Kate breathed in deeply, feeling the early morning mist tickle her nose. Footsteps pattered up behind her and she held out a hand, motioning for silence. Flapping wings sounded from nearby as a duck landed on the smooth and tranquil surface of the lake. It was graceful, hardly a ripple. Kate’s lips turned up the the bare ghost of a smile.

“Sleep well?” Emil said as he passed a cup of coffee to her. She took the mug and savored the warmth it brought to her hands.

“Well enough… as well as any of us can these days.” Kate answered vaguely. It seems such an ominous statement but to Emil it made perfect sense. He shrugged, sipping from his own mug in silence. The silence wasn’t awkward but rather understanding. It was heavy, laced with grief and a haunting sort of pain.

“Surely some days are better than others.”

Emil finally spoke, prodding gently. Concern was etched in his face, weeping from the dark shadows under his eyes, the crease in his brow, the slight glimmer in his eye.

Kate simply drank from the mug of coffee as she mulled over her words.

“My therapist asks me the same thing… the truth is… I don’t know.”

A sniff from Kate. A quack from the duck.

“I think a pet duck would help me. An emotional support duck. Do you think I could get her onto a Delta flight?”

Emil chuckled slightly at the sudden shift in topic. “I don’t know, the airlines have really cut back on emotional support animals ever since that one lady tried to bring a peacock on a plane.”

“Oh god, remember when Marley tried to smuggle those baby rabbits into her house? She even roped us into it and we were all carrying bunny’s in our pockets and backpacks!”

Their laughter rang out over the still water, shattering the eerie peace that had fell over the campsite. A hint of sadness lingered in the air at remembering their old friend but it was overshadowed by the nostalgia of their childhood antics.

Emil eventually convinced Kate to come back inside the cabin for some breakfast. She obliged, aware of Emil’s hatred for being alone. ‘A lot really has changed’ she mused quietly as her sort-of-maybe-boyfriend cracked eggs into the pan with a flourish. ‘I remember the days when he was a broody little emo kid. He always wanted to be alone until… until that night.’

Kate shook her head, as if shaking the voices from her ear like water. She reached instead for the remote to the television, pushing the power button with a little more force than necessary.

“-scaped after brutally murdering a guard. Authorities have released a statement urging citizens to not intervene if you spot him and instead call and report it to 911. He is considered dangerous, unstable, and possibly armed. Huey Jones was a rather well known and active serial killer originally arrested in 2018, exactly 7 years ago as of today. He was responsible for the brutal murders of Marley Roberts, a 21 year old college student and was shortly apprehended afterwards. While in custody he admitted to 12 other murders, all within the past year. Please exercise caution and keep your doors locked. In happier news, the Livingston Zoo has three new baby wolf cubs-“

Emil quickly turned off the TV, pan of eggs burning on the stovetop.

“He’s not coming back for us.”

The soft spoken words broke the air. Emil seemed unsure, almost as if he was promising himself.

A flash of annoyance ran through Kate.

“Why wouldn’t he? We’re the ones that got him caught… we turned him in…”

“He’s not that stupid… surely he realizes that he won’t get away with it.”

“He’s every bit that stupid.”

“This is like some cheap horror movie sequel…”