In the darkness I couldn't see my feet but I knew they couldn't fail me. If I stopped running I would be dead. Worse than dead. They would have me. Maybe that's a fate worse than death. But I wouldn't stop to find out. I didn't have time to think about what was ahead and what I would do when I got there. All I knew was run. As far away as I could.

The smiling people in my memories, the sun glittering over the lake in the middle of summer... it all seemed like some sort of sick joke. Some twisted sense of karma. But it couldn't be mine. It couldn't be anyone's karma. Who in their right mind would do something so horrible to deserve ending up in this hellish place. My labelled T-shirt was torn at the bottom but the smiling sunshine logos still burst from the top of my pocket. The sickest joke there ever was.

And Eddie... in my mind he was perfect. His hair and smile held the sun simultaneously. He took me seriously like no one else did. Like I wasn't just some silly little girl playing at love. I felt like this was the summer to finally learn what it felt like. And Eddie would be the one to teach me. He was a devastatingly good teacher.

My heart ached for that Eddie. The one from my dreams. But naturally I was granted with the real one. From someone else's nightmare.

My thoughts went to Cara and I immediately worried for her. Where was she in all this madness? I secretly hoped that she had found solace with Judy. Though the woman was as terrifying as her cooking, she would keep the young girl safe. And it'd be easier to come through this with someone who shared it. That's if she made it out of the camp at all. Cara, where are you?

In a second it happened. A second was far too long to spend. But the log came out of no where. And I fell face first, branches and twigs and nettles scraping at my supple cheeks. I swore out loud and that's when I heard it.

A loud whooping came from where I had just run from. Two people. From the sounds of their cheering they were both male. I knew what they were after. For a moment I couldn't move. I just sat their sitting amidst the dirt like a dumb child. I peered up at the space above me and was embarrassingly sickened at the small portion of my heart that just wanted to give in. I could sit here and close my eyes and just let them kill me. I could.

But Cara needed me. If I couldn't keep going for myself then I had to for her. I owed her that at least. My first friend at the camp and in some possibilities, if all didn't go well, my last ever friend on Earth. I had to find her. If only at the last moment to say goodbye.

Behind me someone cackled like they had just heard a silly joke. They sounded further ahead than their companion who just cheered in response. I wondered why I couldn't hear their footsteps. But it was that mattered. I had to make sure they didn't stop for anything.

"Dennyyyyyyy..." a voice called in a sickeningly sweet croon. It wasn't Eddie but he wouldn't be far behind.

Making the stupid mistake of turning my head to see who called meant that I didn't see who was standing right in front of me. As I collided with them I felt a sharp pain in my head. Whoever they were, they weren't standing there by accident. My vision was blurred. Whatever had hit me in the head had done a splendid job. Refocusing, I directed my attention to the new face in front of mine. Huge, doe eyes stared back at me. A deep hazel.

"Cara?" I whispered and then swept aside my confusion, "Cara! We have to go! Now! They're coming after us!"

"Den, calm down, who is coming? I don't see anybody!" Cara's voice was soothing and I almost forgot my panic.

I found my feet, "back at the camp, things got... bad" that was understatement, "Eddie and I think another boy were chasing me but I don't know where they are." I finished what I was saying slowly. After I got to see Cara in full. I spied what was in her hand. In the darkness the rock she was holding was just an extension of her arm. But I knew that was the thing that had hit me. And Cara was the person that had swung it.

I continued to speak slowly again so as not to give away my suspicion.

"Cara, we've got to go now. Here, gimme that." I gestured to the rock in her hand. She tightened her grip.

"What's going on?" I said, not bothering to conceal my voice in a whisper.

Cara watched me struggle with the many emotions racing through my mind but she just stood there. A small smirk formed at the corner of her mouth. She looked as if the sun had just come out.

"Denny, sweetie, you're going to miss all the fun."

I didn't see it coming. Her rock collided with the side of my face this time and I was sure I heard the crunch of my cheekbone under the impact. It sent me to the floor of the woods. The only choice I had was to hear my friend address the killers after me. Like they were the friends to her that I thought I was.

"She's all yours, boys."

Eddie's face swam before my eyes, the angle grotesque as I was seeing everything horizontally due to my collapse. I could see my reflection in the pitch blackness of his eyes.

But his smile was as bright as the sun.