It's In The Forest
Chapter 5 and conclusion
As Carol leaned up against the tree portion of the shelter, she dozed off for a few minutes. Suddenly, she felt a vibration on her leg. Carol scrambled to the pocket of Bernie’s hoodie and found his cell phone. When she pulled it out, the phone stopped vibrating. She looked to see who called and it was Bernie’s sister Joanne. Carol hit the call button and hoped that the call would go through.
“Bernie, why didn’t you called me like you said you were going to?” Joanne said.
“Joanne it’s Carol,” she whispered.
“Carol, what’s wrong?”
Something’s happened and I’m scared. I don’t even know if anyone is still alive,” Carol started to cry.
“Carol, where are you?”
“I don’t really know. Some old shelter made with branches.”
“Did you guys go to that campground at Hachi Forest?” Joanne asked.
“We’re in that area but not at the actual campground. Josh wanted to keep us secluded so he drove about three miles past it.”
“Okay Carol, I’m going to get some help and head out soon. We should be there by…”
“Joanne? Joanne? are you still there?” Carol looked at the phone and noticed that they got disconnected.
Carol redialed Joanne’s number but the call wouldn’t go through. She noticed that a text message from Joanne came through earlier so she tried to send her a text.
“We are three miles from the campground. I sure hope that she gets this message.” Carol hit send and waited.
Carol looked at the phone again and saw that the sending failed. She could only hope that Joanne heard her before they got disconnected. She laid the phone down on her lap and leaned her head back against the tree. A slight breeze started to blow as she heard it through the trees. Carol sat there in complete darkness and just listened for any sounds. She heard the crickets earlier but not now. She did hear a soft rustling of leaves just outside of the shelter. Carol held completely still until she felt something crawling across her leg .
“Oh my god what is that?” Carol turned the cell phone flashlight on.
She cringed when she saw a small black snake slithering over her legs. When the snake made its way to the other side, Carol pulled her knees up to her chest and shook with a shiver. Of all things to crawl on me, it had to be my worst fear, she thought.
All of a sudden, Carol heard a thud and then crunching of some leaves and twigs about twenty feet away from her. It sounded like someone with heavy footsteps but who could it be? She wondered if it was Bernie or her friends but she didn’t want to expose herself just in case it wasn’t. I’ll just wait, she thought. Carol sat still and listened while she heard two other thuds and then steps. The first steps stopped and then she heard those voices or sounds like before. This time there were three different ones and they weren’t that far from her.
Carol bit her lip and sat there quietly. By the sound of the tones, it was as if they were arguing over something. I wish that I could understand what they are saying, she thought. Just then, the cell phone started vibrating again. Carol answered it but was disconnected. The three voices got quiet and Carol felt panicked. She knew that they didn’t leave so where are they? Carol sat quiet until she heard and felt a loud thud right outside the shelter. When the figure started to rip the shelter apart, Carol screamed. She tried to push it’s thin hands away from her but it was too strong.
The figure called to it’s friends and they bounced over. Carol was now under full attack and didn’t stand a chance. She screamed again and the first figure ripped her right arm off and swung it around. The other two figures ripped her chest and belly open and devoured her internal organs. Carol was now a dead and bloody heap of skin and bones. When the three figures were finished with her body, they disappeared again into the woods. The terrifying dark woods now became a quiet retreat once again.
In the morning, Joanne, her friend Robert, and two police deputies stopped at the Hachi campground. They asked two campers there if they had seen Bernie, Carol, and their friends yesterday or this morning. Joanne showed them a picture of Bernie and Carol and the campers told them no. They explained that they have been the only campers around there for a few days. The deputies asked the campers if they had heard anything unusual during the night. They said that they didn’t hear anything but did see some unusual lights in the sky.
“What kind of lights,” one deputy asked.
“From this distance it looked like a cluster of five white lights,” the camper pointed and said.
Joanne was unsure of the campers story. But she reminded the deputies that Carol said that they camped about three miles away from the campground. So, Robert and Joanne went back to their car while the deputies climbed into theirs. Robert followed the deputies as they left the campground and drove roughly three miles down the road. The one deputy noticed the four-wheeler path and stopped by it.
“Do you think they pulled off in there?” The deputy asked the other.
“Couldn’t hurt to look,” The other one said.
The deputy pulled off the road and parked the cruiser. Robert pulled off as well and parked behind them. All four of them got out of the vehicles and looked at the forest.
“Okay, if we find their car down this path then we’re in the right area,” the lead deputy said.
By this time the sun was a little higher in the sky and everything on the ground was more visible. The four of them walked about five hundred yards and found Joshes SUV.
“Do you recognize this vehicle?” The deputy asked.
“Um, it might be Joshes car but I’m not sure,” Joanne said.
The one deputy checked the driver door and it was locked. He then peaked inside but didn’t see anyone. The four of them started to walk into the forest further and came upon the campsite. The two tents were still there and the campfire was smoldering.
“Bernie? Carol?” Joanne ran over to the closest tent and looked inside.
The deputies looked inside of the other tent and found no one either.
“Bernie,” Joanne called out.
They noticed that the coolers were nocked over as well as one of the chairs.
“This doesn’t look good,” the one deputy whispered to the other.
“You two might want to go back to your car while we look around,” the lead deputy said to Joanne and Robert.
“No, I’m going to find my brother,” she said.
The deputies looked at each other and then lead the way. The four of them hiked probably a quarter of a mile before they got to the small clearing of trees. Joanne had been calling out Bernie and Carols names but heard nothing from them. Joanne sat down on a log for a minute to rest when she noticed something on the ground.
“What is that?” She pointed.
Robert turned around and walked a few feet to where Joanne was pointing, “it looks like a ring box.”
“Hold on, don’t touch it,” the lead deputy said as he and the other walked over to it.
Joanne walked over to them and looked down at the box, “I bet that is Joshes, he was going to propose to Becky on this trip.”
“Bernie, Josh?” Joanne called out.
As Joanne turned around and glanced all around, she also looked up into the trees, “oh my god, what is that?”
The two deputies and Robert looked up into the trees. They saw what looked like the bloody lower half of a body hanging over a branch. Joanne ran to the closest tree and got sick. Robert went over to her and tried to comfort her. The lead deputy insisted that they all go back to the station and plan for a more in depth investigation. Joanne was so shook up that she agreed to leave. She was convinced that her brother may not even be alive anymore. Robert put his arm around Joanne for comfort as they left the area. The deputies were snapping pictures of the scene and didn’t realize that Robert and Joanne walked the wrong way.
Suddenly, the deputies heard a scream and ran towards it. There they saw Robert and Joanne standing ten feet from what was probably the rest of the body.
“Do you recognize him?” The one deputy asked.
Joanne lifted her head off of Roberts chest, “yes, that’s Josh.
The deputies took note and photos of the remains and pointed Robert and Joanne in the right direction.
Robert took Joanne back to his car and soon they all headed back into town and to the police station. Joanne gave the investigators photos of her brother and Carol and told them what Becky looked like. Joanne and Robert stayed at a motel for one night while the search went on. The police found the remains of Carol and Bernie but never did find Becky. There was also evidence that something of great size burned an area of grass in a field on the outskirts of the forest. Could whatever that was be what made those lights in the sky? And was all this violent killing done by someone beyond the stars or murderous criminals on a rampage? Only time might tell.
The End.
Oh no, where is Becky ? She just got engaged ! Is there going to be more of this story ? I certainly hope so. This is a good story, I like it and your statement in the beginning saying it's spooky is definitely true.