As she finished washing up, she didn't have a clue that half the counselors in the camp had died that night. She rinsed her mouth, threw her toothbrush and toothpaste tube back into her case, pulled on her slicker and went out the door just as one of the shower curtains behind her was slowly pushed aside.

She walked quickly back to her cabin, lighting the way with her flashlight. Her gaze so intent on the muddy path that she didn't see the latrine door open again. The sound of the rain and wind and her own footsteps squishing in the mud drowned out the sounds of her pursuer. The cabin was empty.

She smiled. Marcie was obviously out for the night.

She glanced out the window and saw that the light in the main cabin was still on.

Don't stay awake too long, Steve, she thought. She struck a match and lit the candle on the nightstand then turned off the cabin light. At least the generator was still working.

She shed her clothes and put on her flannel night gown. She picked up the candle and set it down carefully on the window ledge above the bed, then snuggled down between the covers with the book. A quiet, rainy night in a cabin in the woods, she thought, a perfect setting for a horror story.

She picked up a paperback she had brought. The book was about vampires on a Mississippi river boat. Just the thing for a night like this. She thought it would make a terrific film and wondered if Neddie was into horror movies.

Outside, over the sound of the wind and rain, a small voice cried out.

"Help me!"

For a second, Brenda wasn't sure she'd heard it. She put down the book and listened. There it was again.

"Help meeeee…"

It sounded like a child. She got out of bed and glanced out the window. It was impossible to see a thing.

What the hell was a little kid doing out there in the rain? She picked up her flashlight and went over to the door, opening it and peering out into the darkness, shining the beam all around the area outside the cabin.

"Hello?" she called out.

"Hello? Is anybody there?"

For a moment, she heard nothing but the wind and rain but there it was again, unmistakably the voice of a small child somewhere in the darkness.

"Hello?" she shouted, "Helloooo?"

The voice was muffled.

"Help Meeee. Heeelp Me."

Jesus, Brenda thought, what could have happened?

Maybe it was some little kid from town, out there by the lake, playing with some friends? Some kid that got separated somehow and then something happened. Maybe he slipped and fell and hurt himself or fell into an old trap or something. She shivered at the picture of a kid with his foot caught in one of those steel jawed traps. God, he could bleed to death! Where was he?

"Help me! Hellllllp me!"