Chapter 27

Jenny hides under her bed, trying to quiet her breathing. She listens for his footsteps, her heart beating faster than she thought was possible.

Calm down, calm down, calm down. She closes her eyes, trying as hard as she can not to scream.

The footsteps come down the hall. The man’s quiet as he moves, but in her silent little cabin, the footsteps are almost deafening. 

I can’t believe I took this stupid job. I mean, a counsellor at a summer camp, really? It’s like the most stereotypical horror-movie job of all time. The footsteps get closer. I just can’t believe it’s actually happening to me!

Her bedroom door creaks open. She sees a man’s feet, standing in the doorway. He takes a step inside the room, then walks over to the closet. He opens it slowly, checking inside. He then walks over to the bed. Jenny holds her breath, hoping he doesn’t look underneath.

“Jenny, are you in here?” a woman’s voice calls out from her living room.

Jenny sees the man’s feet turn toward the door, slowly making their way back out into the hall.

“Who are… What are you doing?” the voice asks. “WAIT! WAIT!” The voice turns into a scream.

Under the bed, Jenny covers her ears. She doesn’t recognize the voice, but she feels helpless, letting them die for her. She takes this chance to move from the bed. She climbs out and quickly hides herself in the closet. He’s already checked here. Maybe he won’t check again.

The footsteps return to her bedroom, walking back over to the bed. From the closet, Jenny can make out the man’s figure and the axe in his hand, but still can’t tell who it is. The man then bends down, checking under her bed.

Jenny prays, Please leave. Please leave. Please leave.

The man stands, turning to the closet. He stares for a second, making her heart stop.

He sees me. He knows I’m here.

He takes a step closer, staring at himself in the closet mirror, then turns, walking out of the room.

Jenny has her hands over her mouth, holding back a scream. She looks over at the window beside her bed. I can fit through that. I just have to unlock and open it before he comes back. She waits a moment, letting his footsteps get farther away. Then as quietly as she can, she slides out from the closet and over to the window. She pulls the lever, unlocking it, then pushes the window open. It squeaks. Fuck.

Before she can get out, the man’s once again standing in the doorway. She jumps, throwing herself through the open window. Before she’s fully out, the man grabs hold of her ankle, slamming her body into the outside of the cabin.

“LET GO OF ME YOU SON OF A BITCH!” She kicks at his hands, loosening his grip on her ankle. She falls on her head, but at least she’s outside. She then quickly stands up, running into the forest. Blood falls down her forehead, covering one of her eyes. She tries to rub it away as she runs, but the bleeding doesn’t stop.

She trips, rolling in the dirt. Panicking, she lets out a scream, “HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME, PLEASE!”

“Jenny?” a woman’s voice calls out.

“HERE! I’M HERE!” she yells back, instinctively. She then recognizes the voice. Wait, weren’t they… It’s the same voice that called to her earlier. 

The woman bends down, staring at Jenny’s blood covered face. “You’ve been a bad girl, running away like that. It would’ve been so much easier if you just let us have our fun.”

The man comes running, axe in hand. “Did you find her?”

The woman smiles, “Yeah, I found her. Gimme the axe and carry her back to the cabin.”

The man nods, handing her the axe. As he bends over, she lifts it high above her head, swinging it down into the man’s neck. She thought it would cut his head clean off, but it only dug in a few inches, getting stuck in the bone. It’s still enough to kill him though, his body dropping on top of Jenny’s.

The woman sighs, “It’s so hard to find good men nowadays, don’t you think?”

Terrified, Jenny doesn’t know what to think. “Why… Why are you doing this?”

“Are you stupid?” the woman asks, giggling. “I’m doing it because I can.” She yanks the axe from the man’s neck. “And no one’s gonna stop me.” She swings the axe once more, lodging it in Jenny’s forehead.

After throwing the axe in the nearby lake, she leaves the two bodies for the animals. Strolling back to camp, she starts to get all excited for the new batch of campers arriving in the morning. “Man, I love my job.”