As promised, I awakened to a sky so dark I couldn’t help but question if it were truly morning. My bed called to me, begging me to stay wrapped in the warm, cozy embrace of my blanket, and the strong arms of my fiancé. Tempting as it was, I had to decline. Today was a special day, marking ten years since my life changed forever.

As part of the day’s tradition, I prepared a generous helping of scrambled eggs, crispy maple bacon, and the thickest Belgian waffles I’d ever seen. To drink, my love and I would have my favorite autumn beverage, hot apple cider.

I gazed hopelessly through the tall windows. If anyone had told my younger self that I’d live in a penthouse with the man of my dreams, I wouldn’t have believed them. I wouldn’t have believed that my debut novel, now eight years old, would get me here.

“Morning, Em.” Hunter greeted me with his hands slipping around my waist, and a tender kiss on the left side of my head. He took a moment to gently nuzzle my chestnut hair, but despite his affection, it made me cringe.

“You know I don’t like to be touched there.” I nearly whisper, tightening my grip on the knife.

“I know, I’m sorry.” He pecked one more kiss on my cheek, calming my nerves before he pulled away.

“What time are we heading out?” Hunter asked, carrying his mug to the table.

I had to break the news to him, and hoped he wouldn’t ask questions. I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with the delicious scent of breakfast.

“…I was actually thinking of going alone.” I said, carrying our plates to the table.

“Why?” He asked, furrowing his brow. “What happened to following our routine? Remember when you freaked out on me for suggesting we stop by the hospital?”

“This year feels…different.” I frowned. “More personal, somehow… I’d like to be alone, maybe go for a drive.”

“Do you wanna talk about it?” He asked, holding my hand. “I’m here for you.”

“I know, but I’m fine. I’ll stop by the cemetery, take that package over to my mother, then see you for dinner.”

“All right.” He sighed. “Be careful… I love you.”

Those three words melted my heart and put a smile on my face. I hated lying to him, but if he knew the truth, he’d intervene.

I didn’t lie about the cemetery. For my friends, my sisters, I brought them each a beautiful white rose. This was the first time I hadn’t left them a bouquet, simply because I couldn’t stomach the gesture any longer. They weren’t there, resting below those gravestones. Everyone knew it. Their bodies, as many believed, were somewhere in the mountains.

*************

_We were seniors in high school, ready to create the best memories before heading our separate ways for college. Naya, my best friend, came up with this writing project for us back in tenth grade. We were going to start working on our debut novels, then share and critique them at the start of senior year. We were ecstatic, and though it was hard trying to keep our ideas to ourselves, we prevailed. _

_The time to share had finally arrived, but we agreed that moment, our moment, deserved so much more than our little corner of the library._

_“What about Harlow’s Peak?” Megan suggested._

_Harlow’s Peak had been a popular campsite in the mountains, and the cabin by the lake was said to be the best spot. Ten out of ten ratings, perfect for family, friends, couples. Perfect for our little writing retreat. We had to go._

_“Not a good idea. It’s not safe.” Cereza’s words haunted me ever since. Like a tattoo on my brain, I’d wake up to those words every morning, and fall asleep to them at night._

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_Cereza had always been a strange, quiet girl. I could never describe her as anything other than a living, breathing, gothic porcelain doll. From the way she dressed, to her beautiful, thick black curls, to her piercing ice blue eyes, and she had the most adorable freckles. _

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_A beautiful girl like her could’ve easily been the most popular in school, but she wasn’t. People called her a freak. Her life was like a horror movie, and because of that, we didn’t listen to her warning about the men who terrorized Harlow’s Peak wearing Halloween masks. It had Alexis and I spooked, but Megan and Naya really wanted to go, and convinced everyone we’d be safe._

_Our trip was set for the weekend, right before Halloween. The plan was to leave Friday after school, share our stories, then get back to my house by Saturday night to get ready for Hunter’s Halloween party._

_In the early hours of our little retreat, we had a blast. We took pictures, played a few games, had breakfast for dinner, and read snippets of our manuscripts before exchanging our first chapters. We were in the middle of reading when our trip took a turn for the worst. Those men showed up, and terrorized us the entire night._

_I had taken a blow to the head, and was almost strangled to death, but managed to survive that nightmare._

***********************

Ever since that night, people stopped camping at Harlow’s Peak. Nowadays, only the brave would venture out there to checkout the cabin by the lake, and explore the woods.

The cabin’s windows and doors were boarded up, and covered in old caution tape that dangled in the wind. I couldn’t imagine what it looked like inside. Standing on the porch was enough to make my heart beat out of my chest.

“I miss you, girls.” I whispered, tears stinging my eyes as I rested the bouquet of white roses on the ground.

I glanced down at the package in my hand, but movement in the woods pulled my attention away. My heart sunk. Hanging from one of the trees was a little plush lion that used to belong to Naya. It was the last gift her grandfather had given her before he died. I had to be seeing things. I had to be wrong.

My feet pulled me closer and closer, crunching the blanket of leaves, until they froze. I stood face to face with this stuffed animal, my eyes fixed on its right foot where Naya’s name had been stitched on. My eyes wandered further into the woods, widening as they landed on Megan’s favorite blue cardigan.

I had to get them back. They didn’t belong here. I untied the lion, rushed over and freed the cardigan.

“Hey!” I shouted at the person ahead of me, watching them run away from a green and white sneaker that belonged to Alexis. I ran to retrieve it, and realized it had been laced with a ribbon that Cereza used to wear.

They had no right to disrespect my friends, especially not today. I searched for them, screamed for them until my throat was on fire. I wanted to kill them.

“Stop!” I shouted, watching them enter one of the other cabins. Without hesitation, perhaps it was the adrenaline, I followed them.

“Looking for me?” They asked, lowering their hood, turning my skin pale as a ghost.

“Cereza.” I whispered. “Y-you’re awake?”

“I’ve been awake for the last six years.” She said, her eyes fixed on the package. “I see you brought that with you. Planning to burn it?”

“_You_ sent me this?” I questioned. “Why? What’s the point?”

“Open it.” She commanded, turning her attention to her phone.

I rested the box on the table and tore it open. I’d received this package a week ago. Inside was a manuscript, detailing the events that took place that night. I couldn’t understand why she would send me this.

“Cereza….why?” I asked, desperate for answers.

“To refresh your memory.” She lowered her phone. “You changed a lot, and left out some details in your book. You said you didn’t know who hit you over the head. Why didn’t you tell everyone it was me?”

“Y-you were in a coma. I didn’t want people coming to hurt you.”

“Bullshit. You painted both of us in a heroic light _because_ I survived. You wanted to stay on my good side. According to my family, people wouldn’t stop coming to the hospital to find out if I’d woken up, so they had me relocated. It’s funny. Before, and after the move, they said Hunter used to visit me four times a week. That stopped when he started dating you.”

“That’s not true.” I protested.

“Why would they lie? Why would Hunter lie? You knew he loved me.”

“No. No! This is crazy, Cereza!” I shouted, slamming the manuscript on the table. “You made me sound like a monster! Like I planned the whole thing!”

“You did. Those men were never caught. You failed to mention that the man in the clown mask, the one you locked me in the basement with, was your brother.”

I took a deep breath, carried her manuscript to the trash, and used my lighter to burn it.

“…No one would believe you, Cereza. If anything, they’re more likely to believe _you_ were the mastermind behind that night. You were the school freak, not me.”

“They’ll believe me when they find the bodies buried beneath this cabin. They’ll believe me, because where you saw an opportunity for a book deal, your brother saw something a little more cinematic. I know what he released online, and I’ve seen what he kept for himself.” She explained.

“What are you talking about?” I asked, as calmly as I could.

My phone began to vibrate an endless stream of notifications. I wanted to shut my phone off, until I saw a message from Hunter.

**_What the fuck is going on?! What is this?!

_**I opened his text, and with trembling hands, I clicked the link he sent me. It was the footage from that night. I saw myself on that screen, pulling off my own mask, aiming that gun at Cereza. I saw the emails, the plans my brother and I sent to each other.

The manuscript Cereza had sent me… It couldn’t be the only copy. I had no idea if, or when the world would read it, but after this video….they wouldn’t need to.