I'm not alone in this forest.

“Anna’s been gone a while, Todd. I’m getting worried.” Carter wrung his hands as he paced with anxiety about our fire pit. He wasn’t wrong, she’d wandered off to find somewhere private so that she could relieve herself. We’d offered to construct some form of shelter, but she was insistent that it couldn’t wait. Our spot was pretty far off the beaten path, so we figured she wouldn’t need to go far.

“Do you wanna go look for her? I can stay here and get the fire going. It’ll be dark soon.” I offered. Carter’s face displayed a mix of emotions. “I’ll be alright, man. I’m more worried about her. Don’t worry about me.” Carter’s tense expression dropped, and I could see a sort of determination take over. He gently scratched at the beard which had begun to thicken in the days we’d spent out here, then put on his glasses. I watched, almost able to see the gears turning in his head, as he put on a much braver face.

“Thanks dude, I won’t be gone long. She must be around somewhere. Probably just got turned around.” I gave him a smile and a nod, and turned to get started with the fire. As I worked, I heard Carter calling out for his girlfriend, his voice fading more and more as he went on, while my attention turned to the fire pit. We’d brought a few starter logs along with us, so the process wouldn’t be long. Last time we’d been out wild camping like this, it had rained only a few days prior, and getting anything at all to catch had been a struggle. I threw some kindling overtop of the starter and lit both ends. While that burned, I gathered sticks, and eventually some larger chunks of fallen trees and branches. It probably took about ten minutes to get things going, but soon enough flames crackled and licked at the air. I took a moment to lean back in my chair, allowing the calm of the forest to wash over me.

I heard the crack of sticks as they were crushed underfoot, somewhere to my left, and snapped my attention nearly involuntarily in the direction of the unexpected sound.

“Carter? Anna?” I called out, though no response came. I looked about, but in the twilight, very little could be seen.  “Guys?” I called out into the void yet again. Nobody called back, and it occurred to me in that moment how quiet the world had become. A gentle breeze rustled through the trees, however the chirping of bids and skittering of rodents had ceased.  As I scanned the trees, I heard the shattering of dried wood once more, this time to my right. My attention was once again drawn into the depths of the woods, and yet once more, nothing could be seen but the gentle swaying of the oaks and maples which surrounded me. A distinct sense of unease began to take hold of me, akin to the feeling of bile rising in one’s gut. That all-too-familiar cold shiver ran down the length of my spine, sending hairs standing on end from my neck to my fingertips.

I pulled my cell phone from my pocket and powered it on. We’d been keeping them off to preserve battery in case of an emergency, and while I felt a bit silly for feeling this way, this was beginning to seem like one. I dialed Carter’s number and waited for the first ring to inform me that my call had gone through. To my dismay, no such signal came, and I turned the phone back off. It wouldn’t do any good until I could find a tower.

The time was approaching nine o’clock in the evening. I knew that the likelihood of finding my way back to the trail in the dark was far more slim than my chance of simply getting more lost, so I set about getting my tent set up for the night. For all I knew, Carter had found her immediately and the two were just having some alone time. If they weren’t back by morning, then it might be time to worry. I convinced myself enough of this, despite the weirdness of the evening, enough to find a few hours of sleep in my tent.

A terrible shriek woke me from my dreams. It somehow seemed to trigger all of my senses at once, and I felt the vibration like knives tearing and rending my flesh from the bone as much as I heard it overwhelm my hearing. The screaming carried on for twenty or thirty seconds, yet it felt to me as though it were an eternity. My body shook, though I was paralyzed by fear. When the howls finally abated, I felt a brief moment of respite, before it was replaced by a mournful, soulless wailing. The demonic sounds caused a feeling of dread and panic to develop overtake me, and I could do nothing but lay there, sweat soaking my clothes and sleeping bag, as I waited for whatever taunted my nightmares to finish the job.

After a period of time that I could not adequately calculate, abruptly as it began, the wailing stopped. I wanted to be grateful. I so desperately wished for an end to the torment to which I was being subjected. But I couldn’t be. I couldn’t rest, couldn’t offer up my thanks to whatever God might be watching over me, because that horrid keening, the utterly inescapable feeling of sorrow which it inspired, was replaced by perhaps the only thing that could have been worse. From the depths of the forest, I heard a new sound. Somewhere out there, obscured by the shapes of trees and the darkness of the night…

I heard laughter.