~~~ MAY

The blonde girl came to on the dirty wood floor.

There was an incomprehensible commotion around her, but her world was only as big as the feet stomping around her head, throwing clothes into open suitcases.

A voice cut through the white noise. "Guys, I think she's awake!" And then a mess of red hair came into view – Lee.

"Are you okay?" Ed bent over her, worried.

Her head was pounding. The girl propped herself up on her elbows, feeling heavy and shaky. "I think so," she tried to say, but her dry throat closed around the words.

Then she was on her back again, staring up at the ceiling. The rafters seemed to leer at her.

Ed scooped her up in his strong arms. "We're going home now," he whispered, nuzzling her forehead.

"Just as soon as we finish packing," Double D added, crossing the room to examine May's groggy, unfocused eyes with his flashlight.

She recoiled from the light. "What happened?" the girl asked no one in particular.

Lee shoved Edd aside. "You don't remember?" she asked her sister.

May shook her head.

"You were possessed," the redhead explained. "Marie found a dead girl in the woods."

"Double D found her!" Marie put in defensively.

"And she took over your body for a few minutes," Lee concluded.

May stiffened. "How long was I out for?"

"About half an hour," Double D figured after consulting his wristwatch.

"Long enough for us to pack up most of your shit for you," Eddy sneered. "We're all very happy you're awake, now it's time to start pulling your weight."

"Eddy, she hit her head coming out of the possession, so lay off!" Lee spat, instinctively defending her youngest sister. "Besides, you didn't lift a finger to pack her clothes, it was all me and Marie!"

"Well I don't know what's yours or hers or hers," Eddy shot back, glaring at each of the Kankers in turn. "And it was your stupid Ouija board that started all this, Lee!"

"This isn't helping," Marie spat. "Everybody chill out. May's probably way stressed." In truth, it was the middle Kanker who was probably most shaken by her experience in the woods, but any excuse for some peace and quiet would do.

Double D was going over a checklist in his notebook. "Looks like all that's left is to pack up the car," he started to say –

when May Kanker blurted out, "My cell phone. Where is it?"

Lee rolled her eyes. "Somebody call May."

Double D pressed his cell phone to his ear. The room fell silent.

"Shit."

"I must have left it…out by the trees…where we were reading, Ed."

Eddy collapsed onto the couch, crossing his arms. "Well this is just great!"

"I think you should forget about it, May," the oldest Kanker urged. "It's not safe here."

"It's the new iPhone, Lee!" she protested, climbing out of Ed's arms.

Marie laughed, blatant and cutting. "At least she's back to her old self again."

"I'll go into the woods," Ed said at once. "We'll find your phone, May."

Double D jumped out of his seat. "Ed, don't!"

"It's not safe," Lee repeated.

Ed was already pulling on his galoshes.

~~~ EDD

Having decided it was unwise to leave Ed wandering around in the dark by himself, Double D reluctantly waded through the ankle-deep mud at his side. Rain was falling in heavy sheets and both boys were already soaked to the bone.

His mind was still reeling from the events that just took place. He had never been one for superstition, but that was before he'd witnessed a possession with his own eyes. The physical symptoms couldn't be denied – May passed out on the floor and remembered nothing. She flew. None of this could be explained.

Picking his way through the woods with Ed now felt surreal as his mind struggled to process the ghost story unfolding before him.

The tall, broad-shouldered linebacker of a boy led him through a maze of brambles and into a shadowy clearing. The location of Ed and May's picnic was indicated by the wrappings of their lunch, still littered all over the ground.

Double D lingered at the edge of the forest as Ed lumbered over to search the bushes for May's phone. Edd dialed the number, but no light appeared in the darkness.

In the distance, a deep rumbling could be heard.

"I don't think this is a good idea, Ed!" Double D called out into the clearing as loudly as he dared.

"I have to find May's phone," he insisted, still shuffling through wrappers on his knees. "She just got it."

"Ed, I really don't-"

About ten feet away, a tree crashed to the ground.

"We have to go. Now."

The earth between them erupted in a shower of debris. A high-pitched buzzing sent a sharp streak of pain through Edd's head, bringing him to his knees.

Ed spun around just in time to see the enormous oak where his friend had been standing devoured by a huge, biting drill as it twisted its way up out of the earth.

"Double D!" His voice was far off and almost inaudible over the sound of the massive drill whirring. The drill bit alone was the size of a house and had just ground up an entire tree in mere seconds – the boy did not want to imagine what it would be capable of doing to his scrawny body.

"Ed!" he shouted back, scanning frantically for his friend as the drill began to recede. "Get back to the cabin!"