Logan was out of breath. He had been running for what felt like an eternity and he no longer knew where he was. He didn't recognize any of his surroundings but it all felt oddly familiar. Logan leaned against a brick wall and closed his eyes as he gasped to catch his breath. Just as his breathing started to steady, he could feel the presence of someone standing in front of him. He slowly opened his eyes.

"Hello, Logan," a gruff voice said.

His scream echoed through the streets.

Several Days Earlier

It had been months since Stephanie King first came to the Palm Woods and scared all the guests while making her low budget horror movie. In that time, she and Carlos had become good friends. They both had lots of energy, so it was obvious when things began to change. He saw her in the lobby. She had dark bags under her eyes and she dragged herself from place to place. The spring in her step was gone.

Carlos wanted to help, so he stopped by her apartment that evening. He knocked on her door, but there was no answer. He knew someone was home - he could hear the television. He knocked again, louder this time and shouted, "Steph! It's Carlos!" Moments later Stephanie opened the door and let Carlos in. His usual smile faded quickly when he saw her up close. Stephanie looked like hell and her apartment didn't look much better.

There were numerous empty coffee cups from all the local coffee joints scattered about and Carlos nearly tripped as they walked over to the couch. They sat down. Stephanie muted the television. "So how's it going, Carlos?" she asked, clearly trying to avoid the elephant in the room.

"I should be asking you," he responded. "I'm sorry, but Steph, you look like shit. What's wrong?"

"I can't sleep," she said.

"Well, downing all this caffeine isn't going to help much," he said as he held up an empty coffee cup from Starbucks.

"No. Seriously, Carlos. I mean I can't sleep. If I sleep then I dream and if I dream then I d-" She was too afraid to finish the sentence.

"This is all over some nightmares?" Carlos was a bit puzzled. Steph was not one to be scared. They had stayed up late numerous nights watching horror flicks and he had never seen her like this. "Dreams aren't real, Steph. You know that."

"These are different," she insisted, tears starting to form in her eyes. She turned her face away from Carlos, embarrassed. There was a moment of silence before she began to speak. "There's this man. I'm not sure who he is but he's been burned. And he wears a weird hat and a dirty red and green sweater. And he has knives for fingers." It was impossible to hold back the tears now, and they slowly streamed down her cheek.

Carlos wrapped his arm around Stephanie and pulled her in close to him to comfort her. He sweetly wiped the tears from her cheek with his thumb. "What if I stayed the night? Would that help you sleep?" She just nodded.

Carlos made himself comfortable on the couch with a few extra pillows and a blanket from one of the closets. Stephanie's room was just a few feet away and she was going to sleep with her door open so Carlos could hear if she needed any help. He assured her that everything would be fine.

It wasn't long before Carlos was asleep and was sprawled out with an arm and a leg hanging off the side of the couch. He slept soundly, but he awoke with a jolt at the sound of Stephanie screaming. He jumped up and ran to her room but the door was closed. He tried to open it but it was locked.

"Stephanie! Steph! Open the door!" Carlos shouted as he continued shaking the knob. Stephanie's horrific screams were unrelenting. He started pounding on the door harder, now pushing his body up against it. He was in tears, helpless to get to his friend. Then the screaming ended abruptly and Carlos nearly fell into the bedroom as the door swung open with ease.

The room was dark and Carlos could not see Stephanie. He reached for the light switch, but felt a wet substance. He pulled his hand back from the darkness of Stephanie's room and into the light of the hallway. Carlos gasped when he saw it was covered in blood. In a panic, he quickly flipped the light on.

Red was everywhere: on the bed, on the walls, on the carpet. Carlos couldn't believe what he was seeing. As he took it all in, he saw Stephanie lying on her stomach, motionless in front of her bed. He ran over to her and cradled her in his arms, trying to wake her up. He sat there in disbelief. She just couldn't be dead. She couldn't be.