What Else Lurks By The Fire

The car was silent for only a moment before Andrew spoke again, “I think this will be a great trip!”

“God dammit,” Ryan groaned from the back seat of the car, “you don’t have to keep convincing us. We are already an hour from home!”

“I know, I know,” Andrew took his hands off the steering wheel and raised them in surrender, “I’m just happy that all of us are here. Just a couple of buds heading up to the mountains.”

“Buds and Jamie,” Zack quickly interjected.

“Yes,” Andrew looked in the rearview mirror and flashed a polite smile to the woman sitting next to Ryan, “buds and Jamie.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, am I crashing your guy’s man time?” Jamie spoke up.

Ryan began to agree but Andrew spoke before anyone’s feelings could get hurt, “Not at all! I think it’s fun that you are coming with us.”

Zack sensed the tension in the SUV and attempted to change the subject, “So, where are we going? Your aunt’s house?”

Andrew chuckled nervously, “It’s my aunt’s sister’s something or other,” he paused for a second to think, “Maybe a family friend. Who knows! Bottom line is, we are going into the mountains to camp out on some land that is owned by someone my family knows.”

“I didn’t come on this camping trip to stay in some fucking cottage dude,” Ryan’s dark brown eyes tried to make eye contact with Andrew through the rearview mirror, but Andrew wouldn’t let him.

“We aren’t staying in the house. The house is on a lot of acres and we can get lost somewhere in the backyard,” Andrew tried desperately to keep the group’s consent to go camping. It had been a long time since Andrew had woken up outdoors and he was willing to do almost anything to keep his friends in the car.

“We’ll be so far away from the house you won’t be able to see its lights,” Zack chimed in.

“I don’t think being by the house is a bad thing,” Jamie spoke up cautiously.

Ryan turned to her with an evil grin, “What? You aren’t scared of the dark are you?”

“Of the dark? No,” Jamie replied, “Of you three? Maybe.”

“Hey! If we start fighting now, the rest of the week is going to be a living nightmare,” Andrew interjected, “We are going to have a great time, no matter where we choose to camp.” Andrew drummed on the steering wheel and drove with a wide smile.

--=|=--

Gravel crunched under the bald tires of Andrew’s old SUV. The extra ground clearance that his car provided was the only reason why the group of friends had decided to take his car. Other than that, it was by no means road worthy; Andrew was grateful that the car had made it up the steep slopes of the mountain pass.

They had veered off the paved road a couple of minutes ago and a windy dirt road escorted them through the thick green trees of the American east coast. Everyone in the car was quiet as they intently watched the scenery go by.

The dirt road offered one more turn before presenting a magnificent house in the middle of a clearing. A large gate stood between them and the horseshoe driveway that bowed before the massive mansion in the woods. Jamie let out a gasp when the house came into view.

“Maybe staying in the house wouldn’t be so bad,” Zack agreed as he leaned over the dashboard to get a better look at the house.

“Yeah, I was told they were rich, but I didn’t know they were that rich,” Andrew noted as he pulled the car off the dirt road and nestled it between a couple of bushes.

Ryan was quick to point out the ten-foot-tall chainlink fence that surrounded the entirety of the house, “The hell are they trying to keep out?”

Andrew shrugged, “I don’t know. Bears or something.”

“That’s a little overkill for bears, don’t you think?” Zack questioned as he opened the passenger door and stepped out.

“Bears can climb, can’t they?” Andrew responded, but his mind was preoccupied with getting the backpacks out of the back of the car.

“Bears can climb?” Jamie sounded surprised.

Ryan huffed, “You don’t get out much do you.”

“I go in the forests as often as you take a shower,” Jamie’s tone adopted harsh qualities as she shot a glare at Ryan and waved her hand in front of her nose.

“Guys, guys,” Andrew stepped between his two friends, “Let’s get our packs and head out. We are running out of daylight.”

Jamie spun on her heels and strapped her backpack to her back in silence. Ryan’s six-pack of beer rattled as he unburied it from the inside of his bag.

“Great, we are all participating in underage drinking as well?” Zack sighed as he came around the back of the car.

“We? All this beer is for me and me only.” Ryan laughed.

Andrew was quick to dispel any tension, “Ryan promised he would keep it under control, right?”

“Yes mom,” Ryan sighed as he threw his pack over his shoulder.

“I brought a can of bear mace, but I’m beginning to think it wasn’t enough,” Jamie mentioned under her breath.

“For the bears? Or for drunk Ryan?” Zack replied and his humor was rewarded by a cute laugh from Jamie.

“Alright!” Andrew announced with his key fob in his hands, “I am locking the doors to the car. I hope that everything you need is on your backs.”

The car’s lights flashed and a loud honk announced their arrival to the woods as the doors locked with a click. Andrew confidently placed the keys in a pocket on his backpack strap and began walking along the fence of the house.

Viewing the house from the front was like admiring the craftsmanship of a beautiful safe. The outside was magnificent, and one could only wonder what was inside. The house hid most of its features behind the silhouette of the front entrance, four-car garage, and steep roof. As the group of friends passed by the side of the house, they noticed that a pool worthy of a swim team and an outdoor kitchen and dining area nestled comfortably beneath the shade of the house’s steeples.

“Are you sure we couldn’t spend a night inside the gates?” Jamie asked innocently.

Andrew stopped walking for a second to talk, “I’m not even sure they are home. My mom called them to ask if it was alright if we crashed in the backyard but they didn’t answer. I figured that if they weren’t answering they were probably out of town and wouldn’t even realize we were here.”

“Come on guys, there is plenty of wide-open wilderness for us to conquer! You don’t want to be trapped in that fence!” Ryan said as he took the lead.

“Does anyone have any stories to pass the time while we hike?” Andrew said.

“I have a story!” Ryan announced as his eyes lit up with a devilish glow, “Ever heard of Troop 307?”

Each of the friends shook their head and Ryan took that as an invitation to continue his story. The group of friends traveled into a grove of pine trees and were immersed in the shade. Cool air hit the back of each hiker’s spine and it was as if the forest around them humbled for Ryan’s story.

Ryan cleared his throat before speaking, “They say that Troop 307 was a boy scout troop that would go on backpack trips frequently. They always were camping here and there, and they loved going out into the middle of the forest and camping with no tents, no food, or any of that shit. They wouldn’t bring anything but a hatchet.”

“The troop set up camp one night, deep in a pine tree forest. Each boy dug his trench and made their shelter, but as night fell, something strange began to happen.”

Jamie’s face was visibly upset, and her attempts to calm her demeanor only made her look more uneasy.

“One of the boys began sleepwalking uncontrollably,” Ryan continued, “At first he would wake up in places away from the campsite. Other nights he would wake up and find himself hovering over his troop mates.”

Zack began to look around nervously as he listened. Andrew walked slower as he paid more attention to Ryan’s story, preparing himself to shut it down once Ryan’s story became too intense for their friendly get-together.

Ryan’s voice adopted a grim quality, “One night, the boy woke up in unfamiliar territory. In his right hand, he gripped a knife, and in his left hand, he held the throat of his troop leader. His arms were covered in blood to his elbow and his clothes were torn to shreds. The sleepwalker had killed everyone in his troop that night but had no memory of doing anything except crawl into his ditch to sleep.”

“Is this actually true?” Jamie’s sassy tone interrupted the spooky atmosphere that Ryan had worked hard to cultivate.

“Look it up! It’s in the news!” Ryan quickly responded, “Some people say that the boy had been planning it. I think the forest made him go fucking mad.”

Jamie raised her phone over her head and grumbled, “I don’t have any service. I can’t find the stupid news story.”

“I guess you’ll just have to believe me,” Ryan announced proudly.

“Well,” Andrew began speaking as he stopped walking and turned towards his friends, “You can thank Ryan for not only passing the time while we walked but for also putting us unnecessarily on edge.”

Andrew looked around at the clearing he had stopped in and realized it looked great for a campsite. With trees separating them from the rest of the forest, the circular patch of dirt and foliage seemed big enough for their tents and gave they enough room to relax and bask in the shade. It was as if someone had camped here before, and Andrew even noticed a makeshift firepit towards the center of the clearing.

“I think we’ve found our campsite!” Andrew continued, “Let’s set up camp.”