There is nothing to do in my town. If the internet had never been invented, I would have gotten stuck hanging out at the local coffee shop desperate to fill my time. I have access to unlimited entertainment and information at my fingertips, and yet I still can’t find answers about what happened last summer.
I’m more of an indoor person. Somehow my friend Kenny dragged me along on a camping trip with his brother and my childhood friend. We all grew up together. Kenny’s brother was two years older, so it felt like we never really connected. I didn’t dislike him. We just didn’t have anything in common.
My best friend was the prettiest girl in the country, and I think she knew it. I had been in love with her since we were thirteen, but I’d never admitted it to her. I know the movement I did, our relationship would change. I was scared she might reject my feelings or accept them. Just being friends suits me just fine.
The only way to get me outside was if Mila was going to be there. I think Kenny and Darren knew that. I refused to go on the camping trip, they asked Mila to come along, and they told me she would be with us. I hated how easily they played me.
It was a hot day. All of us were sweating by the time we arrived at the campsite.
“Can we set up the tents after?” Kenny said as he let all the bags drop from his shoulders.
“No, let’s get it done now or else we won’t get to it on time.” I told him no matter how much I wanted to put it off.
I knew him. The last trip he and his brother took they were too lazy to set up the tents and just slept outside in their sleeping bags. They came home covered in bug bites. I didn’t want a repeat of that. They both groaned and listened to me. Mila and I worked on one tent while the brothers set up the other.
“There are only two tents.” I pointed out.
“We’ve shared tents before.” She replied not looking up.
If she had, she would have seen how red my face got. At least I could blame the sunny weather for my flushed cheeks. Kenny decided to toss a full water bottle at Darren but missed. It hit me upside the back of my head, and I needed to go over to them to rough house for a little bit. Mile crossed her arms amused by us. I got my ass handed to me, like always.
As I got back up off the ground from the play fight, I noticed something white flash between the trees. I was about to mention it, but the color was gone as fast as I noticed it. We had picked a campsite that wasn’t that popular with the locals, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t anyone else in the woods.
We finally got the campsite set up. Tents ready, food put away in case of any animals and firewood gathered. Once that was all set, we started to head down the path that led to the lake. We all earned a long swim.
Kenny and Darren walked ahead of us, and I helped Mila down the rough pathway.
“Should we really be camping right now?” Mila asked loud enough for Kenny to hear. “Wasn’t there a big search recently?”
I heard a little about that. Kenny chimed in to explain what happened.
“Four campers high on shrooms walked into the woods and no one found any traces of them. It was three weeks ago so I don’t think we’ll come across a feral lost camper.” He said with a shrug.
It was a bit heartless to imply those four were dead. He was right though. Those four didn’t have a good chance of still being around after dealing with this summer heat for three weeks.
“Just in case, let’s not go out in the woods alone tonight.” I told them suddenly feeling a chill even though I was sweating.
“Is that your fetish? You like watching us pee?” Kenny teased.
“I think he likes watching number two. No free shows.” Darren added.
“Kinda weird how fast you guys thought of that. Almost like it was on your mind.” I replied.
I’ve dealt with these guys for years. I expected the dumbest things to come out of their mouth. Mila giggled at us. I wondered why she put up with three morons.
The lake wasn’t as cool as I hoped. The water was nice, and it did help with the heat, but I almost wished I was at home with the AC on full blast. Whenever I saw Mila in her black one-piece swimsuit and swim trunks, the thought of Ac went out of my mind.
I kept forcing my eyes away from her, so she didn’t know how much of a creep I was. I really needed to get a grip on myself.
“Hey, do you see that?” I asked Kenny when he swam over to me.
He wrapped an arm around my neck to playfully drag me under but stopped when I spoke. He followed my line of sight into the woods trying to spot what I was staring at.
“Is that a person?” He asked squinting.
Soon Darren and Mila were looking in the same direction. A white shape was between two trees on the other side of the lake. It did look like a person, but it was impossible to tell at that distance. It was too still to be a person. And yet, it didn’t sway in the breeze as if it was a discarded shirt or some trash.
“Let’s go and see.” Kenny said as he let go of my neck.
He started to swim away, and Mila came up next to me.
“What do you think it is?” She asked.
When I’d taken my eyes off the trees and to her, the white object moved. Kenny stopped swimming when he realized what we had been looking at was gone.
“Probably some old pervert watching a tasty little thing swim around shirtless.” Kenny said with a splash.
“He’s implying the old pervert is watching you.” Darren finished with a smile.
I slapped the water in his face. Soon the white shape had been forgotten about as we got into a water fight. I kept glancing back into the trees. The white shape didn’t return, and I assumed it had been nothing after all.
We started heading back to the campsite when the sky turned a slight orange. Kenny and Darren chanted the entire way back about the beans they were going to cook and eat. I was glad I was not sharing a tent with them tonight. When we did get back, they discovered that somehow, they left the bag that held the coveted beans back in the truck. Mila also forgot her socks and a few other things, so she wanted to go back with them. I didn’t feel like walking, so I volunteered to stay behind to get the fire started.
They had been gone for at least five minutes when I heard Kenny’s voice again off in the distance. Oddly enough, it wasn’t in the direction they left in.
“Did you forget something?” I called out to him.
His voice came again but I couldn’t make out the words. It was coming from the direction of the lake. But he would have needed to walk through the campsite to be on that path. I stood up, straining to listen. I called out his name and took a few steps closer to the pathway heading to the lake.
“Kenny! Stop fooling around!” I shouted, my voice echoing through the trees.
Did he take the long way around just to scare me? No, he hadn’t been gone that long for him to be that far out. I took another step closer but stopped. This felt wrong. After those four people got lost in these woods, I decided I didn’t want to go down a path alone.
I went back to setting up the fire and getting dinner ready. If Kenny was playing a prank, he would get bored and come back. Oddly enough, my three friends came back together.
“Did you see any other cars around?” I asked them wondering if there had just been another camper out here that sounded like Kenny.
“No, it’s just us. Why?” Mila asked catching on something was bothering me.
“I heard something while you guys were gone. It sounded human but it’s hard to say.”
Now I was doubting myself. Did that really sound like a voice? Or was it too far away to tell?
“Probably a bird. Some of those loons or whatever they are sound spooky. “Darren said with a shrug.
He went out camping here pretty often. I accepted he knew what he was talking about and dismissed my concerns. We settled down to eat. The brothers gladly ate cans of beans as Mila and I stuck to hotdogs. The brothers also lit up an after-dinner treat. I didn’t smoke but Mila did on occasion. She passed that night. I think she didn’t want to bring the smell into the shared tent.
Kenny stood up to say he needed to use the washroom. It had gotten dark, so I found him a flashlight. I also needed to go. Then Darren stood up deciding he should go with us. And Mila didn’t want to be left alone, so we all gathered for a bathroom break. It was a bit hard to focus on the task at hand knowing Mila was so close by, I knew she had her back turned to us three as we took care of business and yet it still took me the longest to finish.
We scouted a good spot for her and gave Mila some privacy, but also kept scanning the trees in case a wild animal decided to suddenly appear.
With all that taken care of, we were going to head back when an unnatural sound came from nearby. Something I never expected to ever hear while in a forest at night.
A few feet away from us came the sound of a baby crying.
I saw Kenny’s pale face in the light of my flashlight. Darren silently shook his head as Mila stood frozen in place. I took a step closer to the source of the sound and Darren’s hand fell on my shoulder.
“Fuck that.” He whispered.
I agreed and took a step back. We should all just leave. Mila, bless her, didn’t want to risk someone actually being in trouble. She bravely marched off into the woods with three guys going after her whispering for us to get out of there.
We followed her to the source of the sound. She stopped just outside a small clearing with someone sitting on a log. They were dressed in rags with their back facing us. The figure hunched over rocking back and forth as they made shushing sounds. We didn’t hear the baby crying anymore. This was freaky. Downright nightmare fuel.
“Are you alright?” Mila asked in a shaking voice.
“My baby. My poor baby.” The woman spoke and she sounded so normal compared to how she looked.
“We can call someone to get you some help.” Mila offered.
“My poor baby is starving.”
Slowly the figure turned its head. The light caught a set of grey eyes that reflected in our flashlights. Stringy grey hair fell over a pale face. At first, the expression was blank then the face transformed into something distorted and monstrous.
Kenny and Darren were screaming before that creature stood up. They bolted, leaving Mila and me behind. I grabbed her wrist forcing her to run as the pale creature screeched. It got on all fours to easily cross the cleaning to reach us. It jumped into the air, mouth open and bony-clawed hands outwards. I pulled Mila out of the way in time. The monster crashed into a tree, then flipped around on the ground like a cat trying to right itself.
We started running again. Mila’s legs shook so much I ended up grabbing her around the waist to start dragging her. To my horror, the monster kept coming for us. I needed to fight back. I let go of her long enough to find a hefty stick to use as a weapon.
That was a mistake. Although, I’m not sure if we had any chance of getting away unscathed. The pale creature came down on Mila, biting down hard on her hand. She screamed and kicked to get the thing away from her. I slammed the branch as hard as I could into the monster’s face. It screeched and released my best friend. I kept hitting it, but I think I was just pissing it off. Just as it was about to go into a counterattack, a whistle came from somewhere.
For some reason, the creature suddenly got on all fours, a look of distress on its face. It turned heel and darted back into the woods. To my horror, I saw another pale figure between the trees also take off running on all fours. I didn’t care about the reason why they were leaving. Only that we were safe for now.
“How bad is it?” I asked Mila, turning all my attention to her.
She shook her head with tears in her eyes. The bite wasn’t as deep as I feared. We had a first aid kit back at camp. I took hold of her again to get us moving. I didn’t hear Kenny or Darren. Even though they left us behind I hoped they were safe.
“It’ll be alright. We’ll get out of here. Do you have your phone?” I asked as we kept moving.
Mila shook her head. I hadn’t grabbed mine either. Sure, we were smart enough to go into a group, but we hadn’t done anything intelligent after that.
An odd whistling sound came through the trees. The strange melody chilled me to my core. Mila started to tug at my arm so we would walk away from the whistling. I glanced over her shoulder and saw flashes of white darting around the branches above us. As much as I hated the whistling, going in that direction seemed like the better option.
Mila protested a little when I pulled on her arm to get us moving. I didn’t want to scare her by telling her about the creatures stalking us in the trees. When I heard Kenny scream, I forgot about the threats we faced and ran in his direction. Hearing his voice was a good sign I just hoped we reached him in time.
We stumbled into another clearing. I raised the flashlight I somehow still held onto. The beam of light landed on a stranger’s face. His left eye reflected the light but his right eye didn’t. His head was slightly titled as if amused by our sudden appearance. My skin crawled seeing such a pleased smile after the terrifying encounter beforehand.
Kenny was on the ground, breathing heavily with the man’s foot on his chest. My friend also had a bite taken out of his arm that was freely bleeding. For a moment it appeared he had a bolt from a crossbow sticking out of his chest. I soon realized the bolt was stuck inside a pale monster beside him I didn’t see at first. The stranger had a hunter’s bow attached to his arm loaded and ready to shoot.
“What did you do to Kenny and where is Darren?” I demanded with a trembling voice.
The man licked his lips and lifted his foot off Kenny’s chest. He brushed strands of dirty brown hair from his face only to have it fall back.
“I just saved this one from being a midnight snack and I sent the other one down the trail. He might not reach the end of it alone though.” The Stranger said and ended his sentence with a raspy laugh.
He sounded as if he smoked a pack a day for most of his life. I didn’t trust this guy. Mila tightened her grip on my arm showing she felt the same way.
“Two of you got bitten tonight. Bites can turn people into those things. The infected ones won’t be able to stand the whistling.”
After the man spoke, he started whistling in a way that didn’t sound human. It was as if a songbird was trying to imitate a man-made instrument. I hadn’t been bitten that night and yet the noise put me on edge.
Kenny recovered enough to scramble away from The Stranger. Mila didn’t react aside from appearing as nervous as she did when we first stumbled onto this scene. Finally, the man finished whistling and then studied us all very carefully. He raised the crossbow and rested it on his shoulder.
“The trail is just past those trees. You kids better get going home.”
A weight had been lifted off my chest. Aside from some minor injuries and a few scares we were free to leave. Kenny was the first to get up. His legs shook as he tried to walk towards where we had been directed. Mila and I walked past the man feeling his eyes on us. All the stress from the night came back as he gave us an unseen judging stare. I thought we were in the clear when a sharp whistle came again. It was so sudden I jumped. Mila did as well. I turned around to comfort her and what I saw caused my entire world to come crumbling down.
Her face changed. The person I’d cared for so deeply and for so long looked nothing like herself. In her shock, she dropped her mask to let a contorted version of herself show through. When she realized her cover had been blown, her mouth grew wide and was suddenly filled with countless sharp teeth. She wanted to take my head off but a quick shot from the crossbow stopped her.
A bolt went through her cheeks shattering teeth. She screamed, thrashing around. Before the man shot her again, she ripped the bolt from her face and jumped backward. Mila landed on all fours, snarling with a bloody mouth towards us. To my horror, a ripping sound came as she sprouted massive bat-like wings. Her hands became claws and her face transformed into something so far from human that I almost doubted she had once been the friend I cared about.
In a flash, she launched into the treetops joining the other white creatures that watched the scene at a distance. It took me a long time to realize The Stranger started to drag me away. My brain was so numb from shock I don’t remember how long we walked on the trail or what anyone said to me most of the way back. I knew that man was whistling again, I snapped wanting the noise to end. He stopped for a few minutes then I realized the noise was the only thing keeping those creatures away. He playfully started back up again as Kenny and I kept our heads forward trying to ignore the horrors in the trees.
Darren was waiting for us at the end of the trail and outside of the forest. A lone police officer stood next to him, face as cold as steel. We stopped in front of them, unsure of what to say or how to explain ourselves.
“Did you take care of the problem?” The officer asked, almost sounding annoyed.
“Problems. And nope. Too many of them to deal with and get these three out at the same time. I’m going back in to see what I can do. Sure do wish I had a friend coming with me.” The Stranger said with a loud over exaggerated sigh.
I found my mouth opening to offer to go back to try and save Mila but the cop stopped me. He saw three scared kids who would die if they tried to fight some monsters in a dark forest.
“None of that. This is your job. Not theirs. Now go and do it while I take care of my duties.”
The man shrugged again and pulled something out of his pocket. I expected it to be a pack of cigarettes, but he opened a small jar of dried cinnamon sticks. He tried offering one to Kenny who refused. I reached out to take one. Not to start chewing on like he did. But I needed something real from that night or else my brain wouldn’t believe what happened.
“This one is bitten. Do you have anything for him?” The officer asked and The Stranger shook his head.
Without warning the cop pulled out a packaged syringe with some sort of clear mystery liquid inside. Kenny didn’t protest the shot. The officer then reached into his back pocket to pull out three folded pieces of paper.
“Sign these statements. The story is your friend got up in the middle of the night and got lost. We’ll search for her tomorrow.” The cop said and handed us a sheet of paper.
Darren looked disgusted but he signed his name. Kenny needed some prodding to do the same. I refused and it made the officer glare daggers in my direction.
“What if I tell a different story?” I threatened ready to face whatever retaliation that might happen.
“You can. I say it would be best for you mentally to get the real story out, but no one will believe you. As it is, people are going to assume you three did something to that girl. Don’t make it harder on yourself.” The stranger said as he rolled the cinnamon around between his teeth.
I hated him. I hated myself and I hated what happened. I signed the paper, and the officer told us to get inside his car so he could take us to the station. He made us repeat the same fake story a few dozen times. As we drove off, I looked out the back window to see The Stranger giving us a sarcastic wave. And I saw the lights of the car being reflected by so many eyes watching in the trees.
There was a search for Mila, but nothing turned up. People have whispered about what happened. None of it is even close to the truth. Kenny and Darren started to stay inside and away from accusing stares. I’ve heard they’re not as close as they were before.
I’ve started saving up as much as I can to move away. There is nothing left for me in this place aside from bad memories.
I don’t know if that man hunted down all the monsters lurking in the woods and deep down, I hope he didn’t kill the thing Mila turned into. Twisted or not, I wanted a part of her to live on no matter how selfish it was.
I need to leave this place. I found myself wanting to go back to those woods to try to find her and that desire scared me. The real Mila would want me to live. And that is what I’m going to try to do.