The Haunting Doom of Freshman Year

Jamie took his freshly finished water bottle and laid it between his eyes, so it was resting against the tip of his nose, and turned it like a kaleidoscope.

“Hey Ada, I now know what it’s like to have shitty eyes,” he said while looking through the bottle at the flames of their mediocre bonfire.

Ada, who was squinting behind her shiny, blue glasses, smirked. She twisted her branch above the fire. A mostly black, crinkled marshmallow sat on the edge, holding on for dear life.

Thomous, with a silent u that matched his personality, pulled at the edges of his grey, humungous coat and pulled them together for the hundredth time that night.

“Why don’t you just zip the jacket?” Jamie asked, pulling his palms from the fire to brush them through his short, bright blue hair.

“Cause the zipper broke this morning,” Thomous said then puffed out his lips and dropped his head to his chest. A whiff of wind blew through the trees, causing Thomaus’s hat to fly off his head. Lydia’s eyes widened as she jumped up ran after it. She reached her foot out and stepped on it like she was trying to kill a poisonous spider, then ran it back to him.

“Thanks, Lyd.” He put the stocking cap back on his bald head and pulled it down so it covered his eyebrows.

“Here,” she said as she pulled her scarf off and wrapped it around his neck. He smiled so wide his eyes were squinted to thin slits. Lydia sat beside him on their log and rested her head on his shoulder, rubbing his hands to warm them up.

“So,” Ada said after she finished the last bite of her smore, “what should we do now?” She turned to Kaia, who had her phone out taking a panorama of the group. “Kaia?”

“We could do a Pinterest photo challenge?” she suggested with a shrug.

“Or,” Jamie said while lying spread out on his log, “We could do something fun.” Kaia stuck her tongue out.

“If these boots weren’t two-hundred dollars, I’d throw them at you,” she said.

“Whatever we do, can we stay by the fire?” Thomous asked. Lydia frowned and wrapped her arms around his thin frame. The fourteen-year-old recent cancer survivor had not done well with cold since he started treatment. Jamie huffed, rolled off his log, stumbled over, and mirrored Lydia.

“Okay, so we ate hotdogs, smores, and set up the tent. There has to be some sort of game we could play,” said Ada.

“Oh, I know,” Kaia said, her arms raised above her head, making her shirt ride up over her muffin top. “We could play truth or dare.”

Jamie raised his brow. “Truth or Dare? Were a week away from becoming high-schoolers. High schoolers don’t play truth or dare.”

“Oh yeah,” Kaia asked with narrowed eyes, “and what do high-schoolers do?”

Jamie grinned. He reached for his backpack, placed it on his lap, and scrimmaged around it.

“Ah-ha,” he said, pulling out a thin, silver tin.

“How the hell did you get a flask?” Lydia asked.

“Yeah isn’t your mama like, super strict?” asked Ada.

“Yeah, mama is, but mom is really laid back. She said I could bring this as long as you asked your parents before you drank out of it.” Ada tilted her head. “What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”

“Yeah,” Ada said with a shake of the head, “I don’t think I’ll have some.”

Jamie huffed, unscrewed the cap, and took a sip. His face shriveled as he gulped. He held it out to Thomous. “Here.”

Thomous shook his head. “No thanks, I’m driving.”

“Ha, ha.” He leaned past Thomous, “Lydia?”

“I mean,” she looked around the group. Ada was shaking her head, Thomous shrugged, and Kaia was scrolling through her phone, not paying attention. “Okay.”

She took the flask and bit her lip. Her gloved hands shook as she raised the flask to her shiny, vermilion lips and threw it back.

“Mmm,” she said with a crinkled forehead and a mouth full of God knows what type of alcohol. She placed her hand over her mouth and ran away from the group to the edge of the woods before spitting the disgusting liquid out of her mouth. Thomous glared at Jamie.

“What? I never said it was the good stuff.” Lydia scowled as she made her way back to the group and sat, turned away from Thomous.

“You know what? Truth or dare sounds great,” Lydia said with crossed arms.

Kaia grinned before turning to Ada. “Okay, truth, or dare.”

Ada rubbed her hands together, then pressed them against her bronze cheeks that were glowing red. “Dare.”

“I dare you to…run your hand over the fire.”

Everyone, even Jamie’s, eyes widened.

“Are you serious?” Lydia asked, grabbing Ada’s hand as though to stop her from something she wasn’t planning on doing anyway.

“What? It’s the only thing I could think of. The other one was kiss one of the guys, but Thomous is gay and no one wants to touch Jamie.”

“Well, maybe we should’ve listened to Jamie when he said truth or dare was a bad idea,” Jamie said as he stared at his fiddling fingers.

Thomous bumped Jamie’s side. “Why don’t we just play Chinese whisperer?”

Everyone cocked their heads to the side. “You know, the game where you whisper something into someone’s ear and then you go down like a line.”

“Oh,” Ada said, “you mean like the telephone game.”

Jamie looked at the sky and huffed. “First goal in high school, find new friends.”

The group oranged themselves so they were in a close line with Kaia on one end and Ada on the other. Ada whispered something to Lydia, who whispered to Thomous, who whispered to Jamie, who whispered to Kaia.

Kaia jumped off her log and screamed, “Jamie.”

“What?” he asked with a sadistic grin.

“I know Ada didn’t say, penises are best, lick my chest.”

“Dude,” Thomous said as he shoved Jamie off the edge of the log. Jamie scrambled up and shook the dirt off his jacket.

“Whatever. You guys are lame. I’m gonna go take a piss.” Jamie turned around and walked into the forest, the darkness engulfing him.

“Well now that that jackass is gone,” Kaia said as she popped a marshmallow in her mouth, “we can have some real fun. Now, let's play guilty pleasure, celebrity crush. Thomous, you first.”

“Whaaa? I don’t have a guilty pleasure celebrity crush,” Thomous said with his head pushed back so far he had a double chin.

“What about, you know?” Lydia asked as she wiggled her brows.

“Lydia,” he said through gritted teeth, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Fine, be that way,” Ada said, “I’m not ashamed. Mine is Jack Black.”

“No way,” Lydia said with her arm wrapped around Thomous’s.

“Yea-”

“AHHHH,” Jamie screamed as he ran towards the group, his pants still down revealing his superman underwear.

Right as he reached the edge of the campsite, his jeans caught under his feet and he tripped. He pushed himself off the ground and under his mud-covered face, was red cheeks and a clenched jaw. Ada and Thomous ran over to pick him up.

“Dude, seriously? One sip of alcohol and your face down on the ground in your undies?” Thomous asked. Once Jamie’s feet were back on the ground, he pulled up his pants and looked back at the woods, then to the group.

“G-Guys, we gotta go,” he said with a shaky voice.

“What? What are you talking about?” Kaia asked.

Jamie ran to the tent and pulled the middle pole down. “We gotta get out of here.” The tent collapsed on him. He waved his arms around until his head was uncovered then kept packing.

“Wait,” Ada shouted as she stood beside him, waving her arms. “It took us an hour to put that up. What are you doing?”

Jamie dropped the tent and pointed a shaky hand at the forest. “There's a man out there.”

“Okay,” Kaia said slowly, “well, we don’t own the forest. I’m sure it’s just another person camping.”

“N-No,” Jamie said with comically wide eyes, “this man had a ski mask on.”

Thomous walked over. “Maybe he was cold?”

“Guys,” Jamie shouted, “He had a mother freakin’ ax.”

Everyone froze.

“Maybe,” said Lydia. “Maybe he was going to cut down a tree for firewood?”

“In the middle of the night?” Jamie asked as he rubbed his forehead and started pacing around the campsite. “We gotta go, we gotta go, we gotta go.”

“Okay, let me just call my parents and they’ll pick us up,” Ada said then pulled out her phone. “Crap.”

“What?” Jamie asked.

“I don’t have any service out here.”

Jamie and Lydia pulled out their phones. “Me either,” said Lydia.

“None,” said Jamie. They turned to Thomous, who shrugged.

“Don’t look at me. My dad said I’m not getting a phone till I’m sixteen.”

“Kaia?” Ada asked. Kaia finally looked up from her phone and clicked her tongue.

“What?”

“You’ve been on your phone all night. Call your grandparents to pick us up,” Jamie said with a delirious smile.

“Why?” Kaia asked.

“Why?” Jamie repeated loudly. “Cause we’re about to get murdered.”

“Would you stop yelling? You’re pulling attention to us,” Lydia said.

“What’s going on?” Kaia asked.

Thomous dropped his head while Lydia groaned. “haven’t you been paying attention?” Lydia whispered. “There is a man out in the woods with an ax.”

Kaia’s bottom lip wobbled. “We’re gonna die.”

“No, no, no.” Lydia said with a shake of the hands, “We’re gonna be okay. We just need you to call your grandparents to pick us up.”

“Okay.” Kaia started swiping through her phone but her fingers were so shakey, she kept pressing the button for text instead of call.

“Jese,” Jamie said before grabbing the phone out of Kaia’s hand and going to her grandmother’s number.

It rang a few times, before he heard, “Hi, this is Lauada. I’m not at the phone right now, but leave a quick mess-”

“Damn it,” Jamie said as he slammed his thumb against the end call button.

“Try again, try again,” Lydia said with her knees pulled against her chest.

Jamie pressed redial, but before a ring could be heard, a low whistling tune spilled from the phone then the screen went black.

“Are you kidding me?” he screamed at the phone before throwing it to the ground.

“Is it dead?” Kaia asked.

“Yes, it is,” Jamie said as he pointed his finger at her face. “Just like we will be shortly because you couldn’t stay off your freakin’ phone.”

“How was I supposed to know there was gonna be some weird ax dude in the middle of nowhere? It’s not my fault your parents have shitty service,” Kaia shouted. She stood so they were face to face, their noses inches from each other.

“Guys,” Ada said as she ran between them and pressed her hands to their chests, spreading them apart, “It doesn’t matter who did what. We need to get out of here, now. If we run to the road, we’ll probably have better service.”

Lydia jumped from her seat. “Yes, let's go.”

“What about the fire?” Thomous asked.

“Leave it. It will confuse the murderer. Make him think we’re still here,” Jamie said. Thomous, Lydia, and Kaia turned to Ada.

“He’s right. We should leave a diversion,” Ada said. Jamie huffed.

“Okay, so who remembers the way to the road?” Lydia asked.

Everyone looked at each other.

“Um,” Kaia said with closed eyes, “I might know where to go. I think we came from,” she turned around and faced away from the fire then opened her eyes, “that way.”

Ada put her hand on Kaia’s shoulder. “Are you sure?”

“I mean, no, but it’s our best shot,” Kaia said.

“I think we should all hold hands so no one gets lost,” Lydia suggested and held her hands out. Thomous grabbed one and Ada grabbed the other. Kaia went to Thomous and held his hand, but when Jamie reached for Ada’s, she pulled away.

“No way am I holding your hand.”

“What?” Jamie asked. “Why not?”

“Because you probably haven’t washed your hands since the last time you jerked off.”

Jamie pressed his palm against his chest. “I’m disgusted by your accusation.” Ada raised her brow. “Okay fine.” Jamie held out his elbow and Ada put her arm through it.

They started walking towards what they hoped was the road. Every time a leaf would crinkle or a whistle would blow through the trees, the group would flinch and huddle closer together. Step by step they walked away from the campsite until they were out of sight, the only thing glowing their path was the shine of the moonlight.

Thomous and Kaia kept their eyes set in front of them, while Jamie and Lydia looked to the sides and Ada kept checking behind them.

“Are you sure you saw something?” Lydia whispered.

Jamie deadpanned. “No, I just mighta saw a crazy, ski mask-wearing, ax holding man, but I’m not sure.”

“Well, I don’t see anyone like that,” Kaia said.

“Are you complaining?” Jamie asked.

Kaia let go of Thomous's hand and walked over to Jamie. “Boy, I’m gon-”

All of a sudden, a loud, high-pitched, evil laugh wisped through the forest.

“What the hell was that?” Jamie yelled as he grabbed hold of Kaia’s arm.

Everyone looked around to find where the noise had come from but they couldn’t see anything.

“Okay, I think we need to move faster,” Ada suggested. Everyone nodded and darted through the trees. They kept running until Ada stopped and pointed ahead of them. “Wait guys, look. It’s a path.”

“Thanks, Ada and looky here,” Jamie said as he pointed to the ground, “it’s a freakin’ leaf.”

Kaia slapped the back of Jamie’s head. “No idiot,” Ada said, “A trail usually leads somewhere. I bet we could go down it and it will take us to a place with cell service.”

“Or an old lady’s house where she can eat us for dinner,” Jamie said.

“Fine, let's vote. All in favor of following the trail, raise your hand.” Everyone, excluding Jamie, raised their hands.

The group ran to the path and started walking. Every so often the leaves would rustle, as though something was running beside them.

After a while, their hopes of the trail leading them somewhere started to diminish.

“Well, this is going well. Have any other great idea’s Ada?” Jamie asked.

Kaia was about to hit him again when they heard someone with a creaky voice, ask, “Where do you kids think you're going?”

The group froze. They slowly turned around. It was almost too dark to see her, but a harsh wind blew through the trees, giving the moonlight an opening and illuminating the woman. She was as pale as paper, had a flowing white nightgown on, and a long machete in her hand.

“Ahhhhhh,” the kids screamed as they turned around and started running away.

“Oh, I see. I guess we’re just gonna cut to the chase. Girls?” the woman screamed.

Not a second later two young girls, not older than ten, jumped out from the woods, making Jamie jump on Kaia’s back and the rest crowded together. The girls were wearing all black, they even had black lipstick and hair. They ran out of the woods then fell to the ground, rolling after the group.

“Come play with us,” one said.

“Yes, play with us,” the smaller one said.

“No thank you,” Ada said as they kept running.

The girls started crawling after them, putting their legs over their shoulders and curving their heads to their knees. This slowed them down enough so the group was able to get away.

“Lydia, I swear, this is that last time we’re letting you pick the campsite,” Thomous said through shallow breaths as they kept running down the trail.

“Fine by me. I don’t think I’ll ever go camping again,” Lydia said.

Jamie checked behind him. “I think we lost them.”

The group stopped for a breath. Thomous placed his hands on his knees and closed his eyes, trying to calm his beating heart.

“I don’t know how much longer I can go,” Thomous said, “My chest is killing me and legs feel like they're on fire.”

“We have to keep going. Do you wanna run into some more crazy shit like we just did?” Kaia asked.

Thomous frowned. “I’ll try.”

“Hello there,” someone whispered from the woods.

“No,” Jamie said as liquid trickled down his leg.

They turned to look at the thing that’d greeted them and were suddenly face to face with an over six feet tall, clown. He had a red and white outfit, but half of it was covered in bloody slashes. He pointed down the path in the direction they were headed.

“You just need to keep going and you’ll find your way home,” he said, but no one listened. They were too busy staring at the knives on the end of each finger. The clown jolted his head to the side and started walking towards them. The kids took off running again.

Jamie’s pants were never buttoned, so they kept slipping down until they were caught under his feet again and he tripped. The rest of the group almost didn’t notice, until he yelled, “Guys?”

They turned around and helped him up, but just as he was buttoning his jeans, they heard the subtle cries of a baby crying.

“Oh my gosh, a baby?” Lydia asked as she started walking off towards the woods. Ada and Thomous grabbed her arms.

“Sweetie, we love you, but you’re not the smartest pickle in the patch,” Thomous said as he held her arm tightly and started running.

“But what if it’s a real baby and it’s hurt?” Lydia asked with red eyes.

“What are the chances someone left a baby in the middle of the woods on the same night weird ghost-like things are trying to murder us?” Jamie asked.

“Woah, we never said anything about ghosts,” Kaia said.

“Come on. Weird lady in white with creepy children and a clown. What about that screams normal?” Jamie asked.

“It doesn’t matter. We can discuss this later. When we’re safe,” Ada said. Everyone nodded and continued down the path.

Ada kept her fists clenched as she looked down the trail for a trace of light or shadow of a building. When all she saw was trees and trail, she sighed and bowed her head. Her eyes glazed over. The hope that blossomed in her chest when she’d discovered the trail, diminished when she realized she was leading her friends to their deaths. She inhaled sharply, making everyone else stop and turn to her with questioning gazes.

“Oh Ada, don’t cry,” Lydia said as she ran to her and wrapped her arms around her. Ada hadn’t realized she had tears on her cheeks until Lydia wiped them away, the ice of the night making them too numb to feel.

“I don’t know where to go. I thought I did, but I think we’re lost,” Ada said into Lydia’s shoulder.

“No shit,” Jamie said. After receiving a glare from Kaia and Thomous he added, “But it’s not your fault.”

“You were right,” said Kaia. “This trail has to lead somewhere. So let's keep going.” The rest of the group nodded, but it only took them five steps to notice something lying on the trail.

It was too far to examine, but from the length and two things sticking out the sides, they made an estimated guess.

“Dead body. Guys, that’s a freakin’ dead body,” Jamie said, his voice higher than both his mothers’ combined.

“Okay, now I’m scared,” Lydia said.

“What are we gonna do?” asked Thomous.

Everyone turned to Ada, who was staring at the body.

“Ada?” Lydia asked. Ada turned around and raised her hands.

“What? You think I have an answer for everything?” She asked with narrowed eyes.

Jamie shrugged while Lydia and Kaia nodded. Ada took a deep breath.

“Okay.” She looked around the woods, where they’d just come from, and the dead body. She then looked at her toes, which were wiggling nervously in her boots. “We need to get off the trail.”

“But it was your idea to get on the trail,” Jamie said.

“Think of this as a science experiment. Sometimes you have to try multiple variables before you can get to the conclusion you were searching for,” Ada said. She pointed to the woods. “We’re too noticeable out here. If we go out there, just far enough where we can still see the trail, then maybe we’ll make it back alive and in one piece.”

She took off into the woods, not waiting for a response from the others. She knew if they valued their lives, they’d follow her. She was comforted by the multiple leaves crunched behind her. She turned back every few seconds, checking to see if the trail was still in sight. When it became a thin, barely noticeable line, she stopped and turned in the direction they were previously headed. Her heart raced inside her chest painfully. Needled pierced her lungs and knives sliced her arches, but she could feel the end coming.

That’s when she saw the flicker of light, just steps ahead. Not a reflection of the moon or hints of the coming sun, but a man-made light. She couldn’t tell where it was coming from, somewhere between the trees on the other side of the trail, but it was on and that meant they were close to civilization. Humanity. Alive Humans. Her cheeks ached as she grinned, but it didn’t matter. Soon she’d be home with her mom and dad and little sister and things would be okay.

That was until he appeared. Well, what she assumed was a he appeared. Whatever it was, had a long black cloak on and a knife sticking through its head. It had fingers that were so long they brushed the ground and a black, scaly tail that followed him. He flickered, as though he were on an old VHS tape. When he became clear, Ada noticed the pieces of ripped flesh falling down his arms and gashes in his jaw, the size of her fist. He looked straight at them and smiled. He raised up a hand and pointed straight at them.

“What are you doing here?” he asked with a voice that dragged, “You’re not supposed to be here.”

“Well neither are you, creep,” Jamie said. Kaia shoved her hand over his mouth, then grabbed his other hand and dragged him away.

“Ghosts don’t exist my ass,” Jamie said as he ran with the others. “Who looks stupid now?”

“I do,” Lydia said, “You were right. Ghosts are real and we’re gonna die. Are you happy now?”

Jamie stopped and stared ahead. “Guys, shut up. Look.” She pointed in front of them to a giant oak tree with a large opening at the bottom. “We can hide in there.”

Lydia’s eyes widened. She stomped her foot. “Are you crazy?” she asked. “You want to wait out here with the ghosts?”

“We don’t know where we are, but if we hide in there until morning, then maybe we might just make it out alive. Do you have any better suggestions?” he asked the group. No one said anything, so he took that as an agreement and headed to the tree.

It was a tight fit. Ada had to sit on Kaia’s lap and Lydia’s shoulder dug into Thomous’s, but they were hidden. Jamie reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, slid his thumb across the screen, and turned on his flashlight. He held it under his chin.

“Please don’t tell me you’re about to tell a ghost story,” Kaia said while shaking her head.

“No, I just wanted you guys to know something about me. Ya know, just in case we get our brains busted. I’m pansexual,” Jamie said.

“What?” Lydia asked.

“Really?” asked Thomous.

“Yeah, I’m sexually attracted to pans.” Jamie thrust his hips a few times while the rest of the group groaned.

“Grow up Jamie,” Kaia said, before leaning her head on Ada and closing her eyes.

Jamie shook his phone so the flashlight would turn off then rested his head against the opening of the tree. “Go to sleep guys. I’ll protect you.”

“Mm-hmm,” Thomous said with droopy eyelids. “I feel so safe.”

Jamie was the only one to not get any sleep that night. He stayed up, his fists clenched, ready to protect his friends from anything in the woods. Just as the sun started to creak between the trees, Jamie felt he deserved a few winks, so he closed his eyes, but immediately opened them when a light shined across them.

“Hey,” a man shouted, making everyone jump back. Thomous hit his head against the back of the tree and groaned.

“What the heck?” he asked as he rubbed his head.

A man in a bright green shirt with a patch that said, ‘Nature Preserver,’ was squatting in front of them with narrowed eyes and a tight jaw.

“What are you guys doing sleeping in a tree?” he asked as he shined the flashlight around the group.

“You wouldn’t believe us if we told you,” Ada said.

“We were running from the freaking ghosts. That’s what we were doing,” Jamie said. The group rolled their eyes.

The man put his flashlight and head down and chuckled. His chuckle transitioned to a full belly laugh as his bright pink cheeks swelled with a grin.

Just as Jamie started to think this guy worked for the ghosts and was going to give them away as a sacrifice, the man stood and waved for them to leave the tree. One by one, Jamie being last, they climbed out of the tree and stood in a semi-circle around the man.

“I’m guessing you guys were on the trail?” he asked, his arms crossed.

“Yeah, we were trying to get to somewhere with cell service when we found the trail and started walking down it. That’s when we saw the…things,” Ada said, still refusing to call them ghosts.

He nodded and let out another chuckle. “Guys, we were practicing our three miles, Halloween haunt last night.”

The group sighed and slumped their tight shoulders.

“But wait, why are you practicing in the beginning of September?” Ada asked.

“Because we were going to start a week before October. We get thousands of people every year. It’s one of the longest horror trails in America,” he said with his chest pushed out.

“But what about the flickering man with the knife in his head?” Jamie asked.

“Come here.” The group followed the man through the woods, across the trail, to a group of trees. He pointed to one of the branches where a small box sat.

“That’s a projector. We have a motion detector which makes him appear and we have someone control it back at the forest ranger station. They also have a camera and do the voice for it.”

Ada slapped her forehead. “That’s the light I saw.”

“And that’s the reason he told us we shouldn’t be here,” Jamie said. “He meant we weren’t supposed to be on the trail, because it wasn’t open yet.”

The man waved for them to follow him back to the trail. They walked for a while before Kaia asked, “Then why did the actors play along if they knew we weren’t supposed to be on the trail?”

“They probably thought we’d changed our minds on doing a soft opening,” the man said. When they got to the forest ranger’s office, they collapsed on the ground.

“Give me a number and I’ll call someone to pick you guys up,” the man said.

Kaia gave him her number, but just as he turned to leave Jamie asked, “Why was the man with the ax so far off the trail?”

The man narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. “We don’t have a man with an ax on our trail.”