A trip with the guys

We all got the invitation. We were supposed to go to the forest, to the old cabins and stay the whole weekend.

We were received by a young man, who cheerfully invited us in, showed us around, and welcomed us in. The first thing we did was to look around the place, explore the cabin, discover it had several rooms and a kitchen. It was nice and felt cozy. I chose a room that looked out into the forest.

After that, we joked around and started preparing the grill. We saw some trees around the edge of the forest that were already cut down, so we had plenty of wood available. We all had brought some food from home, as well as some drinks. Our host took out of the cabin a cooler stuffed with beers and then swiftly helped us build the fire, placing the wood in the ideal places for it to lit for hours. I was still uncertain if he was the one who had sent the invite or not.

I talked about that with the boys, and one of them, Paul, said that this had been his idea. We all cheered him on, and we opened our first beer of the trip. I went to check the grill while the rest drank to his name, taking some seats around the fire. The host disappeared inside the cabin and when he came back, he was carrying a huge chunk of meat for the fire. The mix of spices in the meat smelled delicious. When I saw that,I got some sausages ready, they were crisp and juicy. Kevin had even brought marshmallows, which got a laugh from all of us. Paul got up and helped the host with the meat, chatting, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying with the noise of the bonfire.

I looked around, getting an eerie feeling from the forest behind me. I turned my head over there, but I was only welcomed by darkness and nature. I turned back to the fire and closed my eyes. I tried to feel good, focusing on the sounds of my friend’s laughter, but all I could focus on was the rustle of the leaves and the faint whispers from far away, which I wish would stop. Not even the food gave me the comfort I so desperately wished for.

Paul came up to me and gave me a plate with meat. I took a bite and it felt weird. Yes, it was soft but there was something odd about it. “Does anyone notice anything… Weird with the meat?” I asked out loud. “Must be the spices. Local grown”. Paul answered back, almost immediately. Weird that he knew that… Nobody else said a word, chewing and drinking, and laughing. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the food, they ate almost all the meat. The host just watched us eat and talk among ourselves.

The night was falling fast, and the dark was feeling closer and closer. I could only see the edge of the forest now, barely.The bright eyes of the host creeped me out but I said nothing. My friends kept on eating but I just couldn’t anymore. I just waited for them to finish so we could move on with our night.

Kevin was a little drunk already by the time he finished his food. He had always been a lightweight. He said, way too loudly, that he had to pee. He got up and walked into the forest, wobbling around the roots and branches on the floor. He went behind a couple of trees and disappeared from sight.

I wanted to go with him. I wanted to go to my cabin. I wanted to go as far away from the host as possible. But I waited for Kevin to return. And waited. And waited. And then, I heard it: A loud scream coming from the forest, specifically from the area Kevin had disappeared in. No one seemed to have noticed it, everyone kept on talking and eating and drinking. I stood up and looked into the forest, paling a little bit as the panic in the voice sunk in. It could have been Kevin, but somehow, it felt… wrong. It felt alien. It sounded dangerous. 

Paul looked at me, smiling “Want to take a pee too?”. The rest of the crew laughed. I was paralyzed. I looked around, frightened. The noises and smells were overwhelming. I couldn’t think straight. I just ran.

I thought I was running in the direction of the cabins, but I couldn’t see them. Everything was dark. I could hear Paul tell me “Where are you going?”, like he was standing next to me

I turned around and I could see him, only it wasn’t really Paul. His face had a horrible evil grin and his laugh, Gods his laugh sounded so wrong, it gave me chills as soon as I heard it.

It then showed me Kevin’s face. And the host. And mine. The grin kept growing, I could feel it engulfing me. “Everything will be fine. We will have fun together”.

He tried to grab my arm, his hand felt slimy and warm. I jerked back, afraid. I tried to run into the forest, away from them and their crazed smiles.

I could hear the voices behind me, but I didn’t stop. I knew I couldn’t. I saw the trees, getting closer, and yet, somehow, getting darker.

I ran until I didn’t hear them anymore. I was alone, only darkness and trees around me. The only thing I could hear was my breathing. I leaned into the nearest tree to try and catch my breath, while I tried to think of a possible solution and explanation to my situation.

I decided to keep going deeper and deeper into the forest, where I could notice the trunks of the trees getting closer and closer. I could feel the foliage against my legs and arms. And then, I stepped on something. Something… unexpected. Something gooey. I stopped and looked down, the little light the moon provided let me see blood and something like a gelatin. I took my foot out of it and I leaned down, it smelled funny and I could feel an awful warmth coming out of it.

I wanted to look away from the scarlet liquid, but couldn’t help but follow the trail, which led me straight to a bag of marshmallows, and a hand that looked familiar. I looked closely, covering my mouth and nose with my hand. The hand on the floor had a small cross tattooed. I let out a gasp and took a step back. It was Kevin’s hand.

Coming from his direction, I could hear his voice telling me “Come with me. It will be fun”. I knew better than to stop any longer, and kept running towards the dark trees.

I kept listening to the laughs and the deep voice of Kevin, the tree branches scratched my face but I didn’t stop until I reached a lake and suddenly everything was quiet. I was completely alone. No noise around me. No evidence of what just happened. I sat by the shore and took deep breaths. In and out, in and out. I felt my heartbeat back to normal and decided it was a good moment to analyze what had just happened.

Paul never laughed in our gatherings, he was always so grumpy and mean towards all of us… why was he laughing so much? Was it the alcohol? Perhaps the meat the host gave us?

After a couple of deep breaths I turned around to look at the forest. If that thing had been following me, I wouldn’t let it surprise me. Everything was quiet, no movement nor noise around me, even the voices from the cabin had disappeared.

Every time I closed my eyes, I could see Paul’s face, laughing at me, hunting me. We were never that close, but I had never suspected he could be so… mad. I wondered if the guys had noticed anything like that before. Hadn’t thought of them at all since this nightmare started. I closed my eyes and stood up, I had to go back, I knew that. I had to figure out what was really going on. 

I saw towards the forest, and could make out the path to the cabin, the lights still on, and I started walking, careful of not making any noise. The silence was absolute, which was quite disturbing. I walked faster, careful not to step into anything and make myself heard. 

After a couple of minutes walking I started to hear things again, the peace and quiet from the lake slowly disappearing. As I got near the clearing of the forest by the fire of the cabin I regretted my decision. I should have stayed by the lake, away from all of this. People were laughing hysterically, their faces had disturbing smiles and their eyes, those eyes I will never forget, large dark pupils in all of their eyes, as if they were on drugs but we’ve all eaten the same meat. How was this happening?

I tried to play it cool, act as if nothing had happened, and casually asked out loud: “Hey guys, have you seen Kevin?”. They didn’t answered me directly, just kept laughing, louder each time. I was about to go back to my car, drive as far away as I could from there, when someone placed a hand on my shoulder, and handed me a beer. “I’ve been looking for you! Kev just went to the bathroom. You feeling good?” It was Paul.

I walked backwards, trying to keep myself away from him, and stumbled. He grabbed me before I could fall. “Sit down, take a drink, and relax. You will feel better soon, you are among your friends”.

I tried to check for anything wrong with all of them. Their smiles. Their eyes. They looked like my friends, but my gut told me they were not. I close my eyes and took a sip of the beer, staying away from the meat. The beer tasted good against my tongue, so I took another sip, a larger one and sighed. I could feel my body relaxing. My panic was going away, and I could see them having fun. The fear seemed so far away… maybe it had been a vivid hallucination.

I had almost finished my beer when I thought of Kevin again. It had been too long for a bathroom break. The panic started to come back, so I got up from my chair. Almost immediately, Paul came with me. “You want some steak? You like it rare, don’t you?” I shivered at the thought of it, and finished my beer instead. “No, thanks, I… have to go to the bathroom”.

I walked to the bathroom of the cabin, and found it wide open. Kevin was nowhere to be found. The memory of his bloody arm haunted me, so I went inside and splashed some water in my face, trying to get rid of that image, unsure if it had been real, or if it was one my brain made me believe. 

When I lifted my head and looked in the mirror I saw how my face started to shift, slowly, oh so slowly, my lips started to lift, to become a wicked smile, the one I saw earlier. I tried to think what could have caused it. And then I felt a beer aftertaste in my mouth. And I smiled.