What showed on the little screen of the office computer was shaky and dark. The camera that the teens used to record was obviously cheap. The beginning of the film was slow and showed nothing but the feet of the teens trekking through the woods, their laughter and voices melding together. Despite this, I needed to watch every second of the recording. It was my job as an officer at the Pine Barren Police Department to find out what had happened to the teens. I couldn’t risk missing anything. The time in the corner of the screen in white blocky font read 9:38 PM; the date, October 16th, 2016. That was already almost a year ago, the last night any of the four teenagers had been spotted. The group of Pine Barren High School seniors was working on creating a short film for the local film festival. However, they never had the chance to enter the competition, seeing as they never returned.
My heart sank a little as I began to truly comprehend what I was watching. At some point or another in the recording, something bad was going to happen, and I would be the first to know what became of the group of seniors. It was obvious that they were all dead. The whole town knew it as clothes and bones that belonged to the kids had been found strewn through the woods along with the camera. If they were still alive, they would just have started their first years of college. Now, because of some wild animal or sicko, they would never have the chance.
“Okay! Okayokayokayokay!” That was Mia Witherson. “We need to get started on this. It’s late and we’ve got school tomorrow! My curfew is eleven, so let’s get this rolling, okay?” She was quick to take charge. “You two.“ The camera panned to Greyson Hobbes and Maddie Foster. If those two were visible, Joshua Wolfe must have been manning the camera. “Remember your lines?”
“Like I could forget,” Greyson replied, a hint of humor in his voice. “You’ve made us practice every night for the past month.” Maddie said nothing, but there was no mistaking the smile that pulled at her lips despite the pixelation of the footage.
“Well, if you’re all in such a hurry, let’s get this show on the road!” The voice, Joshua’s, came from behind the camera.
Suddenly, there was noise. At first, I thought it was a scream from one of the teens, but everyone on the screen had stopped. Greyson and Maddie stood close, their heads whipping back and forth. Joshua stood a few feet away, his breath sounding heavy through the speakers. The noise came a second time, and I recognized this time that it was not human. It sounded like a deer in pain but deeper, more guttural. Maddie turned to face Joshua, her eyes, already filled with fear, widened even further at whatever she saw or, rather, didn’t see. “Where’s Mia?”
The next half hour of film blended together. It consisted of shots of the teens rushing through the underbrush, calling out for Mia with no answer. When they did find her, it was obvious something was wrong.
“Mia?” Maddie found her curled up next to a tree stump, a large stain on her coat.
“Is that blood?” Joshua whispered, his voice cracking in horror.
Suddenly, Mia lifted her head. It looked as if her eyes were glowing. Then again, I wasn’t sure what I was seeing due the quality of the film. It had to be a glint from the light of the camera.
Mia’s mouth opened impossibly wide, jaw unhinging as she let out a shriek. It was the same sound that they had heard earlier.
My mouth went dry as Maddie, Grayson, and Joshua all screamed in response. The camera shook and I could no longer tell what was the sky and what was the ground. All I could hear was footsteps and gasping. Finally, the camera stopped shaking.
“Maddie,” Joshua gasped and her voice responded off screen. “We lost Greyson.”
Joshua lifted the camera and turned in a circle, recording the woods around them in order to see in the night. The camera stopped on Maddie. The look on her face is something I don’t think I’ll ever forget. After a short pause, the screen went black.
When the recording resumed, the time and date had changed to 2:47 AM on October 17th, 2016. My heart leapt into my throat as I realized what I was seeing. Joshua was lying on the forest floor, his eyes wide and blank, his face covered in what appeared to be blood and dirt. There was another body a few feet behind him. It was Maddie. I fast-forwarded the tape to 2:59 AM. At 3 AM, a dirty and bloody hand reached for the camera.
I was shocked to see Greyson’s face appear on the screen. His eyes seemed as if they were glowing, just like Mia’s had. The frame switched to what was in front of him.
Maddie, Joshua, and Mia were aligned on the forest floor in a circle of bare ground. The three bodies lay parallel to each other, stiff and lifeless with an empty space between Mia and Maddie.
Suddenly, there was a sickening crack as the camera dropped facedown on the ground. There was the sound of scuffling for a few short moments before everything went quiet. I watched the time tick by for several minutes before the camera was lifted from the ground, a spider-web crack spread out from the top-right corner. The camera panned across the line of bodies again.
Except this time, the empty spot was filled with Greyson’s body.
Whoever held that camera didn’t show their face. They simply paused, zooming in on every one of the bodies’ faces before the screen cut to black for the final time.
My heart sank a little as I began to truly comprehend what I was watching. At some point or another in the recording, something bad was going to happen, and I would be the first to know what became of the group of seniors. It was obvious that they were all dead. The whole town knew it as clothes and bones that belonged to the kids had been found strewn through the woods along with the camera. If they were still alive, they would just have started their first years of college. Now, because of some wild animal or sicko, they would never have the chance.
“Okay! Okayokayokayokay!” That was Mia Witherson. “We need to get started on this. It’s late and we’ve got school tomorrow! My curfew is eleven, so let’s get this rolling, okay?” She was quick to take charge. “You two.“ The camera panned to Greyson Hobbes and Maddie Foster. If those two were visible, Joshua Wolfe must have been manning the camera. “Remember your lines?”
“Like I could forget,” Greyson replied, a hint of humor in his voice. “You’ve made us practice every night for the past month.” Maddie said nothing, but there was no mistaking the smile that pulled at her lips despite the pixelation of the footage.
“Well, if you’re all in such a hurry, let’s get this show on the road!” The voice, Joshua’s, came from behind the camera.
Suddenly, there was noise. At first, I thought it was a scream from one of the teens, but everyone on the screen had stopped. Greyson and Maddie stood close, their heads whipping back and forth. Joshua stood a few feet away, his breath sounding heavy through the speakers. The noise came a second time, and I recognized this time that it was not human. It sounded like a deer in pain but deeper, more guttural. Maddie turned to face Joshua, her eyes, already filled with fear, widened even further at whatever she saw or, rather, didn’t see. “Where’s Mia?”
The next half hour of film blended together. It consisted of shots of the teens rushing through the underbrush, calling out for Mia with no answer. When they did find her, it was obvious something was wrong.
“Mia?” Maddie found her curled up next to a tree stump, a large stain on her coat.
“Is that blood?” Joshua whispered, his voice cracking in horror.
Suddenly, Mia lifted her head. It looked as if her eyes were glowing. Then again, I wasn’t sure what I was seeing due the quality of the film. It had to be a glint from the light of the camera.
Mia’s mouth opened impossibly wide, jaw unhinging as she let out a shriek. It was the same sound that they had heard earlier.
My mouth went dry as Maddie, Grayson, and Joshua all screamed in response. The camera shook and I could no longer tell what was the sky and what was the ground. All I could hear was footsteps and gasping. Finally, the camera stopped shaking.
“Maddie,” Joshua gasped and her voice responded off screen. “We lost Greyson.”
Joshua lifted the camera and turned in a circle, recording the woods around them in order to see in the night. The camera stopped on Maddie. The look on her face is something I don’t think I’ll ever forget. After a short pause, the screen went black.
When the recording resumed, the time and date had changed to 2:47 AM on October 17th, 2016. My heart leapt into my throat as I realized what I was seeing. Joshua was lying on the forest floor, his eyes wide and blank, his face covered in what appeared to be blood and dirt. There was another body a few feet behind him. It was Maddie. I fast-forwarded the tape to 2:59 AM. At 3 AM, a dirty and bloody hand reached for the camera.
I was shocked to see Greyson’s face appear on the screen. His eyes seemed as if they were glowing, just like Mia’s had. The frame switched to what was in front of him.
Maddie, Joshua, and Mia were aligned on the forest floor in a circle of bare ground. The three bodies lay parallel to each other, stiff and lifeless with an empty space between Mia and Maddie.
Suddenly, there was a sickening crack as the camera dropped facedown on the ground. There was the sound of scuffling for a few short moments before everything went quiet. I watched the time tick by for several minutes before the camera was lifted from the ground, a spider-web crack spread out from the top-right corner. The camera panned across the line of bodies again.
Except this time, the empty spot was filled with Greyson’s body.
Whoever held that camera didn’t show their face. They simply paused, zooming in on every one of the bodies’ faces before the screen cut to black for the final time.
Rose Witt writes, "One genre that I typically prefer to write is horror. I have written a few short horror stories before for school and local writing competitions and have found that it is what I enjoy to write the most. With this story I am trying to create a suspenseful tale with a mysterious ending that keeps readers thinking." The editors enjoyed the piece for its eerie tone and its sense of mystery. Our title for this year's issue also came from this piece. Rose is in 12th grade at Akron-Westfield Community High School.