Christmas in a Cabin - To follow or not to follow

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The crystal white beam of light emitting from James' flashlight cut through the freezing rain and creepy darkness of the backwoods he was leading the squad through in search of the gruesome resting place of the mutilated deer. Well, everyone except for heartbroken and regretful Kylie who decided to stay back; stifling her tears indulging in the warmth of the fireplace that replaced the embrace of her ex-husband.

As James led the rest of the group away from the cabin which emitted a golden aurora even from a distance and above the points of evergreen trees Sara began to complain. Declaring that James had lost his mind and that they weren't going to find anything, until she stepped in something that went... SPLAT!

James could've sworn he could've heard that familiar sound from a mile away as he literally jumped in a complete circle and saw Sara disgustedly lifting her foot from the exact same liver he had stepped in earlier.

"What? What're you freaking out about? It's just a muddy puddle." All eyes attracted towards James like minnows to a shark. Concerned eyes, they were. "Are you ok James?" Asked Sara sounding very concerned.

James was acting sporadically; his twitchy and reddened eyes quickly surveyed each member of the group, all of them experiencing a cocktail of emotions: Shock, worry, and trepidation.

"No! No... No. I'm not ok Sara. I'm not ok; you think I'm off MY rocker! I'm not. I'm not. It's actually YOU, Who're off your rockers. I think. No. I know you're all in danger. Grave, grave, GRAVE, danger." Rapidly sputtered James, clearly believing in every increasingly ludicrous word he was spewing.

The squad looked at James in disbelief, his breathing was now raspy and beastly. The squad was dumbfounded at the mental state of their friend and collectively scared for their lives, not because of their prophesied doom but because of his freakish and off the edge demeanor.

Finally, James calmed down, his breathing steadily returning to normality and the fire in his eyes dimming, and his craziness finally leveling out for the first time since his declared divorce.

He unbuttoned the top his top button of his plaid collared shirt, "C'mon guys just..." He put both his hands on top of his head and spun around and exhaled sharply, his back facing the group. "Just come on." He said somberly while looking over his shoulder with tears in his eyes.

The squad looked back at each other silently consulting each other on whether or not they should continue to follow their crazed friend, who was evidently quickly slipping from the grasp of reality and on the cusp of losing it.

Illuminated by the revealing glow of the moonlight, Sara stepped forth. On her way out of the cluster of contemplating compadres she swiped the revolver sneakily from Jimmy's holster.

She stopped in front of her friend and face to face with James, spinning the cylinder with a rapid clicking noise so she could make sure it was loaded with all six bullets; it was. She locked the cylinder back in the revolver with a single flick of the wrist, and pointed the revolver up towards the night sky and her other hand on her hip.

"We'll follow you, ok." She pulled down the hammer of the revolver with a sharp click as the cylinder revolved putting a .22 caliber hollow point bullet in the chamber. She aimed the revolver in front of her, looking down the sights before pointing it back up at the sky again.

Despite being an up and coming actress in the indie scene, and a good one at that, she wasn't joking when she said, "Just know, I have your back."

James looked back in disbelief with glassy eyes then understanding his friends' concern and just simply nodded.

James continued to lead the group back into the woods. He could almost feel the cold glare of Sara's revolver against his back.

And then, James heard it again, the click of the revolver. But it didn't come from behind him, but from the shadowed woods before him.

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