“Are you sure this is safe?” Damien’s voice cracked out behind Luke and Sebastian, combating the deathly quiet woods. Luke turned around to face him, slightly raising his eyebrow. “How would Mr. Andrews feel if he knew his trusted camp counselors ignored a child’s scream in the middle of the night?” Sebastian, who had been silent up until now, murmured in agreement. Damien shrugged and seemed to shrink back down, accepting defeat. Luke had to admit these old growth forests were quite intimidating at night, however the children’s safety always came first.
Curfew for the campers had just taken place, and right as the three teenage boys had secured the cabins, a loud call for help rang out from the woods. It was barely dark outside, though the sun seemed to be setting faster and faster. Luke and the others would be responsible if anything happened to the kids, so they hurriedly set off in the direction of the call. With confidence, Luke led his two apprehensive friends through the dimly lit woods, their goal to find a missing kid fueling their steps.
“Who do you think it was? I don’t remember seeing Jackson in his bed when I was locking up Cabin B,” Sebastian asked hesitantly, keeping an eye out for any sign of movement.
“Nah, Jackson’s not the type to go off on his own, I think it might’ve been-,” Crack. The sound of a branch being stepped on. Damien’s mouth whipped closed and he turned to face the shaded area to his left. “Did you guys hear that?” He whispered, blinking at the woods beside him.
“Damien, stop being a coward. There are plenty of deer out here. If we’re lucky, that might’ve been the kid we’re looking for. Let’s go in that direction,” Luke ordered, signaling the other two boys towards the direction it came from. Damien sighed and begun walking, Sebastian trailing behind him. “Hello? Is anyone here? If you are out here, tell us!” The group begun repeatedly calling out, though they were met with silence. The night air was thick with an unsettling chill, causing the trio to huddle closer together for warmth and reassurance.
As they continued trekking forward, the environment seemed the change drastically. A stench hung in the air, the putrid scent only grew stronger and stronger the longer they walked. It was a rotting smell, perhaps of a deer or something similar to that size. The woods no longer seemed as friendly, the trees looked to be glaring at them, towering over their heads as if to threaten them. The sound of crickets completely stopped as well, leaving the only sound to be the three boys trampling dead leaves under their hiking boots.
“Okay, we haven’t had any luck. I know I’ve been complaining but I think we need to head back and tell Mr. Andrews,” Damien came to a stop, crossing his arms. Luke turned around to argue with Damien, once again, however when he looked behind him, Damien was not his concern. “Where’s Sebastian?” Luke’s voice was jittery.
“I don’t know.. He didn’t mention he was splitting up from the group,” Damien’s eyes darted to the spot where Sebastian had been, parting his lips together. Luke, who had previously been leading the group with courage, now seemed a lot less enthusiastic.
The two boys sat in place for another minute or two whispering to each other, disoriented and struggling to figure out what to do. Another quiet call begun to ring out, however this time it was different. What before had been calls for help had turned into an earsplitting cry of what sounded like a small child. The sound rang throughout the forest. Luke’s head shot towards Damien and he gave him the “let’s get out of here” look.
The two begun power walking back to the place they had come from, not exchanging a single word. The cries were drowned out by the hurried footsteps and the cracking of sticks and leaves. The farther the two walked, however, the more lost they became. It seemed as though they were taking endless loops and the path they were on previously disappeared.
“HEY! Luke and Damien! Back here, guys!” A panicked voice suddenly yelled out behind them. Sebastian’s voice.
“Sebastian? Where did you go? If that was a joke, it wasn’t funny,” Luke whipped around. Sebastian tilted his head, an odd mannerism for him. “You didn’t hear me say I was going to the bathroom? I only just now caught up to you guys,” The muscles in Luke’s face tensed. Sebastian’s words hung in the air, engulfing the group in a bewildering sense of disorientation. “You caught up to us? We haven’t been walking in the same direction,” Damien moved his head to look behind Sebastian, and then begun furiously tapping on Luke’s shoulder. A tall figure emerged with an unnerving silence, their features hidden by shadows of the trees around them.
Fear surged through the trio’s veins, this was not a child, and almost simultaneously they all began sprinting in the figure’s opposite direction. Adrenaline filled their lungs and as they stumbled through wooded areas and branches hit their faces, the three managed to get split up, leaving Luke on his own. He did not stop running, his face hot and his legs would not give in. He refused to look behind him, petrified of the thought that the figure in the woods would be chasing him. Luke wasn’t even sure if this was the correct way back.
Eventually, gasping for breath, Luke stumbled into an open field, his body trembling in the darkness. There was no sound of footsteps behind him so he allowed himself to relax, though, inevitably, he had gotten himself lost. What was that? Should I have stayed and figured out who that was? His head buzzed with thoughts.
“No. All that matters now is getting back to camp and finding the others.” Luke lifted himself off of the ground and let his eyes dart from shadow to shadow, searching for any signs of danger. Taking a deep breath, he cautiously walked forward, not knowing where to go. His eyes suddenly locked on something in the distance. Just through the trees, he could see a lake. Not just any lake, the lake he had been at earlier in the day with the campers. Somewhere he recognized. Luke sprinted forward, desperate to get back to the camp and alert everyone. Just as he approached the lake, a branch tripped him and Luke fell face first into the ground. Groaning, he wiped the dirt off and opened his eyes.
“Oh. My. God,” Luke gasped when his eyes focused. There, lying in the grass was Damien. Except, it didn’t look like Damien. His skin had been ripped open all of his body and large chunks of him looked to be missing. Nausea filled up inside Luke. Bones stuck upward out of his body and Luke had to stifle a scream. Crack. Luke’s eyes shot upwards.
There, in a frog-like position, sitting on the branch of a huge oak tree, was Sebastian. A sickening grin plastered across his face, his teeth painted a terrible shade of red. Luke stumbled backwards, still on the ground. He could see the imprint of Sebastian’s bones against his skin, it looked as if his bones didn’t fit in his body anymore. His head bobbed up and down and Luke’s heart hammered in his chest. “Sebastian? What’s wrong?” Luke managed to get a sentence out. A clicking sound came from Sebastian’s mouth. Luke jumped up suddenly, whirling his head away from Damien and Sebastian and taking off. The sound of running followed closely behind him, not just two footsteps though, four footsteps, like a wolf was chasing him.
A screech sounded out behind him, and tears formed in Luke’s eyes. What felt like knives slashed into his back, causing Luke to yell out in pain. He could only hear his own heartbeat as he fell to the ground. Darkness clouded his vision.