It was a moonless night. It was deep into summer, and the days were hot and the nights were warm.Deep in the forest was a camp that in it's prime, was the best place to go and have fun during the time you were free from school and learning. Kids from miles around would come and have the best times of their lives while staying three weeks at Camp Sunshine.
On this particular night, four adults who were in their mid twenties ( too old to be going to summer camp anymore) were heading from the parking lot of the camp and were using flashlights to guide them to the administration building.
"Are you sure we should be doing this Greg?" a female voice asked a tall, blond woman. "Mary, it's been abandoned for ten years. There's nobody out here. The place close down due to bankruptcy and hasn't had people here at all. That's why it looks so run down." He explained to Mary. The other two who were with Greg and Mary piped up.
"Why would this place ever been abandoned in the first place? It was super popular. It wasn't easy to get a reservation since it booked up pretty fast with kids.They were obviously doing well. How did they go bankrupt?"A guy named Keith asked.
The other female in the group, Heather currently remained silent but was attentive to the answer. Greg turned around to face them all
" I can tell you, if you really want to know. But you might not want to. You might be too scared to wander around this old camp if you knew." he said with a cheeky smirk. Mary, Keith and Heather rolled their eyes. "Just tell us." Mary insisted. Greg shrugged and then held the flashlight up close to his face "Well legend says, that kids who came here, would end up missing." He started and then Keith scoffed. "Oh come on man, we all know nothing like that happened. There'd be reports of missing kids from a well known camp if that happened." he insisted. Greg stared at Keith. "You didn't let me finish. They would end up missing, but they would return to camp. So nobody was permanently lost." He finished. Again Keith scoffed. "OK so how would that make the camp close down if they returned?"
By this time Greg was getting a bit agitated. "You're not letting me tell the story. If you interrupt one more time I won't tell the story. " He said a bit angrily. Keith put up his hands apologetically "Okay, okay, No more comments from the peanut gallery."
Greg nodded silently and then resumed the story.
"Okay so kids would end up missing, but would end up coming back to camp within the day or at least twenty-four hours later. They came back unscathed. No injuries at all. But it wasn't one or two kids that would end up missing, every year at least half a dozen kids through out the three weeks of camp would end up gone, but come right back so the counselors didn't really think anything of it." He said then lowered his voice. "Until the children that came back, would act odd." He paused and then resumed. "Lets explore this place, while I'm telling this story, otherwise we'll be out here all night." he suggested.
Mary, Keith and Heather blinked at his abrupt suggestion but nodded, turning on their flashlights for added illumination as they walked past the head building and walked by the cabins. The walked in silence for a while until Heather popped up. "So...the kids would act odd you said?" Reminding Greg where he left off in his story.
Greg nodded. "Right. The kids would act odd. They would either forget the other kids' names or lose their appetite. Some would even get tired an sleep during some of the day. Almost as if they were drugged. This raised an alarm in the councilors because they would get in BIG trouble if they sent a kid home that had been harmed in any way. The camp nurse would check the kids out and find nothing physically wrong with them..." he tapered of slowly. "But perhaps something more...mental" He turned around slowly then with a creepy grin. "I dare you guys, to come with me to the forest where those kids disappeared."
Mary shook her head "I don't think that's a good idea. We could get lost and we're not actually supposed to be here." she explained nervously, not liking the look on Greg's face. Heather and Keith agreed with Mary. "There's a path" Greg insisted. "Can't get lost if there's a path."
"How would you know there's a path?" Keith asked suspiciously. "This happened ten years ago, the path, if there is one, would be grown over by now I'm sure."
Greg scowled. "I know there's a path, because I went there. I created the path the others followed....and you know what happened..." he asked looking more sinister. "I was given the mission to bring as many other kids to the same area as many as I could. They were drained of their souls and given the task, that when they turn eighteen, to lure some others back to the camp for a ritual. Seems like more are arriving now." he said and pointed towards the parking lot. A couple of cars with more people began to arrive.
When a larger group of people had gathered and those who were soul-less gathered around Greg. "Now that we have enough, let the ritual begin!" He said loudly. Mary, Heather and Keith were freaked out, and the others that where there were too. They turned to run but Greg pulled out a stone from his pocket that glowed faintly, and pulsed like a heart beat. "HALT!" he commanded and all those who turned to look at him, became entranced by the throbbing stone. Like the pied piper of Hamlen he led all those there to the forest, like all those years before.
Inside the forest, there was a large tree. Inside the tree there was a small hole that was perfect for the stone to fit into. Placing the stone in the hole, caused a secret door in the tree to open up. "Go inside." he ordered everyone. Single file everyone entered the tree, which seemed to be a gateway to a different dimension. When the last person entered he closed the 'door' and pocketed the stone which had gone dark. "Just wait a few years more and I'll bring you more sustenance" he said patting the tree. "I'll open this camp up again and bring you more victims." he smiled.
Greg twelve years ago, had attended this camp. He was shy and tried to make friends but lacked confidence in approaching anyone. He wandered into the forest one day while most of the other campers were swimming or making crafts. He came to this large tree that looked withered, old and on the verge of death. "Oh you poor tree..out here all by yourself with nobody to talk to." h said patting the tree. That's when it had all started. The tree seemed to 'speak' to him, telling him it needed living essence to hold on until it could consume an adult for proper nourishment. The tree gave him the stone and the confidence to approach kids one by one. He led them to the forest to suck their souls...not completely out, but mostly. And instilled in their minds to return to the camp reguardless of the state of it, when they were 18, and be sure to bring some friends along too. Greg had fulfilled his mission and he walked happily back through the camp. The cars in the parking lot were driven into the nearby lake except his own...which he drove back home with...to start the process all over again.
"Oh, the tired horror!"![]()
