(original story by R. Samuel Braden)
The
crisp autumn air had a bite to it as four young campers made their way through
the trees along the bank of the Iowa River. It was mid October, and the mist
rising from the warmer water covered the land in a thick fog. Somewhere
overhead a full moon was casting its silver light upon the fog, causing the air
itself to shimmer and glow as if it were some kind of ethereal magic at work.
The
youth were weary and footsore by the time they reached the campsite on a
sandbank of the river. They’d hiked for nearly a mile from the road where
they’d had to leave their cars, and every one of them was ready for a warm fire
and some supper.
Despite
their weariness they moved quickly, digging out the ancient fire ring and
getting a new cooking fire going. Its bright, yellow light pushed back the mist
and banished the cold that had been clawing at their faces like a hungry
predator. In the fire’s warm embrace the campers felt at ease and took to
preparing supper. A pot of chili and corn chips might not be the fanciest fare,
but it was hot and filling, and before long they all were stuffed.
Leaning
back from the fire and reclining against a log, the oldest of the group cleared
his throat. He was a tall, lean young man with a dark red goatee and bright
grey eyes which gleamed mischievously in the fire light. “Did you know this
place is haunted?” he asked with a wolfish grin.
“Haunted?”
Squeaked one of the other campers. He was a pudgy teenager with curly black
hair and a freckled face. “Oh come on man,” he said, pushing up his glasses
with one hand while glancing around at the others. “You don’t mean, like,
literally haunted… do you?”
“Of
course he doesn’t Oscar,” replied another camper, a girl with pumpkin-colored
hair and a worn camouflaged hoodie. “But this is October,” she went on. “Ghost
season for those who care about such things.” She tossed her hair with a shrug
and glanced over at the river. The fog was thicker here, and the campers
couldn’t even see to the far shore. It might have been a lake, except for the
noticeable flow of the water. “I do have to admit,” she said, “Remus couldn’t
have picked a better night for this little outing.” She glanced back at the
older boy reclining against his log. “So what’s your story?” she asked. “I know
you’ve got one.”
He
smiled, sitting up and drawing in his legs so he sat cross-legged and glanced
around at them. “Oh, no story Jessica,” he said innocently. “You’ll see for
yourselves soon enough.”
“What’s
that supposed to mean?” asked Jessica with a frown. “You expect us to believe
we’re going to see actual ghosts tonight?”
“Not
at all,” he replied cryptically.
“You’re
impossible,” she retorted with an exasperated sigh.
While
they’d been talking, the fourth member of the group, a skinny, quiet girl with
long dark hair had been staring into the fire. Suddenly she screamed and
scrambled back, pointing frantically at the flames. “Did you see that!?” she
asked, her eyes wide.
“See
what?” the others answered in unison.
“Someone
just threw a log onto the fire.”
“What
are you talking about Liz?” asked Jessica, tossing her pumpkin-colored hair and
gazing skeptically at her frightened companion. “None of us added any logs to
the fire,” she said, gesturing around to the two boys who were both sitting
back at the edge of the light. “Are you in on Remus’ little ghost story prank
or something?”
“What!?”
exclaimed the dark haired girl, jumping to her feet. “I see something freaky
and you think I’m pulling a prank? That is so not fair! How many times have I
stood up for you, Jess, when Maryanne Ravenwood and her clique said you were
nuts? Huh?” She demanded, her breath coming in short heaves.
“Alright,
calm down Liz,” replied Jessica. “Sheesh, I was just thinking you and Remus
might be giving us a hard time, that’s all.” She reached out a hand and clasped
her friend by the shoulder, pulling her in for a quick hug. “So what did you
actually see?” she asked gently.
“Well,
I was watching the fire,” she began, her voice quivering. “When suddenly a
ghostly hand appeared out of nowhere and dropped a log right into the flames.
Then it disappeared again. That’s when I screamed and fell back.” She looked up
at her friend, her dark eyes wide with a fear Jessica had never seen there
before.
“You’re
being serious,” she said quietly, glancing around at the boys with suspicion.
Her eyes fell on Remus, and she remembered what he’d said about them seeing
ghosts that night. “Is this what you were talking about?” she demanded, turning
around to face him. “Is this why you wanted us all to come to this particular
campsite, so we would see… whatever this is?”
The
older boy shrugged and returned her gaze. “It is true, there is something
unusual about this campsite,” he replied calmly. “That old fire ring in
particular seems to have an odd connection to the beyond. But there’s no reason
to be upset. I’ve camped out here many times over the years, and nothing ever
hurt me.” He gave them a reassuring smile. “Just think of it as a fun Halloween
camping trip. After all, that’s what we’re in the mood for, isn’t it?”
As
if to highlight the moment, a sudden chorus of chattering voices mixed with
laughter erupted from the fog around them. Jessica jumped, Liz shrieked and Oscar
fainted. But the laughter died away as quickly as it had come, and all was
silent and still once more.
Jessica
frowned, her brows knitting together under her disheveled orange bangs. Then a
look of understanding came over her face, and she nodded. “Very clever,” she
said, turning back to the older boy. “You hid remote speakers out here with
creepy laughter to spook us with. And in this fog we’d never see anything
beyond the firelight.”
Remus
gave her a quizzical look. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Speakers?”
he asked. “You say that as if you just heard something.”
“You’ve
got to be kidding me,” she replied, her frown turning into a glare. “You mean
to say you didn’t hear that freaky chattering in the fog just now, or the
laughter that followed?”
Remus
shrugged, and she gave an exasperated sigh. “Whatever,” she said, turning back
to Liz. “Can you believe this guy?” she asked.
Just
then a distant howl sounded, sending chills down the campers’ spines. “Is that
a wolf?” asked Oscar, sitting up. “I didn’t think there were wolves around
here.”
“There
aren’t,” Jessica replied, rolling her eyes. “Remus is just messing with us. But
I think it’s gone on long enough,” she said loudly, turning back to face him.
The
older boy didn’t say anything, but his expression had changed. He was staring
out into the fog and just nodded quietly. After a moment he stood up. “I, uh,
have to go to the bathroom,” he muttered.
“Why
don’t you pick up those speakers while you’re out there and bring them back?”
Jessica called after him as he walked toward the edge of the firelight. “We
really don’t need to enjoy the Halloween Wal-Mart special sound effects track
the rest of the night.”
Remus
waved back at her dismissively, then disappeared into the mist.
All
was quiet save for the crackling of burning wood and the gentle flowing of the
river nearby. The three friends sat staring into the reddening flames and
relaxing on the soft sand as the fire slowly died down. Jessica had to admit,
this was a great place to camp, and though she’d never tell him, Remus’
Halloween pranks were not half bad. The one with the ghost log on the fire was
particularly interesting, and she made a note of asking him about it when he
returned.
Sighing,
she glanced around at the others. “He has been gone a while,” she noted. “I
wonder if he got lost in the fog or something.”
“More
likely he had to go number 2,” replied Oscar with a grin.
The
girls grimaced. After a moment Jessica called out, “Hey Remus, you get lost out
there?”
*Silence*
That’s strange,
she thought. I know fog dampens sound,
but he still should have heard me. He
can’t have gone that far…
Suddenly
there was a blood-curdling scream from somewhere out in the darkness, followed
by a long, mournful howl. The three campers scrambled to their feet and stared
around, wide-eyed.
“What
in the name of all things unholy was that?” whispered Liz, her voice small.
Taking
a deep breath, Jessica waited for her heart to slow back down to normal, then
she tossed her orange hair and called out, “Nice one Remus, very convincing!
But can we please call it a night now? This is starting to get old.”
But
there was no answer. The fog rolled in ever thicker, and in the flickering
firelight, the three friends stood alone.
“I’ve
got a bad feeling about this,” Liz muttered, her dark hair falling like a
curtain over her face as she peered out at the others.
“Remus,
come on! Stop screwing around!” shouted Jessica. But no matter what they said,
their fourth companion did not return.
Suddenly
the fire flared as another transparent hand threw a log onto it. All three
campers shrieked at the sight and jumped back. “G-g-ghosts!” stammered Oscar,
his freckled face wide with fright as he pointed frantically with a stubby
finger.
Jessica’s
mind reeled. Could it be? Her own
eyes had seen the ghostly hands, but there was no way they were actually real. It’s got to be some kind of trick, like with
holograms or something. But still… where was Remus? Confound that guy! This is all his doing! Somehow he was pulling
the most elaborate hoax on them since Orson Wells did that thing on the radio
back when their parents were kids. And yet, what if he really was hurt?
Alright,”
she said after a moment. “We should go out and look for that trouble maker.
Maybe he’s just pranking us, but maybe he is actually hurt. Either way I’m
tired of sitting here in the sand…” with
ghosts feeding the fire nearby, her mind finished what she didn’t say
aloud.
“Wait,
y-you want us to go out into that fog where there might be wolves?” demanded
Oscar, shaking his head.
“Oh
would you get over that!” replied Jessica. “There are no wolves, that was just
a stupid recording Remus had to scare us.”
“Are
you sure about that?” asked the freckled boy, his brow knit in concern. “What
if you’re wrong?”
“Then
I guess we’ll get eaten,” she replied with a toss of her orange hair. Then, without
waiting for the others, she picked up a flashlight and started off in the
direction their missing companion had gone.
Oscar
and Liz glanced at each other, then at the fire which was actually burning
brighter now, as if the ghost hands had somehow added real logs to it. “Jess,
wait up!” they shouted and hurried after the other girl.
“Decided
to brave the wolves after all, huh?” she asked with a wry smile as the two of
them caught up.
“Something
like that,” they muttered.
“Well
then, get out your flashlights and stay close,” she said. “We don’t want to
lose each other in this fog.”
They
both nodded, pulling out their flashlights and switching them on. Then together
the three friends stepped out of the firelight and into the mist.
Immediately
it felt like a cold, wet blanket had descended upon them, and they shivered.
Their tiny flashlight beams were swallowed up by the fog which was now thicker
than ever. Jessica frowned. This was unearthly. She’d grown up in Iowa and seen
plenty of foggy nights, but none of them like this. “Remus!” She called out.
But her voice fell dead at her feet, dampened by the unnatural mist that
pressed in around them.
“I
really don’t like this,” whispered Liz, her beam dancing as her hands trembled.
They
were at the edge of the sandbank now, and the shore sloped upward steeply.
“There!” shouted Jessica, pointing with her flashlight at a set of boot prints
in the mud. “Those are his alright,” she observed. “But why did he go up
there?”
With
no other option but to follow, the three campers scrambled up the bank
following the tracks. Finally, their hands and shoes covered in mud, they found
themselves in the tall grass at the top. Glancing back toward the campsite they
could barely see the glow of the fire through the thick grey soup that filled the
air. After a moment Jessica spoke again. “It would probably be a good idea if
one of us stayed here where you can still see the light from our camp. That way
we don’t all get lost.”
“Stay
here, alone?” squeaked Oscar.
“I’ll
stay,” volunteered Liz, much to the freckled boy’s relief. “Besides, if Remus
is hurt and can’t walk, you’ll need someone stronger than me to help you drag
him back.”
Jessica
glanced skeptically at the pudgy, freckled boy, silently wondering if he’d be
any real help when it came to it. Finally she shrugged. “Alright, let’s go
then,” she said and started to continue after the trail of muddy footprints.
But something made her pause and turn back. Clasping Liz on the shoulder she
gave the slender girl an encouraging nod. “It’ll be ok, we’ll find him and be
back before you know it.” Then with one final squeeze, she turned back and
disappeared into the mist, Oscar close behind.
Up
here among the trees with the sound of the water far behind the night was still
and utterly silent. Jessica’s quickening heartbeat was the only sound pulsing
in her ears as she and Oscar trudged along in the darkness. It was slow going,
having to step over tree roots and duck through low branches. Even the
flashlights didn’t help much with the fog so thick.
Not
having a wristwatch, and this being before cell phones became common, neither
of the teens had any way to tell how much time was passing. But after what felt
like hours suddenly Jessica came to a halt, causing Oscar to run into her.
“What is it?” he asked.
“There,”
the pumpkin-haired girl replied, pointing with an outstretched hand at a pile
of shredded clothes. There was a shirt, ripped in half, and a pair of blue
jeans slashed at the knees by wicked-looking claw marks. Nearby a single tennis
shoe lay on its side.
“Are
those Remus’ clothes?” squeaked the freckled boy, his eyes wide.
“Yeah,”
Jessica replied, unable to take her gaze off the frightful scene.
“There’s
no body,” Oscar observed.
“Hmm,”
she nodded, running a hand through her hair as she tried to figure out what it
could mean.
Suddenly
a scream pierced the night. Jessica and Oscar froze, their blood running cold.
It had come from back down the trail behind them. “Liz?” they called out
together, but there was no answer. Turning, they sprinted back toward where
they’d left her as fast as they could, dodging tree branches and stumbling over
roots in the dark.
They
reached the river bank without warning and nearly tumbled headfirst over the
edge. After regaining her balance, Jessica cupped both hands to her mouth and
shouted, “Liz! Where are you?” But there was no reply. The slender girl had
vanished.
Just
then Oscar gave a startled yelp and fell to the ground with an audible thump.
Whirling around Jessica shone her light in his direction. “Are you ok? What happened?”
she demanded.
The pudgy
boy sat up, rubbing his freckled face with one hand. In the other he held up a
shoe. Jessica recognized it as one of Liz’s. But no other sign of the missing
girl could they find despite searching desperately all around the bank and
calling out into the night. She had simply vanished leaving naught but a shoe
behind. Finally, dejected and weary the two campers dragged themselves back
into the circle of fire light at their camp. Strangely enough the fire seemed
undiminished; it was burning just as hot and bright as when they’d left to
begin their search. But cold and exhausted as they were, neither teen objected to
the strangeness.
“I
say we stay here in the warm firelight until morning,” Oscar declared, throwing
himself down on the sand with a loud sigh. “It’ll be easier finding our way
back to the car in daylight, and from there it’s only a half hour drive back
home. Then we can call the police and get a search party out here to find our
missing friends.”
Jessica
was silent, but she nodded. This night had just turned into one disaster after
another and by now she wanted nothing more than to be home in her warm bed
finding out that it was just an unpleasant dream. But such a wish was not meant
to be…
Her
eyelids drooping, she was just nodding off to sleep when suddenly there was a
horrific growl from somewhere in the fog nearby. Without warning a pair of furry,
clawed hands as dark as the night reached out of the mist and grabbed Oscar
from where he lay. The pudgy boy gave a startled shriek, then was gone.
“Oscar!” Jessica screamed at the top of her lungs, but deafening silence
swallowed her calls until she had no voice left.
Finally,
exhausted and alone, she slumped down onto the sand, her back to the fire. And
there she sat, gazing into the fog through tear-blurred eys, waiting for
whatever was out there to return for her. Suddenly, whether through emotional
trauma or some kind of vision she saw the transparent outlines of other campers
sitting around the fire. Some were children, some grownups, others were teens
like her and her friends. They flickered and faded like the flames of the fire
itself, and she stared in amazement. Just then her eyes fell on one face she
recognized. His red goatee and bright grey eyes seemed to stand out from the
rest. “Remus!” she shouted, staggering to her feet. But as she did so the
ghostly images faded, and she was alone once more.
“Oh
Remus,” she lamented, “you’re dead aren’t you? Curse this place, I wish you’d
never brought us here! But still…” she wiped away a tear. “I promise you and
Liz and Oscar I’ll survive, and I’ll find out what happened to you if it takes
the rest of my life.”
* * * *
“Whether
she ever found the cause of her friends’ disappearances or not we’ll never
know,” announced the story teller dramatically. “The police never did find any
bodies, and it has remained one of the county’s most famous unsolved
mysteries!”
A
chorus of groans, mixed with mild applause filled the air around the campfire
as he sat back, crossing his long legs and grinning at everyone. It was
Halloween night and they had all come out to the sandbar to enjoy a night of
camping and ghost stories. Overhead a full moon was trying to break out from
behind a layer of clouds, and in the distance an owl hooted. The mood was
perfect, and everyone seemed to be having a good time.
“I’m
curious about one thing,” a boy asked just then. “Well, two things actually.
The first is: what ended up happening with the ghosts? Were they real, or was
it all some kind of prank?”
“Ah,
that’s the best part!” declared the story teller, sitting back up and gazing
around to get the attention of those sitting nearby. “You see, they weren’t
actually seeing ghosts at all. What they saw that night… was you!” He pointed
dramatically at the other campers around the fire.
“What?
Us!? That doesn’t make any sense. We’re not ghosts!” objected a lady with a
wool coat and a scarf.
“No,
of course not,” replied the story teller. “They’re the ghosts. We’re alive. But
we’re sharing the same campfire.” He grinned, his grey eyes sparkling
mischievously. “There’s something about this particular spot, this ancient fire
ring, it connects campers through time. That group in the story is long dead,
but somehow they could see us through time, and to them it appeared as if we
were ghosts.” For emphasis he reached out and dropped another log onto the
fire, which immediately flared up.
“That’s
preposterous,” declared the lady with the scarf. “Your story was good and all,
but now it’s just getting silly.”
“You
just keep thinking that,” he muttered under his breath. “It’ll make things that
much more enjoyable when the time comes.”
“And
anyway the second thing I was wondering,” the boy was saying, startling the
story teller back to the moment. “Is why did you add yourself into the story,
Remus, but not have the rest of us in it? I would have liked to be in your
story.”
The
man blinked, startled by the question. “Well, I,” he began, running a hand
through his red goatee as he thought of how to reply. Just then the moon
overhead finally succeeded in breaking through the clouds and shone down on the
river, a bright silver glow that enveloped the campsite and everyone around it. “It’s
because I was actually there.” Remus grinned, his broad teeth glinting in the
fire light, suddenly no longer teeth but huge fangs. As the campers watched,
horrified, his handsome face sprouted fur and grew long into a snout. With a
growl he turned his fearsome gaze on the nearest camper and lunged…
Chaos
erupted in the camp and time seemed to stand still as the mighty werewolf
sprang into the air, his clawed hands outstretched. The boy stared in horror,
his entire existence about to be snuffed out, when suddenly as death was almost
upon him, the beast convulsed in mid-air. A gleaming silver shaft blossomed in
its shaggy red neck, and with a whimper the monster fell to the sand, dead
before even reaching the ground. All eyes turned to see where the arrow had
come from. There on the bank, not twenty yards away, stood a girl in a
camouflage hoodie. She was holding a crossbow, and as they watched she slowly
approached, keeping the weapon aimed at the beast. But by the time she arrived it
had already begun to morph back into a man. Satisfied, she lowered the weapon.
Then reaching up, she pulled back her hood to reveal a head of bright,
pumpkin-colored hair.
“Mystery
solved, Remus,” she said as a single tear fled her eye and ran down her cheek.
She glanced over at the fire and the group of campers who were staring,
awe-struck at her. “I’ve been hunting this beast for years, ever since he…
well, you just heard the story.” She sighed. “But now it has a proper ending.
Now nobody needs to be afraid of the big bad wolf.”
