search party.”

Jason gathered all willing participants to search once again for Kathy. Just like the first attempt, no trace of her was found. The day ended with once again nothing to show for their toils, so everyone gathered in the valley clearing, downtrodden and demoralized.

Several of the college students had started a campfire when the search party returned and were having a cookout. None of the searchers were in the mood for such festivities, but opted to huddle near the crackling pit of warmth in the vain hope that they might feel better. Alex was just one such forlorn soul seeking comfort in its glow.

As he sat by the fire, he examined the faces of his new company. Most of them were reasonably attractive faces, in staunch defiance to the law of averages, though somewhat creased by the stresses of schooling. One face stood out among the rest. As his eyes came to rest on her, Alex felt his heart begin to race and his blood run cold. She looked to be a petite woman with an athletic build, long dark hair, and correspondingly dark eyes.

As slowly and casually as possible, Alex moved and sat by Jason. Without taking his eyes off of the woman, which naturally caused him to completely fail at looking casual in any way he asked, “So, Jason, what do you know about her?”

Seeing where Alex was looking, Jason responded, “Her? She’s Ashley. I don’t know much about her except she’s kind of an outsider. She was invited to come along by her best friend, and then her friend backed out for some reason. Why?”

Alex turned to him and smiled somewhat, “She just looks familiar. Thanks.” He then got up and started to walk away towards the edge of the camp. On his way he met Jack and Dr. Forisch talking nonchalantly to one another. Jack had his hands full of firewood. They both looked his way as he neared.

“Hey, can I talk to you two really quickly?” Alex asked, a serious expression on his face.

Jack and the doctor shared puzzled looks but followed Alex out of the camp.

“What’s up Bud? Ya look spooked.” Jack said when they had gotten out of earshot of the camp.

“It’s her. The girl from last night, she’s here!”

“Here? Like in the camp, here?”

“Yes. I’m sure of it.”

“Yer positive?”

“Listen man, I know what I saw. I know it was her.”

Jack drew in a sharp breath. “Aalright. We got a camp of seemingly nice college kids here for a break, an’ one of em is secretly a murderous psychopath huntin’ us like it’s deer season, and we're a ten point stuck in a bush. Any bright ideas on what ta do?”

“I was kind of hoping that you two could help me out with that.”

It was at this point that Dr. Forisch, who had remained silent, began to speak. “I may be able to help you in that area, but I will need help from both of you. We clearly can’t allow her to run loose uninhibited, so we need to apprehend her. If we succeed we can interrogate her and she may be able to tell us what happened to Kathy.”

“I’m pretty sure there ain't no one else in the know ‘bout what she’s done. They’ll try ta defend ‘er ‘fore we can catch ‘er.” Jack inserted.

“That’s why we strike quickly, decisively, and loudly. If we can sow enough confusion, we should be able to act before they can gather their faculties. Then we just need Alex here to point us to the right person. We’ll apprehend her and remove her from the camp to where we are now for a focused interrogation. Where we can get her to confess the information we need. I can ensure we obtain the information we need. Trust me.”

The other two nodded. Alex didn’t like working with Dr. Forisch on this, but his plan seemed sound. It seemed simple. What could possibly go wrong?

Staying to the edge of the clearing, the three of them circled the camp. Alex positioned himself within easy running distance of the accused. He was not going to let her get away. The sun was setting but it was not yet dark. He could make out the dim figure of Jack across the clearing. Alex raised a hand to indicate that he was ready. Jack raised his hand in return, and then rapidly lowered it like someone starting a race. In a way, he was.

The three of them bolted into the clearing, yelling at the top of their lungs as though they were going to battle. They descended rapidly upon the bewildered party who scattered like ants. Alex charged toward his goal, but found his way blocked by confused bodies fleeing for the woods. Maneuvering around them, he attempted to reach her still. He was almost upon her when Jason stepped up to her. Unlike the others, his expression was calm and determined. Grabbing Ashley’s arm, he ushered her hastily into the woods.

Alex followed in pursuit, refusing to lose sight of them in the woods. Vaulting over obstructions and plowing through foliage, Alex chased them to the shore of a small lake. There he found Jason, standing stalwart as Alex approached. Alex could see Ashley swimming frantically beyond him.

“I’ve done what I needed to do, but you’re not going to lay a finger on her.” Jason said firmly, looking over Alex’s shoulder.

Alex turned to see Dr. Forisch and Jack casually strolling towards him. Turning back, Alex answered Jason, “Look. We don’t want to hurt her. We just have some questions. You know Kathy, surely you would like some answers too.”

“You’re not going to touch her.” Jason reiterated obstinately.

“Do ya really think you can stop alla us?” Jack asked and charged toward the water. Jason moved to intercept, but Alex found himself moving in to tackle Jason.

“Can’t we just talk about this?!” He shouted in frustration. Rather than a response, he was met with a handful of sand in the eyes. Reeling in pain, Alex was shoved off of Jason and took a fist to his jaw for good measure. Alex attempted to plant his feet and defend himself, but his feet slipped in the sand. This was followed by a flurry of blows slamming into his unguarded face.

Desperate, Alex flailed for something, anything, that might help him in this fight. His hand landed on some driftwood. Grabbing it, he swung it blindly, feeling the impact as it cracked into something hard. Jason reeled and toppled at the blow, but Alex wasn’t finished. Alex didn’t know why, but he continued to strike his opponent again and again. Blood spattered the ground as Jason was soon made unrecognizable from the successive blows and splinters that marred his previously handsome face.

It was then that Alex halted, dropped his weapon, and beheld his victim. He felt numb. He knew what he had done, but felt nothing. Slowly his hands started to shake and tears began to well up behind his eyes. Alex stood. Slowly and unsteadily, he made his way back into the forest, alone, his reason for being there forgotten.