John Richards walked on the wooden floor in the hallway of his River North condo in Chicago, IL. The sound of his dress shoes echoed off the seafoam blue walls as he made his way towards his daughter Kaylee's room.
 

     Once there, he went inside her closet and pulled out the old shoebox. He opened the box and viewed the pair of worn ballet shoes from when she was 14 years old. Twelve years later, he finds himself sitting on Kaylee's bed, with tears in his eyes, on the tenth anniversary of her death.
 

     Every year at this time, John repeats the same ritual. However this year, he decided to change things up. Tonight, he accepted a dinner invitation with his best friend Miles Dickerson.

 

     Putting the worn ballet shoes away, John walked out and headed towards the front door. Looking around at the vacant condo, he felt it was time to try dating after his wife left him nine years ago. The anguish he and Evelyn endured with the loss of Kaylee was too much to bear for their marriage. Evelyn decided to move to California. However, she never filed for divorce.

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      Pulling up to the Japanese Steakhouse on Michigan Ave., John used valet parking and walked inside the restaurant where Miles was waiting with two beautiful women. Once the introductions were made, all four of them were seated. Pleasant conversations were had by all as the chef came to the grill to prepare their meals. John's blind date Victoria was nice. However, she was not Evelyn, in his mind. Quite frankly, no woman was.

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     The chef pulled out the A5 Kobe Wagyu steaks they ordered and began to prep and season them before grilling. The women were excited when the chef put on a show of making dinner, slicing and dicing to a rhythmic beat.

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     However, none of that could top the flaming onion pyramid or the main attraction, the flambéd Wagyu steaks. Once their meal was prepared, Miles discussed with John about a guys' hunting trip to Wisconsin in two weeks. John did not feel like going, but since Miles was his best friend, he was able to convince John to go. 

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     Riding in the front seat of the brand-new red Z71 Chevy Silverado, John was not aware that this would be a camping trip. With the Chevy's new tow package, Miles was able to tow a 20-foot camper with ease. In the last two weeks since the discussion of the hunting trip, John had been fighting his demons about going hunting in the woods near the lake. With the police finding Kaylee's body years ago in a lake similar to the one they're going to, the memories hit him hard. 

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     Once there, it didn't take long for Miles, John, Nick, and Larry to set up the campgrounds near the old man-made lake where the water receded and the roofs of the old town were sticking out of the water.

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     They discussed their plans for the next several days where they were going bow hunting, and then marking it off on the maps. When nightfall came, Nick was cooking ribeyes over the open flames. He accidentally flambéd them when he spilled his 12-year-old spiced rum into the skillet. 

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     The next morning everyone was dressed at the crack of dawn, prepared and ready to hunt. The kill zone was outlined as nobody was supposed to be there. As all the men spread out, John took a path to the right. The trail led to a patch of bushes where he saw a couple of deer. He tried his aim but missed badly.

 

     Once he retrieved the arrows, John saw a faint trail, barely noticeable. He started down this light path until he came upon a garage-sized shed. With a rusty lock attached, John pulled out a knife and popped the lock. 

     

     Once inside to his surprise, he saw what looked like a makeshift prison cell. Iron bars were lined up from floor to ceiling as a small door stood on the left hand side. Next to the cell there were a couple chain link metal restraints bolted to the wall. 

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     Across the room, he saw pictures pinned to a corkboard. They looked odd as he walked up to get a closer view. They were photos of various teenage girls. Then John's heart sank to his stomach as he saw a picture of Kaylee.  

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      "Oh my God, it can't be?" he said.

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      The door opened, and Miles walked in shaking his head. "I wish you hadn't seen this buddy." 

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      "You? Did you kill my Kaylee? But why?" 

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      Miles ignored John as he pulled out his gun, and shot him with a tranquilizer dart.

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      When John woke up, he looked around to catch his bearings and realized he was tied to a tree. He then noticed both Nick and Larry, dead, lying face down next to the man-made lake. The campfire was blazing as Miles walked up to John.

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      "I'm going to have fun with you." Miles said. Pulling out a leather pouch, exposing serrated hunting knives.

 

     John knew what was about to go down, but he didn't give Miles the satisfaction. Closing his eyes, John was almost grateful his life was going to end. Now he could join Kaylee in heaven.

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      Suddenly, there was a snap of twigs. Miles looked up as he heard two shots fired, both direct hits to his knees. Screaming in pain as he fell to the ground, he looked up to see John's estranged wife Evelyn walking up with a Sig P365 9mm in her hands.

 

     Freeing John from the tree, Evelyn helped her husband up as they walked to Miles. Pouring the rum all over Miles, Evelyn looked at John as he grabbed the matches, lit one up, and tossed it on Miles.

   

     "Flambé this Mother Fucker!"

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     Miles was screaming as he was burned alive.

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     Evelyn grabbed John's hand and said, "Let's go home now, shall we?"