"How long have you known?" The guy smirked at Katie.

"Ever since you dropped the Batman voice, Jake," She snorted back.

"Katie, who is this guy?" Kyle asked, although he sounded more demanding than curious.

"Tell me, are you doing this because I kept tapping smokes off you?" Katie spoke to Jake, instead of Kyle. "That's a bit petty."

"You know, Katie, I always liked you. You always act like you're the smartest person in the room. You always have something to say," Jake smiled.

Although he'd normally be considered an attractive man, with his dark, crew cut hair and blue eyes that glowed silver in the moonlight, his smile was that of a man who'd lost his mind. Katie had always noticed that, although not fat, his body and arms were thick. Possibly from all the dead bodies he'd apparently been carrying.

"Just keeping things interesting," She snapped wittily, though there was a hateful tone to her words.

"Sometimes it's best to just say nothing," Jake reminded her.

Once again, the hostages asked Katie how she knew him and she sighed before explaining.

"I thought these guys were my friends. Although, our time in the woods was spent smoking, drinking and getting high. Not dragging people through the forest against their will. Is this just a guy's thing or something?" The last part was once again directed at Jake. Although she was remaining composed, Katie hadn't taken her eyes off Jake once.

"The first night we all met in the woods . . ." Kyle started.

"Yep. I was hanging out with these party animals."

"You could have joined us Katie! You still can," Jake said, pacing back and forth. Although they were transfixed by his every move, his followers hadn't loosened their grip on the teens at all.

This was especially tough for Kyle, who'd always considered himself strong and fit. He found himself wondering if Danny would be fixed in place like this.

"What exactly would she be joining?" Jess asked.

"This adventure! Isn't this exciting?" Jake cried, though he was the only one showing any enthusiasm. "Do you know anyone outside of Falls Peak? Do they even know that we exist? You might not believe me, but I love this town. I. Love. It. But we don't ever seem to get the credit we deserve. I never wanted to leave . . . but I thought I had to. And then there was the Gorgoya!"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Matt asked. It would be him that spoke up when the monster was mentioned.

"Well that's our selling point isn't it?" Jake said. "This shitty old backwater town actually has a bit of history. Our very own monster legend. But after all this time it's become a joke. Like the Loch Ness Monster. They sell coffee cups and t-shirts with this goofy looking thing on it. It's not a real monster. They don't know what a real beast is."

Jakes eyes seemed to flicker then as if something was inside him, swimming around. Kyle wasn't sure if the temperature had dropped but his blood had certainly run cold.

"The monster isn't real," He told Jake. "You're just a crazy guy hanging out with young girls in the woods."

"But does anyone else know that?" Jake countered. "What if we could bring it back? What if we could make everyone believe again?"

"You're nuts," Jess stated, more composed than she'd ever been till this point.

Jake turned his attention to Jess now and slowly slunk towards her. Since they'd first been taken hostage by him, he'd went from being menacing with a growl for a voice, to totally pleasant and almost friendly in the manner that he spoke to them. Even if what he'd been saying was totally crazy. Now though, his expression was something not yet seen by the group. Of all the things that had happened on this night, this one facial expression was probably the most terrifying thing of all.

"Do you like that?" He asked her the hopefully rhetorical question. "Maybe we'll spare you and have a bit of fun. Or maybe your friends would like to watch?" He blew her a kiss and she almost vomited on the spot.

"Leave her alone!" Kyle raged, fighting harder than ever now. Finally he was able to wriggle free from the men holding him. He ran right up to Jake and punched him in the face.

Jake staggered but didn't fall. He smirked as Kyle tried to strike him again, only to be held back in place by a couple more people than last time.

"You son of a bitch!" He yelled, still struggling but this time he couldn't get out of the multiple bear hugs.

"Meh. I've been called worse," He shrugged, stroking the fast appearing bruise on his jaw. "But it's alright. I'm not too keen on little miss perfect over here. She's a bit too innocent for me. But then again . . . you did look like you were gonna give it up real good to this guy before we showed up!"

Kyle then did something that he never ever thought he'd do. He spat in Jake's face and didn't even feel bad about it. Jake though, was angrier than ever.

"You're really not helping yourself, Kyle!" He said in a warning tone. A prelude to what was about to come. He wiped Kyle's slimy gift from his face and immediately stepped up to Kyle and punched the helpless teenager twice on the side of the head.

"Kyle!" Jess screamed, begging for Jake to stop.

Matt's mouth was gaped in horror and Katie was legitimately petrified for the first time in her life.

"You know what?" Jake asked anyone who would listen. He looked up towards the moonlight with his stone cold killer eyes still glowing. "Maybe we will just kill you all after all.

*

The next few minutes were a blur for Kyle, mostly because he could feel his cheeks swelling up, causing his vision to blur. By the time he did finally find a clear sight, he saw that Jess was still crying and the Katie seemed pretty close to tears too. Matt on the other hand, looked locked in a trance.

"Matt . . ." He groaned, sucking in a huge breath as he did so. He was on his knees, looking up at his friends and his wrists were bound by cable ties. The surroundings had changed too. They seemed to be in a shed of some sort, with the only light shining through the hole of a former window. The glass long gone from years of neglect and corrosion.

"Kyle!" Matt snapped out of whatever daze he was in. "Are you ok?"

"What's going on?" Kyle asked, trying to stand but quickly lost his balance again thanks to his bound hands. He felt the damp ground seeping through his jeans and onto his knees.

"They left us here in this shack thing," Katie answered. He couldn't see her well but recognised her voice. "I don't know where they are now or what they're doing with us."

"I do," Matt revealed.

"Care to enlighten us?" Jess asked, incredulous. First Katie and now Matt. She was tired of people holding information in when they knew something. They were all involved in this now.

Matt turned to face them all.

"They're making it look like a witch took us all. They'll probably kill us, brutally, so it looks like it was the Gorgoya."

"But why?" Asked Jess.

"Because they're nuts," Katie shrugged at the obvious answer.

"Besides that!" Jess groaned back.

"I once read this thing about the monster," Matt interrupted the minor squabble. "I forgot about it till he mentioned the witch. There was this rumour in the forties or something that the Gorgoya wasn't truly a live being. It was actually something that had to be summoned. Only old people really believed it and like everything else . . . the story vanished."

"But ugh . . . why would they do that?" Kyle asked, finally making it to his feet on the third attempt.

"That's all I know," Matt sighed.

Just as he finished talking, the door to their chamber swung open, frightening everyone. Kyle jumped so hard that he almost fell back down. Looking to the doorway, they were confronted by Jake once more.

"You were doing so well, Matt," He said, shaking his head. "I'm a little disappointed. You've got all the clues, all the information and you still can't figure out why I'm doing this. I thought you of all people would understand."

"Understand what? You're nothing but a murderer!" Matt screamed.

"No Matt! I am so much more!" Jake screamed back. Somehow he now looked angrier than before. "You see, like I said before, nobody respects us in Falls Peak. No one understands what it's like to be human just like everybody else. But yet, to somehow be invisible at the same time. The Gorgoya . . . it gave us an identity, it made us matter. But no one seems to care anymore. No one seems to believe in it."

"So you're going to bring it back? Summon it again?" Jess questioned, adding all of Jakes rants together.

"No, you stupid bitch!" He growled. "Have you been listening to a word I've said? The Gorgoya isn't real! It's a myth, a fairytale to keep people in line."

"So what's the point of all this? Are you just too high right now?" Katie asked. Despite the fact that she was potentially facing instant death, she was still incredibly frustrated at Jake's lack of sense, and struggling to hide it.

"Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it doesn't have to be real. The Gorgoya is this town's personification of fear. You can't see fear, but it's sure as hell a real thing. People need to remember our past. Not forget it."

"So you're staging a hoax," Kyle finally finished the verbal jigsaw. "To make people believe the legend again."

"Bingo!" Jake whispered harshly. "You see, you might not believe me when I say this, but we're not all actually bad people. We just want what's best for Falls Peak. To be known. To have something to separate us from everybody else. Is that really too much to ask?"

"Why not just build a stupid statue instead like a normal town?" Katie's words did the eye rolling for her.

"Do you remember the rest of the ritual, Matt?" Jake asked, ignoring her. "About the waiting for the perfect full moon? It's almost time. I promise you won't be stuck here for much longer. Anything else you'd like to ask me before I join my brothers in preparation?"

No one said a word and so Jake simply nodded before heading back to the exit.

"Wait!" Matt finally called, unable to hide his emotions any longer. Jake nodded again, telling him to hurry it up.

"What does my brother have to do with any of this?" He sighed as he asked, feeling that he was somehow failing his friends by prolonging their suffering.

Instead of screaming or smiling, Jake stood still, paused in thought. Finally he entered the hut again and spoke so low that it was difficult to even hear him.

"Your brother was one of us. He believed in us. In our cause, I mean. But there was one huge part that he didn't agree with. He couldn't stick to the main point of this little project. We first dreamed up this mission in my bedroom, getting drunk and high and coming up with all these brilliant ideas. And one stood out to me. Katie will know this, what's the first rule of Fight Club?"

"Don't talk about Fight Club" She finished his movie reference.

"Exactly," Jake silently placed his hands together. "If word got out about this, then the whole thing would go up in smoke. Our whole point was to bring the Gorgoya back. If someone found out that it was just a bunch of dudes in the woods then it'd almost be like a step backwards. You know? But Cameron . . . he just couldn't live with the anonymity. He said he couldn't stand doing this and not getting any credit for it, but that was the whole god damn point!" Jake finally raised his voice at the memory. "I mean, what we're doing with you, and what we did with that guy you saw, at the waterfall. We're building a mystique. We're adding all of these layers and elements to it and your idiot brother just went out and undid all of that by bashing that kids brains in with a rock! Leaving all kinds of DNA and everything. It was only a matter of time before he got caught really. He just couldn't see the big picture. Not like I can. I actually thought he'd rat us out once the cops hauled him in. But I guess I have to give him some credit. He's still one of us."

"No . . . I don't believe you!" Matt finally cracked and burst into tears. The others were in awe. They'd obviously seen him emotional before but this was a full on breakdown.

"I'm not lying, Matt," Jake sighed, squatting down in front of the crying teenager. "In fact, what I'm about to tell you is probably the most truthful thing I've said to any of you," He looked Matt straight in the eyes from his crouched position, despite Matt's attempts to avoid eye contact. "Matt . . . I know that this whole . . . crusade of yours was never about finding the Gorgoya. Or about spending time with your friends," He gestured towards the others who were silently watching this, almost emotional, exchange. "I know that this was all about trying to find a reason why Cameron did what he did. But sometimes . . . there just isn't one. Matt, your brother murdered that little boy because he wanted to."

"No!" Matt yelled again, his sobbing becoming uncontrollable.

"I'll let you have some time before the moon is up. Don't get too comfortable," Jake said, reverting back to the heartless creature they'd quickly become accustomed to.

He stood up and headed for the door to the hut, leaving behind him a dark room filled with only tears and silence. And when he slammed the door shut, Kyle, Matt, Jess and Katie all believed that it would be for the last time.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Ok . . . so for a long time I struggled with this chapter. But after taking the necessary time, I actually think that this is one of the best written ones in the whole story. I hope you all enjoyed it.

So now we know the deal! Katie's friends from the beginning of the story are actual whackjobs! How are the gang going to get out of this? Hopefully it wont be too long till we find out!