What the hell is going on here?

That beginning of the end of the year had started like any other. Children excited about the holidays and the amount of things they could do because they were away from school, adults worried about what they would do with their children during the school break, and there were young people, who would practically do whatever came to their mind.

Normally I would say that I would just spend all my time locked in my room, playing games or with my face buried in tons of trashy horror movies. But as I already suspected, it wouldn't be like that this year. For some reason unknown even to my parents, they decided to have a "big family get-together, to strengthen family ties" (as they themselves had told me).

And so, I ended up spending almost six hours in a car with my parents, my little sister, Kimberly, and a mini demon that I had the displeasure of calling my cousin. All because of a bad parental decision. If it weren't for my headphones, I would have gone crazy to the point where I no longer remembered my own name.

I was already almost losing my mind with my cousin, Joshua, who kept talking about going to college and something about where his life was going. We may have been the same age, but the similarities ended there. My goal in life was to become a famous film director, like Tarantino or Scorsese, someone who would bring crowds to the cinema just by seeing my name on the poster. I dreamed of leaving my mark on the world through my art. As for my cousin, he wanted...

Well, I have no idea what he wanted for his life. Maybe I should at least pay a little attention to what he said.

I didn't have much time to think about it, because as soon as I took off the headphones, I could hear my father's voice right in front of me, behind the wheel. We had arrived at the chalet where we would spend most of our holidays together, with people we didn't get along very well with. If I knew what awaited me in this place, I would much rather have a simple weekend with my relatives.

While helping my father get the bags out of the car and my cousin taking them near the entrance, my sister was already running all over the place, looking for the "best and biggest room in the whole house," as she herself had explained as soon as she got out. Of the vehicle after parking it.

I don't know exactly how long it took us to put all the things inside the chalet, but it was finally over, and I could focus on something more appropriate, start writing the script for the short film that would take me into the spotlight of the mainstream media. To my long-awaited stardom.

As soon as I reached the bottom of the stairs, a hand landed on my shoulder, giving me a slight fright. I turned around, still a little scared, and only then could I discover who that hand belonged to. My father looked at me with a sweet and inviting look, the same one he always used when he came to ask me for something. It was obvious that my vacation plans were over before they even started.

"Noah, I know you would rather have stayed home instead of having to spend this time with your relatives, but try to be a little social with your cousins ​​for once." He would tell me this right after I turned around. I remained quiet for a moment, trying to think of something that would make me escape that situation, but I couldn't come up with anything in time. I sighed and just nodded, which made my father smile with satisfaction.

He squeezed my shoulder in an affable way, and went to meet the car that had just arrived. At the door, he turns to me again, with the same smile on his face. "I was already forgetting; there's a surprise for you in your suitcase." And before he completely leaves to help the guests, he turns back to me. "I hope I got the model right."

Those few words gave me a boost that was almost impossible to describe. I ran off to my temporary room, hoping that my biggest consumer dream had finally come true. I opened the door and grabbed my suitcase, dumping all its contents on the bed. A box I had never seen before fell out of my backpack. Before the package even touched my bed, I grabbed it with both hands, tearing it open and revealing the camera box that I had dreamed of for the last two years.

I had barely unwrapped the camera when I heard my mother shouting from somewhere downstairs; probably the missing family members had just arrived. I quickly threw my things back into my suitcase, and left my new camera on top of a dresser in my room. Furthermore, I really wanted to start messing with her, but I had promised my father that I would socialize with my cousins. With that in mind, I locked my bedroom door and went down to meet my mother.

 ***

It hadn't even been thirty minutes, and I was already regretting making that promise to my father. Being one of the oldest with Joshua, we ended up being responsible for the children while they played like crazy in the chalet's vast backyard. As I didn't have much to do, I ended up trying to start a conversation with Joshua, since he was the only person the same age as me. And for some reason that I still don't know, the conversation ended up focusing on the topic "cinema". We ended up having a very pleasant conversation, and I discovered that we had similar tastes in films of dubious quality.

As the conversation flowed, I casually commented on the camera I had just received, and my idea of ​​starting to write a short film script. My cousin seemed excited about the idea, and decided on his own that he would help. It would help one movie lover to another.

Time passed while we talked, and before I realized it, it was already starting to get dark. My dad and the others came to meet us to take the kids inside and take them to the shower so they could all have dinner together.

While I was explaining the features of the object to my cousin and talking about the ideas I had for recording, a blackout occurred, leaving the entire house in darkness.

My father called us from downstairs while he was trying to control the children and asked us to take a look at the place's external generator, as the internal one had a blown fuse and he would fix it in the morning.

We went out to the place my father had mentioned and found it quite easily. As we got closer to the generator, a chill ran through my body, and I feel like it did in my cousin's too. Without even realizing it, we started to slow down. The silence of that night permeated the air.

We only had a small beam of light coming from the flashlight I was carrying, which made it difficult to see the generator that we needed to move to turn it on. I handed the flashlight to Joshua to hold. I kneeled down next to the generator, but as soon as I did that, all the air in my chest was gone; there was a body there, just lying there. Furthermore, I approached, even though I was scared. As soon as my hand approached his face, almost to the point of touching it, a gust of wind made the head of that lifeless body, which was already a little wobbly, fall.

I walked away awkwardly as the severed head rolled towards me. I took the flashlight from my cousin's hands and pointed it at her, and I could recognize it immediately. That head that lay at my feet was mine.