We've Been Here Before

Cameron POV

I don't know how I didn't notice Luke's little secret sooner, but once Emily's outburst outed Luke for popping pills, it was so obvious. Glaringly obvious. He'd been acting strange for a while, but I hadn't put two and two together.

The look on his face, his eyes, his overall demeanor and personality had changed, but I guess I was too in love with him to notice. Maybe I had convinced myself it was nothing so that I didn't have to dig too deep, didn't have to be an actual friend to him because it hurt just being his friend and nothing more.

But none of us even lingered on that revelation for long because there were other things going on. Scarier things.

I'd been trying hard to keep it together, to act like I didn't see everything going on around us here. I kept trying to forget what I'd seen in the woods, the monster following me. It was impossible, especially now that Gwen had completely lost it. She kept mumbling crazy shit, laughing at nothing.

Things came to a breaking point when Emily returned just a few minutes later, her face red, eyes filled with tears, and shoulders slouched like she'd given up on life.

"What happened to 'Fuck you guys'?" I asked her as she collapsed down on the floor, her head hung.

After about a minute of silence, she finally looked up at us. "Reagan was right. We can't go. We can't...leave this place."

Even though I had a lurking suspicion that I knew exactly what she meant, I acted like I didn't. Because that was fucking insane. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"I tried. I drove, but I..." Her voice cracked. "I kept ending up back here. This place is, like, trapping us here. It doesn't want us to leave."

Reagan didn't look surprised. She just nodded, that same sad look in her eyes. "I told you. We can't go."

"Stop saying that!" I snapped, despite the chill that had overtaken my entire body. "There's nothing wrong with this place! You're all just freaking out for no reason!"

Luke finally pulled his attention away from Gwen, turning to me with an angry look on his face. "No, we're not! Don't lie, Cam. I've seen you looking scared. You've noticed shit, too."

Gwen lifted her head slowly, her eyes glassy, as if she were only half here. "It's too late now," she muttered, her voice barely audible.

I scoffed, throwing my hands up in frustration. "Too late for what? You're not making any sense!"

"I saw something earlier," Luke told everyone. "Or, I've been seeing stuff. And I thought...maybe it was the pills or whatever, fucking with my head. But earlier...Christ, it was so real."

"What did you see?" Reagan asked him.

"You. Upstairs, when I checked on you. But it was...your body. Dead. With maggots and shit crawling out of your mouth..." Luke winced, shuddering.

"Maybe we all need to talk about everything we've seen," Reagan said, turning to look at everyone. "It might help us figure out what's going on. Like if this place is..."

"Haunted?" Emily finished for her.

Reagan shrugged, shaking her head. "Or...cursed? I don't know."

To be honest, I'd thought the same thing, that maybe the cabin really was haunted. Because that seemed like the most plausible explanation, somehow. But the way everyone was being darkly serious, the way we were actually believing in ghosts or curses or whatever the hell, made me feel like we'd all lost our minds. And it terrified me.