Through the Woods

by Rowan Thalia

  “I can agree to that,” Maria, who is fast becoming someone I’d like to get to know better, steps forward.

  “Yeah, me too. Should I go check on Wendy now?” Karen looks over her shoulder toward the door.

  “If you don’t mind? I would, but I don’t want to make it worse. Why don’t both of you go? I can get everything here organized so that when you come back, we can get started,” I offer.

  The girls leave the cabin quickly, their feet hitting the stairs with light thuds as they rush off. With a sigh, I lean back against the wall and bop my head into the wood. Growing up is a bitch. Sliding a hair tie off my wrist, I pull my hair into a messy bun, then get to work. Truth be told, I’m just as excited to see the campers as everyone else. I’m going to make damn sure to watch for anyone who is feeling left out or different, to make sure they have the best camp experience ever.

  I’m just getting settled when the door slams open and Maria stomps in, face flushed. “We can’t find her anywhere!”

  “What? Did you check your cabin? The farmhouse?”

  “Yeah, can you get your guys to help look? Our cabin mates are already out searching.”

  “Fuck me. Yes, I’ll go get them now. She can’t have gone far,” I breathe as I make my way toward the door.

  My head is throbbing with worry when I get to our cabin. What if she gets hurt because of me? The guy’s laughter greets me before I open the door, but stops short when they get a good look at my face.

  “I need your help,” I croak. “Wendy is missing, and it’s all my fault.”

  “Full stop. How is she missing, and why would it be your fault?” Alex grabs my arms lightly and looks deep into my eyes.

  Tears form in my lids as I stare up at him. “She called me a whore, and we got into it. I threatened to kick her ass … and then told her to get laid.”

  Alex’s expression softens, and he hugs me tight to his chest. His lips brush against my temple. The guys from a circle around us, each laying a hand on my arm or back. Their show of solidarity means the world to me right now. I was wrong, but they are still here for me.

  “I know, I should have handled it differently. We need to find her,” I squeak with the tightness of his embrace.

  “Right, we find her. Then we come back and have a family meeting. We are going to run into people like her everywhere we go, Juniper. All of us have to band together and deal with how we react. Our family gets tarnished every time one of us lashes out,” Sterling steps forward.

  “I know. Let’s go!” I grab Alex’s hand, wriggle out of his hold, and lead them toward the door.

  Feet pounding on the dirt, we run up to the others who are talking in the middle of the yard. “Where have you guys checked? We should search in teams of two, checking back every ten minutes or so,” Dexter takes charge.

  “We’ve checked the cabin, farmhouse, and the wilderness training building, since she sometimes hangs out there with me,” Brian states.

  “Okay, Brian and Maria, head to the lake. Jackson and Karen, you guys check the woods between the cabins and the main camp. Alex, Sterling, and Asher, check all of the camper cabins. Juniper and I will check the parking lot and the office. Meet back here in ten. Grab a walkie from one of the activity centers before you go,” Dexter points.

  “Shouldn’t we tell Bobby and Jessica?” Karen whines.

  “Not yet. Let’s give Jun a chance to apologize before we bring the girl drama to the owners. She’s just mad, and they should have a chance to work it out,” Jackson inserts.

  There is a rumble of acceptance, and pairs begin darting off. If this were a different situation, I’d climb Dexter like an electric pole, because that take charge attitude was hot as hell. For now, I squeeze his hand and follow him toward the parking lot, which of course is empty. From there, we hoof it over to the office, the door is hanging open but no one is inside. Where could she be? A stilted laugh floats on the breeze, and Dexter and I both stop. My hand trembles, and I hesitate to look into the woods … I know what I’ll see.

  14

  Jun

  The woods seem empty at first, before I spot a dark shadow among the trees. I try to ignore it as we peer inside the office. If he’s out there, at least we know the inside is clear for now. Though, I’ve seen that creepy fucker run. When we come up empty, I lead Dexter to the parking lot. Maybe she just wanted to sit, and listen to music or something? It might be a long shot but it was worth a try.

  We run through the cars in the lot, peeking in every window and listening at every trunk... just in case. Of course, everything seems normal. The office is locked when we get there. After unlocking it and tearing through the building, we check every supply closet, and even in the dirt floored basement.

  "Time's up, there's no sign of her here. Let's head back to the others and see if they found any clues," Dexter says with a defeated sigh. I reach for his hand as we run back, our steps syncing up so we don't have to let go. I have a feeling he's freaking out just as much as I am right now.

  "Nothing," Alex confirms when we reach the group.

  "Nothing at the lake," Brian confirms, though his lack of panic is making me side eye him a bit. Does he just not take things seriously, or does he not want her like we thought?

  "Nothing in the woods, either," Karen says quietly.

  "Camper cabins were empty too," Asher says, rubbing the back of his head.

  "The woods are crazy big back there, if we check them, we need to split up. Some of us go out there, while some of us check her room and stick around in case she comes back," Sterling reasons out, looking around at all of us to gauge our reactions.

  "Our group will take the woods. Brian is a pretty good tracker, plus it's probably better if we find her first," Maria says gently, clearly not wanting to upset me. She seems genuine, but I feel like they're blaming me too. It's not even that I reacted, it's that I threatened to hurt her that put my actions over the top. I could have just told her to stop being a bitch and moved on. Dammit, Jun!

  "Let's go check out their cabin. Maybe we can spot something they wouldn't have," Sterling says, already walking in that direction. We follow them quickly, finding the door still unlocked. The cabin looks just like ours, but with stuff EVERYWHERE. Don’t they clean up after themselves?

  "Wow, no wonder they didn't find signs of her," Asher mutters as he steps delicately over a pile of muddy clothes.

  "Maria mentioned earlier that the girls share a room," I say, hurrying to the hallway. I step into the first room, a pink blanket giving it away. The room is the only clean part of the house. The beds are all different, one is perfectly made, no mess or even small clutter anywhere on her side table. The top bunk is also made, just not as precisely, the bright pink blanket wadded up at the top corner. The third bed is a single, and it has a picture of Maria and a girl that appears to be her sister, ruling it out as Wendy's. I climb the small ladder leading to the top bunk and start shuffling her blanket around. When my hand brushes her pillow, I can feel a dampness on it and see little spots of something.

  "She was here. Her pillow has wet spots from her tears," I say as I climb back down.

  "Okay, well the rest of the house is empty. How long was it from the time she ran out, to the time they left to go find her?" Alex asks me as we walk back outside.

  "I'd say about fifteen minutes," I answer quickly.

  "Were they running, rushing, or walking?" Sterling asks, and I clearly see where he's going with his line of questioning.

  "I'd say between walking and rushing. It wasn't leisurely, but they weren't freaked out yet," I say, trying to think where that would give her time to go.

  "Was Wendy running when she left?" Asher asks quietly, putting a hand on my arm in case it made me upset again.

  "She definitely stormed off," I confirm with a frown. "But even running, she would have had to go back, unlock their cabin, climb into bed and cry. It wasn't one or two drops," I say, swallowing down the nausea and guilt again.

 
"So that would shave off at least five minutes, minimum. It's not exactly right next door to the craft cabin," Sterling says.

  "Did anyone else find it weird that Brian wasn't panicking?" I finally bring up something that's been bothering me.

  "I did. I don't think he likes her. If it were you, I'd be tearing this cabin apart," Alex says, his eyes hard at the mere thought. Not that he has to get creative to imagine it, we've lived through it. This demon just doesn't seem willing to leave us the fuck alone.

  "We have to find a way to end this," I hiss vehemently, glaring toward the woods. I know the demon did this.

  "Why is everyone looking so upset over here?" Jessica calls out as she walks back with her arms full of reusable grocery bags.

  "Wendy and Jun got into a bit of a spat and she ran off. She's not in the camp that we can find, so we are worried," Alex explains, keeping his tone light and soothing. It still amazes me that he can turn the charm on for others so well.

  "Oh, I wouldn't worry too much, dear. You can apologize when she comes back. I'm sure she just went for a walk to get cooled off. Arguments happen and are part of life, you stop beating yourself up over it," she lectures me, pulling me in for a hug. I hug her back, wishing I could believe her.

  "Why don't you come wait for her up at the house. I'll whip up some cookies while we wait," she says, handing the guys her bags so they can carry them back. Alex runs towards Bobby who comes into view carrying more grocery bags than one man should carry. He must be a 'one tripper' as well.

  We follow them to the farmhouse, helping them put things away once we get inside. I casually walk away to do another sweep, but don't find anything downstairs, and I highly doubt she'd end up in the Thibodeaux's personal apartment upstairs.

  Once I'm away from the group, drum beats fill my ears again, ramping up my panic from intense to all-consuming. Dexter finds me a few minutes later, hyperventilating near the window.

  "Juniper?!" he hisses, just loud enough to startle me, but not enough to alert everyone.

  "He has her, Dex. I can hear the war drums again," I say between shallow breaths. He takes my hand and holds it to his chest.

  "Match your breathing. It's the blood pounding in your ears. I don't hear anything, and you've never heard it alone. We all hear it every time," he says soothingly, taking exaggerated breaths for me to mimic.

  "Will I always have to live like this? Afraid of this demon and the ghosts he raises?" I ask as my breathing calms down.

  "No, we won't let that happen. We'll find a way to send him back to hell. We started this, and we will end it. Your guilt is making it worse. She called you a whore... I get why you were mad. We can't get violent, but if she had just run off crying, they would have found her just fine. This is only because of him and his influence.”

  The door opening interrupts our chat, the others walking back in dejectedly. They all look dirty and worn out from the hike, Brian even has horribly dark circles under his eyes for exhaustion. Jessica ushers them to the table, giving them the same spiel she gave us about not worrying. It's still bright outside, so they take her at her word and sit around the table. Sterling and Asher are getting drinks for everyone as Jessica puts the first batch of cookies out, encouraging everyone to grab one and take a moment to breathe.

  The tension is so thick in the air that it's near suffocating, while we all force ourselves to eat the cookies, and pretend that this isn't as serious as it is. It's a fucking joke. I know exactly why she was taken, and exactly who took her... or at least influenced it. The demon that forced me to run toward the abandoned wing in Dudley could definitely influence her to go somewhere. But is he strong enough to influence her right now? Especially if she was acting fine before, so it's not like he was slowly taking her over, either.

  "You with us, Juniper?" Jessica teases as she passes me a fresh cookie. I wave her off and mumble reassurance around a bite of the cookie. The melted chocolate and soft cookie help bring me out of my head.

  I let the conversation flow around me, everyone taking Jessica's advice and letting it go for now. Though I can see the flash of worry on Maria's face as she glances at her watch, then to the door, every few minutes.

  "Okay, I'm going back out. I can't just sit here," I say with a sigh, scooting my chair back and heading back outside. As soon as I open the door, a huge bolt of lightning strikes the wood shed. I let out a terrified screech, not even realizing it had started raining. Now the thunder is rolling in, so loud it's shaking the windows. What the fuck kind of storm is this?!

  The woodshed tries to erupt in flames, but it's quickly put out by the torrential rain. I can see the charred wood in the light from each bolt of lightning. The freak storm puts me even more on edge, I've never seen them hit like this, with no warning or anything.

  "Shut the damn door, Purple!" Alex yells, moving around my frozen form and slamming the door.

  "She's out there Alex, we can't just leave her," I yell over the insanely loud elements outside.

  "I know, babe, but we can't just run out there in this to find her. She chose to run off," he says, his voice dipping on the last part.

  Before anyone can say anything else, the power flickers, before going black completely. One of the other girls screams, the sound high pitched and grating, sending my already tightly wound nerves into a full panic. A white face flashes in the window, and from the look on Asher's face in the glow of lightning that followed, he saw it too.

  "You guys need to stay here tonight, that storm is dangerous. We've only got the couches, but I've got some extra blankets and pillows upstairs," Jessica says, running up the stairs to get the stuff, followed by Bobby.

  "I'm really worried now, guys. What if she's stuck outside somewhere?" Maria says, her voice sounding like she's close to tears.

  "She'll be alright, she's smart enough to take shelter. Maybe she had one of her friends pick her up because she was upset?" Karen says, but her voice sounds off. Maybe it's because she's blaming me.

  We all settle in with the blankets and pillows Jessica brought down, the girls and Jackson stretching out on the couches, while the rest of us crowd in on the floor. Nobody bothers to speak, we're all too lost in our own thoughts.

  As I lay in Sterling's arms, the guilt washes through me again, knowing it's my fault. Not for her running off, but for bringing the demon here. We were dumb and thought it was over.

  How am I going to live a normal life if I'm forever stalked by the dead and evil?

  15

  Jun

  As we lay in the farmhouse, a slight knocking grabs my attention. When I look around, the other group is already passed out. I sit up, bringing attention to myself. When the guys start asking questions, I shush them and stand. Blood is rushing in my temples, so I close my eyes and try to concentrate.

  ‘Find her,’ a cold wind touches my chin. ‘Cellar.’

  I freeze and look at Asher, he seems to be the only one willing to admit when he’s seen or heard things lately. Even my steadfast ghost-hunting Dexter is starting to push things away. Asher’s Adam’s apple bobs, and he rushes to my side to clench my hand.

  “So, I’m guessing that wasn’t just for me?” I squeak. Fuck this creepy shit.

  “No, I didn’t even think to check if there was a cellar. I mean this is fucking Louisiana, we don’t have basements - they flood!” Asher whisper-yells.

  “Well, let’s go check,” I sigh.

  Dexter stands in front of me. “Wait, what if this is a trap?”

  Alex joins him. “It most likely is a trap, but to what purpose? What does he gain by bringing us to the cellar?”

  “Well, one thing is for sure - we can’t leave her there. I can’t be the cause of another person’s death. We have nothing to protect ourselves, but we still have to go. I mean, everything about this reeks. Why wouldn’t Jessica and Bobby report Wendy missing? It’s like we’re living in an alternate reality.”

  “We could have called too, and we didn’t. It’s just as much on us
as them,” Sterling inserts.

  We all make eye contact, frowning at the truth in that statement. This is a defining moment, it isn’t just us being plagued anymore, and we can’t keep making B-rated horror movie choices.

  “Okay, Sterling, you call nine-one-one, and we will go down and check. Best case scenario, the police come and we didn’t need them. Worst case, you send them in after us,” I squeeze his hand and give him a kiss, while attempting to keep a stern look on my face.

  “Be careful. Grab some salt and a knife or whatever you can find from the kitchen,” his tone is ragged.

  With a tight nod, I grab the twins’ hands and march toward the kitchen. We split up when we cross the threshold and start opening drawers and cabinets. I find a salt container, Alex sets two flashlights on the counter, and Asher lets out a sound of approval then he slides two knives out of the chopping block. I grab a flashlight and the salt, and let the guys grab the rest. I thought Dexter was right behind us, but he never made it to the kitchen. Leaving the knives for the guys, I grab a flashlight and the salt.

  “I’ve got this,” Dex startles me when he walks in soaking wet with a hatchet in hand.

  I hold back a chuckle, because obviously none of this is funny, but it kind of is. Just look at us, holding knives and hatchets like we know what the fuck we are doing. Instead, I take a breath and approach the basement door. When my hand touches the knob I flinch. The metal is ice-cold … we are definitely on the right track.

  “Here goes nothing,” I growl as I push the door open.

  A loud creak comes from the hinges, and darkness greets us. Fumbling along the wall, I flick the lights but nothing happens. Fear presses in on me, but I stamp it down and click on the flashlight. The faint beam illuminates the stairwell and the cobwebs that crowd the small space.