Young Writers Society

You're all here at Harrowing Hollow -- the home of the most blood-chilling hike in all of New York. You know why you're here. This is the most haunted area in all of the upstate. In addition to the many hauntings, several creatures are rumored to roam around here. There are many stories of people who've gone in and never come out.

Yet despite knowing all of this, you have willingly arrived here, and as a group of four, you plan to set out along it, making the full loop around the trail. You've packed pretty well and you know you're as ready as you'll ever be.

You're excited to make the trek together. And hopefully, you can make your way out...

Ky didn't know how she always got roped into things like this. She didn't want to go into a haunted forest to get murdered. This was exactly the way a horror movie would start. And they all knew that she wasn't going to be one of the people to survive one of those.

And yet.

This was her consequence for mouthing off to her boss. And there wasn't anything at all that she could do about it. So she resentfully took the few supplies he'd packed for her -- not enough, by any stretch of the imagination -- and then watched as he drove into the distance.

She sighed and started up to the information booth. With any luck, they'd at least have a map for her to chart out the path she'd take to die.

~

A haunted trail? That sounded exhilarating! Of course, it wasn't really haunted -- Pratik didn't believe in all that stuff. But if that's how they made their money, they must have done a good job of making it seem spooky. And Pratik was all about a cheap jump-scare or two.

Besides, it's not like he had anything better to do. He went and parked in the long-term parking lot, then headed towards the information desk with his gear to get a plan for the hike. It was good form to at least have a map, after all.

There was a skittish-looking girl already standing in front of the rack of maps. She was pale and thin and had short brown hair and sharp green eyes. She looked up nervously as he approached, then stepped to the side. "Sorry."

"All good," he answered. "You heading out on the trail, too?"

She sighed. "Yeah..."

Well, she clearly didn't want to be here. Pratik wondered why she'd come. But, then, that wasn't really any of his business, was it? He offered her a hand. "Pratik Chrenko."

"Ky Ruiarc." She shook his hand, eyeing him suspiciously.

"You know if anyone else is coming or going?" He nodded around the room. There weren't many people milling around, but there were a few.

"I mean, I assume all the ones who don't look like they regret their lives haven't gone yet," Ky muttered.

"Does that mean you've already gone?" Pratik said with a smirk. "'Cause I'm seeing regret-for-life on you."

She snorted.

"C'mon, let's see if we can make friends with anyone else," Pratik said, beckoning her to follow him.

"Bold of you to assume we're friends," she grumbled, but it wasn't hostile.

He grinned at her playfully. "Bold of you to assume we're not."

"You know," Gabriel said, leaning up against the side of his car with his arms crossed and an amused smile on his face, "your bag wouldn't be so heavy if you didn't bring the book."

Gabriel, today, had gone for a form with blond hair, blue eyes, and a black leather jacket with an embroidered pair of white wings on the back. It was one of his usual forms, so Quinn wasn't all that surprised.

Quinn, meanwhile, was trying to get her bag comfortably on her shoulders.

"We're going to be without WiFi and outlets," Quinn pointed out. She blew a strand of short black hair out of her green eyes. "What if I can't access the copy on my phone?"

"You know a spell for charging said phone," Gabriel pointed out.

Quinn bit her lip.

Gabriel, pushing himself off of the car, walked over to Quinn and grabbed the book right from her slightly open backpack. It was a big, heavy book, and even someone like Gabriel struggled under the weight of it. Quinn didn't want to admit it, but her bag really did feel easier to carry now that Gabriel had put the book into the card.

"If worse comes to worst, Q, I can always protect you," Gabriel said. He shut the door and locked it.

Quinn crossed her arms. "I don't know if you're strong enough to-"

Gabriel responded by childishly sticking his tongue out at her and then ruffling her already slightly messy hair. His job complete, Gabriel started to head to where some people were waiting. Quinn followed him over.

There were two people by the maps when they arrived. Gabriel gave a smile and a casual, "Hey." Quinn gave a tiny wave.

“Hey!” Pratik said, looking them over. He figured he already knew the answer, but, “Are you guys going on the hike?”

"We are," Gabriel confirmed. He readjusted the straps of his backpack. The backpack was nowhere near as filled as Quinn's was—or, at least, appeared to be less filled. "Is it your first time?"

Quinn knew Gabriel was trying to determine if the two were hunters. It was hard for her to tell, especially this early in a conversation. Gabriel was a little better about it, but she doubted he could actually tell right now.

“On this one, yeah,” Pratik answered. “You been here before?”

Gabriel shook his head.

"It's our first time, too."

“Sounds like we’re all starting off at ground zero, then.” Pratik offered his hand. “Pratik.”

Gabriel shook his hand.

"Gabriel," he offered. Without warning, he threw his arm around Quinn's shoulder and pulled her close. Quinn honestly expected it. He had a habit of doing it a lot. "And this is Quinn. She's my little sister."

“Nice to meet you! This is—“ Pratik turned towards Ky. He wasn’t going to throw his arm around her, but for a moment she thought he was.

She took a step to the side. “Don’t touch me.”

“I wasn’t going to.” Pratik put his hands up disarmingly.

Ky looked at him suspiciously then looked at the others. “I’m Ky.”

"Nice to meet you both," Gabriel said. There was definitely some tension between Pratik and Ky, but he wasn't going to touch on that now. He'd have plenty of time to talk once they started the hike.

He glanced at Pratik. "You mentioned going on other hikes before? Have you done hikes on other trails like this one?" The question was spoken in a way that made it sound like an innocent question, but Gabriel was trying to gauge his experience with the supernatural.

“Not around here,” Pratik said with a shrug. “But I’m always up for something spooky, yknow? If it actually manages to spook me it’s twice as fun — most things can’t, though.”

"Same here," Gabriel agreed, and Quinn had to fight the urge to roll her eyes at Gabriel's reply. He wasn't spooked easily because of what he was and his experience with the supernatural, and frequently liked to joke about what he was, too.

Gabriel finally pulled his arm off of Quinn's shoulder.

"Want to get started on that trail?" he asked. "Q and I are all set to go."

“I think we are too?” Pratik said, turning a questioning look on Ky.

She sucked in a breath. No. Of course she wasn’t ready. She’d never be ready because this was a bad plan that was going to end badly and they were all about to hike into their own deaths and these psychopaths seemed to be looking forward to getting murdered. But she nodded. “Yeah, of course!”

"Great," Gabriel said.

He was already mentally preparing himself for having to keep an eye on these two. Q, too, but she was starting to get the hang of basic defensive spells. She could stall until he needed to help her.

He wasn't exactly planning a way to protect them. He worked best with instinct. But it was good to remember that there were people who were either incredibly skilled or incredibly not, and that he was going to be doing the bulk of the work needed to keep them from dying.

Gabriel gestured towards the trail. "You first."