“Welcome to our ‘club’ Katie. If I knew you were coming, I would have cleaned up more,” Amelia said, glaring at Elle.
“Oops,” She replied with a Cheshire grin. “You're impossible,” Amelia sighed, pulling two cups out of a small cabinet. Looking over her shoulder, she asked, “tea Katie?”
“No thank you.”
Shrugging, the girl tilted her kettle, filling each cup with hot water. “So,” I asked as Amelia brought her and Elle’s tea over, “what do you do here?”
Elle shrugged, “Mostly just hang out. Occasionally we go to a supposedly haunted locale and scare ourselves.”
“Speak for yourself Elle, YOU’RE the one who’s gets scared.”
The muscular woman rubbed the back of her head, “Ok yeah fair. We’ve actually got a special camping trip out in the pine barrens in Jersey,” She started, wiggling her fingers at me, “we’re going cryptid hunting!”
Narrowing my eyes in confusion, I looked from the giddy Elle to the exasperated Amelia. “What’s a cryptid?”
“Well, it's like… a creature people have seen, but no one has been able to prove,” Amelia answered.
“Like Bigfoot!”
“Yes Elle, like Bigfoot. Luckily for us we aren't going Bigfoot hunting. Theres supposed to be some demon amalgam monster out there, but considering i doubt we’d find anything its a fun excuse to go camping.”
“Oooh you should come with us Katie!” Elle shouted, throwing her arms out in excitement. Blinking in surprise, I shook my head, “I don't know if that's a good idea with my Narcolepsy.”
“It’ll be fine,” Elle said, thumping her fist against her chest, “I’ll watch out for you!”
Elle turned to face Amelia, a pleading look on her face. “Oh for gods sake fine! I have an extra sleeping bag in Elles size,” Amelia started, “so if you want, you can come with. Plenty of room in both the car and the tent.”
“When is the trip,” I asked, opening the calendar on my phone.
“Tomorow! You free?” Elle chimed in, the look of excitement on her face contagious.
“I should be free,” I said, returning Elles smile nervously. She pumped her fist with a soft “Yesss”
Looking back and forth between the two women, I asked, "why are you inviting me? Why take me here at all?”
Amelia nodded and glanced at Elle, “because someone likes adopting introverts, and clearly, she thinks there’s something special about you.”
Blush crept up my cheeks at that. Elle leaned over and whispered to Amelia, whose eyes widened before quickly returning to normal. “Either way, I trust her judgment.”
After finalizing the plans, Elle walked with me back to my dorm so they could pick me up in the morning. Walking into my dorm room, I tore off my clothes and flopped on my bed.
Setting the alarm for 7 am, I pulled the blankets over myself and slept.
Groggily, I reached for my phone, trying to shut off my alarm. Sitting up, I blinked, trying to remember why I was up so early. “Oh shit, yea the trip,” I mumbled, wobbling out of bed. Walking into the bathroom, I sat on the toilet, waiting for the shower to heat up.
Grabbing a mint container off the counter, I tossed a few in my mouth before stumbling into the shower.
Sitting on my bed, I threw a few necessities in an old backpack; mints, a hairbrush, and extra clothes.
Throwing off my towels, I got dressed in my best outside clothes. I was about to put on my shirt when I heard a knock at the door, “Hey Katie! It’s Elle!”
Cursing under my breath, I hurriedly put my shirt on, “Coming!” Opening the door, Elle leaned against the walls, looking at something on her phone.
“Lookin good girl! Ready to go?”
Tossing my backpack over my shoulder, I nodded a solid blush on my face. Following Elle outside, she led me to a beat-up old pickup truck. Amelia lead out the window and waved at me, “Hey, Katie. Feel free to toss anything you brought In the container into the bed.
“Thanks,” I said, scrambling into the trunk to stow my bag. In the truck bed sat a large metal box latched shut. Opening the box, I quickly looked over what the two had packed. Elle knocked on the back window inside the truck, and I shook my head to clear it. Putting my bag away and relatching the box, I climbed in the back seats and buckled up.
“Let’s go!” Elle cheered, accidentally punching the ceiling in her excitement. “Settle down Jolly Green,” Amelia scolded and started the car down the city streets.
After we turned onto one of the many highways in the area, Elle spoke up, “So, Katie, how long have you been doing art?”
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The question caught me off guard, and I fumbled my phone, “s-since I was little,” I stumbled, my brain still trying to catch up, “I got my first sketchbook when I was 4.”
Elle nodded with interest, “do you mind if i ask a weird question?”
“I, um, sure?”
“What was up with those cool symbols on the portrait?”
My heart dropped with those words.
“Ow! Amelia!”
“Leave the poor girl alone, Elenore! Even I felt the mood drop and i'm the one driving!”
“It…It’s fine Amelia. Its not that bad.” I said, my mood still dour. “Its some sort of side effect of my narcolepsy.”
A big shrug of my shoulders left the car in silence. Amalia slapped Elles arm again as Elle turned forwards awkwardly”
The remaining ride went by quickly, and soon, we were parked at the entrance to a campsite in the barrens.
“Alright ladies,” Amelia started as we all got out of the truck, “here’s the plan. We’re going to hike a ways in before setting up camp. A friend of mine is going to meet us there later tonight. Keep an eye out for anything strange.”
Throwing up a mock salute, Elle called, “Yes, Amelia, Mam,” which earned a snicker from me.
Amelia hopped into the truck bed and handed out various supplies for us to carry. “Why do I have to carry everything,” Elle whined.
“It’s not everything, and your the strongest!”
“You bet i am!” Elle winked at me and flexed her arms. A small smile crept up my face at this.
“Alright already, lets go,” Amelia directed, starting our march down the trail.
Popping another energy mint and an allergy pill, I followed behind, with Elle taking up the rear.
Outside of my sneezing fits, the hike through the woods was mostly pleasant. By the time we had reached our campsite, the sun was starting to lower beneath the trees.
Elle tossed the large tent and her large bag of supplies on the ground, sitting beside them to take a break.
Joining her on the ground, I looked up at the changing sky, my legs sore. “You did good, Katie. Could see you losing some steam at the end there.”
“Thanks Elle.”
After dropping her stuff, Amelia lay on the ground before us, taking a deep breath, “5 minutes and then we set up camp?”
Elle laughed, “You're the boss.”
I tried to help Elle set up the tent, but she just told me to sit back down, “I got it, just enjoy the woods.”
Amelia was moving rocks around, setting up a little fire pit. The petite woman grabbed an axe and easily split some small logs into firewood. After tossing some ignition fluid on the logs, Amelia grabbed a lighter and set it ablaze with a “Burn baby burn”
“Your inner pyromaniac is showing,” said Elle, joining us by the fire, the large tent fully propped up. After giving Elle the bird, Amelia grabbed some folding camping chairs and set them up in a triangle around the fire. We all sat down in silence, listening to the song of the forest.
“Hey Katie, you still wanna help out?” Elle asked, leaning forwards in her chair.
“Uh, yeah sure,” I said, standing up.
“Grab the cooler box from the tent. It’s a good time for dinner.”
Grabbing the cooler, I popped the lid. Hot Dogs, jerky, popcorn, marshmallows, chocolate; all the classic camping foods. I reached in and grabbed a pack of dogs, some buns, and some condiments.
Elle had pulled out some metal cooking sticks from god knows where and held one for me to grab. We passed the buns and Hot Dogs around, everyone cooking theirs over the fire.
Squirting some mustard on mine, I took a bite and appreciated the first real food I’d had all day.
Some rustling In the brush caused us all to turn, trying to see If anything was there. Amelia grabbed a flashlight and scanned the surrounding area. “Probably just a deer or something,” she said in uncertainty.
“Ohhhh yesssss,” a voice from the trees hissed, “just a deer dears. No need to be afraid.”
Elle lurches for the tent, cursing up a storm. She pops back up, “Is that a fucking gun?!” I whispered and shouted.
Elle smiled nervously at me, “sometimes you need defense in the woods.” She was carrying a rifle, sliding a magazine into the bottom.
A raspy chuckle emanated further in the woods, “I'm so afraid, Logi-Jötunn.”
I watched Elles's eyes squint sharply, her hold on the gun tightening.
“Katie. Do not. Turn. Around.” Amelia's frantic eyes spoke more words than her warning, and I felt a cold breath on the back of my neck.
The creature sniffed deeply, and I could feel its unnatural grin. “Dreamers blood! How I have longed to taste its pure ecstasy!”
Against my better judgment, I turned to face the being, blood draining from my face. It was tall and gaunt. Its pale skin stretched over every bone like shrink wrap.
It reached an unnaturally long arm and clamped my head. Its ungodly face moved closer to mine, lipless teeth grinning past its ears. The smell that came off it assaulted my nose with the aroma of sweet death and rancid rot.
The jaw of the beat is unhinged, growing, and stretching larger and larger. “Timmme to eeeeaaattttt!”
Before it could bite down on my tear-streaked face, something pierced its skull, causing the creature to scream. In the distance around us, the scream echoed through the tall pines. The thing threw my head to the ground and leaned forwards onto its hands. A primal, animalistic hunger crossed its face, which now included a freezing glow deep in its heart.
Elle jumped on its back, her flesh burning a deep orange. Every punch that hit the creature exploded in sparks.
“Sorry I'm late Amelia,” a voice called across the site. A tall woman In camouflage hunting gear stood pointing a long rifle at the creature, the barrel covered In glowing runes and patterns.
Flicking the large lever, a red hot casing flew out the side of the gun, quickly sublimating. “These are not yours to hunt. Now leave.”
The creature grabbed Elle by the head and threw her at Amelia, who jumped over the flying woman. Amelia's eyes glowed a deep crimson, and the night congealed around her a hiss escaping her mouth.
“I do love a good HUNT,” the creature screamed, lunging towards me. I held out my hands in a futile attempt to hold it off, but as our fleshes made contact, reality bent.
“Bend it to your will sister.”
My eyes rolled into the back of my head, and I passed out to the creature's screams and the smell of ozone.