I sit down at the table with my dad. He's staring into his coffee cup.
"Is everything okay?" I ask.
He takes a deep breath. "Has anything weird been going on recently? I feel like you've been acting off ever since you got back from camp."
He's still staring at the cup.
"Um… no. Why? Did something happen?"
He clears his throat.
"You know I can't answer that."
"Okay, then why am I here?"
He's silent for a moment.
Growing impatient, I start to get out of my chair. It lets out a screeching sound as it slides across the floor. I turn and start to leave.
"I know you went into the cabin."
My father's words stop me in place.
I swallow.
"What cabin? I went into a lot of them during camp."
I don't turn around when I speak.
I hear him sigh.
"The cabin we taped off. I know you went inside."
I look over my shoulder.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
I start to walk away again.
"The tests came back confirming it was Layla's blood."
Once again, I stop in place.
I turn around.
"What?"
He slides a piece of paper across the table.
I walk over and pick it up.
"You and I both know it shouldn't be possible for it to be hers."
He wasn't lying.
I was holding the test, and it was a match.
It was Layla's blood in that cabin.
"Listen, Joel. The amount of blood found in that cabin was too much for her to survive, and we tested multiple samples… it was all hers."
I slowly set the paper down.
"But… she's at school. I've seen her. She's alive. How can it all be hers?" I say.
He looks at me.
"I don't know."
He pauses for a moment.
"But what I do know… is that she should be dead."
We stare at each other, making eye contact the whole time until I finally speak.
"Layla never came out of that cabin."
A look of confusion appears on my father's face.
"What do you mean?"
I break eye contact.
"She went inside the night before you showed up… and she never came out."
He stands up.
"You're going to have to be more specific than that."
"You won't believe me."
He picks up his coffee and takes a sip.
"Try me."
I sit down.
"Something was in those woods, and whatever it was attacked Layla inside that cabin."
He sets his cup down.
"Define something."
"I don't know, but it looked like a human… except everything about it was wrong."
He stares at me.
"Okay."
He picks up his phone.
"I believe you."
"Really?"
"The amount of blood found inside that cabin would have killed someone from blood loss almost twice over, and somehow that person is walking around perfectly fine. So yeah… weird-looking human things don't sound too crazy."
I was surprised by his response.
I didn't expect him to believe anything I was saying.
He speaks again.
"I'm gonna go speak to Layla's parents again."
He heads for the door.
I stand up and start toward the stairs.
I stop halfway up.
I had a bad feeling, but I couldn't figure out why.
Then I realized.
Clover.
She was supposed to hang out with Layla.
I run back down the stairs.
My father said there was enough blood to kill someone from blood loss almost twice over.
So whatever Clover is with…
isn't Layla.
My front door swings open as I push through it.
My dad is still sitting in the driveway.
"What's going on?!" he shouts through the open window.
"Nothing! Don't worry about it!"
I make it to my car, drive out of the driveway, and head toward Clover's house.
It was later in the day than I had realized.
I calm down a little.
She said she wasn't going to hang out with her until tomorrow…
…so she should be fine right now.
Right?
I grab my phone and type out a text.
What are you doing right now?
I hit send, then look back at the road.
A deer stands in the middle of it.
I slam on the brakes and swerve.
My car goes off the road and barely stops before hitting a tree.
I sit there staring ahead, only snapping out of it when my phone buzzes.
I can't find it.
It buzzes again.
I finally spot it underneath the passenger seat.
It must have been thrown under there when I swerved.
Two texts.
Both from Clover.
"We're just watching TV."
"Why?"
We're?
I stare at the message, hoping she just meant her and her mom.
"Oh okay, just wondering lol. I'm nearby and thought I'd stop by and say hey."
I hit send.
She responds almost immediately.
"Yeah, that's fine haha."
I set my phone down.
Take a deep breath.
And start driving again.
I make it to Clover's house and step out of my car
The sky is mostly dark now, the last bit of sunlight disappearing below the horizon.
A cold breeze blows across the neighborhood, giving me goosebumps.
I forgot to grab a jacket.
It never even crossed my mind.
The porch light is on.
Nothing seems wrong.
Why would anything be wrong?
I walk up to the front door and knock a few times.
I hear the lock click.
The door opens.
"Hey, Joel," Clover says.
What she says barely registers.
My eyes are fixed on what's behind her.
Standing in the living room…
…is Layla.