It was a rainy June day and three friends were getting ready to go on a camping trip.
“Why do we have to go when it rains?!” Amanda, the popular one, whines.
“Because it might not be raining when we get to the campsite! We’ve told you this so many times Amanda,” Amanda’s nerdy younger sister, Brooklyn, replies, venom lacing her words.
“Brooklyn’s right, Amanda.” Hannah, the friend the sisters have known since first grade, countered. Amanda rolls her eyes and continues to scroll through Instagram, letting Hannah and Brooklyn do all of the work. Brooklyn lets out a huff as she grabs the sleeping bags from beside her sister and places them next to the tent.
“Okay, I think that’s all that we need. Ready to go, Amanda?” Hannah asks. Amanda’s head snaps up so fast, her head might as well have popped off of her shoulders. Amanda nods and grabs all of her electronic devices and shoves them in her backpack.
“I hope she knows we won’t have any service where we’re going,” Brooklyn mutters to herself. All three girls leave the house after saying a quick goodbye to Hannah’s parents. The tent was packed and the cooler was full. The three friends piled into the truck and pulled out of the driveway. The three girls sit in silence, the pop music playing quietly in the background. As soon as they reached the woods near the camping site, Amanda let out a shrill cry.
“Why don’t I have any service?! This is so stupid! Why did I have to come?”
“Shut up! This trip isn’t about you and your stupid service! Why can’t you put down the technology and enjoy the company?” Brooklyn screeched, finally letting her sister know how she felt about the technology Amanda cared about.
“I hate you! You never cared about me. You were the annoying little girl that followed me around like a little lost puppy! You always wanted to hang on me and around me! My friends never liked you! There is a reason why I’m me and you’re you.” Amanda countered. Hannah had pulled over so she wouldn’t go crazy and crash. While the sisters were fighting, Hannah had gotten out of the green truck and took a deep breath, letting the cool air fill her lungs. Brooklyn was right. It wasn’t raining where they were going.
After both of the sisters had calmed down, Hannah got back in the car and the three sat in silence for the rest of the ride. The three teens pulled up to the campsite and stumbled out of the truck. Amanda, who was still upset about having no service, stayed planted to her seat.
“Let me know when the trip is over,” Amanda whined, getting ready to sleep on the uncomfortable brown leather in the forest green truck.
“No. Get out of the truck and help us set up the tent.” Hannah said, tired of her best friend’s crap. Amanda lets out a groan but gets out of the car anyway going over to her sister. Brooklyn ignores her sister’s presence, but tosses the sleeping bags toward Amanda anyway. Hannah goes over to the girls to help set up the tent. . As Hannah gets the tent pieces out, Amanda stares at the three puffy rolls of stuff not knowing what to do with them. For the time being, the oblivious teen placed them on a log beside her. Hannah and Brooklyn had finally assembled the king sized tent, and Hannah went to look for firewood. Amanda took the green, blue, and purple bags and placed them in the certain areas of the tent. As she unrolled her fluffy purple bed, her baby sister stepped into the tent to do the same.
“I’m sorry for what I said in the truck. I didn’t mean it,” Amanda said, referring to telling her that she was hated.
“You’re fine. I just don’t understand how you can ignore your family and friends for a screen.” Brooklyn replied, not wanting to bring up the topic again. Just as Brooklyn finished her sentence, the sisters heard a high-pitched scream coming from outside the tent. The girls looked at each other, eyes as wide as saucers, and they scrambled out of the tent. As they stepped out of their temporary weekend home, the girls noticed how quiet it was. The birds had stopped chirping, the wind blowing all of the storm clouds in had ceased. All was quiet.
“Do you think Hannah is alright? I don’t think it takes this long to collect firewood.”
“I think that was her screaming! We have to go help her!” Brooklyn said, ignoring her sister’s stupidity. Without waiting for a reply, Brooklyn dashed into the depths of the forest, searching for the missing part of their trio. Brooklyn kept sprinting farther away from her older sister, not knowing which direction was which, eyes blurry with fear. As Brooklyn stumbled into a clearing, the noises had started up again. The wind was howling in her ears, whipping her clothes all around her body and tangling her hair more than it already was. She shivered, not liking the eerie vibe the center of the forest was giving her. Brooklyn tried to listen for anything to let her know that her sister and best friend were alright, but over the wind, nothing could be heard. As she was about to go back to her sister and hope Hannah would be back soon, another scream filled the air, loud enough to be heard over the wind. Brooklyn’s waist long, black hair whipped around her shoulders as her head snapped to the direction of the scream. Not caring about the situation at hand, she stayed in the clearing, just waiting for a glimmer of hope. The wind had died down a bit, but not enough to prevent her from freezing if she couldn’t find her way back. The 15 year old bookworm sat down, bringing her knees up to her chest to try to conserve her body heat. She had zipped up her thick brown hoodie and buried her face into her knees, letting the sobs, she had held in for so long, send tremors down her body as she finally cried, letting all of the frustrations of the day, out. While Brooklyn was sitting in a clearing trying to warm herself up, her sister had decided to get in the truck, and leave the camp set up. Amanda searched for so long before she found a gas station. She pulled in, parked, and got out. Placing the keys in her pocket, she jogged to the door of the ancient looking station. Amanda reached the door and pulled it open, a little wind chime tinkling, signaling the owner there was a visitor. The old man stumbled out from the office behind the counter, shuffling over to the pretty teen standing on the other side.
“How can I help you, sweetie?” The man said, not even noticing the tears falling down her cheeks. Amanda looked around the station, searching for food, clothes, anything that could be used to help her sister, not caring about Hannah at the moment.
“Um… My sister, best friend, and I are camping in the woods right down the road. My friend went to go find some fire wood and my sister and I heard a scream. She thought it was Hannah and went into the woods to find her. Both of them haven’t returned, so I left the campsite to come find help,” Amanda explained, still eyeing the store for anything good. The old man had heard stories like this before. Young people going into the woods for the weekend, one or two of them disappearing for a couple days then being spit back out. There was nothing he could do.
“I’m so sorry, my dear, but I can’t help you.” The man replied, not even caring about Amanda’s problems. Amanda had finally turned her attention to the man sitting behind the counter, eyes threatening to betray her once more as tears gathered behind her lower eyelid. She had nodded as a thank you, turned and walked out of the gas station. Amanda hoped for the best as she got into her friends truck, and took off down the road back into the woods where she had come from. To Brooklyn, her sister didn’t go anywhere. Amanda had stayed at the camp, trying to find service. The skinny girl had gotten up, eyes red and puffy from the long cry she had only moments before. She tripped over tree roots and loose rocks, tearing up her clothes along the way. All she wanted to do was get back to camp and curl up in her puffy bag, and just go to sleep for two years. Finally, Brooklyn stumbled out of the woods, but not in front of her campsite. Instead, she was in front of a gas station. The blue and green paint was peeling off of the wood, and the red paint on the sign was illegible. Shrugging and in need of warmth, Brooklyn scurried into the building. An old man was sitting behind the dusty counter, reading a newspaper, looking up only slightly at the disheveled girl standing in the doorway.
“Come on in and help yourself. Everything is free of charge.” The old man croaked. Brooklyn jogged over to the junk food, surprised that none of the items had been expired.
“You keep this place pretty well stocked, don’t you?” Brooklyn said, trying to be friendly.
“Well, I certainly do try. Are you alright? You look a little panicked,” The old man finally noticed. Brooklyn ignored his question and continued to walk around the gas station, picking up food and drinks that she liked, occasionally sneaking gum or a piece of beef jerky into her torn up pockets.
“Yes, I’m alright. I was just stopping here to get some civilized food for me and my friends,” Brooklyn finally replied, oblivious to how the old man was looking at her.
“Are you and your friends camping in the woods down the road?”
“Yeah. How did you know?”
“One of them came her asking for help. Said her friend and sister were lost in the woods. I was wondering if you knew her.”
“What was her name?”
“What was it? Amber? Abby?”
“AMANDA!” Brooklyn screamed, causing feedback to ring through the old man’s ears. He clapped his hand to the side of his head, trying to contain the ringing in his aged ears.
“Yes, that’s her. Came in here looking for you and another girl. Said you and her heard a scream from a girl named Hannah. Walked right out crying once I told her I couldn’t help. I saw her get into a green truck and head back into the woods. You’re welcome to stay in case she comes back.” The aged man croaked, hoping she would say yes. Brooklyn didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to walk back to the campsite looking like she had just been hit by a bus, but she also couldn’t stay in the woods. She glanced back towards the old man, still wary about accepting the offer.
“I won’t charge you anything, and you can be warm for the night. I don’t know if your sister will ever come back for you, but you can stay in case she does.” The old man pleaded, still hoping for the best. Brooklyn let out a long sigh, and nodded. The short elder lead her to the back office. There, was another elder, only female.
“Winnie, we’ve got another one!” the man yelled, a mysterious glint in his aged gray eyes. Winnie looked up from her work, age lines and creases fill her face. Her withered face manages to pull up the corners of her mouth, a sick smile plastered to her face.
“Hello, dear. What is your name?” Winnie inquired, her sick grimace on her face. Brooklyn felt a wave of uneasiness fall over her.
“B-Brooklyn Elizabeth Smith, ma’am. Thank you for letting me stay here for the night.” The teen stuttered, semi-hoping her sister would come back for her soon.
“You’re welcome, sweetie. Where did you find her, Amos?” Winnie asked her husband, the same glimmer in her eyes.
“I didn’t find her, she came to me. She and two others are in the woods for a getaway. Reckon our project already got one of ‘em. Shame the same will happen to the other two,” Amos replied, the atmosphere getting thicker. Brooklyn’s breath caught in her throat. She stumbled backwards and leaned across the door hinge. She knew she had to get out of there. She stayed where she was while Amos and Winnie continued to talk about their “project”. As the elderly couple moved away from her, Brooklyn’s legs started moving her out of the area after shoving more food into her pockets. The wind chime fell as she tried to escape quietly, and the couple moved quickly to see only a thick brown hoodie on the ground.
“Dammit! Winnie, get the gun. We’re going hunting.”