Moonlit Shootout [pt. 1]

Based on a dream I had; oh, that totally was the coolest dream ever.. xD

After ending their senior year, no one can resist the fun-filled and jubilant urge to party. The year had come and gone for all the students at Westville High School, and the best place to celebrate, was at the calm, ever-moving Lake Arnold. People went to camp by the banks of this blue-bodied beauty; they would either go to fish in its crisp waters for the plump, shining bass and rainbow trout, or just gaze at this natural beauty as if it made a world-wonder out of itself. The fish swiftly wriggled through the cool, blue water. Once they spot the tasty pink worms fastened tightly to the sparkling metal fish hooks, they could not resist capturing the bait in their mouths-- suddenly being taken by surprise by the sudden jerk in movement leading them to the outside world above the ripples of crystal-clear water. Lake Arnold never dried out, never turned murky, and never became home to any mosquitoes what-so-ever.

"Oh� of course! Please, I'd love to come!" Lia's brown eyes twinkled in the light at the thought of going on a three-day camping trip with her boyfriend, Joshua.
"Great! I'll pick you up when you're ready, Babe." Joshua crooned delightfully to his girlfriend.
Lia's shoulders scrunched up as her cheeks grew rosy with happiness, "I'll see you around; I can't wait. Mwah! Bye." After sending a kiss over the phone, she hung up and trampled rapidly up the stairs like no other.
"What are you all hyped up about?" Her mom walked up as she noticed her daughter's excitement.
"Joshua invited me on a camping trip to Lake Arnold with his friends for the weekend! I can't contain myself; I'm gonna get ready right now!" Lia continued up the stairs in a whirlwind of sound.
"Oh, be careful, dear; don't forget your cellphone incase of an emergency!!"
"Oh yeah, uh huh." Seeming to have ignored her mother's words, Lia raced to her room and started packing.
"BEEP-BEEP!" The sound of Joshua's dark blue Nissan sounded out in the driveway.
"THAT'S HIM!!" Lia squealed as she happily flew down the flight of stairs and burst out the front door.
"Have fun, hunny!" Her mom shouted from the living room.
Lia's feet pounded the pavement as she came up to the car and plopped into the front seat. Looking in the back seat, she recognized Josh's friends Rick and Alfred, along with Rick's girlfriend-- who was also Lia's best friend-- Cameri.
"Hey!" Lia waved to them.
"Oh my gosh, Lia, did you get my message on Myspace last night?" Cameri leaned forward.
"Yeah, can you believe that? And to his own daughter as well, that's so horrible!"
"Yeah, but she said he would go to jail for, like, I dunno, four years? Psh, that's seriously not long enough; poor Anita."
"Damn Congress." Lia glowered.
"Eh, at least they caught him."
"Hey, while you ladies are rambling about crap, you can go ahead and put your seatbelts on; thank you." Joshua ordered.
"Yes Sir, Sirty-sir-sir-sir!" Cameri saluted.
Shifting the gear into reverse, Joshua rolled his eyes and backed the car out of Lia's driveway. Then, he shifted into drive the car sped off up the street, away from the house.

Within a half an hour drive, the teens finally made it to Lake Arnold. The car was full of exuberance as they blasted the Beatles' music with the windows way down so that the whole world was aware of their excitement. Then, the music suddenly stopped after Joshua took the key out of the ignition and every door burst open.
Alfred ran out and cupped his hands around his mouth to amplify his loud whoop of excitement. It was great to be in the outdoors, which was like a burst of energy after escaping the hectic semi-urban world.
"What are you doing, Alfred?" Rick ran up from behind and play-fought with him. The two jerked around at each other and threw small, playful punches.
"Hey!" Joshua yelled out at the two.
By the lake, their was a cabin in which they all were going to stay for the next three days. From the door, Joshua's father walked out and up to the two boys horsing around.
"You two cut it out, alright?" He sternly said.
"Sorry." They finally stopped and looked up at Joshua's father as if he was going to knock their teeth out.
"Hey Dad." Josh walked up.
"Hey Josh, I got the cabin all set up for you kids." He turned to the boys next to him, "Hey Alfred, how's your mother doing?"
"Ok�" Alfred nervously replied.
"You getting' ready to really buckle down for college? You know what you're gonna be later on?" He spoke as if Alfred was a delinquent with no direction in his life.
"Yeah, why? And I don't really know quite yet."
Josh's dad frowned, "Well you better figure out before it's too late!"
"Ok, um, Dad--"
"Yip-yip!" A little brown and white Beagle scampered up from behind Josh's dad; Lia quickly bent down with outstretched arms and let the little dog lick her face.
"Riley!" Cameri knelt down beside Lia and patted the dog's little head.
"Alright," Josh's dad was about to hand him the keys to the cabin, but paused for one last stare-down to make sure Josh wouldn't do anything stupid, "These are the keys to the cabin. Do not loose them; do not make a mess--"
"Dad--"
"Ah! Listen: no parties; I want no trash; do not break anything; and if I see even one empty beer bottle, you are never aloud in that cabin again, you understand?"
"Yes, just give me the keys; you know I'm not going to do anything stupid, c'mon, Dad."
"Good. Here." He handed Josh the keys and then started off to his pick-up truck, "You kids have fun ok? I'm gonna come back later on tonight to see how you're doing, bye!"
"Bye!" They all called back and waved. As soon as Josh's dad drove off, they all bolted up to the cabin with their things.
"Man, this is great! My dad has never trusted me with his summer home before!" Josh said as he opened the door.
"Your dad is so cool for letting us use it!" Rick replied.
"I wonder what made him suddenly let us camp in it�." Lia stated.
"I dunno." Alfred bolted in after Josh opened the door and plopped down on the couch, "But it's pretty awesome that your dad has a second house right by Lake Arnold!"
"Yeah, he uses this place sort of as a place he can sleep when he goes on his business trips up in Sacramento." Josh explained.
"It's nice." Lia commented.
"And big!" Rick added.
"Well, he does work for a big business; therefore he gets a big pay."
"Does that instantly mean you're gonna be successful in life just like your father is?" Lia asked.
Josh blushed slightly as he nervously replied, "Umm, I don't know�."
Lia chuckled, "I'm kidding, Josh! C'mon, let's break out the fishing gear; I'm feeling lucky!"
"Would it rather help your ego if we dropped you off at the zoo so that you could fish for dolphins?" Alfred sneered.
"Dolphins aren't fish, you ding-dong." Lia narrowed her eyes at him.
"But they could be, as anything smaller than a bus isn't worth catching, eh Lia?"
Lia slapped him in the stomach, "Shut up, Al!"
"Alright, alright, settle down guys; remember, my dad doesn't want any fighting either, because it usually leads to killing each other." Josh stopped them.
"Sorry; Alfred's being a little smart-a*s today." Rick leaped up from behind and locked his arm around Alfred's neck.
"No, Rick, stop!" Josh broke them apart.
"Whoops! Ok Dad I won't do it again." Rick let go of Alfred and shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Let's go, people!" Lia urged.
The fishing poles were taken down to the side of the lake. Everyone was enthusiastic about fishing, even though they knew Lia was going to catch the biggest out of all of them, because she always did. It was since she was so good at spotting the big ones and casting her line where they would bite-- that was her secret. She was taught how to fish and that method by her father, whom she went fishing with every weekend when she was five. Of course, the rest of them didn't know her secret; they just thought the big fish stuff was based on pure luck!
"Here fishy-fishy-fishy�." Lia softly coaxed the darkened shapes which moved beneath the surface of the crystal-blue ripples. Once she saw a large one, she cast her line towards its shadow and waited. Every time she went fishing, Lia would flip back, in her mind, to the memory of the day she caught her first fish, and then play it back in her head:

"Dad, I wish I was as good as you; I wish I could catch fish just like--"
"Honey, keep your eyes on the rod; look you got a bite!" Her father scooted closer to her and pointed out at a fish fighting with the line.
"Huh? I did?" She looked ahead at the fish.
"Reel in, hurry, hurry, hurry!!"
Lia carefully spun the reel to bring the fish in; her father went on, "You gotta be fast; that fish isn't gonna wait all day to be caught. He's gonna get bored and eventually let go."
"I'm trying!" Lia struggled with the line until finally the fish flopped onto the boat. Lia picked it up and held the fish to her side.
Her father's eyes widened, "Holy cow, you caught a big one!" Examining the fish, he found that Lia had just caught one as big as her leg!
Lia sat and smiled at the memory; that was her good luck charm. It was her first fish, and on that day, it was the biggest one either of them had caught.

"Honey, keep your eyes on the rod; look, you got a bite!" Joshua snapped her out of her daze and pointed out at the fish fighting with the line.
"Huh? I did?" Lia sat up and looked ahead.
"Reel in, hurry, hurry, hurry!!!"
Lia quickly reeled the fish in and flopped it up on the dock.
"Damn, Lia, why do you always have to catch the biggest fish?" Alfred scowled.
"That's my girl!" Cameri pat Lia on the back.
"Thanks, it really was nothing." Lia bragged.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, let's just get on with catching the damn fish so I can cook them, ok?" Rick cast his line out again after failing to catch another fish.
"Jealous?" Lia leaned towards Rick.
"More like annoyed!" He shoved Lia away, "You just carry on with catching every fish in this whole damn lake."
"Relax, man, just because she's better than us at fishing doesn't mean she's better than us at everything." Josh stated.
"Shut up, Josh, I wasn't talking to you!"
"Make me!"
"Ok, I will!" They both stood up.
"Ok, ok, now guys, can you hold off on the fighting at least this once?" Lia and Cameri stood up.
Josh passed Cameri a hard look, but then relaxed when he noticed Lia standing sternly with her arms folded and her left foot tapping impatiently. He sat down, "Sorry�"
Cameri and Lia exchanged content looks and sat back down as well.

By the time the sun barely peeked over the horizon, the dock had several piles of fish of various sizes. Lia caught the most, therefore she had the biggest pile right next to her. They were able to call it a day when Rick stood up, indicating that it was time to cook.
"Just look at that sunset." Lia said, mystified.
Alfred paused in the midst of following Rick into the cabin, "Sure."
"Just look at it, though! See how the orange and red and yellow and pink mixes so beautifully."
Alfred frowned, "I'm a casher at Big Lots, not an astronomer."
"What does astronomy have to do with sunsets--"
"How would I know! I couldn't think of another word, ok?" He threw up his arms. Lia and Cameri both laughed.
"It's ok, Al, you go inside and help Rick." Cameri said. With that Alfred turned and headed up to the cabin with his own armful of fresh fish just waiting to be gutted and cooked.
The sun's luminescent rays continued shining dimly over the small hills in the distance. Minute purple and pink clouds hovered like bits of garland strung delicately against the yellow, orange and pink sky. Slowly, the sun resided behind the hills until there was nothing more of it showing but the incandescent light, which was gradually engulfed by night. It was a beautiful sight; the image stuck in Lia's mind so that later on she would pull it out again to remember this amazing weekend.
Josh's arm rested around Lia's shoulders. He leaned close to press his lips against her soft cheek.
In the distance, there stood a figure-- two, in fact-- that seemed to appear out of nowhere. They stood like ghosts as they watched the three teenagers sitting on the dock. With night coming in, it would soon be too dark to see without a flashlight.
In the cabin, Rick and Alfred prepared the fish. Rick was an excellent cook-- taking after his father, who was the head chef of a sophisticated restaurant up in Las Vegas. Since Alfred enjoyed Rick's cooking every bit as much as anybody else did, he always helped him with his meals by setting up the plates and eating utensils.
As Alfred set the paper plates and plastic utensils, he looked out the window and winced at the sight of the two figures standing in the distance.
"Hey� Who are they?" Alfred pointed. Rick cast his gaze out the window.
"Must be other campers."
One of the figures turned on their flashlight and shined it brightly from where they stood. Cautiously, Alfred opened the back door and called out to the figures, "Hey! How's it going?"
"Mighty fine." One of them called back; now Alfred could tell they were both male-- and human-- so he sighed a sigh of relief and replied back once again.
"Are you guys camping out here? There's a campsite right behind where you're standing."
The figures started moving from their statue-like states-- neither of them saying anything. They both shined flashlights at the cabin and moved in closer, soon becoming close enough for Alfred to distinguish the darkened objects they each held. His eyes widened.
"Are those� rifles?"
"What?" Rick dropped the pan of fish on the table behind Alfred.
"Oh, these? Yeah, we just came back from huntin' deer." One of the men responded.
"Oh, ok." Alfred relaxed. He turned to Rick, who still stood as wide-eyed and pale as a person who'd just seen a ghost.
"Deer aren't in season�."
Riley lifted his head and peered across the land from the dock at the possible intruders. He quickly jumped up and let out loud yips that woke Lia, Josh and Cameri from their slumber.
"Mmm� Riley! What on Earth are you--" Lia was interrupted by the sound of a loud, thunderous gunshot near the cabin.
"OH MY GOSH!!" Alfred's scream boomed from the cabin. At that point, the three at the dock had jumped up. There was a short pause before yet another gunshot rattled through.

Author's Note

I came up with this from a dream that I had quite a few months ago. The names of some of the characters were entirly made up, like Lia and Cameri. No, I didn't misspell Lea or Cami or whatever; these are names I came up with on my own, just so ya know...

Reviews

[Mikael Malmberg]

God, this is an amazing story! I loved the suspense and the horror elements. The ending got me really excited.

You have to continue this. I just yearn to read on.

By the way, I also write horror. If you're interested, check it out. :)