Chapter 1: Scary story
"Let's go camping!" Kadin said suddenly at lunch.
Courtney did a spit take, sending lipstick and milk all over Kasi who had been sitting across from her.
"Argh gross! Courtney why!?" Kasi yelled quickly trying to get it off before it stained. Not that it would with her black jacket on.
The spitting red head looked to Kadin again. "You want to what?"
"Go camping." The brunette said with an innocent smile and cute voice.
"Why?" Kasi asked cleaning flecks of milk from her black glasses. Kasi was a short girl, she always wore bell bottom jeans and a pair of boots that have earned the nickname "hooker boots"- so you can only guess how high they are and what they look like. He hair was a reck, bleached almost white with how many times she's died it and bleached it, her brown roots were starting to come in though making an interesting contrast on her head.
"Camping is not my thing." Courtney said holding a hand up.
Courtney had short blood red hair that was dyed that way, she also wore glasses but unlike Kasi wore pretty dresses and fancy clothes instead of whatever she found on the floor in the morning. She also always had make up on, lipstick that pops- she's never subtle- and eyeliner with eye shadow that shes put on thickly. She was one of the few people that looked good with a lot of make up on.
Kadin pouted at them. She was the skater kid, she had boob length dark brown hair the she either had tied up, down or in a beanie. She wore slacky shirts that were always to big on her and shorts. Her shoes were usually white or black flats and she usually had a long board with her whenever she could. She was the one proposing to go camping. She was a very outdoorsy person and could even shoot a gun.
"Ccaaattt!" The skater whined looking to the last member of their group.
Cat looked up from her light dosing. She looked exhausted with small bags under her eyes and pail skin. Her usual waist length brown/blonde hair was in a tangled mess, she must have forgotten to brush her hair again. She had her big black hoodie on that hid her figure very well and a pair of jeans that looked like the ones she wore yesterday.
"Hmm..?" She yawned.
"You okay..?" Kadin asked worriedly, completely forgetting about the camping trip.
"I'm fine just tired."
With that one sentence the other three teenage girls new exactly what was wrong. For the last couple of days Cat has been fighting with her parents about a few things. Her grades weren't perfect, she needs to get a job, her drivers license and she was constantly being called "fat" by her own family when she really wasn't. She was only five pounds heavier than she should be and her parents got on her ass about it all the time. Because of all the fighting Cat hasn't been getting a lot of sleep.
"Cat you should really move out!" Kasi said. She had been in a similar situation with her own parents a few years back and as a result she moved out and got herself a cheep apartment people have dubbed the "den".
The brunette shook her head. "Can't. Don't have anywhere to go, plus I'm still in high school."
"So am I!" Kasi said, subtly reminding her of what she did. "And you can live with me!"
"I'll think about it." Cat said, ending the conversation there. "Now what's this about camping?"
So she was listening after all.
"Kadin wants all of us to go on a three day camping trip." Courtney filled her in.
"Oh." Cat didn't sound all that surprised, whenever Kadin decided to go out and do something she was the one who usually got dragged along, willing or not. "It sounds like fun, yeah we should go."
Kasi and Courtney stared at her while Kadin fist pumped the air. "Yes! This is going to be so much fun!"
Courtney groaned and Kasi just sighed. "We don't have a choice do we?"
"Nope!" Kadin said cheerfully while showing off one of her teasing grins.
Cat chuckled at them. "What do we do?"
"Pack three days worth of clothes and food! I can get the tents and sleeping bags you guys just have to show up." Kadin said bouncing with excitement.
"Where do we meet at?" Kasi asked.
"Oak Woods park."
The girls groaned. That place was rumored to be haunted, it wasn't that popular either. It was a massive chunk of land no one has claimed, no one knows why. People usually avoided it cause a few years back some drunk dudes had gone in and it took the police three days to find them. When they had been found they were covered in attack wounds but when the police had checked the area they didn't find anything.
"Why there!?" Courtney asked.
"Why not?" Kadin countered.
"'Cause it's full of murderers and all kinds of crazy shit!" Kasi said in her obnoxiously loud voice.
"Stop whining."Kadin said waving her hand. "We'll be fine and it will be fun!"
And with that Kadin sauntered off to her next class period. The remaining three girls glanced to each other before sighing and throwing the remains of their lunch away.
By the end of the day the girls had completely forgotten about the worries of the camping sight and were instead excited to go and hang out for three days.
They all met up outside the camping entrance the next day. A big old wooden sign with big letters that read "Oak Wood" lay on the ground in front of them all.
Courtney looked at Kadin. "Oh hell no."
"Whhyyyy?" Kadin whined.
"Cause this place looks freaking haunted!" Kasi said waving an arm,
"I gotta admit..." Cat eyed the sign while kicking it a little. She still wore her big hoodie. "I'm a little creeped out"
"You guys are all pansies." Kadin said and strutted into the forest.
The girls followed reluctantly seeing as how Kadin was all their rides home. She was the only one who could drive out of all of them right now.
The forest wasn't actually all that creepy looking, it was just a normal forest to be chilling out in. The girls guessed it was probably just the rumors that had made this place seem so scary.
Kadin led them into a clearing that had a picnic table and a few empty lots for tents.
"Cat, Courtney you get over there" Kadin pointed to the spot closest to the picnic table. "Kasi and I get this one."
"Now we gotta put up the tents..." Kasi whined, not wanting to do manual labor.
"Stop complaining! Cat, go get wood for the fire pit." Kadin snapped.
"Ja." Cat said then wondered off. The long haired female tended to speak some German randomly.
As the others started building up the tents Cat walked around the forest collecting any dry stick she came across. She noticed a while ago how the sky had gotten dark, looking up now she saw thick clouds hanging above them, the trees obscured her view but she could see the dark black clouds went on for a while.
She felt depressed. Last time she had gone camping it had rained also, one of the tents had flooded and they had to fit seven people in one that night. Water and dirt had been everywhere.
She shook off the bad memory and continued to gather sticks. She picked up a big one when something caught her eye. It was a dirt path, it was much to big to be a normal hiking or walking trail, a car could easily fit on it.
She walked up to it and knelt by it, animal prints and dead leaves hid the old tire tracks. Touching the indents in the earth it felt they had dried over like this so there was no telling how old or new they might be.
Cat stood up again and looked up the dirt road. It went into the woods and didn't seem to have an end, not one the girl could see anyway. Looking in the other direction she could probably guess it would come out onto the main road, but most likely be a spot not seen by people to much because no one goes on it.
"Cat? Where are you?" Kasi's voice called from far away.
"Here!" Cat yelled back, she turned around and walked back to the camp.
"There you are." The white haired girl said from the picnic bench. She was going through the food.
"What are you doing?" Cat asked giving her an accusing look.
"Getting some food." Kasi gave a sheepish grin.
The brunette sighed and walked to the fire pit, tossing the dead sticks into it. "Well don't eat it all, that food's got to last us three days."
"I know!" Her friend replied opening up a small bag of chips.
Cat went to help Courtney set up the last tent while Kadin started the fire. She always did enjoy fire.
The day went on normally, the girls finished setting up camp, which wouldn't have taken half the day if Kasi had tied the first tent down properly and Kadin didn't have to climb a tree to get it back.
They sat around the fire and talked to each other about what they should do tomorrow. When it began to get dark Kadin decided to tell a scary story.
"This'll be good." Cat smirked. She was a horror fanatic, she loved horror movies, books, stories, games, basically anything she could get her hands on.
"Shut up." Kadin said then started her story. "There once was a man, he woke up in the woods one day and looked around. He had no memory, he didn't know where he was or why or how he got there. So he did the only thing he could do."
"He died?" Kasi joked earning a laugh from Courtney and Cat.
"NO." Kadin said casting them all a glare. They still smiled and giggled to themselves as Kadin continued.
"The man wonders around. He hoped maybe to find a town or people to help him. After wondering around the forest for hours he finally found a house, it was a biiiig mansion." The dark brunette emphasized "big" by waving her hands. "He walked up the long dirt path that looked like it hasn't been walked on in year and knocked on the door."
No one noticed Cats' face change from humor to deep in thought. She payed attention to the story very closely.
"The door swung open on the first knock and inside waiting for him was a big empty room. It was a pretty foyer with stairs and doors. He walked inside, his feet left foot prints on the dust covered ground. He walked upstairs first. He explored each room finding nothing but old furniture that was worn to nearly useless."
Kadins' story went on about how the man walked in and out of the rooms, at one point the man found a cradle in one of the bottom rooms, it had been recently used. It was a very creepy story, the man found foot prints in the house leading to the basement he went down and came up screaming about seeing a monster.
"This sounds familiar." Courtney suddenly said. "Isn't this the story one of the victims from that one time they told the police?"
She was referring to the people who came into the woods and came back out bloody, bruised and bat shit crazy.
"Yeah!" Kadin said.
"No wonder it wasn't scary we've heard it before." Kasi yawned. It was getting pretty late.
Cat checked her phone and saw it was nearly midnight. "I'm hitting the hay."
"Me too." Courtney said standing and stretching.
"Awwww you guys are no fun!" Kadin whined, obviously not tired.
"Shut it." Kasi said walking to her tent. "It's time for bed."
Kadin whined as she climbed into the tent as well. Courtney and Cat got into theirs and curled up to sleep after changing into pajamas. Cat fell asleep thinking about the story and the dirt path she had seen before.
"Cat! Courtney!"
The girls were woken rudely by the sound of thunder and a powerful rain. The sound of Kadin screaming their names made them both go outside.
The were drenched in seconds. The storm was horrible and massive, strong winds blew them left and right. One of the tents was whipped away by the wind and carried into the night sky.
"Where the hell did this storm come from!?" Kasi screamed clutching her things.
"Who cares we gotta go!" Courtney yelled over the roar of wind and rain.
The girls ran for the exit and searched for Kadin's car. Their hopes were quickly dashed when they saw a fallen tree, as thick as the car itself, had smashed it to pieces.
"My car!" Kadin yelled in despair.
"What now!?" Courtney asked loudly. The wind was beginning to pick up and the rain felt like bullets on their skin. Town was an hour away by walk, and there's no way in hell they would go in a storm like this.
"Back into the forest! Look for shelter!" Cat yelled pointing. As she did lightening flashed in the sky, it was immediately followed by a boom of thunder. The girls screamed and bolted into the forest.
They all took their own path, staying within sight of everyone else though, they ducked under low tree branches leapt over puddles and fallen logs and moved swiftly around trees.
At one point Kasi had tripped and Courtney had stopped to help her up and the two ran together.
Cat was in the lead, having been forced to work out by her parents she had a much larger stamina and her legs were stronger than the others. She leaped over a few bushes and halted. She panted hard as she stared at the same dirt path she had seen earlier.
"No way..." She was unheard over the noise of the storm, which only seemed to be getting worse.
Kadin came out of the forest a little behind Cat followed by Kasi and Courtney.
"Why'd you stop!?" Kadin yelled running past the long haired brunette and up the path.
She didn't even hesitate to check if the others were following. Cat watched Courtney and Kasi run by before taking up the rear.
The storm was obscuring their vision pretty badly. No one could keep their eyes strait or head up without getting blinded by the rain or frequent flashes of light. Cat stumbled a little as she splashed through a puddle her legs getting coated in mud and god know what else. She dared look up to see lights in the distance, not lights like the flashing of lightening but lights of a house shining through windows.
Cat could tell the others had seen the big house because they ran faster to reach it. They all came out into the yard it was a good thirty foot run before they reached the porch. Kadin didn't even knock, she slammed the door open so hard they couldn't tell if it had been locked or not.
Everyone ran inside, Kadin slammed the door closed and the storm became a muffled roar. Cat looked around the big foyer, now thinking Kadin's story wasn't just a story.