Chapter Five

CHAPTER 5

He's gonna take her to eat?" Bezi asks in disbelief. "I mean, I see how people just get away with anything, but damn. Not a citation, nothin'."

"She has to ride in a car with Sheriff Lillard, who I'm just now realizing is a whole asshole," I say. "Maybe that's punishment enough."

Bezi looks absolutely unconvinced but shrugs and slips her hand into mine. "Everybody else left?"

I nod. "It's just us."

"Do I get a raise or something?" Javier asks from the office porch. "None of this shit is in my job description."

"Damn a raise," Porter says. "I'm about to roll out just like everybody else. I do not get paid enough for this. I will call my mama right now."

Tasha steps toward Javier and bats her fake-blood-tinged eyelashes. "You look so cute right now."

Javier looks down at his clothes; fake blood is smeared across his shirt and shorts. He busts out laughing but strides up to Tasha and flicks some of the crusty, dried-up blood off her cheek. "I know. But the question is what are you gonna do about it?"

"Oh my god, please!" Paige says, pinching the bridge of her nose in disbelief. "Are you serious right now? After everything that just happened, y'all flirting?" She shakes her head in disgust. "Immediately no. Y'all cannot do this out here."

"Do what?" Tasha asks.

Paige shoves her hand down on her hip. "Don't do that. Don't act like you don't know the rules."

"Here we go." Bezi chuckles. "Our resident horror-movie scholar."

"Laugh it up," Paige says as she scoots between Tasha and Javier, pushing them away from each other. "As soon as people start having sex, it's like a bat signal to the killer. He hears cheeks clappin', then here he comes with a knife to slice everybody up."

"Paige," I say, my eyes wide. "Nobody is doing that!" Paige is one of those people where it's in her head and out her mouth. I love her, but the secondhand embarrassment is real sometimes.

"Don't speak for me," Tasha says, looking adoringly at Javier, who bites his bottom lip.

Bezi leans close to my ear. "Are the straights okay?"

I have to cover my mouth to keep from laughing. "Absolutely not."

Kyle lets his shoulders round forward and his mouth turn down. "I want to clap some cheeks."

Paige holds the sides of her head like her skull is going to split open. "Have you even watched the movie this place is based on?" Paige is absolutely done with us. "The Curse of Camp Mirror Lake is a cautionary tale. It's all right there."

"I've seen it a bunch of times," says Porter. "Doesn't really feel like it's got any super-important life lessons in it. Just people getting filleted left and right."

"I've seen it, like, three or four times," I say.

"I haven't seen it," Bezi says.

Paige turns her head like it's on a swivel. "Well, Bezi, let me enlighten you."

I roll my eyes, and me and Tasha groan in unison. We know how much of a horror stan Paige is, and she is about to break it all the way down for everyone even if nobody really cares.

"How about the short and sweet version?" I suggest. "Nobody wants to hear every single detail."

Paige huffs. "Fine. But ain't shit sweet. It's a pretty messed up movie." She clears her throat and continues. "So The Curse of Camp Mirror Lake comes out in 1983. It's a worthy addition to the slasher genre. But it does something the other slasher flicks don't do." She pauses for dramatic effect, and Tasha rolls her eyes so hard, she's gotta be looking at the inside of her own skull.

"Continue," Tasha says. "Damn."

Paige grins. "The Curse of Camp Mirror Lake makes it clear that the masked, machete-wielding serial killer Scott Addison gained strength from his victims. Every time he cuts down one of the nine people who die in that movie, he gets stronger, and not just physically."

Porter tilts his head to the side. "He's swinging camp counselors around by their ankles by the time he's three or four bodies in."

"Exactly. And that's what I mean," Paige continues, her voice raising in pitch as excitement takes hold of her. "He's stronger after each kill, but he also starts to do things he couldn't do in the beginning. By midway through the movie, he's faster. He's stealthier. It's almost like he can move without being seen or heard. He gains some kind of supernatural ability as the film goes on, and it's directly related to how many people he kills."

"I remember that," Kyle says. "He always kills them outside too. Like they have to be on the ground or something."

"Right!" Paige says. "Spilling the blood directly on the ground and dumping the bodies in the lake is how the killer gains his power and is able to mow down so many people without anyone knowing until the very end."

"What does any of this have to do with following the horror-movie rules?" I ask.

Paige stares at me like it should be obvious. "People got killed in the movie because they were distracted. Sex, pranks, general recklessness, they're all a distraction. The killer took advantage of the counselors being distracted. You don't get distracted if you want to live."

I put my hand on Paige's shoulder. "I hate to break it to you, but this whole thing"—I gesture to the surrounding woods and cabins—"it's all fake. It's not a movie, Paige. It's just a little fun for people who like to be scared." Something turns in my gut as I say the words. Like, I know they're not entirely true. Images of the figure in the water flood my mind, and I look out over the lake.

Paige crosses her arms hard over her chest. "Whatever. It's all fun and games until you're dead."

"Don't worry," Javier says against Tasha's neck. "I'll protect you."

Tasha smiles way too hard and loops her arm around his waist.

"Well, I'm going to bed," Porter says dramatically, clapping his hands together. "Kyle, you bunking with me tonight, 'cause I'm scared and I'm not afraid to admit that."

Kyle shrugs. "Fine, but you're sleeping next to the door."

"The hell I am," Porter grumbles.

I take Bezi's hand and pull her down the path toward the staff cabins. Kyle and Porter argue about who's going to fight Ms. Nancy Keane if she shows back up and which one of them is going to cover down for Felix if he misses his morning shift again. Tasha and Javier are saying things to each other that no human ears need to hear.

Passing by the lake, I look out over its glassy surface, and a deep sense of foreboding works itself inside my chest and settles there. "I saw something out in the water."

Paige stops dead in her tracks and turns to me. "What?"

"In the lake," I say. I don't want to keep it to myself anymore. I'm bothered by what I saw in a way that I can't shake off. "During the game yesterday. I thought one of the guests went out there and was drowning. I grabbed the life preserver from the lifeguard station and threw it in the water."

"You saw a person?" Bezi asks.

Everyone is looking at me now. "I thought it was—at first. But I kept looking, and they didn't reach for me or try to move. They didn't make a noise or anything." As I think about it, the initial splash was the only noise I'd heard and then nothing but silence. "There was something in the water, but I wasn't sure exactly what." I start to doubt what I saw. Saying it aloud makes it sound ridiculous. A person? Not a person? An animal? I shake my head. "Maybe working out here is getting to me."

Bezi squeezes my hand as she gazes across the lake. "I don't like it."

"It was probably a carp or something," Kyle says. "They're all in the lakes out here and they're huge. They can be three or four feet long. Bigger if they have a food source."

"Maybe," I say, even though I don't believe for one second that what I saw was a fish. This place—in the middle of the woods, far from anything—that's scary enough as it is. It's the setup for almost every slasher film ever. It's supposed to be scary. But the truth is that it has never been like that for me—until now. I look away from the water.

"Well, that's enough scary shit for one day," Porter says, ducking inside Staff Cabin #3. "Come on, Kyle."

Kyle rolls his eyes. "If somebody comes in here trying to kill me, I know you're gonna leave me to die."

"Somebody has to be the sacrifice," Porter says.

Kyle shakes his head, looking like every single one of his feelings has been crushed.

Tasha, Paige, and Javier pile into Staff Cabin #1, and I take Bezi into mine.

"Only one bed in here," she says, closing the door and peering past me. "I love that for us."

A smirk creeps its way across my lips. "See, but this isn't a rom-com," I say, slipping my hand around her waist. "It's a horror movie. That means maybe we get to share the bed but there's a hideous monster lurking underneath it, waiting to jump out and get us both."

"Oh, okay," she murmurs, laughing lightly, her hands brushing against the front of my shirt. "You like being out here in the woods, cosplaying the final girl, living your best horror-movie life."

I smile as we let our hands touch, as we let our arms find their way around each other.

"It's better than being home," I say. "That's actually more of a horror-movie environment than this place."

Bezi presses her forehead against mine. "You'd think after all these years, your mom would see how miserable Rob makes you. He's such a bum."

I sigh. "I'm not the only one who hates him. I low-key think she despises him too. But she won't leave him. She's just—stuck." I shut my eyes. "So that means I have to leave her behind when it comes time."

I want to enjoy my time with Bezi. I don't want to think about home, but that's the thing with Bezi: she makes me feel like I can tell her anything. Like I never have to hold back—good or bad—when I'm with her. The problem is that all this other shit spills out, and that's not what I want right now. I just want her.

Bezi gently caresses the side of my face. "I'm sorry, Charity. You deserve better. You always have."

I open my eyes and stare at her. "I found better—with you. Me and you till the end of the world, right?"

"Maybe even longer than that," she says.

I lean in and press my lips to hers. Soon her hands are under my shirt, pressing against my skin, making me feel warm inside. She suddenly pulls away, and her face scrunches up.

"What?" I ask. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I just—You have fake blood all over you, and your skin is sticky as hell."

I look down at myself, and I'm a complete mess. I have a tendency to forget about anything else in Bezi's presence.

"Sorry," I say. "It's just a little corn syrup." I kiss her again.

"Well, maybe it's not such a big deal," she says against my neck.

I wrap my arms around her, kissing her, running my hands along the slopes and curves of her frame, and then there's a knock at the door. Bezi huffs as I pull away and yank the door open. Paige is standing there, arms crossed, an angry scowl drawing down the corners of her mouth.

"This heffa Tasha booted me out of our cabin so that she and Javier can be alone," she says through gritted teeth.

I stick my head out the door to see Tasha staring back at me from the porch of Cabin #1.

"Don't be mad," she yells. "I won't be long."

"The hell?" Javier's voice echoes from inside.

"Whatever," Paige says, turning back to me. "Can I bunk up with you two? I was gonna ask Porter and Kyle, but I don't really know them like that."

I usher her inside and close the door, making sure it's locked.

Bezi kisses me on the cheek. "Later."

"I know I'm messing up y'all's plans," Paige says. "I'm sorry, but I'll be damned if I sleep in a cabin alone tonight."

I squeeze her arm. "You're not messing up anything. Tasha is acting real foolish right now. Not judging, but Javi does not discriminate. He runs through random hookups like serial killers run through camp counselors."

Bezi and Paige both grimace.

I put my hands up. "Like I said, not judging. I don't think either of them is really serious about the other. They're just having fun."

"They put me out like I was supposed to just sleep outside," Paige says. "They having fun and I'm in the woods. That's nice." She rolls her eyes and shoves her hand down on her hip.

"We have a more important issue right now," I say. "We literally only have one bed in here."

Paige's gaze flits to the bed, then back to me. "I'll sleep on the floor. It's not a big deal."

"No," Bezi says. "Nobody's sleeping on the floor. Just curl up at the bottom of the bed. I think we'll all fit." She smiles wide. "It'll be like when we were little. Remember how we used to all sleep on that stank-ass futon in my dad's basement?"

"Oh, man," Paige says. "I'm pretty sure that mutt y'all used to have pissed on that thing."

"Aye," Bezi says, shaking her head. "Don't talk like that about Geneva. She was, like, twenty years old, and she couldn't control her bladder."

"I'm joking," Paige says. "Rest in peace, Geneva!"

"Those were the best sleepovers," I say. "Just endless pizza and soda and scary movies. We should not have been watching A Nightmare on Elm Street when we were eight."

"And Killer Klowns From Outer Space," Paige says, shaking her head. "That movie is the reason I hate cotton candy to this day."

Bezi laughs. "We thought we were grown. Do y'all remember how we used to go trick-or-treating, then swap costumes and hit up them same houses two or three times?"

"We were a mess," I say, laughing.

"I'm glad we came up," Paige says. "We need to get back to doing stuff like this. I get so busy with the paper. Tasha's working during the school year too." Paige throws a sideways glance in the direction of Tasha's cabin. "As goofy as she's acting right now, I miss the four of us being together all the time."

"No. I know," I say. "I miss y'all too."

When we're together during the school year, it's nice, but we're all busy with classwork, homework, and babysitting jobs on the weekends. The four of us don't get to hang out as much as we used to, and none of us wants to talk about what that means. Are we growing apart or are we just learning a new way of being friends? I guess we can't eat pizza and watch scary movies forever.

Paige gives me a big hug, then rears back. "Charity, babe. You gotta get this fake blood off you."

Going to the showers this late, and after our little run-in with Ms. Keane, is not happening, so I make use of some baby wipes and a few bottles of water. Bezi shields me with a towel as I wash up as best I can. Paige arranges the pillows and blankets on the bed, and when I'm done, we settle in for the night. Me and Bezi snuggle close to each other while Paige curls up like a cat at the foot of the twin-size bed that definitely is not meant to hold three full-size people. The frame protests—loudly. I just hope it can hang on till morning.

As we lay in the quiet dark, Paige sighs. "You know, if this was a horror movie, Tasha would be sealing our fate by getting it on with Javier. You really think she would do that to us if the stakes were life-and-death?"

Me and Bezi exchange glances, and then all three of us laugh until tears run out of our eyes.

"We'd be doomed," I say through wheezing laughter.

I'm suddenly lying wide awake, staring up at the ceiling. The cabin is dark aside from the glow of the porch light filtering through the tattered curtains. Bezi is nuzzled up to me. Her rhythmic breaths blow warm and sweet across my neck. At the foot of the bed, Paige is sprawled out, arms and legs spread wide, her foot dangerously close to my face. I nudge her, and she curls into a little ball.

I pull Bezi close to me, and she readjusts herself. In the rustle of clothes and bedsheets, there is a noise. Bezi settles and I hold still, listening. From somewhere outside, in the direction of the lake, there are footsteps. I wonder if maybe Tasha is coming over to apologize to Paige, but I glance at my phone—it's almost three in the morning.

Slipping my arm from under Bezi's head, I roll up and perch myself on the edge of the bed, letting my bare feet rest against the wood floor. The footsteps fade, and after a moment of silence, there is a splash. I'm at the window before I can think, drawing back the curtain just enough to get a look outside. The porch light leaves spots in my vision, and I quickly flip the switch, turning it off.

My eyes adjust to the dark and there, at the far edge of the lake, I think I see something move. I hold my breath and crane my neck, checking to see if the lights are on in any of the other staff cabins. From my vantage point, it's hard to tell. I return my attention to the far side of the lake. There is something, or someone, moving around out there. The figure is hunched over, staggering their steps, pulling something along the ground.

"Bezi," I whisper. "Paige. Get up."

Paige grumbles something to herself as Bezi sits up and readjusts her bonnet.

"What is it?" she asks. "What's wrong?"

"There's somebody out there," I say. There's another loud splash, and I whip my head around, straining to see in the dark.

Bezi stumbles out of bed and joins me at the window. We press our faces close to the glass, fogging it with our breath.

"Where?" Bezi asks.

"Across the lake. Right there." I scan the shoreline until I spot the figure again. This time they're closer to the camp side of the lake, and whatever they were dragging is now gone.

Bezi sighs. "I still don't—"

A hand clamps down on my shoulder, and my heart leaps into my throat as I spin around to find Paige standing directly behind me.

A strangled yelp escapes me. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Bezi leans forward and puts her hands on her knees. "Damn, Paige! You just glided over here! No noise or nothing!"

Paige furrows her brow and pulls her bottom lip between her teeth. "You didn't hear me get up?"

"No!" I say.

"Sorry," Paige says. "What's going on?"

I press my hand against my chest like my heart might jump out if I don't. "Look." I pull her toward the window and point to the last place I saw the shadowy figure, only to find nothing but the dark.

"Am I missing something?" Paige asks.

"There was somebody out there," I say. "We saw them."

"Maybe it was Tasha or Porter or somebody else?" Bezi offers. "Should we go check on everybody?" She reaches for the door.

Paige steps in front of her. "Um, no. Text them. We're not going outside at three in the morning because y'all saw some stranger by the lake. Do you know how dumb that sounds?" She shakes her head like she's disappointed in us.

I text Tasha, asking if she's okay. I have to hold my phone over my head to get one funky-ass bar. She responds a few moments later.

TASHA: I'm sleep. So is Javier. Lights are on in PK's cabin.

I breathe a little easier knowing everyone seems to be all right.

"See?" Paige asks. "Everybody's good, and we didn't even have to go out in the dark and be the first group of people to get horribly murdered."

Bezi waves her off. I nod. She's being overdramatic but I'm glad we didn't go. I can't stop thinking about the stooped figure by the lake. We climb back into bed, and while Bezi and Paige eventually fall asleep, I lie awake listening for the sound of footsteps.