The Camping Trip

It was meant to be a simple camping trip. She wasn’t always included in things but this time was different. A group of people she had a vague acquaintance with invited her to the woods with them. At first she was skeptical, she knew not many liked her because she not only looked different, but acted strangely as well. In the end she agreed to go, hoping this time she could finally make some real friends.

         There had been instances before where people would trick her so she tended to proceed with caution whenever she got invited out. This time was different. Instead of the group ditching her or pulling a cruel prank, they seemed to disappear one by one as the night went on. A mysterious fog rolled through the trees, making it impossible to see more than five feet in any direction. The group started out with twelve people in total but now there were only three, the girl and two other acquaintances. It was freezing but the girl was not shivering despite the thin shirt she wore, she never could feel the cold.

         The three of them huddled close together, holding tightly onto each other’s arms as the terror of the unfolding events skyrocketed. They jumped at every sudden cracking, trembled at the sounds of the wind through the dark and barren trees. The campsite was long lost; no one remembering where it was and no sign of it was to be found anywhere. Bright red beads welled up against the girl’s ivory white skin from the branches and the nails of her final two companions. Suddenly the girl on her left is ripped away from them, her nails leaving behind more trails of crimson upon her pale flesh. Her scream echoes through the air, sudden and short. Cut off like the snap of a pencil tip.

         The boy and the girl clutch at each other in fear and horror. The girl’s arm reached out towards where her companion was snatched. They turned around and began to run, still holding tightly to one another’s hands. His hand was warm in hers, damp with sweat from running and terror. Fear coursed through their veins and their hearts beat faster and faster until it felt as if they were to burst. Their breathing came in ragged gasps but neither dared to stop or to look behind. The low brush rustled as something, or someone, followed their mad dash. A faint giggling could be heard, carried upon a slow wind, taunting the pair as they ran.

         Something faintly warm and very soft trips them both and they tumble hard unto the cold unforgiving ground. Hesitantly they look at what tripped them; a body, specifically the body of the boy who asked the girl to join in on their little camping trip. His skin was ashen and torn, crimson drying along the path of what appeared to be claw marks, human claw marks. A look of terror forever etched into his face as his clouded, empty blue eyes looked on unseeing. His throat was open like a second mouth, a pool of red surrounding his head. The girl covered her mouth as she let out a piercing scream while the living boy retched onto the ground next to him.

         Quickly they scrambled to their feet and backed away from the deceased boy. They began to run again but neither got far before they stumbled to a stop again. Before them was the secluded campsite they had decided to stay at. The camp was filled with the eight of their companion’s bodies; each clawed open and died a ruby red. They were set up looking like they were living; some sitting in the chairs by the fire, others hung from the trees by their own entrails as if they were standing under said trees. If it were not for the gashes gouged into their flesh and the red that decorated them, one might have mistaken them for the living.

Before either of the last living could let out another scream or vomit at the harrowing sight before them, the final boy was ripped away into the thick fog, a quick yelp of terror sounding before a scream of absolute agony. The girl stumbled back in terror. She turned and ran through the fog, towards where the highway ran through the forest.

A man in an old red beat up pickup truck was driving home after a long and hard day at work. The fog made it hard to see, even with his head lights on. It was dark and a bit spooky so he had some music blaring from his radio to keep the silence at bay. Suddenly a figure appeared from the fog like a specter haunting the roads. It was a girl with long ink black hair tangled with small twigs and dead shrubbery, pale skin marred by lines of angry red and torn clothes that had seen much better days. The man slammed on the brakes, just barely avoiding running over the girl. The girl heaving and gasping for air looks him in the eye and falls to the ground.

Quickly he jumped out of his truck and rushed to her side. He lifted her small and frail looking body into his arms and rushed her to the hospital; curious of what happened but afraid of what could have happened.

A few months after the incident in the woods, the girl was once again back in class. She was the only one to have survived the weekend camping trip in the woods. People whispered all around her, accusing her of killing the eleven other teens that fateful night. Very few said it was the legendary monster that killed them for trespassing upon his woods instead of her and even fewer believed it wasn’t her. No proof was found that the girl was the killer and no bodies were later found when the campsite was searched.

The door to the classroom opened and in walked a boy with skin white as ivory and hair black as ink. The teacher announced that there was a new student coming to class. Whispers broke out, pointing out the similarities between the girl and the new boy. A few asked if they were related but neither said a word. They just looked each other in the eyes from across the room and smiled secretively to each other.