If you click on my profile, at the very top above the picture in the center, there is a POLL TO VOTE ON WHICH CHARACTER SHOULD "GO"NEXT. PLEASE VOTE FOR FUN... I WANT TO GET SOME INPUT! In case you can't navigate there, my link is: fan fiction dot net/u/4408230/
Esme fought for a moment, still holding onto her towel with one hand before she heard Carlisle's light laughter behind her. When she spun around, she came face to face with him; a scowl on her face as she pounded his shoulder with the bottom of her fist.
"Carlisle!" she said angrily at first, "You scared me! I can't believe you-"
"Hey, hey hey," he said, continuing to laugh, "Quiet down."
"You scared the-"
"Shhhh.." Carlisle put a finger up to his lips, still grinning behind it. "I'm sorry."
Esme took a deep breath and then closed her eyes. A moment later a slow grin spread across her face. "Well... you got me."
"I couldn't help myself," he admitted. "I walked in and I heard the water go off..."
"So you took the opportunity to scare me," she concluded.
Carlisle nodded and smirked again. "Sorry," he whispered.
Esme sighed. She looked into his eyes attempting to be serious but giggled lightly and wrapped her arms around the back of his neck.
"I was starting to worry," she admitted, still grinning.
"About what?"
"You... and the others." Esme shook her head, "All these stories... they've got me a little creeped out. I guess it's kind of fun though."
Carlisle kissed her once. "They're all just for fun."
"I know," she said with a nod, "But..." She made a face and shook her head.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Carlisle pulled her closer and smiled coolly again. "You can tell me."
Esme sighed another time, "You're going to think I'm-"
"I'm not going to think you're anything."
She hesitated, but went ahead with her thought. "Tomorrow is Friday the 13th."
"Yeah?"
Esme nodded. "Remember in Jasper's story down by the fire? He said the lone survivor disappeared on Friday the 13th."
Carlisle laughed again, but straightened up a bit when Esme gave him a look.
"Esme, I'm sure he just added that part in the story to give it some added suspense, that's all. Jasper said it himself that he was just kidding."
"But he also said that a boy really did drown... and that a woman, Mrs. Voorhees, killed. She killed people here."
"Well not here," Carlisle told her.
"You know what I mean," Esme went on, "Something terrible really did happen not far from here."
"Years ago."
"I know, but..."
There was a silence that fell over them and he studied her worried expression.
"Would you rather not work here this summer?" Carlisle asked, "Because I'll be on board if you really don't want to stay."
"No." Esme shook her head, "No... that would be silly. I do want to work here." Her posture loosened just slightly. "I'm being childish."
He pulled her closer to him. "Will you, uh, let me try something that may ease your mind?"
She looked up, seeing a mischievous look on his face and laughed.
"Well that all depends on what you have in mind."
Carlisle used one hand to push the door shut behind her the rest of the way and winked, making her laugh again.
"Did everyone get back okay?" Esme asked him.
"Everyone's here." He assured her, moving his lips against hers.
Esme kissed him back and followed his lead in taking her mind off Jason and all the other lingering facts of Jasper's story.
...
Ralph pedaled his bicycle back toward the main cabin, having already spotted several lights from open windows in the distance. He tossed it down to the side and contemplated going up to bang on the door to warn them again, but stopped when he saw some activity on the front porch.
"Mike broke the shutter!" Emmett called out, heading back towards the front door with a laugh.
"No, I didn't," he insisted, emerging from the open door.
"Evidence... right there." He pointed in the direction of the shutter than had come off in the storm.
"Oh, man," Jasper teased dryly, "Steve is going to flip out."
"No." Mike shook his head and wandered out, fiddling with a rusted nail that had previously served as part of the mounting for the décor.
"Oh, leave him alone," Alice said. "Mike, don't worry. We can fix it tomorrow." She looked at Jasper, "Get inside! It's still raining and windy out there."
Jasper wandered back in, prompting a comment about being whipped by Emmett.
"Emmett!" Rosalie's voice called from inside.
He made his voice sound more child-like, "Coming mother."
There was a bout of laughter before the front door slammed, the porch light went off and all Ralph was left to stare at were shadows from inside and a mumbled conversation.
He leaned his arm against a giant oak tree and glared toward the house, thinking less of the group of youngsters for not taking his warnings seriously. He didn't know why anyone would come to this part of the town again willingly.
Ralph looked around the darkness and was about to march up to the house, but a noise from the woods behind him caught his attention. He spun around, about to take a step in that direction when a string of barbed wire hooked around his next and pinned him up against the tree.
He struggled, kicking his feet and clawing at the wire that dug deeper and deeper into his throat before darkness began to cloud the little vision he had left.
A moment later the world went black and Ralph's lifeless body slumped to the ground in front of the big oak tree. His assailant released the barbed wire and stepped back behind the tree.
The front door of the big cabin flew open again and he waited, staring at the young girl that rushed out. She looked around, coming to the part of the porch that was closest to where he stood, though she didn't see him in the darkness. He, on the other hand, saw her clearly.
"Edward!" she called, "It's out here."
A tall, lean young man emerged next; his brown hair matted down onto his forehead from the rain. "Oh, yeah..." He walked up toward her and reached for the guitar that was left out on the porch.
"You're lucky the rain couldn't reach it."
"Thanks." He grinned and kissed her once on the lips.
"You owe me," she teased.
"Anything you want."
When the two of them rushed back inside and the outside light went off again, he regressed back into the woods, dragging Ralph's body along with him.