Chapter 1
It was a bright and sunny on Saturday afternoon in Rosedan, Pennsylvania during fall. The sun was visible just above the trees of Rosedan Woods, beginning to set. Everything was peaceful as sunlight shone through the branches of the tall oak trees. The suffocating smell of pollution was replaced with the smell of clean, fresh air that filled the lungs. There were no sounds of cars or people talking away on their electronic devices. However the quietness was disrupted slightly by the twigs on the snapping underneath a pressure. Two men dressed in thick layers of clothes moved through the trees, conversing softly to each other between deep breaths as they looked around at their surroundings.
The men were brothers, Lucas and Gregory Weinstock who were residents of New York City. However they had both been born and raised in Rosedan they had moved to New York to begin their connected companies involving the fields of business and accounting. It had been years since they had last visited their hometown and had been planning back for years however work was always in the way it seemed. The death of their mother a few months prior was the final push and they packed up their hiking gear and made the two hour drive.
The plan was to stay for a few days and camp in Rosedan Woods like they had done in their younger years. The two grown men were finding themselves slightly short of breath as they weren't as energetic as they used to be. It also turned out that they had been heading in the wrong direction of the camping grounds. There was a gated fence around the west side of the woods that had multiple signs that read 'Do not continue past this point' and 'Danger Ahead' as that was where the county line ended and lead into the more remote area of the woods. It was well known among the residents of Rosedan that the west side of the woods were dangerous, as that was where all the wild animals resided.
"Hey, isn't this the west side of the woods?" Gregory asked as he looked through the fence at the darker side of the woods.
"Yeah it is" Lucas huffed as he leaned against an oak tree, running a hand over his sweaty forehead.
"You know I've always wanted to be over there…see what's got everyone so freaked about it."
Lucas scoffed and crossed his hands over his chest, "oh please you know exactly why everyone is so afraid of going over there. Every person that did, didn't ever come back and no one knows where they are."
It was true. Over the past twenty years, eleven people had been known to go onto the west side of the woods despite warning and none have them have been found. Including the two brothers' father who had been drunk and had declared that he would go over the fence and not be harmed. At the time no one took him serious and laughed it off, unknowingly encouraging him. A few days after he disappeared, pieces of his clothes and small blood splatters had been reported being found a two or three feet away from the fence. They knew it was his due to the torn breast pocket from his job that had been found that read his name. It was because of that, parents told their children never to go near, rather less in, the west woods.
"Come on Greg, let's turn around and head back to try and find the camping grounds. Besides it's going to be dark before we know it."
"Ah come on Lucas, live a little. It'll be fine we'll only be there for a few minutes" Gregory smirked at him.
Before Lucas could stop him, he was climbing over the fence and landed on the other side. Saluting him, Gregory made his way further into the thicker trees, ignoring his brother's calls for him to come back. Cursing his brother under his breath, Lucas copied his brother and began to cautiously walk away from the fence and further into the darkening woods, the howling of the rapid wind in his ear.
