Cassie took four big steps back and stepped out of the ballroom and into the foyer. Her heart was practically leaping out of her chest and she was trying to figure out how fast she could run with a ballroom gown and heels. She wiggled her feet, trying to remove the shoes while at the same time looking in all directions. She needed to get out of here.
"Don't leave dear. We won't hurt you, yet."
"Yes you will. You lied to me. I was fucking stupid. I killed my best friends for money. I hate you!" Cassie spat out the words, opened the front door, and ran for her cabin. She knew where the keys to the truck were and she thought she could get into the truck in time. There was no way she could run out to the main road and this way she could drive there instead. She exited the main building and took off down the path. She couldn't see the cabins. They were nowhere to be found. She turned around and saw nothing but trees.
Cassie stopped running. She looked down and was back to wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. She burst into tears when she saw it was one of Jackson's college sweatshirts. It had the logo of the state university on it as well as stains from when she dropped a wine cooler on it. She closed her eyes and composed herself. Just then, she heard movement from her left. She opened her eyes and was met with Jackson's concerned look.
***
Cassie opened her eyes and blinked. The sun was shining in her eyes and she was laying on a combination of hard and soft. She looked around and noticed that her best friend Jackson was sitting beside her as she lay on her side on the floor of the forest. Her head hurt and she was cold.
She opened her mouth to speak, but he spoke first.
"Don't talk. Your head hit the windshield when the truck swerved off the road. The lap belt didn't stop you from being pushed forward. Ethan was the least hurt. He has a cut on his hand, but that's all. He remembered seeing a house down the road so he went off a few minutes ago to get help. I didn't want to leave you alone since you were unconscious.
Cassie sat up and hugged Jackson so tight. It had been a dream. It was all a dream. The resort, the ghosts, the murders, the book. Everything was her own imagination getting the best of her. Of course they had crashed. Ethan had been driving too fast when they had turned off the road to the resort. She didn't remember whether she had been asleep or not, but she knew everything was fine.
"I had the most horrible dream. It was a nightmare actually. I dreamt that a witch owned the resort. I dreamt that some ghost in the lake killed you. Ethan was killed as well. I was forced to have sex with him so that the ghosts that lived at the resort would be at rest. A book wrote itself as things happened. The place was so creepy and scary."