Halestorm was blaring through the car speakers. My friends and I were all singing along watching everything pass us by. We were headed down to Thomas's Lake House down in some little country town. Thomas' girlfriend Rose is in the passenger’s seat and next to me in the back is Elaine and her boyfriend Shane. Unfortunately my boyfriend couldn't make it because we broke up just last week, so I’m the only single person here. Bleh! “Hey Thomas, when are we going to get there?” I ask. “Soon Midnight”, he replies. I turn and look out the window. All the people we see look like in breeders. This town reminds me of the movie Wrong Turn. “Hey these people aren't cannibals are they?” “No Midnight. They are not”, Shane says with a smirk. “Hey, it never hurts to ask.”

After an hour, we finally pull into a little dirt road and a huge house appears. Everyone gasps when they see the house. “Wow Thomas this is beautiful.” Everyone says. “Why thank you. Oh, and Midnight there is a surprise for you that's coming later.” “Really!” I say with a little too much enthusiasm. We all jump out and grab our bags. “I’m so glad we have that four day weekend this week”, Elaine says. Everyone nods their heads in agreement. “What the h*ll are we standing out here for?! Lets get partying!” Shane yells. We all holler along with him and run inside to throw on our swimsuits.

Elaine, Rose, and I are sitting on the porch with a beer in our hands watching the guys swim. Our hair is dripping wet from just getting out of the lake. “Can you believe the guys are still playing in the water?” Rose says. “I know, but they do look good in their swim trunks.” Elaine adds. I turn away in embarrassment. Elaine’s eyes widen, “I’m sorry Midnight. I forgot you and Jake are not together anymore.” “It’s OK really.” I say with a forced smile. “Hey babe!” The guys yell while walking up. “Let’s get comfortable and watch a movie.” Thomas says. "Heck yeah!" The girls yell. "Yeah let’s go!" I say a little sarcastically.

While our popcorn is popping, we go ahead and start watching Fear. This movie is crazy but good. After Fear, we put in Secret Window. “I love Johnny Depp!” I say. “Me too!” Rose and Elaine yell. All three of us smile and high five each other. "I knew there was a reason why I liked y'all", I say with a grin. They just roll their eyes at me. At the most suspenseful part of the movie, the side door bangs open and someone walks in. “AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!” We all yelled while clutching one another. “Chill lax guys.” Jake says. “Hey Midnight this is your surprise.” Thomas says with a sheepish grin. Jake gives me a small smile and waves. I have no idea what my face shows but I know my heart fills conflicted. “Hi.” I say to him in a shy voice. “Hey!” Jake sits down next to me and causally puts his arm around my shoulder. I glare at him which makes him remove his arm. After Jake's rude arrival we finally finish the movie and everyone soon falls asleep. But of course my mind is now reeling with crazy thoughts, and every noise I hear makes me jump. After calming myself down a bit I finally drift off to sleep.

There’s a scratching noise outside and the floorboards start to creek under someone’s weight. I hug myself and squeeze my eyes shut. “It’s only your imagination.” I whisper to myself. But it doesn’t help calm me down. I crawl over to Rose and start shaking her. "Hey Rose. Rose! I hear something. Were y'all sure the people in town weren't cannibals?" I whisper. She mumbles in her sleep and turns over. I let out a deep breath and crawl over to Elaine, and start to shake her. "Hey wake up. I hear something outside and inside." "Midnight it’s just your imagination. Shane, Jake, or Thomas might have gotten up and went to the bathroom." "Yeah, you’re probably right. I'm just over reacting." I look around and see everyone is asleep, so against better judgment I snuggle up closer to Jake. He sighs in his sleep and wraps his arms around me. I curl up more into him trying to calm down and tune out all the noises. BANG! BANG! I gasp and clutch Jakes' arm. "OW! What’s wrong Midnight?" Jake asks with worry in his eyes. "I hear something outside." "It’s all right. It might be an animal or a tree hitting the house." He rests his head on my shoulder and starts stroking my back. "Yeah maybe your right." I say, resting against him. "Hey Midnight, why did we break up? I mean I still love you." "Um...I'm not even sure. We were fighting about something, and that led to hurtful words then a lot of tears." "You know it’s really bad we broke up over something we can't even remember." I smile and nod my head. BANG! We both jump. "What the h*ll!" Jake gets up and looks outside, "I don't see anything." Then there’s a scratching noise at the window, like someone is dragging their nails across it. Rose and Elaine jump up covering their ears. "What the! What’s going on?!" They both ask. "I don't know guys." Jake and I say. The girls wake up the other guys and then the boys go off to find weapons. "So Midnight I guess you were right about hearing noises. Hey, wait didn't you say you were hearing it inside too?" Elaine points out. All of our eyes widen and we start screaming. Then Rose collapses to the floor and some weird guy is giving us a creepy smile and he's holding a knife. "AHHHHHH!!!!!" Elaine and I take off running. "I knew it, they are cannibals!" I scream. "Shut up Midnight! You’re just going to piss them off." We collide with someone and topple over each other. I start swinging my arms trying to get in some good punches. "OW! Hey! Midnight it’s me!" Jake whispers. I take a good look at the guy and see that it is Jake. "Sorry." "Where is Shane and Thomas?" Elaine asks. "We split up going to try and take on these guys. “Where’s Rose?" Elaine starts sobbing and she throws her arms around me. "One of those guys hit her. I think she might be passed out, but I do know he was holding a knife." Jake just nods and helps us to our feet. We start looking around; I see a bat and grab it. "I can hit pretty hard." I say. "I know you've hit me before." Jake says with a grin. "Yeah but not with a bat." "And for that I'm grateful." I roll my eyes and start looking around. Elaine grabs a fireplace poker and Jake was already holding a crowbar. "Hey lets go back for Rose.” I say. So we do, and she’s still lying there with her eyes closed. I kneel down and check her pulse. "Oh thank God! She's still alive." Jake and Elaine let out a sigh of relief then we see a guy round a corner. I jump up and got ready to swing. The guy looks up in surprise then starts charging me with a knife. I swing the bat and make contact with his hand. The man lets out a high pitched scream and clutches his hand. Jake runs over and starts’ beating him with the crowbar until the guy falls over unconscious. Elaine is just standing there with her eyes wide. "Elaine are you ok?" I ask while Jake comes up next to me. Elaine then falls to her knees then slumps forward with a knife in her back. "ELAINE!!!!" I scream. The guy behind her smiles and comes at me, but before he can get me Jake steps in front of me with the crowbar aimed at the guy. The guy just laughs at him and yanks it out of his hands then he bashes the crowbar against Jakes' head. Blood sprays everywhere and I start screaming while the guy comes at me. I start backing up staring at Jake, crying. The guy just laughs at me and keeps coming at me. I pull back my arm and swing the bat, I connect with his skull. The guy crumples to the floor, and I go over to him and kick him. I run over to Jake and start shaking him, "JAKE! JAKE!" He stirs and mumbles something. I cry out in relief and hug him close. I walk over to Elaine and check her pulse. Her pulse is slow but its beating. I pull out my cell phone and dial 911. "Yes, someone has broken into my friends Lake House. We knocked out two guys, but we're not sure how many there are. They injured three of my friends and I'm not sure about the other two." My phone is yanked out of my hand and someone pushes my face against the floor. "What are you doing pretty lady? We don't want the cops getting involved, now do we? I'll make sure your friends do die instead of being injured." Tears start streaming down my face. "Why? Why are y'all doing this to us? Is it because y'all are cannibals or is it because you’re in breeders?" I say. The guy yanks me by my hair then punches me. I crumple back down to the floor crying but also laughing that I touched a sore spot of his. "I suggest you kee....." He doesn't finish his sentence, but then he falls on top of me. I start screaming, and I shove him off. Shane grabs my hand and pulls me up. "So this guy got you cornered but you insist on making him madder." "Whatever. But I did call the police hopefully they come down." Shane nods then rushes over to Elaine. He silently starts to cry. I rip off some of my shirt and head over to them. "Should we pull the knife out and wrap this around her to keep pressure?" "I don't know; would it be better?" I shrug my shoulder, but we pull the knife out and Shane holds the piece of cloth against her wound. I get Shane's phone and try the police again, but this time they just laugh and say we're just making it up for a prank. "The cops won’t help us. They think it’s a prank." "What! GRRRRR!!!! I can't believe this; I can't believe they won’t help us. What if Elaine, Jake, Thomas, or Rose don’t make it? And look at you; you have a nasty wound on your face." I touch my face and wince. There's going to be a wicked bruise there, and the side of my face is sticky with blood. I go over to Jake and check to see if his pulse is still beating. He's probably in a coma and it's all because he tried to protect me. We should never have come to this stupid lake house. "Thomas should have warned us of these crazy people." "He probably didn't know they were. Man I should have taken you seriously when you said they looked like cannibals." We both start laughing, but then someone else’s laughter joins ours. We look to see a guy coming at us. He hits Shane and reaches for me.

"AHHHHH!!!!!" I scream putting my arms up like a shield. "Midnight, calm down. It’s all right. You were having a bad dream." Jake says while stroking my back. I sit up breathing hard, and look around. Everyone else is already up and none of them look like they have been beaten to death or stabbed. I look up at Jake and throw my arms around him. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me closer. "It’s all right, I'm here." I look into his eyes and he leans down and kisses me. We pull away and I look at everyone. "Wow guys! Y'all won’t believe the dream I just had. And just to be safe lets head home. I don't want this nightmare coming true." Everyone gives me a puzzled look, but agrees. I guess they didn't feel comfortable around the forest and the cannibals that probably live nearby. Off in the distance while no one was looking a strange man slips farther into the shadows with a wicked smile on his face.