1 Chapter 1

"Where are we sitting?" Genesis's longtime friend Amanda whispered, as they walked down the aisle of the dimly lit theater. The commercials had already started, blaring through the old sound system, which left much to be desired. The theater was in desperate need of a renovation, but since it was a small-town theater that wasn't likely to happen. The style of movie theater was severely outdated, the cause of much negative talk around town, yet come on a Friday night and you'll see the lobby packed with bored patrons with nothing better to do.

Amanda stopped abruptly in front of Genesis, causing some of her buttery popcorn to go flying out of the bucket when she collided with her. "Geez, warn me before you stop. It's dark." Genesis scolded, wiping some of the spilled popcorn off her arm.

"Let's sit down there!" Amanda exclaimed pointing to the front row.

"How about we don't?" Genesis always preferred to sit in the back away from people. This movie had been playing in the theater awhile so the few people that were seeing it sat closer to the front. "There's less people in the back." She backed up a bit, hearing the popcorn she spilled crunch under her new running shoes.

Genesis heard Amanda sigh, although she would rather sit in the front of the theater closer to the action she reluctantly agreed and followed her friend to the back of the theater. Their shoes squishing underneath them from the sticky floor as they walked. "Is right here fine then?" Amanda asked pointing to the center of a row close to the back. Without waiting for a reply, she headed toward the seat she decided would be hers.

"Sure." Genesis shrugged even though Amanda was already seated. Munching on popcorn, she plopped in the seat next to her friend. The old seat creaked underneath her weight as she tried to find a comfy position, giving up she dropped her arms carelessly on the armrests, only to retract them just as quickly. "Oh yuck!" The armrests felt as if they hadn't been cleaned in years, just one touch would make you feel like climbing in to the shower on the hottest setting. "These seats are nasty! Why'd I let you talk me into coming here?"

"Hey there's a few people that went to high school with us." Amanda whispered, ignoring Genesis's complaining. The movie was about to start so she tried to keep her voice down, though Amanda always had difficulty doing that. "Maybe I should go say hi!"

"Doesn't surprise me, there's what, five hundred people in our town?" Genesis shrugged while trying to open her soda. She refused to buy the fountain drinks at this specific theater, which the next closest theater was at least an hour away. The theater cut costs wherever possible, so the fountain drinks were so watered down it was basically just soda flavored water. She'd gladly pay extra for soda that comes in a can or bottle so that she could stomach the drink. Amanda on the other hand got a cup of water from their fountain. At least they couldn't water down water, right? "You can, but I'm staying here. The movies starting though so probably best if you wait until after."

Amanda nodded her head in agreement while Genesis focused her attention on the screen. Unfortunately, Genesis is bad at rock paper scissors, so the movie decision was out of her hands. The film was titled Stormy Night in the Cabin, basically just a stereotypical high school slasher film. The poor theater system left much to be desired, but in a small town a movie theater was pretty much the only date or hangout spot. On a Friday night this was the place to be, though they probably haven't made any renovations for twenty or so years. Though this was the it spot in town Genesis didn't really care for the theater, or really public places in general. As an introvert, she enjoyed staying away from people as much as possible, so many evenings alone playing video games or watching tv. Though some people would say that was a waste of time, she enjoyed spending her time this way, so she didn't mind. Amanda on the other hand, was the exact opposite. She was a socialite, and enjoyed people and spending all her time out around the town. If it wasn't for the fact that the two had met in elementary school, they would never be friends at all many years later. After graduating and moving back to town from college, Genesis figured it would be best to reconnect with the one old friend from Highschool she had, who luckily stayed in town, deciding college wasn't best for her.

"We should split up, if we stay together it'll lessen our chances of survival. It's easier to kill a group that's all together in the same place than a bunch of us spread out." The peppy cheerleader on the screen decided, leading the rest of her friends to their inevitable death. They all agreed, finding no flaw in that plan, running out of the cabin into the dark, rainy forest. None of them taking the time to think about trying to start their cars and leaving, or even simply taking their name brand smart phones, which were clearly ad placement, to call the police station for help. Cue the romance scene between the head cheerleader and quarterback.

"Is a sex scene in horror movies a requirement now?" Genesis laughed as Amanda sipped on her fountain drink water. "Do they have a check box for requirements of horror movies, and on the very bottom sex scene between popular high schoolers?" She continued to joke, but stopped when Amanda made no notion of paying attention. On screen the killer had just broken up the two love birds.

Amanda seemed engrossed in the movie, but everybody else in the room was starting to get bored, including Genesis. In the front of the theater the rest of the crowd was growing restless, popcorn and other various candies were being thrown around by the older crowd, mostly directed at the young couples, who at this point were just making out. There was an aggravated parent who was gazing at his phone with laser like focus, trying to zone out his screaming kids that had started to run up and down the aisle; the younger one fell and made a blood curdling scream, that was more convincing than any scream heard from the movie so far.

"Hey." Genesis said while sniffing the air. "Do you smell weed?" She pinched her nose closed to avoid the smell. "Yuck that stinks." She glanced around the theater, the kids were still running and screaming, even the one that fell while the parent pretended he didn't see what was going on, jumped back up and continued his mini marathon around the seats. The flustered parent obviously didn't want to be there, but probably got shanghaied into it. A few rows back a group of guys were smoking and drinking; which was easy to get away with in this theater, due to lack of security personnel. They were obviously the delinquent type, though they had been silent for the duration of the movie so far. They had snuck in their own arsenal of goodies including food, candy, drinks, and drugs. "Huh, I didn't even notice those guys behind us, they must have snuck in after the movie started." Upon further investigation Genesis noted they looked familiar. "Hmmm, they went to school with us didn't they Amanda? Looks like they were smart and brought their own food and drinks. Probably saved a fortune." She chuckled, elbowing Amanda gently, however, there was still no response from Amanda. "Hey, you listening to me?" Genesis nudged her, trying to get her attention. "Woah!" Genesis jumped from her seat as her friend's cold water spilled onto her lap. The bucket of overpriced popcorn she reluctantly bought earlier tumbled to the floor when she sprung up. Soggy popcorn and ice cubes littered the floor. "Wow that's cold!"

On screen another teenage victim ran through the forest, promptly tripping on a branch, as the killer chased her. Instead of getting up she crawled on the ground screaming for help. In an instant the killer was upon her with his oversized bloody knife. He slashed through her neck and held the head by her perfect blonde hair. He laughed, holding the head like a victory trophy, and trudged through the forest looking for the remaining teens.

"Ugh." Amanda grunted, holding her stomach. She quickly sprang up and dashed out of the theater, leaving Genesis soaking wet from the contents of her cup, and the guys in the rows behind her laughing at the stunned girl

"Did you have an accident?" One guffawed, motioning toward the fact that it looked like she peed her pants.

Genesis narrowed her eyes, giving the best death glare she could, but decided to keep her mouth shut, which only made them laugh more. "Ugh." She grumbled under her breathe, trying to brush off the water the best she could. She picked up what little amount of napkins she grabbed earlier from the lobby and dabbed at the soaking spot on her jeans. Deciding that the small, flimsy napkins weren't helping she grabbed her purse trudged up the aisle out of the theater to join Amanda in the bathroom to clean up, and check on her.

"Amanda!" She called while swinging open the bathroom door. Amanda had to be in this bathroom since it was the only female bathroom in the whole theater. Luckily all of the movies were currently playing so the bathroom was deserted. "You in here?"

No response. "That's weird." Genesis thought out loud while grabbing some paper towels from the dispenser. They were the small type of paper towels that you needed at least three to dry your hands. She grabbed a glob of them and investigated the stalls. They were all closed so she bent down and glanced under the stall doors only to find Amanda passed out in the stall farthest away. "Amanda!" She exclaimed sprinting to the stall that Amanda luckily failed to lock.

She was passed out cold. Genesis stood there, too shocked to move, as her best friend lay on the dirty bathroom floor.