Neck Of The Woods by Gary Kohatsu

NECK OF THE WOODS

Gary Kohatsu

Synopsis

There’s been a killing. Brutal. A young woman’s throat slashed and her body dumped in a ravine near the Nile Forest. The latest victim of the Phantom Slayer.

Nightfall -- 12 hours later.

RUDY SAXON (21) hears the report via radio as he drives through the Nile Forest. Along the same road, up ahead, walks DAWN MACHADO (20). Rudy stops his truck for Dawn and we learn that they are both students at nearby Rivermont University. And both have been hired to transport a crate of museum props through the forest and to the University for a morning exhibit.

So begins a night of revelation and revulsion.

Dawn has been paid $500 to oversee the project. She tells Rudy that her jealous beau ditched her in the woods when he found out that she and Professor Lockwood (exhibit organizer) have a “special arrangement.”

Now Rudy and Dawn work feverishly in the spooky forest to load a crate onto Rudy’s pickup truck and then drive it to Rivermont University. ASAP.

But Rudy uses takes the opportunity to lure Dawn into a sexual interlude. Dawn counters by being terse, cold, suspicious and sarcastic.

Dawn also lets Rudy know that she has a handgun in her possession. This hardly deters the chatty and single-minded Rudy.

While working and trading barbs of one-upmanship, a light in the forest catches Rudy’s attention. Just like that, the light is gone. What if the crate contains something other than museum props, Rudy wonders aloud. Minutes later, a car races past Rudy’s pickup truck. Whew — a close one.

As Rudy and Dawn drive along with the crate in back, they spot a stalled car along the roadside. It’s the car that passed them earlier. Oh shit. Dawn thinks the worse. Ian convinces her that if they leave the motorist stranded in the woods, it would haunt them forever if that motorist winds up a victim of the Serial Slayer.

Cell phones don’t work. Can’t call AAA. The students resign themselves to giving the stranger a ride. In back, with the crate.

The stranger notices liquid where he sits, near the crate. BLOOD.

In no time, a confrontation ensues. Identities are revealed. Our 3 characters are: A COP, A SERIAL KILLER AND … A VAMIPRE.

The three vie for control.

However, the X-factor is in the crate. An undercover detective is found dying in the huge wooden box. And under the detective is something more gruesome

A CARNI-VIPE. Satan’s Nuclear-Age Vampire.

Now we have two vampires in the mix.

In no time the second cop is dispatched, leaving only the two vampires and the serial killer.

The killer says he has the power of heaven on his side, as he reveals that he is God’s Right-Hand man. Empowered and blessed to track down and destroy Demons.

The struggle begins, but it’s no contest. The serial killer is easy pickings for Satan’s servants.

One vampire reveals that they have occupied the forest forever, until now. Their golden rule: Never dine in one’s own backyard. That’s how they have remained hidden.

With all the serial murders going on, however, the cops, FBI and media have made the forest unsafe.

Instead of destroying the mortal serial killer, the vampires steal his truck and leave the forest to him. Complete with the bodies of the dead undercover detectives.

And one more thing. Vampires leave no fingerprints. No trace of existing there. Our poor serial killer is left holding the bag.

As a radio report later announces, the killer also has a history of Mental Illness.