The hot steam filled the bathroom air slowly as I turned off the heat. Stepping out, my mind raced today as today was the start of the camping trip that my friends were making me go to. I was short on supplies and had less than three weeks to plan, but I would make do. Given the short notice, I was lucky that my manager approved my time.
I grabbed my hanging towel and quickly dried my feet so I would not leave the floor as wet as I was. I tip-toed over to the door, cracking it to allow the steam to exit. With the steam quickly leaving the bathroom, I continued to dry myself off. Once thoroughly dried, I placed my towel on its hanger before putting on my underwear.
I saw myself in the mirror, a pale white redhead who did not look like he had gotten out enough. I picked up my hairbrush and began to straighten my hair, using the handsome devil in front of me as a guide. Once I finished styling my hair, I grabbed the grey sweatpants and a black shirt hanging on my bathroom door.
I adored my slim but slightly toned body with the clothing I had picked out before exiting the bathroom and entering my room. My backpack, laid out on my bed, was already filled with the items I thought I would need, at least for the first few days. I sat next to the pack and put a pair of socks on my feet when I heard my door open.
"Are you almost ready for your trip?" my mother asked with a look of sadness mixed with joy. Looking at her, she was dressed in a white sweater and jeans, her long blonde hair pulled back.
"Just about, but are you doing okay? I asked, studying her face as she thought of the question. A few moments passed as we looked at each other's faces before she finally responded.
"I am okay. I'm just a little worried about your camping trip, that's all." She said as she looked out my open window.
"I'm going to be okay. It is just a camping trip with Alex, Jane, and Walter. I should be back before Dad's birthday if that's what you're worried about," I said as she continued to look out the window.
"It's not that I feel bad about your camping trip. You barely had time to get everything in order on such short notice. I just don't know," she said with a worried look, knowing I had to reassure her that I would be fine.
"I'll be fine. It's not the first time they have done something like this, and it won't be the last, but if it makes you feel better, I promise I'll come home if anything pops up or changes or goes wrong. I said, looking at her to see if her expression would change.
"I hope you're right," she said, a weak smile plastered across her still-worried face.
"Hey, I'm only wrong about 20% of the time, but I'm not done getting ready, and they should be here in around 15 minutes," I said, giving her the biggest smile I could muster. Looking at my face of optimism, she sighed.
"I know, I know. Still, just try to be careful and find me before you leave. I have something for you," she said before quickly turning away and leaving my room.
After she left, I continued to get ready, ensuring I did not forget anything I needed. After spending 10 minutes double-checking everything, I grabbed my bag and went to the living room, where I found my coat hanging next to the door. I grabbed the coat, checked my pockets for my winter hat and gloves, ensuring they were there, and placed them on the couch.
Once finished, I went to look for my mother to see what she had to give me before the camping trip. Before arriving at her bedroom, I looked over the house and heard a noise from within. I knocked on the door, waiting for a reply, and I did not have to wait long.
"Come in," my mother said as I slowly opened the bedroom door. Walking in, I found her sitting on her bed, looking at an old wooden box that looked to have a sun on the lid. As I was looking at the box, she held her hand up, gesturing for me to sit next to her. Obliging, she began to speak to me.
"I know I don't talk about your father all that often, and I was going to wait until his birthday before giving this to you, but I think you should have it now just in case you don't make it back in time," my mother said as she handed me the little wooden box.
I took the wooden box from her hand and slid my hand across the top, feeling the little sun. Once I had gained the courage to open the box, I noticed three things that stood out. The first, on the opposite side, where the sun would be, was a waxing gibbous moon. The next thing I noticed was that the cloth inside was half dark blue, and the other half was a resounding white. And finally, the last thing I noticed was the gold pendant in the middle.
Looking over the pendant, I could see a sun on top and a moon on the bottom. In front of the little Sun and moon looked to be two horses, both with wings extended and little horns. I reached out to grab the pendant when I felt a shock from my fingertips. Recoiling in pain, I pulled my hand back slightly as the shock spooked me, but the moment I returned to my senses, I took the pendant in my hand.
"What is this?" I asked as I continued to examine the little gold pendant. My mother sighed as I continued to look at the pendant.
"It belonged to your father, and I couldn't get him to open up about it either. I know he got it from his mother and aunt and wanted me to give it to you if anything happened to him." My mother said with a sigh.
"Can I wear it?" I asked, turning to look at her with curiosity filling my eyes. She sighed and nodded her head in approval.
I placed the pendant around my neck and adjusted it so it would fit. Standing up, I approached her vanity counter to look at the necklace. Upon seeing myself and the pendant, it looked natural, like it was always meant to be there. I turned to look at her when she finally spoke.
"It looks good on you, just like it did on your father," my mother said as tears formed in her eyes. Rushing over to her, I knew I had to confer with her.
"Please don't cry. It is a beautiful gift, "I said, pulling her into a hug and wrapping my arms around her. I could feel her arms wrapping around me as we sat and enjoyed each other's company when I heard a noise from my pocket. I pulled back to see Alex calling, and I answered.
"Dude, we will be there in 2 minutes. Please try not to keep us waiting like last time," he said. I could hear Jane and Walter talking in the background but could not determine what they were saying.
"Yea, yea, yea, I'll be out as soon as I can," I said as I hung up the phone before looking at my mother. She gave a weak smile and began to speak.
"Well, you better get your winter clothing on. I am going to stay here and regain my composure," my mother said, no longer looking at me. I reached in one final time, hugging her.
"I love you so much," I said while tightening my grip.
"I love you too, sweetheart," my mother said weakly. Letting go, I made my way out of her bedroom, walking toward the living room while stuffing the pendant under my black shirt.
Arriving back at the couch, I put on my winter coat before walking next to the door where my boats were. Picking up the boots, I put them on my feet. Hearing a car horn, I put on my hat and gloves before walking back to the couch, grabbing my backpack in one hand, and walking out of the door.
Walking out the door, my senses were blasted by the cold air hitting me in my face. I looked over the driveway and saw Alex's dark blue van sitting. I made my way to the driver's side window, giving Alex a weird face in repones; he gave me the bird. Laughing, I opened the back car door and sat beside Walter as Alex started to speak.
"God, what took you so long? We have been waiting here for like seven years. I can see my beard starting to grow," Alex said with a shit-eating grin. I laughed in response.
"Man, you must have some mermaid magic if your beard is coming in less than two minutes," I said, with my own shit-eating grin appearing on my face. Walter let out a sigh.
"Ladies, both your beards are beautiful. Now let's get this show on the road." Walter said, Jane, snorting in response. Alex gave Jane the side-eye with her snort, backed out of my driveway, and started to drive. When I finally decided to say something.
"So, is this campground you found this year good? I still think you would have been better off returning to the one we found last year," I said while looking at Alex for a response.
"Yeah, this one should be amazing. Jane and I could check it out before the snow started to fall. I must say it is better than the one we found last year," Alex said. He looked over to Jane, who looked like she was about to faint, and gave a weak nod in approval.
"Are you doing okay, Jane? It looks like you're about to pass out. Are you sure you're fine to be camping, especially in this cold?" I asked, worried. Jane gave another weak nod.
"Yes, I'll be fine. My job had me working late, and when I came home, I could not sleep because somebody wanted to snore all night," Jane growled, looking at Alex.
"Hey, it's not my fault I hit my nose while packing our stuff," Alex said playfully, sounding hurt. Jane studied Alex's face before speaking again.
"But like I was saying, I didn't get much sleep, so as soon as we get the tents set up, I'm going to take a nap while you guys continue to set the camp up," Jane said, yawning and resting her head on the shoulder rest.
"how long should it take us to get there?" I asked Alex, who was trying to focus on the road ahead of him.
"It should take us about 15, maybe 25 minutes, depending on how quickly we can get out of town and how the roads are. But for now, let's be quiet and give Jane some quiet time so she doesn't yell at us anymore," Alex said, while Jane gave a weak smile.
Looking at Walter more closely, I could see he had headphones on and a light redness around his face, and he appeared to be texting someone. I am not thinking anymore about it. I remember the pendant around my neck, pulled it out, and noticed something weird. Looking at the pendant, I saw that the sun and moon had moved slightly. Not overthinking it, I reasoned it was battery-powered and that the static shock I felt must have made it move a bit.
I Placed the pendent back under my shirt, not paying any more attention to the sun or moon. I pulled out my phone and began scrolling through social media while Alex drove and Jane rested her eyes.
We had left town around five minutes ago, and the air in the van was stagnant. No one said a word. Alex focused on the road while Jane had her head in her left hand. Looking over to Walter, he had stopped texting 10 minutes ago and was looking out his side of the window.
It had come so soon that I felt the van shift its weight as it turned right into the woods, and I saw that we were going down a path. Not paying any mind to the occasional bumps of the dirt road, I looked out my window to see if I could see any that would catch my eye. I kept staring for what felt like minutes when I finally thought I saw something.
I thought I saw some tires sitting behind some trees. I don't believe I would have seen it if it wasn't for one of the bumps. I thought it might have just been my imagination, so why would someone else be out here? Maybe this place was not as remote as Alex had thought. This makes me believe we still should have gone to the place from last year.
It was not long after that the van started to slow down, and I looked out the driver's window. I could see a little clearing slowly coming into view, but I could not see how the ground looked from the back seat. Slowly, Alex pulled the van to the side of the dirt road and began to talk.
"Ok, this should be the place. Let's split up duties. Jack, can you find a decent place for us to place the tents? Jane and I will start unpacking the tents, and Walter, you look over our food situation and start making dinner," Alex said, looking at the back seat.
"That should be fine," I Said as I grabbed my bag in one hand and exited the van. As I closed the door, I snickered to myself, thinking I had gotten the easiest job of all of us. I turned my way to the campground when a blast of cold air hit me in the face.
As I made my way to the clearing's entrance, all I could think about was how cold it was and that we would need to get the tents and a fire going as soon as possible. Once I was in the clearing, all I could see was broken trees littering the ground and medium-sized rocks lying all over it. Thinking to myself that this place was horrible, I heard footsteps behind me and began to speak.
" Man, this place looks like a tornado went through it. Are we sure…" was all I was able to say as I felt pressure in my leg and the worst pain I had ever felt in my life.
Looking down to where the pain was coming from, all I could see was a black folding knife logged in my shin, blood flowing out. I then turned to see who had done this to me when I was kicked in the back of my good knee, causing me to throw my bag as I fell to the ground. I landed on my side and rolled onto my back to see who was attacking me.
Looking up, all I could see was this bald guy who couldn't have been older than 50 standing above me with a shit-eating grin on his face. The man looked behind him and made a waving gesture, and what I saw next made my heart sink in fear. Alex, Jane, and Walter all approached the man and stood behind him.
"What the fuck is going on?" I asked while grunting my teeth in pain. Alex, Jane, And Walter were all silent, looking at me, when the man cleared his throat and began to speak.
"Revenge and betrayal, my dear boy, and all so fun, all so entertaining," the man said, his smile not leaving his pale face. I had no idea who this man was. Why did he want revenge? I had to ask.
"Who are you? I have never seen you before in my life. Why would you want revenge on me? I asked, looking at his face as he thought of a good answer for me before breaking the silence.
"Oh, my name is not that important, for what a waste of time it was to tell one name to the dead. And I don't want revenge on you, my dear boy. You're nothing more than a message, payback meant for someone else." the man said, his eyes looking into mine, not blinking. Wanting to look away, I looked at the three behind him.
"What about you three, huh? What is your goal with this? What did I ever do to you all that caused this?" I yelled. Jane looked away, and Alex looked like he was about to start speaking when the bald man cut him off.
"Oh, these three, I offered them riches and power more than anything you could have provided in your shorter-than-expected life, speaking of the which. The man said before turning to look at Alex, Jane, and Walter before continuing.
"If you three want what was promised, you need to play your part in this play. Strip him of anything that would protect him from this lovely weather. The man said before looking back at me.
Walter was the first to step forward, followed by Alex, and then lastly Jane. I tried to crawl away, but they could walk faster than I could. When they finally caught up to me, Jane tried to grab my gloves, but I tried to fight back, causing a swift punch to the side of the head by Alex.
Dazed, I could only watch as they stripped me of my Gloves, jacket, boots, hat, and socks, leaving me in nothing but my shirt and sweatpants. As I came to my senses, I saw all three of them walking to the van, leaving me and the bald man alone. The smile finally left his face as he began to speak to me for the final time.
"I want you to know this is nothing personal, but you must take responsibility for your family's actions," the man said before finally starting to walk away. The anger, the rage, was all I could feel as I saw him walking away.
"fuck you, fuck you all," I yelled, gritting my teeth as the tears fell from my eyes. I saw the man enter the van where I had been sitting not long before.
I watched as the van turned on and began to dive away as quickly as it had arrived. My mind raced on so many thoughts in such a short time. The only thing that managed to drive me back to reality was the sharp pain in my leg.
Looking down, I could see that I was still bleeding from the knife logged in my leg. That was when I remembered my bag. They did not take it as I crawled over to the bag and began to look through it.
Inside the bag were flint and steel. Getting my hopes up, I noticed that the flint was shattered, basically dust at this point, and with all this snow on the ground, it would be hard to replace it. I continued to look, shoving a compass, a deck of cards, a flashlight, my water bottle, and 3 MREs to the side when I found what I was looking for.
I pulled a small med kit out of the bag and began to look for the items I would need to stop or at least slow the bleeding. Looking through the med kit, I pulled out a bandage roll and some gauze. Grabbing the gauze, I stabilized the knife so it would not move, and I began to use the rolling bandage to apply pressure.
Once I was finished with my wound, I could see that I was still bleeding and that I didn't have the supplies to fix it. I placed the med kit back in the bag, grabbing the compass as I stood up, applying pressure to the leg, causing me to squeak in pain. Biting my tongue, I looked at the compass. Knowing that town was north of where I was, I began to walk.
With each step forward, I could feel the knife in my leg and the coldness of the wind and snow on my hands and feet, but all I could do was take one step at a time. I knew that I would survive this and get payback for those basters who did this to me. I knew I would survive this cause I made a promise to my mother that I would be back for dad birthday, and I kept my promises, especially to her.
I had been walking for what felt like hours, but I knew it had been less than 15 minutes. I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. I could feel my heart rate racing, but that was what I expected from what had happened. I looked at my feet and noted discoloration and blisters starting to appear on the edges. Knowing it was the start of frostbite, there was little that I could do other than keep walking forward.
As I kept walking, all I could think about was the knife in my leg and the faces of my friends who had betrayed me. I could see the face of the man; his smile was unempathetic as if he had done it before. Who am I kidding? He probably has done it before. And finally, I could see my mother's warm face, weak smile, and tears running down her cheeks.
Each step I took brought great pain with it, not only from the knife but from my feet. As I walked, I could see the frozen skin on my fee chip and crack. My hands were not looking any better. I could see the blisters on my knuckle and my pocket being no help to the cold.
As I continued walking, I swear I could see something following me out of the corner of my eye, but every time I looked for it, it vanished. With each step I took, it became clearer every minute I walked, coming more and more into view. I could tell it was feminine in shape, but that was all I could discern.
As I continued walking, I momentarily stopped to catch my breath, and the shape finally appeared. It was my mother dressed in the same clothing that she was wearing when I had left the house. I gasped, wondering what she was doing out here.
"M-M-Mom, what a-a-are you doing h-h-hear," I asked as I shivered through my words. She gave me another weak smile, pointing at her neck, and walked behind a tree. Quickly, I followed her to find that she was no longer there.
"Fuck I-I-I'm hallucinating," I said to myself as I resumed my walk toward town.
I could no longer feel the cold as I walked forward; each step brought nothing but pain. The pale skin on my hands and feet had turned grey not long ago, but I had to keep walking. I had to keep my promise to my mother. That was all I could do, all that was keeping me going, all that was keeping me alive.
I could still see it. My mother's hallucination was still following me as I walked. Every time I looked at her, she would point to her neck and hide behind a tree, only to reappear further up. My dive to see the real her again gave me strength every time she appeared.
As I kept walking, something finally came onto the horizon, giving me hope. It was the town. I could see the buildings through a few of the trees. If I had to say I was five minutes away from living through this, I would see my mother again, and I would get payback for what my 'friend' had done to me. I picked up the pace, wanting to reach town as quickly as possible when it happened.
I tripped, falling face-first into the cold snow below. Looking at my foot, I saw what had tripped me: a large tree branch under the snow. I tried to stand back up but couldn't as much as I tried. I just could. Thinking quickly, I crawled to the nearest tree and wanting to use it to prop myself up, but no matter how hard I tried, all I could do was rest my back on the tree.
As I sat there, all I could do was cry, cry cause I had broken my promise to my mother. Cry cause my friends had betrayed me and left me to die. And lastly, because I was going to die alone, frozen in the woods. I was a 19-year-old kid who had barely started his life and was going to die before I had a chance actually to live it.
As I sat there crying to myself, my breath became more and more shallow as I saw her again. The hallucination of my mother walking towards me, the weak smile still on her face. I was happy to see her. At least I would be able to see my mother one last time before passing.
She came ever closer, kneeling beside me, but instead of pointing her neck, she pointed to mine. My eyes widened as I remembered what was around my neck, and my blood-coved frostbitten hand slowly made its way to the golden pendant around my neck. Pulling it out of my shirt, I noticed that the sun and moon had moved again. Rubbing my blooded finger over the two horses, they started moving quicker. Thinking I was hallucinating again, I dropped the pendant as my arm flopped to my side.
Looking back to where my mother was kneeling, I gave her one more smile as I closed my eyes, wanting the last thing I saw to be her. When I closed my eyes, I saw a bright flash enveloping my vision, and a sense of weightlessness overtook me. I thought I had finally passed.
I don't know how long I sat floating, but the feeling of gravity hit him when I fell. I felt the back of my body hit something, and then what sounded like papers flew through the air. The next thing I heard was a blood-curdling scream and the sound of movement. I did not care as I took my last breath, knowing nothing could be done for me anymore, thinking of the last thing I saw. My mother smiling at me.