it attacks the nervous system,” the doctor tells you. “I believe this bite might be similar to, but more dangerous than, that of a brown huntsman spider because its neurotoxin attacked the different ion channels. Not only that, but the venom contains high levels of serotonin, making an envenomation by this species particularly painful.”
While he was talking to you, the doctor started reading from his cell phone. Oh no.
“Excuse me, Doctor? How do you know all this info?”
“It’s right on here,” he says, showing you the front of his smartphone. “Wikipedia. I wouldn’t know a thing without it.”
You sigh. With this doctor in charge, John Luke will probably turn into a spider any minute now. And no Wikipedia article is gonna help him then!
THE END
Start over.
Read “The Shadows That Follow Us: A Note from John Luke Robertson.”
CABIN #3
JOHN LUKE WANTS TO CHECK OUT the “haunted” cabin, and you decide spending the night there may be the best way to prove nothing’s going on after all. But no need to go inside right away. You both spend another hour beside the fire until you smell strongly of smoke. That’s the beauty of being outside. You’re smelling life. You’re not pressing numbers on a flat screen or texting Jack and Jill about going up a hill. This is real. This is what God made you to do. To be alive and to sit down and talk.
When you finally enter the cabin with John Luke, you study the main sleeping room before brushing your teeth and washing your face.
“Looks pretty haunted to me,” you whisper.
“Think so?” John Luke takes a step back.
“Yep. I mean, you see all those kids, right? Lying in their bunks?”
John Luke shakes his head. Of course he’s just looking at a rectangular room full of empty bunk beds in rows.
“Are you sure? You sure you don’t see them?”
“No, sir.” He appears both concerned and confused.
“I guess I’m the only one who sees dead people then.”
You both laugh.
John Luke takes a bottom bunk in the corner of the room, while you take the bunk right next to his. There’s a window by your beds that now only reveals darkness.
It takes a while for you to fall asleep. The bunk is not nearly as big or comfortable as your bed. Plus, there’s no Miss Kay right next to you. But John Luke’s steady breathing makes it clear that he’s already out.
You’re nearly asleep when an abrupt tapping sound jolts you up. You wonder if you’re dreaming, but the crunching of the less-than-cozy mattress reminds you where you are.
The tapping continues —more of a knocking than a tapping, actually. You realize it’s coming from the door to the cabin.
You’re not sure what time it is, but it has to be after midnight.
Tap-tap-tap.
Now it’s even louder.
Someone is at the door. And the way they’re knocking, they really want to get inside.
But it’s not even locked. Why don’t they try the handle?
Do you open the door? Go here .
Do you ignore the knocking and figure it will eventually stop? Go here .
SILENCE
THERE’S A STRANGE SORT OF STILLNESS over the camp. You remember the times you’ve come here to share God’s Word and speak to the campers about Jesus. They’d usually be pretty quiet when you were talking, but nothing like this. Right now there are no kids. There are only shadows. But you and John Luke wander around, hoping to find someone who can shed more light on the situation.
“Let’s go check if Jeffrey is here,” John Luke suggests.
Jeffrey is one of the regular employees who lives in a small RV on the grounds. He’s a cook and an electrician and a janitor and a little bit of everything. You head over to his silver aluminum RV and knock on the door.
John Luke peers through a window. “I don’t think he’s in there.”
“Is he on vacation or something?”
“Maybe he took off since everybody else is gone.” John Luke steps away from the RV. “You believe in ghosts?”
“I believe in angels and demons