Darren stepped outside — and froze.
The camp was empty. No one was there. The air was unnaturally still, the kind of silence that pressed against your ears.
The sun hung low in the sky, glowing orange through the trees. It was already evening.
But there was no Jenna. No Mia. No Sofia. No David.
No one.
"Gosh…" Darren muttered, unease creeping into his voice.
The camp was completely silent, not a single voice or sound anywhere.
He hurried to Jenna's hut — empty. The door creaked softly as he pushed it open, revealing nothing but shadows.
Maybe they haven't returned yet, he told himself. But Charlie… where did he go?
Darren stepped outside again, heartbeat quickening. The forest loomed quietly at the edge of the camp, the wind brushing against the leaves like faint whispers.
"Charlie?" he called out, walking toward the tree line.
No answer.
The deeper he went, the heavier the air felt. That strange feeling — the one he'd had since arriving — returned stronger than before. Goosebumps prickled across his arms. The air seemed colder now, the wind curling around his neck like icy fingers.
He turned in slow circles, scanning the forest. No one.
"What's going on…" he whispered.
"Darren?"
The voice came from behind him — familiar, but unexpected. Darren spun around.
Charlie stood there, blinking sleepily.
"I went out to take a piss," Charlie said casually. "You good?"
Darren let out a shaky breath of relief. "Oh, thank God. I thought I lost you."
He jogged up to him quickly, almost laughing from the release of tension.
"What do you mean, lost me?" Charlie asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Wait… where's Jenna and her friends?" Darren asked, scanning the woods again.
"My question exactly," Charlie replied. "They've been gone for hours. Are they okay?"
They both turned toward the path Jenna's group had taken earlier. The sun was dipping low now, painting the sky orange and red through the trees.
Then — movement.
Figures appeared between the trees, heading toward them.
It was them. Jenna, Mia, Sofia, and David — finally back.
"Guess this is all the fish we could find," Jenna said, holding up a small bucket.
Darren exhaled in relief. "Jenna, you guys were gone for so long. We were starting to get worried."
"I know," she said, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "Sorry. It took longer than expected — these fish are harder to catch than I thought."
Charlie leaned closer, peering into the bucket. The fish shimmered faintly in the fading light — silvery scales, almost too perfect.
He frowned.
These look familiar…
He'd eaten the exact same kind yesterday. Sweet, oily, lightly salty — supermarket fish. Ocean fish. Definitely not from a forest stream.
Stream fish don't look like this.
He stared at them longer than he meant to, confused.
Probably nothing, he told himself.
"Let's get the campfire started," Jenna said cheerfully, lifting the bucket higher.
Night settled over the camp, broken only by the flickering orange glow of the fire.
Everyone sat in a loose circle, the firelight dancing across their faces as they roasted the fish. The crackle of burning wood filled the silence between conversations.
Charlie poked at his fish with a stick, then hesitantly took a bite.
His eyes widened slightly.
It tasted exactly like the one he bought from the supermarket yesterday. The same buttery flavor. The same soft texture. The same faint saltiness from the ocean.
No stream fish tastes like this.
Not even close.
He swallowed slowly, glancing at the others.
Should I say something?
"You guys were gone for a long time," Charlie finally said. "I expected… I dunno, camp food. Where did you even find these?"
Sofia looked up a little too quickly. "These? Oh—uh, we found them in the stream," she said. "There were lots of them that way."
Charlie nodded slowly, but her hesitation made him frown. Stream fish… yeah, right.
The group ate quietly for a while. Eventually, the conversation lightened. They roasted marshmallows, laughed about school, and tried to forget the strangeness of the empty campground.
"Oh, it's so good," Sofia said, biting into a perfectly golden marshmallow.
Then—
Growl…
Mia's stomach. The loud noise made everyone pause.
Her face flushed bright red.
"Oh no," she muttered. "Not now."
David smirked. "Hey, pretty, still hungry? You can have my marshmallows."
Mia waved her hands quickly. "No, no — I just really need to go. Like, now. To the bathroom — that gross one way across the field. Ugh."
Darren chuckled but stopped when he saw how tense she looked. She grabbed a flashlight from the table.
"Wait up," Darren said, standing. "It's really dark out there. You sure you don't want someone to go with you? Should I?"
He hesitated. That feeling again — the cold at his neck, the unease twisting inside him.
David stood up too. "Dude, who do you think you are? She's fine. And if she needed anyone, it'd be one of the girls."
Darren clenched his jaw but didn't argue.
Mia nodded quickly. "It's okay, really. I'll be fine."
She lifted the flashlight and headed toward the bathroom trail, her light fading into the shadows until she was gone.
Silence settled over the camp again. Only the forest and the faint hum of the stream filled the air.
The fire burned lower now, glowing red beneath the wood.
Almost fifteen minutes passed.
Darren stared at the dark trail she'd taken. "It's been a while," he murmured. "Should we… go check on her?"
Jenna looked up. "It's okay. Mia always takes her time."
Sofia nodded. "Yeah, she'll be back soon."
But Darren couldn't shake the unease. The darkness felt thicker now, like it was pressing in around them.
He sighed — and saw Charlie looking at him.
That look.
Charlie tilted his head once.
We need to talk.
Charlie stood up, stretching. "Well, I gotta take a piss."
Darren got the message. "I'll go with you."
The others barely reacted as they walked away, flashlights in hand, toward the opposite side of the camp.
Once far from the fire, Charlie whispered:
"Dude… don't you think this is weird?"
Darren frowned. "Weird how?"
Charlie glanced back. "They invited us. Left us all morning. Came back with fish. And bro — I swear those fish are saltwater fish. I literally ate the same kind yesterday."
Darren blinked. "So you're saying…?"
"I'm saying it doesn't make sense," Charlie whispered. "Why would saltwater fish be in a stream in the middle of the forest?"
Darren's unease grew. This would've been the perfect time to tell Charlie about the dreams — but the words stuck in his throat.
Before he could speak—
"Wait."
Darren froze. His flashlight had caught something metallic on the ground. He crouched.
"What is it?" Charlie asked.
Darren brushed aside leaves.
"A hat," he whispered.
A police hat.
Charlie's eyes widened. "Police? As in… the ones we saw earlier?"
Darren stared at the badge. His chest tightened. "I… don't know."
"What would the police be doing here?" Charlie asked.
The question hung in the cold air.
Then—
A scream.
High-pitched. Broken.
Wrong.
It echoed from the direction of the bathrooms.
Charlie's voice trembled. "That came from where Mia went…"
Darren's pulse spiked. The campfire flickered faintly through the trees — a lonely orange glow.
"We need to tell the others," he whispered.