Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 "Yikes," Eddie muttered. The small cabin looked like nobody had stepped foot inside in years. The porch sagged, the windows were boarded up, and the chimney had crumbled to bits. Thick, twisting vines crawled up the sides. It was easy to imagine two deadly eyes peering through the cracks in the wood. Jess could

practically hear a croaking voice whispering to her. Give me your bones! Jess's muscles twitched. All she wanted was to get away from here. But then she pictured Missy's smirk. Don't be a dope, Jess told herself. There was no such thing as Skeleton Woman. But all-too-real Missy would be waiting for them at school on Monday morning. Jess gathered her courage and stepped forward. Sam and Eddie glued themselves to her side. Together they moved through the tangled brush, pushing through the thorny bushes that grabbed at their clothes. Skeleton Woman is not real. Skeleton Woman is not real. Jess said these words over and over to herself. But just to be safe, she scanned the ground for traps. She remembered that detail from the old legend — how Skeleton Woman dug big pits in

the ground to trap her victims. The holes were as deep as graves. She'd cover the pits with branches and leaves and wait for helpless victims to tumble to their doom. Skeleton Woman is not real. Skeleton Woman is not real. Sam reached for the door first and gave it a little push. Creak! The door swung open. Jess braced herself for a hideous scream, for two rusty-clawed hands to reach out and pull her into the darkness. But wait... it didn't look so scary. A buttery ray of sunlight beamed through a crack in the roof. There was a battered table and chair and some cardboard boxes of junk. A paintbrush and a can splattered with red paint sat on a shelf. There were no baskets of bones, no cauldrons of bubbling witches' brew. It was just an abandoned hunting shack, like hundreds of others that dotted the forests around

here. They all stepped inside and looked around. "So hurry up and take the picture," Eddie said. "Okay," Jess said, shrugging off her backpack. She opened it up and took the big black camera out of its plastic bag. The sight of it sent a little jab through her heart; it reminded her so much of Dad. She put her pack on the floor and lifted the camera, aiming it at the room. But then a strange noise filled the shack. Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! The hairs on the back of Jess's neck stood up straight. "What was that?" Her whole body started to shake. Her teeth rattled. But it wasn't her fear that was making her shake. The whole cabin was vibrating. The walls trembled and the floor rolled up and down under their feet. Jess staggered and fell to her knees.

Dad's camera slipped from her hands and flew across the floor. What was happening? Skeleton Woman is not real. Skeleton Woman is not real. But if it wasn't Skeleton Woman, who — or what — was it? "It's the curse!" Sam screamed.