An Antique Polaroid

I toss the nicotine patches into my bag. I’ll definitely need it. Getting coerced into a camping trip with my ex-best friend, Lena and her toxic friends was definitely not how I'd spend my weekend but here we are. 

I didn't exactly get coerced, but I felt like I had to go. Lena had gone from being my best friend to just a stranger. Every day we talked less and less until our parents had had enough and forced us to go camping together. Just like old times, my mom said. I remember the first time we talked after a while; it made me want to tear my hair out. After that conversation, I tried nicotine patches for the first time.  

I hear a horn outside and look out my window. Lena’s boyfriend, Dylan was in the driver’s seat, looking like he’d rather be anywhere but here. I see Megan in the passenger seat window, talking animatedly while sneaking looks at me. Why am I not surprised? 

I zip up my bag hastily and toss it over my shoulder, patting my pockets to check my phone and earphones were inside, before saying goodbye to my mom. She returns it half-heartedly, talking on the phone. Does she even care that I’m going?  

I push the thought out of my head and walk out getting submerged into sunlight. Looking up, I notice the heavy clouds that approach from the far east. It’s ok, the weather forecast predicted no rainfall today, thank God. Then, the horn beeps, jolting me. I gasp, my eyes narrowing. I spot Dylan giving me the stink eye through the window and I almost contemplate throwing my mailbox at him but then, I would have no chance of rekindling my friendship with Lena. 

I take a deep breath and open the car door, plastering a fake smile on my face. “Hey!” I say enthusiastically. I slip in and drop my bag in front of me.  

“Hey Carrie,” Lena mumbles, clearly invested in her phone. Megan edges as far away from me, shuffling closer to Simon, her boyfriend.  Well, it’s not like I like her anyway. 

“Lena, I brought my Polaroid camera like you wanted,” I say, trying to break the ice. I root into my bag and pull out my camera. It still works perfectly, despite it not being brand new. Megan smirks and grabs it out of my hands, inspecting it. “Oh, is it like an antique? It’s practically got cobwebs all over it,” she scoffs, dusting the imaginary webs off. Dylan snorts while driving. She hands it back and wipes her hands on her clothes as if the camera was a contagious disease. “Lena, did you really want this piece of junk?” 

Lena rolls her eyes, still attached to her phone. “It’s just a Polaroid Meg, shut up.” After that, everyone stays silent. 

We finally reach the edge of the woods and park in the parking lot next to it. After we all got out, we lugged our bags and tents behind us into the woods. Well, I say we. Megan dumped her mounds of likely unnecessary bags onto Simon, while she padded delicately over the shrubbery.  

Dylan led the way, until we came to a clearing, where the trees with spindly branches sprawled everywhere as far as the eye could see and dead leaves crunched with every footstep. The sun spilled through the canopy and left little streams of golden light on the forest floor. It all looked too good to be true, until Megan made Simon dump all her bags right smack in the middle, dulling the previous glow of the clearing. Lena gives Simon a sympathetic look, mixed with something I couldn’t place. Could there be something going on between them?  

I look behind me to see that the trees were so thick that the parking lot could no longer be seen. No chance of escaping then, I think to myself. We started to set up our tents, while Megan, like the lazy narcissist she is, made Simon do their tent. Simon was struggling quite a bit, clearly not knowing how to set it up. Lena walked over and fixed it up for him, smiling smugly. She used to give me that same look when we used to go camping together.  

As we finished setting up everything, the sun started to disappear into the horizon, scattering heavenly flickers everywhere. The bony trees suddenly created silhouettes, a severe contrast to the cosiness of our clearing.  

While Simon and Dylan were busy figuring out how to light a fire, Lena, Megan and I sat on a mossy log we found, the tension thick enough to cut. I was playing around with my Polaroid, but I should’ve known better than to bring it out again in front of Megan.  

“So, Carly let’s try out this camera,” Megan drawls, grabbing it once again out of my hands. Lena nudges Megan harshly. 

“It’s Carrie, not Carly,” she corrects. Megan rolls her eyes and turns the camera around so that the lens faced us. I smile into the lens, but at the last second, Megan shifts it so that it completely cut me out. The flash went off, and the Polaroid photo printed itself out, the image slowly appearing. 

“Oh my God Carly, I’m so sorry, my hand slipped!” Megan said, her eyebrows pulling together. 

“Yeah right,” I scoff getting up from the log- I need a patch. I turn around to see Lena glaring at Megan. 

“Come on Lena, it was a mistake, you have to believe me!” Megan said, pouting. 

“Megan! Can you stop being a bitch for one fucking second!” Lena explodes, furious.  Her voice echoes around the forest, even causing the boys to turn around and pause their futile efforts at lighting the fire.  

Megan gasps and her eyes turn into slits. “You know what Lena? Eat shit!” she says and flounces off into the forest. 

“Can you at least bring some firewood back?” Simon calls out. Megan ignores him and leaves. Simon shakes his head and winks at Lena before toiling away at the wood and Lena blushes slightly and looks away. Dylan is oblivious to this encounter. 

Simon finally makes a spark, and the elaborately arranged logs burst into flames, the warmth seeping into my bones. The boys cheer and the sun pulled its last rays from the sky, leaving it a bottomless blue. Lena laughed a contagious, magical laugh that was directed at Simon, and Simon only. 

The twinkle in her eyes was suddenly interrupted by a long, bone-rattling scream that reverberated around the forest. The ominous silence that followed seemed to convert all the cosy aspects of our campsite into grotesque carnations, especially the blazing fire. It even polluted the clear sky with dense clouds. 

Dylan was the first of us to take action. “Megan!” he yelled, his movements frantic. “We have to do something! Wait, I’ll find her!” he grabbed a flashlight and sprinted into the unknown. I smack my head at his idiocy; everyone knows not to split up in the event of disaster, it just reduces your chances of surviving. 

“Dylan you moron, come back!” I shout, but it was too late. Lena and Simon were still frozen, struggling to process what just happened. Behind me, a twig snaps. I spin round, holding my camera up as if it could defend me. 

“Who’s there!” I say breathlessly. I stare into the abyss, but there’s nothing. It’s probably just my mind playing tricks on me, I tell myself.  

When I turn back, Lena’s on her phone, dialling 911. Her attempt is fruitless; there must be no signal here. She throws her phone on the ground in a fit of rage and fear and looks at Simon. 

“Please tell me you have the keys to the car!” she cries, tears welling up in her eyes.  

“I wish I did, but Dylan had the keys in his pocket. He’ll probably come back soon, don’t worry,” he says reassuringly. It may have comforted Lena, but my paranoia was escalating, and fast. Simon must have seen my face because he exhaled, heavily. “Fine, how about we all take a walk together around the woods? We’ll go look for any sign of them. We won’t stray too far from the tents, Lena,” he adds quickly. Lena nods, rubbing any fear from her face, and I grab some flashlights from the bags. 

We set off, Lena clinging to Simon and me walking behind, all of us shining light on anything that seemed remotely suspicious. After a minute, I started to feel drops of rain. I groan in anguish; I didn’t bring an umbrella. The drizzle turned all the leaves on the ground into slippery hazards, mixed with thorny twigs.   

Suddenly, Simon tripped and fell to his knees. Lena jumps. 

“Shit, I think I’m bleeding,” Simon groans, Lena helping him up. I point my flashlight at what he tripped on, assuming it to just be an especially slippery leaf. I fight the urge to be sick. 

It’s Dylan, or rather his body. His eyelids were open, but his eyes were rolled in the back of his head, and his mouth was bubbling, streams of saliva flowing down his chin. Beyond the saliva, pointed teeth were erupting from the inside of his mouth. I gasp, horrified. Looking down, I see his pant leg ripped from the knee and a gruesome bite on his leg. The wound looked a few days old already, though it couldn’t have been more than a half hour old. Scabs and pus had formed around the puncture wounds, yet it did nothing to stem the steady flow of blood that mingled with the downpour. Who, or what did this to him? His skin was getting paler by the second, and all of a sudden, his rheumy eyes flash open and fix hard on Simon’s face. He sat up, breathing hard. “RUN! RUN WHILE YOU STILL C-!” he screamed, slumping back down. As he falls on the ground, blood starts to seep from his eye sockets. It’s too late to save him. I stare, hypnotised by the grisly scene. Simon searches Dylan’s pockets, jolting me back to reality. I help him turn Dylan on his side revealing more pockets. 

“Quick Simon, I hear something!” Lena cries. I hear it too. Thundering footsteps, and they’re getting louder, and quicker. Finally, Simon pulls out the keys to the car and they jingle as his hands tremble. He stuffs them into his pocket. 

“Run, I’m right behind you. GO!” he yells, wincing as he gets up. I don’t need to be told twice. I turn around, take Lena’s frozen arm and yank it forward, while propelling my legs faster than I ever have before. I squint my eyes, trying to find the clearing, but there was no light to guide me. The fire must have been extinguished by the rain. I run blindly, attempting to follow the scent of smoke until I hear Simon scream behind me. I whip my head around, wet hair slapping me in the face and I catch a glimpse of Simon getting dragged into the shadows, clawing at the muddy ground in vain. His panicked eyes bore holes into me, but I can’t stop running. I need to carry on. I look next to me to see Lena crumpling, tears streaming down her heart-shaped face. “Simon!” she cries, clamouring for him. We didn’t have time for this, we had to get out of here! With all my strength, I pulled her up and slapped her face. 

“Lena! RUN NOW!” I roar. That shocks her enough to listen, and against all odds, we finally make it to the clearing. I scrabble in the dim glow of my flashlight for my bag and racked my brain for the way back to the parking lot, but I came up blank. We were stuck here... 

“This way Car,” Lena grabbed my arm and took the lead. My bag tumbles out of my hands, succumbing to the approaching deluge. I follow her over thorny brambles and past sinister trunks, while the footsteps were practically behind me at this point. My legs felt drained, and I was all too ready to give up, but Lena’s arm was like an infinite energy source. 

We eventually came to the parking lot. I look to Lena for the keys to the car, but I realise with a lurch that Simon has them. Had them. I couldn’t run for any longer, I think I’d pass out but what else can we do? The footsteps were getting closer, too close. Suddenly, Lena smashes the drenched window in the car and reaches over to unlock the door. I feel a surge of relief as she opens the door. “Get in!” she cries. I’m about to, but I stop in my tracks when the source of the footsteps appears through the trees. Time seemed to slow for a second.  

Its body was spindly like the trees in the forest, yet nimble, and resembled a human’s skin. It towered well over 7-foot lurching and looming over us, its soulless and oddly human eyes focusing on Lena’s hand, which was bloody from smashing the window. It must sense blood somehow... I think to myself. But the real showstopper was its gaping mouth, featuring rows and rows of serrated teeth that was dripping blood. Similar to Dylan, I think. 

I blink up from my daze and jump into the car seat, as I reach out to Lena, struggling to grasp her slippery hand. She was so close to coming in. But then, with a single swipe of its hand, the creature slams Lena against the car, shutting the door, and her only escape. “NO!” I scream. I crouch under the window; I can’t bear to witness this. Lena shrieks and begs for me to help but I only cower, curled up into a ball. Blood spattered through the smashed window, staining the car seats. After a while, all that could be heard was Lena’s whimpering and the monster sighing and sucking. I sobbed, my hand clapped against my mouth to prevent it from hearing me and I promptly fall asleep, my dreams riddled with nightmares.  

The sun shines on my face, effectively waking me up. I blink drowsily, hoping against hope that it had all been a bad dream, that Lena was still alive, and I was safe at home. But then I see the blood. Everywhere. Beams of light illuminate the flecks of blood, almost presenting it in an angelic glow. The torrent from yesterday had left no trace. The irony, I think bitterly. I swallow my tears and gather my courage to emerge from the car. Slowly, I rise, and the view that greets me materialises the familiar lurch in my stomach.  

Lena’s corpse is nowhere to be seen, though the blood before me is enough evidence of her death. Instead, I see four vicious mutants, similar to the one that had murdered Lena. They convulse as they see my face, and I realise with a sob that a speck of Lena’s blood was on my face. They all edge close and closer, and I notice that their eyes look oddly familiar. The one directly in front of me has cornflower blue eyes. Just like Lena’s. Oh my God. That’s Simon next to her, and Dylan, and Megan, her cruel hazel eyes reduced to empty orbs.  

I reminisce about happier times. My mother helping me ride a bike for the first time. My first boyfriend. The day I first met Lena. Nostalgia hits me like a brick, just as the demon flings me against the car. 

The last thing I see, is Lena’s eyes blinking at me innocently, before she sinks her abundance of teeth into my neck.