Bowling Bowls and Candles and Pepper Spray, Oh My

"No, and like---" Sara gasps through her laughs, though she's obviously simultaneously terrified. "---when we get there what if the door is, like, locked and there's a note that says Stay awayyyy in blood."

We're dying laughing even though we're shaking in our boots as we trudge our way through the dark forest to the little cabin we're meeting the others at. It's on a horror-movie-perfection plot of quiet, unassuming land, swallowed by trees and bathed in moonlight.

"Stop!" I yell in fear even as I choke on a laugh. "No, no, no, what if---"

Sara falters as we approach the narrow wooden bridge that leads to our destination. "Okay, wait, let's just get there. I'm starting to get freaked out." I agree, clearing my throat and gathering myself. We can only cross the bridge in a single-file line, so I go first, Sara behind me. I'm traversing the rickety wood with careful feet when I hear her gasp. Whipping around, I almostt lose my balance but manage to rebound. Sara's hands push at my ribs.

"Go, go, go!" she screams. There's no laughter this time. I start to run across the remainder of the bridge, but I have to look back. I have to see what the issue is.

It's a man. I can hardly see him in the darkness, but he's there. He's coming up quick behind us and he has a....bowling ball...in his hand. He's wielding it like a weapon, brandishing the ball with menacing malice.

We take off running, almost to the cabin when a second man appears. This one isn't a copy of the carnival Strongman with the bowling ball. He's lanky and gangly as is...throwing candles at us? In the glass jars and all.

Managing not to get bludgeoned by them, we weave our way up to the fornt door. I dodge him and make it inside the cabin, but Sara runs left. I yell at her through the thin walls to just, "Run as fast as you can!" The guy is small, I think. He can't be holding too many more of those heavy candles. Just then, one final candle smashing against the outside of the door, then silence.

My back is against it. I hear voices outside but not of Sara. Of the two men. They slam against the wood behind me. "She barricaded it," one grumbles. No I didn't. Y'all are just weak. I can take you. "I'll go around through the bathroom." Panic surges me. I can't block both at the same time. Now I do barricade the door, pushing a table over in front of it. I rifle through one of my bags, pulling out my...expired...pepper spray. Great.

Hearing motion near the bathroom, I decide to take my chances. I go to move the table from in front of the door, but it has already disappeared out of my escape path. I run out, guns blazing---well, expired pepper spray, at least. I see Sara sprinting far in the distance and follow her, never looking back. Then, I trip over a plank on the bridge.

It jolts me awake.

It's dark. I reach for my phone on my side table, but all I feel is solid ground. Turning my body over, water brushes my feet. Its stark temperature sends another bodily jolt through me. My hair is tangled around my shoulders. I touch it and feel mud...

Squinting up into the abyss above me, I see it, and my blood seems to freeze.

The rickety bridge sways above me. Floating there in the sky like a reminder. An apparition.

I'm lying in the dirt of the river bank below it. My body aches. Like I fell.

My hand is stiff, wrapped around a small item. Upon further examination, it's the pepper spray. A sharp noise brings my attention to the bridge above again. It's Sara. Screaming. She's looking down at me from the wind-blown bridge.

And suddenly, I'm beside her, looking down at me, too. And I understand why she's screaming.