˚˖⊹ Chapter 1 ·˚ˑ༄
⊹ ₊⋆ ☁︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆₊⋆☁︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☁︎⋆⁺₊⋆⁺₊⋆ ☁︎ ⋆₊ ⊹
The fire crackled loudly in the middle of the campsite, sending sparks drifting into the dark sky.
Around it, a group of students sat on logs, blankets and camping chairs, their faces glowing orange beneath the flickering light. The forest surrounded them on every side, stretching farther than any of them could see. During the day, it had seemed ordinary enough—trees, bushes, winding paths and patches of sunlight.
At night, it was different.
The trees looked taller.
The shadows between them looked deeper.
And every sound seemed louder.
“I still can’t believe they actually let us come here,” one of the students said, leaning closer to the fire. “Like, an actual camping trip. No school tomorrow. No lessons. Nothing.”
“Don’t jinx it,” someone replied.
A few people laughed.
Another student looked toward the forest.
“Doesn’t this place look creepy at night, though?”
Everyone turned to look.
Beyond the circle of firelight, the forest was almost completely black.
A breeze moved through the branches, causing the leaves to rustle.
Someone shivered.
“See?” the student continued. “During the day it looked fine. Now it looks like something is going to come crawling out of there.”
“Something like what?”
“I don’t know. A ghost?”
A few students laughed.
“Ghosts aren’t real.”
“That’s exactly what someone says before getting haunted.”
“Shut up.”
The group laughed again.
Another student leaned forward.
“My cousin told me people have gone missing in forests like this.”
“That’s not true.”
“I’m serious.”
“You’re always serious when you’re making things up.”
“I’m not!”
The conversation quickly turned into a competition over who could tell the scariest story.
Someone mentioned hikers who supposedly vanished without leaving a trace.
Someone else brought up strange lights people had supposedly seen between the trees.
Then came the stories about ghosts.
And finally, inevitably, someone mentioned supernatural creatures.
“Imagine finding a werewolf out there.”
“Or a vampire.”
“At least vampires probably wouldn’t bother us.”
“How do you know?”
“Because we’re not exactly worth hunting.”
“Speak for yourself.”
More laughter followed.
A little farther away from the fire, Elara Veyne tightened the rope around the side of her tent.
She had been listening to the conversation without actually joining it.
‘Ghosts?’
She glanced toward the forest.
‘They aren’t real.’
She returned her attention to the tent.
There.
That looked better.
She stood up and looked over the half-built tent.
Most of it was already assembled, but one of the supporting pieces was missing.
Elara frowned.
She was certain she’d put it beside her.
She crouched down and searched through the pile of equipment.
Nothing.
She checked behind the tent.
Nothing.
She looked beside the sleeping bags.
Nothing.
‘Hold on.’
She straightened.
‘Where did it go?’
Elara slowly turned around.
A pair of long pieces of the tent frame suddenly appeared above her head.
“BOO!”
Elara - “AH!”
Elara jumped backwards so quickly that she nearly tripped over the tent.
The student sitting nearest the fire screamed too.
For one completely silent second, nobody moved.
Then laughter exploded around the campsite.
Elara stared.
The person holding the two pieces of tent frame had positioned them like horns above her head.
Amara Vale.
She was already laughing so hard that she had to hold onto the tent to keep herself upright.
Elara - “You—”
Elara pointed at her.
Amara could barely speak.
Amara - “Your face!”
Elara - “You scared me!”
Amara - “That was the point!”
Elara - “I almost fell!”
Amara - “That would’ve made it even better.”
Elara glared at her.
Amara only laughed harder.
One of the students around the fire wiped tears from their eyes.
“I actually screamed too!”
“Because she screamed!” another student protested.
Elara folded her arms.
Elara - “You think you’re funny?”
Amara - “I know I’m funny.”
Elara - “You stole my tent piece.”
Amara - “I borrowed it.”
Elara - “You hid it.”
Amara - “Temporarily.”
Elara - “You are unbelievable.”
Amara grinned.
Amara - “And yet you keep talking to me.”
Elara - “Because unfortunately, you’re impossible to avoid.”
Amara - “Sounds like a you problem.”
Elara rolled her eyes.
This was Amara.
Always.
Always finding some way to annoy her.
They had been rivals for long enough that neither of them could remember exactly how it had started. Maybe it had been a competition. Maybe an argument. Maybe something so insignificant that neither could remember anymore.
It didn’t matter.
Whenever Elara was around, Amara found a way to challenge her.
And whenever Amara was around, Elara found a reason to challenge her back.
Neither of them would ever admit that, occasionally, it was actually fun.
“Alright, enough!”
A teacher’s voice cut through the laughter.
Everyone turned.
The teacher was walking toward them, looking thoroughly unimpressed.
“Settle down. I don’t want anyone getting hurt before we’ve even finished the first evening.”
Amara immediately lowered the tent pieces.
Elara pointed at her.
Elara - “Tell her that.”
“I heard you,” the teacher said.
Elara quickly lowered her hand.
Elara - “Sorry.”
The teacher sighed.
“Finish setting up your tents. Then each group has a task to complete.”
A collective groan went around the campsite.
“You knew there would be activities,” the teacher reminded them.
“Unfortunately,” someone muttered.
The teacher ignored it and began dividing everyone into groups.
Elara listened while trying to finish securing the tent.
Then she heard her name.
“Elara Veyne.”
She looked up.
“You’re with...”
The teacher glanced down at the list.
“Amara Vale.”
Elara froze.
Across the campsite, Amara froze too.
They looked at each other.
“No.”
They said at exactly the same time.
The teacher raised an eyebrow.
“Yes.”
Amara sighed dramatically.
Elara muttered something under her breath.
Elara - “You’ll survive.”
Amara - “Debatable.”
The teacher continued.
“Your group needs to collect dry sticks and fallen branches for the fire. Stay on the marked trail. Do not wander away from the campsite, and stay together.”
Elara nodded.
Amara gave a lazy salute.
Amara - “Yes, boss.”
The teacher stared at her.
“That wasn’t an invitation to be funny.”
Amara lowered her hand.
Amara - “Understood.”
A few minutes later, Elara and Amara headed toward the forest with a small basket for the sticks.
The firelight slowly disappeared behind them.
For a while, neither said anything.
Then Amara nudged a branch with her shoe.
Amara - “Think this counts?”
Elara looked at it.
Elara - “That’s a leaf.”
Amara - “I know.”
Elara - “Then why did you ask?”
Amara - “Maybe I wanted your opinion.”
Elara - “You don’t.”
Amara - “True.”
Elara picked up a dry branch.
Elara - “Just find sticks.”
Amara - “I’m finding sticks.”
Elara - “You’ve picked up three leaves.”
Amara - “They’re sticks in training.”
Elara stared at her.
Amara smiled innocently.
Despite herself, Elara almost laughed.
Almost.
They continued deeper along the marked path.
The forest wasn’t nearly as frightening as the stories around the fire had made it sound.
At least, not yet.
They collected branches.
Amara occasionally tossed one toward Elara.
Elara threw one back.
Then Amara ran.
Elara - “Hey!”
Elara chased her.
Elara - “Get back here!”
Amara - “Catch me!”
Elara - “You’re impossible!”
Amara laughed as she ran between the trees.
For a moment, they weren’t thinking about school.
Or home.
Or anything else.
They were simply two sixteen-year-olds running through a forest, arguing over absolutely nothing.
Eventually, they stopped.
Both were breathing heavily.
Amara leaned against a tree.
Elara - “Okay.”
Elara bent forward, hands on her knees.
Elara - “We should...”
She looked around.
Elara - “...go back.”
Amara looked around too.
The smile disappeared from her face.
Amara - “Where’s the trail?”
Elara straightened.
She looked behind them.
Then ahead.
The trees looked identical in every direction.
The forest suddenly seemed much larger.
Elara - “Wait.”
Amara stepped away from the tree.
Amara - “Where are the others?”
Elara’s stomach tightened.
Elara - “They were behind us.”
Amara - “They were.”
Neither spoke.
Elara looked at the basket in her hand.
Then at the trees.
Elara - “We went too far.”
Amara frowned.
Amara - “You were the one who kept running.”
Elara - “You were the one who started running.”
Amara - “Because you chased me!”
Elara - “Because you threw a stick at me!”
Amara - “It was funny.”
Elara - “It wasn’t!”
Amara - “It clearly was.”
Elara - “Can we argue about this after we find the campsite?”
Amara folded her arms.
Amara - “Fine.”
They both looked around.
Elara pointed toward one direction.
Elara - “The trail should be that way.”
Amara - “No.”
Elara looked at her.
Elara - “What?”
Amara - “The campsite is that way.”
Elara - “How do you know?”
Amara - “I remember.”
Elara - “You don’t.”
Amara - “I do.”
Elara - “Amara.”
Amara - “Elara.”
They stared at each other.
Neither moved.
Finally, Amara sighed.
Amara - “Fine. You go that way.”
Elara - “Gladly.”
Elara turned.
Amara went in the opposite direction.
Neither looked back.
The forest swallowed the sound of their footsteps surprisingly quickly.
For a while, there was only the rustling of leaves.
The distant crackle of the campfire.
Then even that disappeared.
Elara walked between the trees, occasionally looking behind her.
Nothing.
She continued.
Somewhere deeper in the forest, a branch snapped.
She stopped.
Silence.
Then she kept walking.
Far away, something moved through the darkness.
It was small.
Faint.
Almost impossible to see.
A tiny glow drifted between the trees.
It paused.
Then moved again.
Not like a firefly.
Not like a flashlight.
Something else.
It slipped behind a cluster of bushes.
The forest became still once more.
A moment later, another faint light appeared somewhere much farther away.
It hovered silently in the darkness.
Neither light made a sound.
Neither had a shape that could be understood.
They simply waited.
And deep within the forest, something seemed to stir.
⊹ ₊⋆ ☁︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆₊⋆☁︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☁︎⋆⁺₊⋆⁺₊⋆ ☁︎ ⋆₊ ⊹
