The Predator

He lay there bleeding out, looking up at the full moon in all it's luminance, when Arlena appeared in his line of vision. She was clothed in just her tunic, bow slung over her shoulder. She stared at him for a minute before grabbing him by the hair, dragging his failing body toward the stack of wood.

"Why?" he groaned as she set him up against the side of the bonfire, lashing his arms to the heavier cords of wood.

"This is Summers End, the feast of Samhain, Joe." She looked at him with pity, tousling his hair like a toddler. "While those on the outside play with traditions, we follow with faith. We didn't have that great of a harvest last year; the spirits weren't pleased."

The rest of the town began to gather around the bonfire, chanting undecipherable connotations.

"I was the last virgin in our village; I haven't made a sacrifice in honor, until now." Arlena looked back at her father, who began to smile in approval. "It had to be somebody." She turned in the other direction towards a sullen Sean.

"Lucky bastard." wheezed Joe.

"We knew for awhile of your arrival, but wasn't sure if you would have seen the sign."

Joe thought about the break in the forest; he traveled the interstate too many years to not remember something as obscure as that before. He smiled to himself as he realized that Lady Luck had just given him an STD.

"It's not as if you were a Saint." Arlena pulled a knife from underneath her robe, calmly running the honed blade along his jugular, the rest of his life source splashing on the wood. The townsfolk assisted her, hoisting his lifeless body higher onto the pyre before setting it aflame with torches.

Angus hugged his daughter with pride as they watched the flames lick at the butchered flesh of Joseph Anthony Capella, smoky tendrils rising into the clear, cold sky.

"I believe we may have a decent harvest next year." said Angus as the area around the body grew bright orange, consuming the unknown I-85 killer.

I think in some way I wanted it to end, even if it meant my own destruction." - Jeffrey Dahmer