C.1
The Start of Something Horrifying

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(_FOUR DAYS PRIOR_)

"I don't feel comfortable with you going is all I'm saying. People have turned up missing. You could get hurt," Charlie Swan explained to his daughter as she furiously gathered her belongings at the front door.

"I'll only be gone for a couple of days, Dad. I'll be with friends. It's no big deal," she said, nearly rolling her eyes, then folded her lightweight jacket over her forearm. She turned to face him in an attempt to encourage him with her raised brows and careful eyes.

"Yeah, the with friends part is another thing that worries me. Isn't that Newton kid going to be there? I mean, he's a little odd."

"Dad, c'mon," she insisted, "have a little faith?"

Charlie crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged, a sign that he gave in. He mumbled his approval, which caused Bella to smile and cross the kitchen to give him a hug. It would be several days until she saw him again, and she knew he needed the reassurance that she would be okay. It wasn't the first time she had traveled to Helen to go camping, and this wouldn't be her last. She was aware of the reports that had been made over the past few months. Most of the cases were tourists who had separated from their parties in the woods while hiking. She was confident she and her friends would be fine. Charlie squeezed her affectionately and helped her tote her belongings to her old, red truck.

The first week of July made its appearance with humid air and temperatures that struck in the high eighties. It was sunny that afternoon, nearly cloudless, as Bella climbed into her clunker and started the engine. It sputtered to life. Charlie waved a hand in front of his face to clear the air around him.

"I think it's time to take it back in," he said.

"I'll ask Jake if he can take a look at it first thing on Monday."

"How is Jake, by the way? I haven't heard much from him after his father…"

"He's good," Bella cut him off, not wanting her dad to say it. The incident was too recent, and still too painful to bring up. "He's doing better."

Charlie nodded, despair still glimmering in his eyes. "Tell him I said hi."

"I will. I'll see you in a couple of days."

"Oh, Bells!" Charlie stepped forward quickly just as Bella was about to back away. The truck jerked as she pushed on the brake and turned quickly to look at him, his face riddled with emotion. He sighed. "I put an extra can of mace in your bag."

"Dad," Bella said in a tone reserved for when he was being over-protective.

"Just in case," he said and threw up his hands with a smile.

A faint chuckle escaped her lips. "Thanks. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

"I know. You can handle yourself better than most of the guys at the department."

"Thanks to you," she said with a smile. "I'll see you."

Charlie waved her away and with her final good-bye in place, she rolled up her window, backed out of the driveway, and headed down the road toward Angela Webber's house. The cool air from the vent blasted in her face. It was the only thing that seemed to work properly but she still managed to love the vehicle unconditionally. She mentally checked off the items that were stowed in the bed for the second time as she pulled down Angela's street ten minutes after leaving her house.

She was the last one to arrive, which wasn't unusual for her. Before she could step foot out of the truck, Angela opened the door to her small brick home that was nestled in a cozy neighborhood in an area called Addison Heights, situated thirty minutes north of Atlanta. She shared the home with their friend, Jessica Stanley.

"Hey!" Angela called out and crossed the grass to Bella.

"Hey."

"We're taking my car, so you can stick your stuff in the back." Angela quickly diverted her route and made way to her large, silver SUV to open the back tailgate. She re-arranged other camping gear to make room for Bella's.

"Is everybody ready to go?" Bella asked as she loaded her sleeping bag and large, blue sack into the space that Angela had cleared for her.

"I think so. Jessica is in the bathroom. She's been in there ever since Mike and Eric got here," Angela smiled as Bella backed away from the car and they both pushed the tailgate down.

"That's not surprising."

"You know Jessica. Everything has to be perfect."

"We're going to be in the woods for two days. Is she going to put make-up on the entire time?"

"Not the entire time," Jessica said skipping towards them, unaffected by their conversation.

"Are you finally ready?" Bella asked as she pulled Jessica in for a hug.

"Yup! Ready to go get dirty! I can't believe I let you two talk me into this."

"Ah, don't worry about it. I'll teach you everything you need to know," Bella said.

"Sweet. Maybe I'll impress Mike with my new skills."

"I just want to get away from the house. It's like negative energy here with all those finals," Angela added.

Jessica nodded. "Total negative energy."

"I think a couple of days of fresh air is just what y'all need," Bella said with a grin.

The door to the house opened once again, and three young men emerged. Bella watched Jake follow behind Eric Yorkie and Mike Newton. She tried not to watch the way his arms swung by his side, seeming to flex purposely to draw her attention. When she looked up, her eyes caught with his and he smiled. For a brief moment, she saw the innocent eight year old boy that stole a kiss from her under the oak tree that stood tall behind her house. She could almost feel the peck on her lips—a temptation to send her spiraling into her memories of the Jake she wanted to remember.

He gently kicked the toe of Bella's shoe. "Hey."

"Hey."

"How are you?"

"Not bad. You?"

He nodded. "Getting along okay, I guess."

She returned a few nods, knowing that the grief over his father's death was a difficult emotion to swallow after a few short weeks. He had made it clear to everyone that he didn't want to discuss it, so she never took it beyond asking how he was getting along. She changed the subject. "My dad told me to tell you hi, by the way."

"Tell him I said the same when you talk to him again. Are you going to ride with me?"

"I thought we were taking Angela's car?"

"Well, she's driving, too. But I have to work Sunday morning, so I'm going to need to drive back before y'all do." Jake seemed to regret this.

"I thought you got the weekend off?"

"Not entirely. My boss is a dick."

"That sucks." Bella frowned but sought the good of the situation. "At least you'll get to spend a night with me."

An eyebrow quirked at her statement and he flashed a grin. "Does this mean we're sharing a tent, Swan?"

"Unless you want to share one with the lovebirds," Bella said and eye-nodded towards the couples next to them who were too busy grabbing and making googley eyes towards their significant others to notice Bella and Jake's exchange. One glance was all it took to discern the situation.

"No way."

The corners of her mouth pushed into her cheeks, creating sight dimples. "Then I guess we're sharing a tent."

=x=

The windows to Jake's F150 were rolled down, the passing air disheveling Bella's once-neat hair and sending it into tangles waving violently around her face. The two hour ride to Helen went by quickly. If she had been riding with anybody else, she knew it would have been torturous, but Jake was different. He had always been different. He was the sun to her rain, always presenting her with a reason to smile even when she felt she couldn't.

Even now, the awkward boy she knew growing up could draw her laughter with one look. The only difference was how the years had changed his appearance. His once lanky arms turned hard and muscular when he started working on cars in high school; his skinny legs were now bulky from when he had volunteered his time to the fire department after they graduated. He had spent several years there while he was in college, claiming Charlie had been the one to inspire the notion. To Bella, it was as if he had grown even more since she had seen him last. She had to keep her hands from reaching out to stroke the contours of his bicep to test her theory. He made it easy by distracting her with the continuous mishaps of his roommate.

One story led to another and laughter was brought on with a series of old memories that often spawned an infamous inside joke or two. Sometimes they laughed until they were silent and other times tears emerged from the sharp pains in their sides. Jake wiped a joyful tear that lingered underneath his eye and glanced over at Bella, the tickle of the laugh still hanging on his chest. He smiled as she pushed her face closer to the rushing air and closed her eyes.

The sight of her tousled hair brought about a series of images from their most intimate moment. He had to catch himself before further thoughts could elicit his nerves. The curve of her lips and the arch of her neck when she threw her cares to the wind caused his smile to fade. Everything about her physical features made him reminiscence on that instance when they were not only friends, but lovers.

Bella turned back to him, catching his eyes. He lingered for only a moment before directing his attention back to the road. He could still feel her eyes upon him, and could see her from the corner of his eye. He glanced sideways a few times before giving in.

"What?" he asked with a slight chuckle teasing at his words.

"Nothing." She grinned and looked down into her lap, wondering if he ever thought about that night that they agreed to never speak of again.

=x=

Mike hated the designated camping areas. He hated being around other people he didn't know. The sites weren't well maintained, anyway. So, he drove them to an isolated area where they could rough it but still be within throwing distance of civilization if needed. He assured his friends he had been up there several times as a kid and was positive they wouldn't get in trouble because the owners wouldn't find out, but politics of property didn't concern him. Simply, he didn't care.

He drove the SUV down a bumpy, unpaved path situated between the evergreens and stopped when he came to the familiar spot.

It was an ideal camp site: the ground was level, there was enough room between the trees to set up all the tents and it was away from the road. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought the area was created for the exact purpose of camping, especially with the stream nearby, but he knew it had been like that for as long as he could remember.

Nothing had changed since then.

"Did anybody else read about all those people disappearing up here?" Jessica asked as she attempted to fan out the thick material of the tent.

"That was further towards the town, Jess," Mike responded, pulling a Budweiser out of the cooler he insisted on bringing. The can hissed then popped open. He drank the beer quickly then flattened the aluminum cylinder on his forehead, letting out a howl of amusement.

Bella, helping Jessica with her tent, cringed. "Ouch."

"Frat parties," Angela suggested.

"Damn straight! Tech does 'em right!" Mike said, then popped another.

"Did 'em right, honey," Jessica corrected.

"Dude, save some for everybody else!" Eric laughed.

"No, this is mine. Y'all can go stick your faces in that stream down there," Mike joked and sat down on the lid. Jake walked over to him and pushed him off the cooler and into the dirt, then withdrew a beer from the ice.

"Okay, so maybe I'll share." Mike rose from the ground and brushed off his pants.

The party chuckled at the display and worked diligently on erecting the tents and building a fire before the sun set. Bella quietly instructed Jessica on how to stake the tent into the ground and how the poles were suppose to fit together. Before she was even half-way finished with teaching Jessica, Jake had already thrown up their plastic establishment and was gathering rocks and wood for the fire. He sorted through the sticks and arranged them in a pile over foliage then using the lighter from his pocket, lit a few pieces of dried bark and tossed it under the stack of wood which sat in the middle of the one-layer rock wall he built. Within minutes the flame grew, meeting the dark surroundings and emitting its warmth.

The orange and pink glow from the horizon soon turned to black. The call of the whippoorwill sounded through the forest and clashed with the echo of laughter from the group. They shared stories, assembled s'mores around the fire and drank until they could no longer see straight.

Less than a mile away, across the stream, over a large wall, and beyond a garden, sat a man. He was young, handsome, and considered himself a gentleman of fine things. His surroundings would tell of his conquests: his large estate, his silk clothing, the exotic furnishings, and the jewels on his hands. He was a man that prospered and delved into riches with riches, at least when he was alive.

He sat idle in the perimeter of his garden in his favorite chaise to admire the fall of night. The sway of the fruit trees and rush of the water from the large, marble fountains soothed him. The dreary song of the whippoorwill was his ideal companion for such nights.

Beside the young victor sat another man, who was as motionless as spotted prey. His eyes were trained over the garden and into the start of the weaving branches of the forest. The young man, calm, looked to him and said, "You never talk anymore." He paused. "I carry on and on, but you just…sit there. You've become a drag lately, Felix, and quite frankly, I'm tired of it. What happened to our sessions? What happened to the laughs?"

The young man sighed and rested the back of his head on the lounge pillow. He pulled a handkerchief from the front pocket of his suit and blotted the red from his mouth before rising from the comfort of the chaise. He took up his black and silver cane and looked down at the man, then sighed, disappointed. Just as he took a step to walk away he heard the faint echo of a voice rising from the forest.

He quickly turned to face the direction of the woods. In that moment, forest life halted and the animals bordering the property became still. "Did you hear that, Felix?"

The fresh blood in his eyes scanned the outline of the trees, finding the precise orientation of the delivery. Laughter sounded again, and his lips stretched into a grin, unveiling sharp incisors.

"Trespassers," he whispered to himself with amusement.

He quickly retreated to the door of his manor, leaving the corpse of Felix to rot.