“You guys are so immature.” Sarah said as we continued walking through the trail. I looked back at her and yelled, “Hey! At least we’re not complaining about how long the walk is. Unlike someone…” As I said these words, I tripped on a long, black object hidden in the dirt. “Awh man what-?” The scrapes on my kneecaps showed blood and dirt that was now stuck to me from the fall. My best friend Nick was a few feet ahead of me but when he heard me fall, he rushed to make fun of me, as usual. “Bro, I cannot believe you tripped over nothing! Hahahaha!! You need help walking there bud?” Nick thinks he’s Kevin Hart or something but I let it slide because honestly I don't even know what I tripped on. Was it a tree branch? A weird wire in the middle of this trail? I look at Nick and then look back to my bloody kneecaps when Sarah hands me a band-aid, alcohol, and hydrogen peroxide. Without looking up at her, I grabbed them from her and started to patch myself up. After applying the bandage, I looked at Sarah and said, “Thanks. I take back my mean comment about you by the way.” Nick hears me say this and rolls his eyes. Nick and Sarah don't necessarily enjoy being in each other's company but they’re my best friends and I may or may not purposefully make them hang out with me at the same time to see them nag at each other. “Sarah just tries too hard, Jason. We all know I’m your best friend, not her.” Sarah does not care about being my best friend and who gets the title, because she knows Nick and I are really best friends who would do anything for each other, no matter how annoying the guy may be. 

“Don't worry Nick, you can stay with Jason, I’m only here to make sure you guys don't get lost or harm yourselves with your own feet.” 

“Hahahaha! Okay respect. That was a good comeback, I guess?” I said to her while finally getting up from the ground. As I get up, I see more clearly the black object I tripped over, which was not a tree branch or a wire. It was a piece of an old tire. The wires were barely seen and the rubber was thick but very stiff. I picked it up and showed it to Nick and Sarah. They just stared at it, then me, then each other, and we all busted out laughing. 

“Dude there's absolutely no way that you did not see that! Look at the rubber!” Nick said while he was catching his breath. I say, “Yeah, I’m not sure what happened but I could have sworn I was watching where I was walking, considering the fact that I didn’t wanna step in animal poop.” As I said this, there was a strange noise coming from behind us. It sounded like a coyote or a wolf. The yip noise was very loud and scared Sarah, who by the way, hates almost every animal because it’s an animal. “Guys, where’s the cabin? I really am not trying to become a meal to that animal. Can we please get going now Jason? Does your booboo still hurt?” 

I remember my dad saying that the cabin wasn’t far from the water hole, which we just passed about a quarter mile back, so it can't be far from here. “Yeah we should go. I’m getting hungry.” Nick said as he took his flashlight out of his backpack. He leads us and we follow. Nick and I have been here once before but we were younger then and we had our parents to follow. Coming to this place now seems foreign and unsettling to me for some reason. Sarah and I stay back because Nick likes to talk to himself as he walks and sometimes it’s best he does it while he’s not with anyone beside him. I stare down to make sure I don't trip over anything and say to Sarah, “So have you thought about UCLA? Or are you staying hooked on your “college isn't for me” standing?” Sarah is probably the smartest person I know and to see her waste her intelligence like that makes me sorry for her. She could have a nice life if she really wanted it. “Yeah I have actually, I started doing some research and I mean, it’s a nice college and it has a good Psychology department so that’s something that interests me. But I’m not sure if moving would be the right thing for me.” I stare straight ahead and Nick isn't there. He’s not even in my far view. “Wait. Where’s Nick?” Stopping in her tracks, Sarah says, “He’s inside isn’t he?” 

“Inside? Inside where?” I ask.

“Inside the cabin? Look.” 

I see the cabin, but its not the one my parents own. This one has a nice white picket fence and greenery growing from everywhere the eye can see. “Sarah, that's not the cabin. Where's Nick?”

“Jason, he’s inside that cabin, I just saw him walk in like he owned the place. Hasn't he been to the cabin before? Why would he walk into someone else’s cabin?”

Without answering her, I drop my bag and head for the entrance. I notice the white paint on the picket fence and note how it needs a new coat of paint. Sarah is behind me and I can hear her breathing down my neck. Walking inside, I notice that his backpack is on the floor, opened. His water canteen is thrown on the floor and his snacks are gone. Sarah says, “What if he’s just trying to scare us? Are we really falling for this?” I would normally think this too, but Nick isn't the type to play this type of prank. He laughs at pranks but does not partake in them.

“Nick? You in here bro?” I ask.

I walk around the cabin and decide to wander upstairs and I see a red substance on the bottom stair. I check my kneecaps to make sure my bandage is still on and to my surprise, it isn't. As a matter of fact, my pants aren't even dirty from my knees. There's no bandage, no scrape, no nothing. I turn to ask Sarah if she sees what I see but she isn't there. The only sign of her existence is her backpack, lying on the floor, next to Nicks. “Sarah? Sarah, this isn't funny, help me look for Nick.” I withdraw myself from the stairs and start to look around the living room, the kitchen, the bedrooms. I see no one and hear nothing until I hear a strange noise coming from upstairs. I slowly make my way to the stairs and see that the second step also has a red substance. This cannot be happening, I think to myself. Holding onto the banister, I make my way upstairs, hoping this is all a joke. As I get closer to the top of the staircase, I notice a long, black object…

Like the one I tripped on over here. I start getting worried and start rushing into every room I see. I see the master bedroom door is open a bit and slowly make my way through the door. The room is full of old tires and barbed wire. The room barely has any light coming through the windows but I see someone outside so I run down the stairs and the backpacks of my two best friends are no longer there. “Nick!? Sarah!?” 

Panicked, I ran outside but tripped on something. I see black then blue. Black again.

I come to my senses and see Nick and Sarah, screaming my name. “Jason! Jason!”

“I’m right here! Guys! Stop screaming!”

They dont hear me, they come closer to me and still scream. At the top of their lungs. Screaming.

Jason

Jason