I Found Keys In The Forest—They Unlock Something That Was Never Meant to Be Opened
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So you were busy throwing up when it all happened? I try not to squint against the bright lights. They told me not to squint. It makes me look sinister. But it's hard not to glance at them. They just seem so strange out here in the middle of the forest.

But the network wanted to do the interview where it all happened. So here I am. I clear my throat. "Ahem, uh, yeah," I say and shrug, trying to go for nonchalant, but probably looking more like I have a twitch. "I'd been drinking hard all day.

"So you, what, got up and walked away? You had no idea what was going to happen?" "Well, no, of course not. It's all a little hazy. But yeah, I got up and just stumbled away, until my guts decided they wanted out." I laugh a little. The reporter doesn't. She just gives me a hard look that I'm the dumbest person on the planet. She may be right. I shuffle in my seat. She stays stone still in hers.

"Then what happened?" she asks, after what feels like a million years of silence. "Um, well, I um, well I, you know." I want to wipe my forehead, but they said not to do that or I'd smear my makeup. How did it get this far? How did I end up sitting in a chair in front of a reporter with bright lights searing my eyes and a camera in my face? Why did I end up back at this place? Hallie, that's why.

"Take the next left," Molly said, her eyes locked onto her phone even though we haven't had cell service for like the last twenty miles. "Here?" Her twin sister, Morgan, responds, leaning forward as she tries to hunt for the turn. "I'm not seeing anything, Maul. It's on the left, slow down. Still not seeing anything. There," I said and tapped the backseat window as we drove past the semi-hidden gravel road. "Back up." I was already three beers in and it was only ten in the morning.

But I wasn't drunk. Three beers is nothing. Morgan stopped the car and looked back over her shoulder. "Where? Oh my god, Morgan!" Hallie snapped from her spot, riding in the middle back seat. "Can you fucking drive or what?" And it's Hallie. It's Hallie like it rhymes with valley. She's mentioned the difference about 800 times since we left the city. Hallie, for the record, is a bitch. There's no getting around that.

It wasn't a matter of her just being misunderstood or using her abrasiveness as some defense mechanism. No, not Allie. She could be in the zenest, most blissed out state and she'd still be a bitch because that's what she is. A bitch. "I see it," my best bud Ned said. "Right there." "You can't see shit, asshead," Allie snapped. "You know why? Because you've been staring at my tits this whole ride."

"What? I have not!" "It's not all about you, Hallie," Scarlet mumbled from way back where she was crammed in with all the camping gear and coolers. And beer. "Shut it, weirdo," Hallie growled. "Who invited you anyway?" "We did," Molly and Morgan said at the same time. "So back off, Hallie," Molly added. "Yeah," Morgan agreed. "Whatever," Hallie muttered as she elbowed me and Ned in the ribs. "Can you two stop crowding me?"

"Whatever," Ned replied in a perfect imitation of Hallie. Morgan got us backed up and turned onto the gravel road. We drove for a solid 45 minutes before the road curved to the right and we finally arrived at the campsite. "Uh, guys?" Hallie said after she shoved me out of the back seat so she could get out the second the car stopped. "Where's the cabin?" "Cabin?" Molly and Morgan asked. "What cabin?"

"You thought we were staying in a cabin?" Ned asked, then started laughing. "Seriously? What the fuck did you think all the gear was for?" "For you two," Allie said, looking from me to Ned and back to me. "Guys sleep outside. Girls sleep inside." "There's no inside," Scarlet said, still inside the car. "Um, can someone open the back hatch and let me out?" "Scarlet? This is Scarlet Winters?" the reporter asks.

"Yeah." I say and swallow hard. "The woman's still missing?" "Yeah." "I see." She looks down at her notes. "And you have no idea where she is?" I shake my head. I don't dare open my mouth. "No?" She asks. I keep shaking my head. "Okay." She checks her notes. "You all arrived at about 11 that morning. Then what?" "Beers." I say and smile.

"You are so juvenile," Allie said as Ned and I finished shotgunning our fourth beers. I belched like I was a lion roaring. Ned tried to burp the alphabet, but he only made it to L before he had to turn and cough up some foam. "Gross!" Allie said and stormed off into the bushes. "I have to pee. Thanks for the warning," Scarlet said as she set up her domed tent. "Shut up, freak!" Allie shouted before being swallowed by the huge ferns and azaleas that were everywhere.

All we heard for several minutes was Hallie cursing and the death of a lot of foliage. Then she burst out of the bushes and announced, "There's no bathroom anywhere! Where's the fucking bathroom?" We all looked at each other then started laughing. "What?" Hallie shouted. "I am going to pee my pants, and you assholes are laughing at me!" "We're camping, Hallie," Molly said. "You pee on the ground or dig a hole for number two," Morgan added.

You fucking kidding me? Allie snarled like a wild animal backed into a corner. I am not doing that. You're gonna what? Hold it for three days? Ned asked, tossing me another beer. This is warm. Do you really care? No, not really. I opened the beer and chugged it. You'll get a UTI if you hold your pee for three days, Scarlet said.

"Thanks for the medical advice, Dr. No-Shit Sherlock," Allie spouted Scarlet. "Seriously, assholes, this no-bathroom thing is not acceptable." "I'll dig you a hole," I said and chucked my empty beer can at Ned. "I'm not squatting over a hole," Allie insisted. "Then what?" Scarlet snapped. We all went quiet. Scarlet never got snappy, snippy, or pissy. She was like our even keel. A little weird, yeah, but always chill.

"What are you gonna do, Halley?" Scarlet asked, walking away from her tent so she could storm over and get in Halley's face. None of us knew what to do.

"No way you can hold it for three days," Scarlet continued. Halley tried to back away, but Scarlet grabbed her by the arm and yanked her in close. "And what, Halley? You expect us to believe you don't shit? Too good to poop, is that it? You are going to be hurting bad by tomorrow morning. Do everyone a favor and let Jordan dig you a hole, then get over yourself." Halley pulled her arm free and shoved Scarlet away.

"Who the fuck do you think you're talking to, freak?!" Hallie shouted. "You ever touch me again, and they'll never find your body!" She said that? She threatened Scarlet? The reporter asks. Well, I mean, Hallie kinda threatened everyone. It was her thing. But she said they'd never find Scarlet's body. The reporter continues, pushing hard at me. And so far, Scarlet Winters has not been found. They haven't found Ned either, I say.

And I know Hallie didn't make him disappear. Really? How can you know that? Because I was there. You were where exactly? With Ned. The reporter sighs. Can you elaborate a little? I mean, sure. That's why I'm here, right? To tell you what I told the cops and the FBI and the Forest Service and everyone?

"I mean, you're paying me a lot to tell this." "We'll cut that," the reporter says, a little exasperated. "Stick to answering the questions I ask. No need to editorialize on your motivations for participating in this interview." "Um, okay, sure," I sigh and look around. "Do you want to hear what happened or not?" "Yes, yes. But let's not get to your friend's disappearance quite yet. That's what happens next. Other than the fight, the ship with Ned is what happens next."

The fight? What fight? Do you mean Scarlett and Hallie's confrontation? What? No. Ned and Hallie. The reporter checks her notes, then checks her notes again. She looks up. Carla! A young woman with a headset around her neck emerges from the glare of the lights. You have everything the police released? The woman, Carla, says before the reporter can lay into her. You asked me to get everything and that is everything. Obviously not. The reporter snaps.

Then ask him about it, Carla says, and returns to her anonymity behind the camera and the lights. The reporter gets herself together then turns her smile on me. Tell me about the fight, Jordan, she says, her voice calm and professional. I know the public will want to hear about this hidden tidbit. I told the cops. She just smiles at me. Fine, I'll tell you.

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Ned grabbed the small shovel from the pile of gear and walked off into the bushes. "I didn't ask you to dig me a fucking hole, Ned!" Allie screeched right on his tail. "She's in a great mood," Morgan said as she found her tent and began to set it up while Molly busied herself with putting the screened enclosure together. "She's always in a great mood," Molly said, several random pulls in her hands. She looked at me and raised her eyebrows. "Jordan?"

"I gotcha," I said and finished my beer before taking the poles from her. "Get the grill set up and I'll handle this." "I don't know why we invited her," Morgan said. "Because she's our roommate, and it would have been rude not to," Molly said, shifting gears and getting the portable gas grill legs locked into place over by the portable picnic table we brought. "So we have to suffer because you didn't want to be rude?" Scarlet asked. "She has a point," I added.

Well, not everyone is cut out for camping, Molly said, screwing the grill's hose onto the propane tank. Give her a break. Hallie isn't cut out for anything except being a royal bitch, Scarlet said. She finished her tent and grabbed her stuff from the pile of backpacks and sleeping bags. And before you pretend to be offended, Molly, you know it's true. She has a point, I repeated. Shut up, Jordan, Molly said. A scream followed by a pained shout filled the air.

We glanced at each other, then all dropped what we were doing and rushed into the bushes. There wasn't a trail to follow, but we didn't need one. Ned's pained shouts and Hallie screaming at him was all the path we needed. Fucking peeping Tom! Hallie shouted as she stood behind a tree while Ned sat on the ground, his hands to his head, blood everywhere. What the fuck, man? I asked as I knelt next to him. She threw the shovel at me!

I pulled his hands away and gasped. Molly shrieked a little. Morgan made a gagging sound. And Scarlett just stood there for a second, then turned around and raced back to camp. A long flap of skin dangled from Ned's forehead. "He tried to watch me pee!" "No, I didn't," Ned said quietly. "I didn't know you were gonna just drop your pants and go right then. I was looking for some branches to cover the hole with. I wasn't done." "I didn't know that! You could have told me!"

"I can't, man," Ned said, looking up at Mia's blood stream down his face. "I just can't with her." "First aid kit!" Scarlet announced as she returned. "I think he needs stitches. Yeah." Molly agreed. "No, I got this," Scarlet said and began to clean up Ned's wound.

She had his face cleaned and the wound irrigated with some bottled water. Then she dried it all with the clean towel before pulling a small tube from the kit. "It's called liquid stitches, but it's really just super glue," she said, squeezing several drops onto Ned's wound before carefully, gently, holding the skin flap back in place and holding it there for a few seconds. When she was all done, the flap stayed put and the blood slowly stopped flowing.

"Thanks," Ned said to Scarlet as I helped him up. "I still have to pee." "Jesus Christ," Ned muttered, then walked off into the woods. "Camp is the other way," I said. "I know," he yelled, but kept walking. Molly, Morgan, and Scarlet all shook their heads and walked back to camp. I stood there, unsure of which direction to go. "Um, I still have to pee, so go away," Ally said, glaring at me from her spot behind the tree.

You really are something, Allie, I said. I decided to follow Ned. It took me a bit to catch up with him. He was pissed off and in pain, so he had a full head of steam going. Ned! I shouted when I caught sight of him hiking around a clump of cedars. Ned! Hold on! I sprinted past the cedars then skidded to a stop, almost colliding with Ned's back. I thought this place was deserted, Ned said as I stepped up next to him.

It's supposed to be. I replied as we both stared at the ancient cabin before us. I took one step, one step, and everything changed. What's this? I asked as I lifted my foot and brushed aside a few leaves. Keys? I bent down and picked up the old ring. Three keys were on it and they looked really old.

They were long and had weird teeth on them, like they were from some black and white gothic romance movie or something. "I bet they go to that cabin," Ned said, and started walking toward the cabin's front porch. "Hold on, man," I said. "That wood is probably rotted. He'll fall right through." He reached the steps and placed his foot on the first one. Then he put his full weight on it. There was a creak, but the board didn't snap.

Encouraged, he climbed the steps and stood before the cabin's front door. "Feel solid," he said to me over his shoulder. "Toss me the keys, and lose them under the porch when you fumble the catch? No way," I said, and followed him up to the front door. I jangled the keys in his face, then picked one at random and slid it into the front door's lock. Didn't turn. A sudden gust of wind picked up, and the trees around the cabin began to sway and bend.

The sky started to darken and the smell of rain filled the air. "The weather is supposed to be clear all week," Ned said, glancing at the trees. I picked a new key and tried that one. The door popped open a crack. "We may need this place," Ned said as the wind grew stronger. "Let's check it out." A tree crashed somewhere far off, making me jump. I turned and faced the clearing, staring at the wild weather. When I turned back, Ned was inside the cabin. "Hey, check this out.

I didn't want to. I really didn't. Something about the cabin made my nuts shrivel up. There was a vibe that I didn't like. A vibe that had a stink to it. Even though all I could smell was must and a little mildew coming from inside the cabin. And the oncoming rain. I could really smell that. "Jordan! Coming!" I yelled and stepped into the cabin.

It was one room with a rocking chair by a small wood stove, a small bed shoved up against one wall, and a ratty rag rug in the center. "I call dibs on the…" Ned started to say. Halley cried, rushing into the cabin. She sat right down on the bed, and it groaned, but she didn't seem disappointed.

"This is mine! I am not sleeping in a tent when there's a perfectly good cabin here!" "Jesus, calm down!" Ned said, his voice pissed, disgusted, and so over Halley. "You can have the bed." "Yeah, I know I can," Halley said, then pointed at the wood stove. "Does that work? Because I don't know if you noticed, but it's getting cold out there. One of you needs to make a fire." "If the flue is clogged, then this place will fill with smoke," Ned said.

Allie just stared. Ned sighed. I'm going to tell the others. See what you can find. Find? What do you mean? I replied. Firewood and whatever, Ned said, then looked at Allie. And a steel cage and a ball gag. Fuck off, Allie said. Better hurry. It's gonna rain. Ned left the cabin, closing the door behind him, leaving me alone with Allie. You sliced off part of his forehead, Allie. You could try being nice to him.

"Whatever," she said and got up from the bed, waving her hand in front of her face to clear the dust. Then she spotted something over by the rocking chair. "What's this?" she muttered as she picked up the book. She turned it over in her hands. Just like the keys, the book looked really old, big and all leathery. "It's locked." She was right. There was a lock on the book, preventing her from opening it.

Then she looked at me and her eyes lowered to my hand and to the set of keys I was still holding. Give me those. I looked at the keys. Give me! She nearly shouted, snapping her fingers at me. Here! I said and handed her the keys. Knock yourself out. I'm going to go help the others with the gear. You do that. I heard the book's lock click open just as I left the cabin, closing the door behind me. She's made up her mind.

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"Place was old, and no one had lived there for a while." "How could you know that?" "Uh, all the dust. And the wood stove was clogged. We found that out later." "Alright." Her tone of voice tells me she doesn't think it's alright. "What happened next?" "Everything," I say and shrug again. "We got everyone and the gear to the cabin just before the sky opened up and the night went on." "But you said Ned's disappearance was what happened next." "It sounds like you finding the cabin was what happened after Ned and Halley's fight."

"That's not how I meant it." "Then how did you mean it? Do you want me to tell the story or not?" The crew is already quiet, of course, but a different kind of silence falls over the clearing. "Sorry," I say. "Let me just tell the story, okay?" "Burgers are ready!" Ned announced from the porch where we'd put the gas grill. "Come and get them!" "Hey, where's that book?" I asked Hallie as she sat in the rocking chair, her eyes fixed on the cold wood stove. She didn't reply.

"Allie, where's that book?" She still didn't reply. "Um, and where are those keys?" "The keys have been returned," she said, her voice flat and empty. "What book? What keys?" Scarlet asked me as she walked by with the plate loaded with the hamburger bun and all the fixings headed for the porch. "I found a set of keys," I said. "That's how we got in here. There was a book too, and one of the keys opened it." "The book was locked?" Scarlet asked, freezing mid-step.

"Yeah," I said. I gave the keys to Hallie and she unlocked it. "You unlocked an old book that you found in an old cabin that isn't on any map and shouldn't be here?" When she said it out loud, it didn't sound like the smartest thing to do. Scarlett set her plate down on the floor next to the rocking chair and crouched close to Hallie. "Hallie, can I see the book? The book has been returned." Scarlett looked over at me, her eyes filled with worry. "Burgers are getting cold."

Allie, are you okay? I asked. Find his brain, she said in that flat voice. Thunder boomed over the cabin. Scarlet shook her head and mouthed. She's not fine. Allie's hand shot out and grabbed Scarlet by the throat. Don't talk about me behind my back, you fucking freak, she snarled, pulling Scarlet's face close to hers. It doesn't like it when you do that.

Allie let go, and Scarlett fell back on her ass. Fucking shit, Allie, I said, and helped Scarlett to her feet. What the fuck is wrong with you? She'll never leave this place, Allie said. This is her home now. Hey guys, burgers are ready, Ned said, sticking his head inside the cabin. Allie's eyes locked onto him. He won't leave either. Um, yeah, sure, Ned responded, raising his eyebrows as he looked at me.

"She okay? Fuck if I know," I said as I walked Scarlet over to the door. Ned moved as we stepped out onto the porch. "Maybe she got into the mushrooms." "That's not how you act on shrooms," Scarlet said and shivered. Molly and Morgan were sitting cross-legged on the porch, scarfing down their burgers. "What's going on in there?" Morgan asked around a mouthful of food. "Tally is being weird," I said. "She's more than that," Scarlet added, getting herself a burger.

"It's like she's in some strange mental fugue." "Mental fugue?" Molly asked, mid-bite. "What does that even mean?" Morgan asked. "She's off," I said. "Then just say that." Molly replied and went back to eating her burger. "Guys, she doesn't look good," Ned said from the doorway. "She's shivering." Scarlet and I join him, and we stare at Hallie as she shakes in the rocking chair.

I'll get a fire going, Scarlet said. I'll do it, I insisted, and hurried into the cabin and over to the wood stove. I opened the stove and nearly screamed. What the fuck? Ned asked, after joining me and looking over my shoulder. Bones. A lot of bones. They filled the wood stove. They were even jammed up into the flue, clogging the whole chimney pipe.

I stood and knocked on the pipe and bones rattled inside while small fragments filtered down and back into the wood stove. "This is messed up," Ned said. "I think we should pack it in and go home." "Join the holy honor," Allie said from her rocker. "Join the forever lost." The second she said that, the sky opened up and rained like nothing I had ever seen before. Then the thunder and the lightning really kicked in and shit for sure hit the fan.

"No leaving!" Allie said as she lurched up out of the rocker and shoved me aside. "None shall leave now!" She thrust her hand into the wood stove and came out with a broken femur or something. Whatever it was, it was a big fucking bone. "Two for the price of one!" Allie screeched at the top of her lungs.

"That's a weird thing to…" Molly started to say, except she was interrupted by the sharp end of the bone in Hallie's hand being plunged through her throat. "Moll!" Morgan screamed, just as Hallie yanked the femur from Molly's throat and then plunged it into Morgan's. "Fuck!" Ned shouted and lunged at Hallie, grabbing her by the shoulders to pull her away from the twins. Hallie whipped around and slashed at Ned with the bone. He cried out, and his hands went to the side of his neck. Blood poured out from around his fingers.

"Oh shit!" he gurgled. Then he stumbled back from Halley, looked over at me, shook his head, and staggered his way out onto the porch. The rain was coming down in thick, powerful sheets and I was about to- "Hold on," the reporter interrupts. "You're saying Ned left the cabin?" "What?" "You just said he staggered out onto the porch." "Yeah, because that's what he did." "But you said earlier you were with him, and that's how you know he's not missing." "Yeah, so?"

So? So were you with him or not? Where did he go? What happened to him? He died. Yes, you told the police that. You said he died in that... She checks her notes. Um, that the porch took him. Right. I look around, confused. That's what happened. But the police found no evidence of him under the porch. I didn't say he went under the porch. I said the porch took him. The porch took him? The porch took him.

How does that even work?" "Check on Ned!" Scarlet yelled as she tackled Halley around the waist, taking her down to the floor hard. She got Halley onto her back and straddled her, pinning both of her arms to her side, keeping Halley from wielding her killer bone. I hurried outside to check on Ned. I found him standing in the middle of the porch, staring out at the rain, his hands loose at his sides as blood just gushed from his neck.

"Jesus, Ned!" I shouted and went to help him, to do anything I could to stop the blood. But before I could even get an inch closer, Ned screamed so loud that I had to clamp my hands over my ears. Then the porch ate him. It just opened up beneath him, the boards separating like broken teeth. Ned just sort of fell into the mouth, which is exactly what the porch looked like. A wooden mouth.

I didn't know what to do. I wanted to dive after him, but I couldn't. My feet just wouldn't budge. And it wouldn't have mattered anyway. Before I could blink, the porch teeth chomped together and a geyser of blood shot up through the wooden mouth, coating the ceiling above. "Ned!" I shouted as the porch chewed and chewed and chewed. Then it stopped chewing and slowly settled back into its normal shape. It was just a porch. Well, a porch with a whole lot of fucking blood dripping down from its ceiling.

"Jordan!" Scarlet yelled from inside. "Help!" I walked inside to a nightmare. Not that outside wasn't a nightmare. I mean, a porch eats your best friend and yeah, that counts as a nightmare. But what I walked in on was almost too much. Scarlet was trying to keep Hallie pinned, but Hallie was bucking under her like she was powered by those hydraulics they use on lowriders.

And Scarlet probably could have kept Hallie down, except for the fact that the book had returned, and it was attacking Scarlet from above. The book was flying? Can you fucking let me finish? The reporter pauses, then nods. We'll bleep that out, she says over her shoulder.

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I tried to grab the book but it was too fast. Also, it was fucking mean. The few times my fingers got close, the damn fucking thing nearly took them off. It actually trimmed a couple of my fingernails. I don't know what it would have done if it had caught my whole fingers. "Jordan!" Scarlet was losing her battle with Hallie, but I couldn't help with that either. The book had stopped attacking Scarlet and was focusing on me. I tried to keep my head from getting bashed in by the fucking book's spine.

Flying books are surprisingly agile, you know. Oh, fuck! Scarlet screamed, then she was thrown off of Hallie, her body colliding with the wood stove. I heard a crack, and then Scarlet went limp. Hallie got to her feet and held out a hand. The book stopped attacking me and settled in Hallie's palm. The pages flipped back and forth, then finally settled on a choice. Hallie grinned at me before she looked down and began to recite something in a language I sure as fuck didn't understand. Oh, dear.

The reporter nods as if she understands the story I'm telling her. There's no way she can though. To understand it, you had to be there. You had to have experienced the pure evil that filled that cabin. You had to experience having a flying book try to kill you. "Then what else?" The reporter asks. "What do you mean? What happened next?" "Um, just like what the police report says." "Yes, but we need to hear it from you."

I start throwing up. It came out of my mouth like a fire hose. Holly kept reciting those words in that weird language, and my head was full of Ned screams, and I was throwing up everywhere. I think I stumbled from the cabin, but I'm not sure, and then… I take a deep breath. And then… I shrug and clear my throat. Then I woke up. You woke up? I woke up. Right. Yes. In the report, you said you passed out. Blacked out. There's a difference?

The reporter nods a few times, then writes in her notes:

We'll go with blacked out. It has a stronger sound to it, more active than passive. "We're gonna lose the light," Carla says from somewhere behind the lights. "Continue," the reporter says to me. "There really isn't much else," I say. I was going to get in the car and drive until I had cell service, but the keys were missing. So I sucked it up and hiked back to the cabin. "Where you found the twins' bodies out front?" "Yup." Like they'd been ejected from the cabin. Molly had the keys in her front pocket.

That must have been hard. Having to reach into a dead girl's pocket, a girl who was a friend of yours, and pull out the car keys. I'd rather not have to do it again. And what did the police say when you finally were able to call them? They just asked me questions, told me to pull the car over so they could find me. When they showed up, I rode with them and walked them through it all. They found Molly and Morgan's bodies. They were right where I left them. But Ned, Scarlett, and Hallie were nowhere to be found? What? No. Hallie was in the cabin.

The reporter sits up straighter. She was? She rifles through her notes. Carla, why isn't that in here? I didn't know Hallie was found inside the cabin. You have everything in the police report. Carla replies. This is new. Talk. The reporter barks at me. About what? Hallie was in the cabin, covered in blood, her limbs twisted and broken, her head almost caved in. Why isn't that in here? The reporter asks, shaking her notes at me.

"I don't know," I say. "I mean, she was really messed up. The medics were surprised she even survived." "She what? She was alive?" "She was. I don't know about now. She walked out of the hospital that night. No one knows where she went." "So she is missing?" "Oh, I doubt that." "What does that mean?" I shrug. "Fine, whatever." The reporter waves me off. "Jesus fucking Christ," she mutters. "How did we miss all of that?"

"Different report?" I offer as an explanation. "We've got a situation," someone in the crew says. "Holy shit, it's her!" another says. The reporter jumps up, just as Carla comes over to her. "Allie Newsome is standing in the doorway of the cabin right now," Carla says in a loud whisper. She snaps her fingers. "Move, move, move! Make sure we get this!" I get up and back away from the whole interview setup, my eyes locked onto the cabin's porch.

I fucking knew it. I knew the bitch wouldn't let it drop. Hallie is on the cabin's porch, and she has the book in her hands. Her eyes find me, and she smiles around cracked and broken teeth. Blood oozes from between her lips. "Not your time yet, Jordan," she says in a whisper so loud, it's as if it has been shoved into my head. "What did she say?" the reporter yells. "Someone get a mic over to her! I want all of this!"

Hallie waves at me, and I do not need any more prodding. I turn and run, and run, and run. By the time I reach where the crew vans are parked, the screaming begins. I keep running and don't stop until my legs give out, about six miles later, sending me crashing down onto the highway's asphalt. When the police find me, I tell them everything. Do they believe me? I don't know. Do they find anyone alive? I don't know. They don't tell me.

What I do know is I'll never go camping again, that's for fucking sure. No, no, this jail cell is fine by me. They can keep me in here for as long as they want. They can even throw the book at me, as long as it's not an old book with a lock on it.

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