Cabin 13 ~Book 1~

10

Against my better judgment I found myself getting dressed to meet Jesse in Cabin 13 that night. Half an hour after curfew was called I snuck into the bathroom to get ready.

I threw on a pair of black shorts and paired that with a floral print tank top. I quickly put on my converse and was about to leave the bathroom when I paused.

I stepped in front of the mirror and examined myself. I was never one of those girly girls that obsessed over makeup which is why I was surprised when I reached for the little makeup case that I had packed. I dabbed on a little foundation and rolled pink gloss over my lips before finally leaving the bathroom.

As I was leaving I exchanged my converse for black ankle boots with heels.

Why am I dressing up for him? I thought to myself

This was a sign that I should definitely cut off any and all ties that I had to Jesse Peirce. He was already changing me and we haven't even kissed yet.

Not that I wanted to kiss him or anything

I shook my head and followed the cabins but was confused when the cabins ended at number 12.

Where the hell was Cabin 13?

I walked along the cabins again to make sure that I didn't miss it. When I ended at 12 again I was convinced that there wasn't a Cabin 13.

Was Jesse playing a prank on me?

I shrieked when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and came face to face with Tara. She was wearing flannel pajamas and had a cigarette hanging out of the side of her mouth.

I clutched my racing heart and glared at her. "Jesus Christ, you scared the crap out of me! What are you doing out here?"

She pointed to the cigarette in her mouth. "I'm smoking."

"Oh..." I trailed off.

"Now answer my question, why are you out here? And why are you so dressed up?" Tara asked.

I contemplated telling her and in the end decided that I could trust her with the truth.

"I'm looking for a cabin 13." I told her.

Tara's eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"

"I'm...uh...supposed to meet Jesse there." I mumbled.

"What! Didn't I tell you to stay away from that creep? Why would you sneak out at night to meet him?"

"I don't know. Anyways there is no cabin 13 so it doesn't matter anyways. It was a stupid idea to trust him." I replied.

Tara rolled her eyes. "Sometimes I forget that you're a newbie. There is a cabin 13, but it's not in the main cabin circle. It was moved into the woods surrounding the camp a few years ago after a girl committed suicide in it."

"Wow, really." I gasped.

"Yeah, her name was Julia Maxx and police found her body floating in the bathtub in the cabin. After that nobody wanted to stay there anymore so rather than destroy the cabin, the camp directors moved it to the woods. It's now the object of countless ghost stories and camp storage." Tara said.

She looked at her watch and narrowed her eyes at me. "Now get back to your cabin. I'm not going to let you meet Jesse in that hell hole."

I sighed. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks for looking out for me. See you tomorrow."

I started walking back to my cabin and when I reached it I turned around and saw Tara still staring at me. I waved at her, opened the door and went inside.

But I didn't go inside to sleep.

I found the emergency kit in the corner of the room and took out the flash light that was inside of it. Once I had it in my hands I put in two AA batteries. I turned it on and crept out of the back door of my cabin.

I walked into the woods behind my cabin and started searching them for any signs of a building. When I didn't find one after 10 minutes I decided to cut my losses and head back to the cabin. I was almost there when I felt a cold hand land on my arm.

I screamed and turned around. When I saw Jesse's smirking face in front of mine I rolled my eyes.

"What is with you people and sneaking up on me!" I accused.

"Huh?" Jesse asked.

"Nothing, forget about it. What are you doing in the back of my cabin?"

"I realized that you probably didn't know how to get to cabin 13 so I came to your cabin to get you." He explained.

"Well here I am." I said.

"Here you are." Jesse rasped and looked me up and down.

I don't think Jesse noticed, but his voice had lowered an octave. His eyes glossed over as he took in my outfit and after his inspection his eyes finally came to rest on my lips. A warm feeling spread throughout my body and I realized that I really wanted Jesse to make a move.

But that would be a mistake. A mistake that I couldn't afford to make.

I cleared my throat and Jesse's eyes snapped back to mine.

"Are you ready to go?" He asked with a charismatic smile on his face.

Not trusting my voice to remain neutral, I nodded my head.

Jesse led me down a trail that I hadn't noticed when I was looking for the cabin. Soon we came up to a narrow path. I looked down it and found the infamous cabin 13.

It was a smaller cabin than the normal ones, with chipping red paint and slightly crooked windows. I felt goose bumps erupt over my arms and shivers rake through my body when I realized that we would be going into the ominous structure.

"You sure you want to do this?" Jesse wondered.

I had a feeling that my answer would change the rest of my life.

"Yeah." I decided after a moment's deliberation.

I grabbed Jesse's hand and walked with him to cabin 13. As we walked inside I was reminded of a quote by one of my favorite authors, Meg Cabot.

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear."