MURDER IN THE DARK

one

"This place is amazing!" Kelly exclaimed as the group of teenagers entered the large cabin once owned by Danny's grandparents.

Danny never tended to speak about his grandparents, which made everyone curious as to why. All that they knew was that one day they were settled happily, and the next they were gone.

The group had discussed it without Danny before, and Lucas suggested that maybe they passed away. Danny said he wasn't very close with his grandparents, but the death of any family member usually affects another family member.

"How many rooms are in this place?" Nathan asked.
Danny shrugged. "5, I think. So I guess some of us have to partner up."

Cameron wrapped his arm around Heather's, his girlfriend's, waist. "Heather and I will take a room." Cameron turned to his girlfriend and smiled. She flashed her teeth back at him as their friends laughed and 'ooo'ed.

"Hey, Kelly." Lisa tapped her friend on the shoulder. "You wanna share?"

Kelly smiled and nodded. "Sure."

Lucas threw his arms up in the air. "I get a room to myself." He exclaimed, childishly, making his friends laugh.

"Okay, so," Danny began. "Heather and Cameron, your room's just down that hall." He pointed down the hall to the left of the living room. "There's also a bathroom and two single rooms down there and since I'm taking one of those, either Nathan or Lucas can have the other."

Nathan and Lucas shared a look before quickly darting down the hall to look at the room. Heather folded her arms, laughed and waited to see what would happen next.

"Dibs!" Nathan yelled.
Lucas groaned. "Dammit, Nathaniel!"
Nathan laughed. "Sorry, bud... and it's Nathan."
Lucas snickered before mimicking his friend. "It's Nathan."

"What about our room?" Lisa questioned.
"Down the hall on the right."
"Fancyyyy." Lisa said, dragging on the 'y'. The two girls picked up their suitcases and hurried down the hall, with Lucas in tow.

"'Guess I'm down here too." Lucas said.
"Correct." Danny said.

"Uh, hey, Danny?" Cameron called from the other hall.
"Yeah?" He asked, jogging up to the frame of the door.
"Did this room belong to - uh - your grandparents?" Heather questioned unsurely.

The room smelt odd to Cameron and Heather and the bed was mahogany with old fashioned sheets and wallpaper, and the carpet was thick with a dark red colour.

Danny laughed and nodded. "It sure is."
"Uh, that's kinda weird." Heather laughed.

Cameron turned to Danny, waiting for his response, but furrowed his brows when Danny gave them a slightly irritated eyeroll and a jokey comment.

"It's fine, don't worry!" He sighed. "I gotta unpack, I'll show you guys the rest of the place when I'm done."

"Okay... see ya." Heather replied.
Cameron shrugged it off and returned to unpacking his stuff.

"This place seems pretty huge - and we've only seen this room and the living room." Heather laughed.
Cameron chuckled. "I know, it's gonna be great here! I can't thank Danny enough for letting us stay for the weekend."

The two carried on unpacking for a while, before Cameron spoke up again.  "Danny and I were talking in the car about what we could do over the weekend."

"Mhm?" Heather asked, taking out her favourite jacket that she packed.

"We have a lake and stuff, but when I was younger, Danny and I used to play this game with Lisa and some other kids we fell out with back in 3rd grade. It was called murder in the dark."

Heather looked up and nodded. "I played that game once! It's fun!"

Cameron grinned. "Exactly! I think we should play it - Danny does too."

Heather nodded again. "That's a great idea!"

"Hurry up guys! I've gotta give you guys the rest of the cabin tour!" Danny yelled from outside the room.

Heather shoved her empty suitcase underneath the bed. "You finished?" She asked her boyfriend.
He nodded in response. "Mhm, lets go."

***

"So, as you know, the living room is the first thing you see when you walk in." Danny lead them through the living room and pointed at the arch at the end of the room. "Through there is kitchen."

"Nice!" Nathan said, poking his head through the arch. "I dig the '40s style."
"Me too. It's kinda pretty." Kelly added.

Danny chuckled before continuing. "We've all seen the lake outside and we can swim in it, but not too far out."

"Why's that?" Lucas questioned.
Danny shivered. "Don't worry about it, man."
Lucas titled his head and folded his arms. "I wouldn't, but now you've got me curious."
"Yeah, me too." Kelly added.

"Well," Danny breathed out. "if you guys really wanna know..."
Everyone nodded.

Danny rubbed the back of his neck.
"There was a couple with a son who lived here before my grandparents and there were rumours that a serial killer was on the loose. One day when the boy's parents went out, he decided to go for a swim. But he swam out too far, and when he began to struggle to swim, he felt himself being pulled underneath the water. The boy cried out once he realised that he wasn't imagining the feeling of his ankle being pulled." Danny said, eyeing everyone in the group. "When his parents came home, they found his body washed up, with multiple stab wounds..."

The group stood there in dead silence for a moment. "What? You mean he... died?" Lucas asked, wide eyed.

Danny nodded. "His parents called the police and had their entire house checked, but there was no trace of anyone else there apart from the boy."

Nathan nervously laughed. "Please tell me you're kidding."
Danny stayed silent for a while before laughing and nodding. "I am. I'm just fucking with you."

Everyone groaned and Lisa slapped Danny's arm. "Dammit Danny! You scared us half to death!"

Danny continued to laugh. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Look, I'll show you guys the rest of the house. Trust me, it'll make up for it."

Heather rolled her eyes. "It better. If I have nightmares tonight, I'm blaming you."