Chapter 2. Creature in the Woods

Carla could not stop her mind from drifting as she drove. They had been driving for what felt like days and Carolyne was passed out in the back seat, snoring lightly. 

This whole trip was making her extremely uncomfortable and antsy, as the hours went by. They had driven through many towns and passed by multiple woods that were potential campsites, but none of them seemed to be worthy of Mark because they were still driving.

The few times they had stopped, she tried to talk to him in the hope of gaining even a little bit of information on where they were going, but he always brushed her off with some dumb excuse or just ignored her.

In the meantime, she tried her best to drive and take care of Carolyne, who was dropping in and out of consciousness and having hallucinations of bees attacking her. 

Lukas' car ahead of her suddenly turned right to a desolate and lonely road, which set off a lot of warning bells in her head. 

She drove down the road, occasionally glancing at the thick cluster of trees caging her on each side. 

Carla could not make out anything through them except darkness and creepiness, and she could not even see or hear any woodland creatures but she continued driving. 

There were others behind her and stopping to turn around would cause a lot of commotion, making them the loudest thing around, which she was trying to avoid, for as long as possible.

They drove in a confusing maze of greenery before arriving at an open space that showed no signs of being previously used as a campsite. 

 Mark was going to get them killed, she thought to herself with anger. They were the first people to ever camp in this area and probably these woods, meaning they did not know anything about this place, including the animals that live in it, the poisonous plants that grew here and if their water source (if there even was one) was suitable for human consumption.

Carla knew very little about camping but everything that had happened so far rubbed her the wrong way. She would not voice her opinions yet because this may be their way of camping (foolishly in her opinion), seeing as no one looked bothered or suspicious.

The others began setting up their tents and other equipment they will need during their stay. 

Carla carried Carolyne with the help of Aria to their tent and laid her down, she covered her with a blanket and left to help Aria and Lukas set up their tent.

At night, they built a fire and cooked their dinner. Carolyne had woken up when the smell of food had 'attacked' her and stumbled out of their tent in a confused and disoriented state, to the amusement of everyone.

 They ate their food, shared jokes and stories, and for the first time since the start of the trip, Carla found them pleasant and surprisingly fun to be around.

They all went to bed at the same time, each of them retiring to their tents with droopy eyes, yawns and stumbling figures with the promise of fun the next day.

Carla had trouble falling asleep and after a while of thinking, she was finally able to drift off to sleep. 

She woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of shuffling, coming from outside, some distance away from their clearing. 

The young girl brushed it off as one of her fellow campers going to pee or something until she heard and felt loud, powerful footsteps that caused the ground to vibrate. 

Carla froze in fear and confusion of what was outside, before slowly turning in the direction of the footsteps, trying to make out what it was through the tent's fabric. 

She let out a gasp at the sight of a towering, hunched shadow, creeping about and sniffing things. 

Its large head turned towards her direction when it heard the sound and began to growl deep and ferociously. She laid still and controlled her breathing to make it appear like she was still asleep, praying the creature would leave. 

It stalked towards the tent and stopped where she was lying, slowly sniffing and taking in her scent.

Carla trembled in fear but refused to stop pretending. The thought that this was an elaborate prank by the others crossed her mind but she was not stupid enough to test that theory.

She watched, fearfully as the shadow lifted a large paw as if to rip through the tent and pull her out, only to have its attention drawn by a wolf howl in the distance and answering it with a chilling and piercing howl of its own. 

It took off towards the direction of the sound, with more strength and speed than any normal animal was capable of, leaving behind a haunted and terrified Carla, who found herself unable to sleep for the rest of the night.