Trouble Sleeping?

The Trip

Daemen couldn't stop looking at the clock. It was 9th period, the day was almost done. After school, he and all of his friends were going camping for spring break. They were all meeting up after school and piling into two cars. The drive would take them almost 4 hours, partially because they had to stop at both Daemen and Victoria's houses to grab their dogs, so it would most likely be dark by the time they got to the camping site. 

They weren't really going camping, they were staying in a cabin. There was going to be 8 of them. Four of them would be in his car and the other four would be in Luke's car. Daemen couldn't stop thinking about the trip. He was stuck in AP US History for another 10 minutes before they could all go. Finally, after listening to his History teacher, Mr. Favata, drone on for another 10 minutes, the final bell rang. 

Daemen grabbed his bag from beside his desk, tossed his binder in and practically sprinted out of the classroom. He headed to his locker, grabbed his windbreaker, and headed towards the flagpole at the front of the school, the place they had all planned to meet up. After waiting for about 5 minutes, he saw Luke and Alex walk out. The gave each other the classic 'bro-hug' and waited for Tyler and the girls to show up. Tyler showed up about 5 minutes later. 

To none of their surprise, the girls were the last ones out. They were all in a group, talking and laughing. Clearly, they had taken their time. "I can see you're all in a rush to leave," Tyler said, sarcasm oozing from his words, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. The girls just laughed and kept walking towards the guys. 

"C'mon guys," Chloe said, tying her honey blonde hair up and laughing. "What're you waiting for, let's go already." She and the girls just laughed. 

"Very funny," Jack said rolling his eyes. "Let's just go." They started walking to the parking lot where Luke and Daemen had their cars parked. Tyler, Daemen, Jasmine, and Rachel piled into Daemen's car and Chloe, Victoria, Alex, and Luke climbed into Luke's car. Only one dog would fit in each car so Victoria and Daemen had to go in different cars. Luke and Daemen started their cars. Daemen turned left out of the school parking lot, heading towards his house. 

After driving for a good 20 minutes, Daemen pulled into his driveway. He got out of the car, walked over to his back door, and let out his big German Shepherd, Jack. Jack jumped all over him, as he usually did when Daemen got home from school. Daemen grabbed Jack's leash and attached it to Jack's collar. He went to his car and opened the trunk, where Jack usually hung out when they went driving. There was always a tarp in the trunk for when Daemen went driving with Jack. Daemen got back in the driver's seat of his 2018 Chevrolet Equinox. He backed out of his driveway and started heading towards the gas station by his house, their 2nd chosen meet-up point. 

After about 10 minutes of waiting, since Victoria lived farther away, Luke's car finally pulled into the parking lot. They all got out of Luke's car and Victoria let her Siberian Husky, Delta, out of the back. Jack and Delta had been friends since they were puppies and were always happy to see each other. They all went inside, except Jasmine who stayed with the dogs, and grabbed drinks and snacks for the road. 

When they got back on the road, it was already almost 4:00, they knew it was going to be dark by the time they got to the cabin. They weren't really worried though, Luke had been there before and knew where he was going and Daemen was simply following him. "You realize you're being forced to put your faith in Luke's memory, right?" Jasmine said from the back seat. "He doesn't exactly have the best track record for a picture perfect memory."

"Yeah I know," Daemen said. "But, he's the only person who could have any idea where we're going without having to either trust someone reading a map or trying to use GPS on one of our phones. Right now, it's the best option we've got."

Four hours later, they made it to the cabin. It was a large cabin, not the tiny 1-2 person cabins, this one had 2 floors and multiple rooms. Luke took them on a tour briefly, so they would know where everything was, he then showed them all to their rooms. There were about 10 bedrooms, so each person could have their own room. They grabbed their luggage from the cars and brought it into each of their respective rooms. By the time they were done setting everything up, it was only 9:30, so they decided to have a fire and talk. 

"Hey, guys," Luke said, as the fire started going. "How about we tell ghost stories? It's like a must for camping." The guys all agreed, the girls, on the other hand, looked nervous. "What's wrong girls? Can't handle a scary story?"

"From you?" Rachel said. "Hell no! I wouldn't trust a fucking fairy tale from you." The girls all nodded in agreement.

"Fair enough," Luke said. "Anyways, who wants to start?"

"How about you?" Tyler said. "You're the one who suggested this." Luke shrugged and started thinking. After a few minutes of thinking, he smiled. 

"I've got one," he said. "But, the difference between this story and most of my others is, this one's real." Everyone rolled their eyes, even the girls weren't fooled. 

"Alright then," Alex said. "Let's hear this 'true story'."

"This is more of a legend than a story," Luke said. "Legend has it, that over 15 years ago, a single mother and her daughter actually lived in this cabin. One night, when the girl was just 11, she couldn't sleep. She could just toss and turn, but she couldn't fall asleep. Her mother heard her tossing and turning and walked to her daughter's room. She opened the door and asked her daughter, 'are you having trouble sleeping?' When the girl nodded, yes, her mother answered saying 'here, let me sing you one of your favourite songs.' She then proceeded to stab her daughter 10 times in the chest, killing her. Some people believe that to this day, the little girl's spirit still haunts this cabin. And whoever hears her story, will go insane and kill themselves but not before writing 'Are you having trouble sleeping?' in their room. People who believe the legend argue over whether the mother was simply insane, or whether she was possessed by a demon. Whatever the case, I'd be worried if you find yourself unable to sleep tonight." Luke stopped talking and looked at his friends for the first time since he started his story. The guys were scared, the girls were petrified. 

"I hate you, Luke," Chloe said. She was sitting next to Victoria and was hugging Delta, who was blissfully unaware of what had just happened and was playing with a stick between her paws. "I don't want to hear any more stories tonight. I'm going to bed."

"I think we should all go to bed," Jasmine said. "It's getting late." Everyone agreed and they put out the fire and headed to their rooms, unaware of what was soon to occur.