• 1

    "KAYLA! GET OUT OF BED! YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR CAMP!" mom called up to me from the kitchen. I sat up strait in my bed, yawning. Ugh...I don't want to get up...I'm too tired...I thought. But then, all of a sudden, I remembered one word in my mind: CAMPING. Today was the day that my summer camp was going camping at Logos Land!! "YES!" I said out loud. Happily, I hopped out of bed and flew down the stairs. "Morning mom!" I said cheerfully. "Good morning, Kayla. Did you have a good sleep?" she asked. "I sure did!" I said. "I'm so excited for the camping trip tonight!". "Oh, yes, that's right! Today's the big camping trip, isn't it?" replied mom, brushing her chestnut-colored hair. "Yup! And I am gonna have SO much fun! Me, Kristen, Anna, and Samantha are all going to share a tent together!" I replied. Kristen, Anna, and Samantha are my best friends at camp. We always do everything together. I took the brush from mom once she had finished with it and headed to the bathroom mirror to brush my hair. I am 11 years old, as are my friends, and I have shoulder length brown hair with one blond streak on each side. Once I finished brushing my hair, I headed to the kitchen and made myself a bowl of Fruit Loops. I know, I know, not the best choice for the kind of day I had ahead of me. But I wanted to have something quick so I could spend the rest of my time getting ready. I ate my cereal quickly and ran up to my room. I threw on a red T-shirt and a pair of black jeans and then began to pack my bags, since I wouldn't be coming back home until tomorrow. Once I was done getting ready, I played video games for a bit until 8:15, the time I usually leave for camp with my mom. We drove off to camp, as I waited impatiently for us to arrive. Finally, we pulled up beside the large, brown building and I opened the car door. "Bye, mom, see ya later!" I said. I turned around and began walking toward the building, excited for the camping trip. Little did I know what horrors awaited me there...




    2


    "Hi, Kayla!" said a voice behind me as I walked in the front doors. I spun around to see Steph, one of the counselors who worked here. He was tall and muscular, and he loved to play with the kids and make jokes. "Hi," I replied, still a little startled by his unexpected greeting. I headed over to the cloakroom and threw my bag on the floor under the table. As I entered the huge gym, I saw that a few kids had already arrived. Usually, I'm the fifth or sixth kid to arrive. I looked around for something to do. Then, I spotted a dodge ball. Dodge ball was probably one of my favourite games. I picked it up and ran over to Steph with the ball tucked snuggly under my arm. "Hey, Steph, wanna play some dodge ball?" I asked. "Sure!" he said. He took off his jacket to reveal his blue "STAFF" T-shirt. The way we play dodge ball is different. Instead of being on teams and standing on opposite side of the gym, we like to just run around the gym and throw the balls at each other. After a little while, Steph said he had to go do something and he couldn't play anymore. I sighed and walked over to the corner of the gym, in front of the doors, and threw the ball against the wall, waiting for my friends to appear. Usually, Kristen and Samantha arrive together, and Anna shows up shortly after them. Finally, Kristen and Samantha arrived, and we began to chat together until Anna arrived. That's usually what we do, just chat until pre-care is over, which is at about 9:00 am. When 9:00 finally came, we all sat down in front of our counselor. Somehow, me, Kristen, Anna, and Samantha managed to be in the same group together. The head counselor, Kim, announced that we would be leaving to go to Logos Land at around 10:30 am. "Until then, I guess we'll just head over to the craft room and play Rock Band," she said. If you ask me, I'd say that the whole older camp is like one huge family, including the counselors. So, we headed over to the craft room to play video games. Those who didn't wanna play Rock Band were allowed to either play their portable video games, play card or board games, or just hang out. I usually choose to play my Nintendo DS Lite. At around 9:55, Kim came into the room, frowning. "I'm afraid I have some bad news," she said. "We won't be going to Logos Land, it's raining."




    3


    We all gasped and a loud chatter began. Just then, a kid shouted from the window, "HEY! IT'S NOT RAINING! IT'S SUNNY OUTSIDE!". Kim began laughing. "Ha ha! I fooled you guys good! You should've seen the looks on your faces!" she said. Some kids laughed a little, but most of us just groaned. "Well, come on! Let's go!" Kim said. "The bus just got here, and we don't want to miss it, do we?". We grabbed our bags and headed over to the bus. As always, the group that had Lisa for the leader got the back, since Lisa always lets them go first. I don't know about you, but here at camp, it's almost like a competition to get the back. As if you get a million dollars for sitting in the back or something. Anyway, I took the seat that was farthest back and empty, which ended up being seat 10 out of 12 seats. Probably a new record for me. The bus ride was about 1 hour long, long enough for me to want to play my DS. When we finally arrived, everyone immediately jumped out of their seats, only to be reminded that counselors always got off first and that we had to sit down and wait. As soon as they got off, everyone bolted for the door. I, of coarse, was squished out of the line and was last off the bus. I stepped off the bus and gasped in amazement at the huge water slides, the beach, the petting zoo, and the water trampolines. "Wow!" we all said in unison. "Hey, Kristen," I whispered, "let's go on the water trampolines first!" "Okay," she replied. Once the counselors had finished boring us to death with the rules, we took off running to the water trampolines. "WALKING!!" Kim called after us. So we walked until she couldn't see us anymore, and took off again. First, we bounced on the water trampolines. Then, we went on the slides for a bit, followed by the beach and the petting zoo. At around 5:00, we were all called to the camping ground so that we could set up our tents and have dinner. The tents were the boring part, dinner, not so much. We had hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner. Desert would be roasted marshmallows, later on once we got a fire going. We would also have the option of roasting hot dogs or making smores with our marshmallows. By the time the tents were made, dinner was eaten, the fire was going, and the marshmallows were roasting, it was around 8:30. I know because I always wear a watch. The sky was dark and filled with stars. "So, who wants to tell scary stories around the fire?" Kim asked. Everyone shouted out that they wanted to tell a scary story. But I had no idea that soon, I was going to be in one...




    4




    Kim told us that we were allowed to go to our tent at any time during the stories. But almost no one went at first. But as 10:00 approached, some kids began to head back to their tents. Me, Kristen, Samantha and Anna didn't go in our tents until 10:30. Of coarse, we didn't actually sleep. Oh, no. I mean, who sleeps at a camping trip/sleep over? Instead, we decided to play our video games and chat with each other. Eventually, I realized that the story telling had stopped and all was quiet. "Hey..." I whispered. "I think we're the only ones awake..." I said, just as me and Kristen were throwing logs at each others virtual dog. We all paused and listened...silence. "Oh well. Now we get to say that we stayed up the latest!" Anna said. We laughed. "SHHHHH!" came a voice from outside. "Oops, guess not," Anna said. We laughed again. I looked up from my DS screen, realizing that the only light we had in here was my DS. "Anybody got a flashlight that we can hang at the top of the tent on that little string?" I asked, pointing to the string at the top of the tent. "I think I do," Samantha said. She pulled out a lantern-shaped flashlight and hooked it on the string. "How convenient" I said. We laughed again. "SHHHHHHH!!!". "Oh, give us a break!" Anna said. We laughed once more. "Hey, I know!" Kristen said." Let's tell some more scary stories!". "Ya, great idea Kristen," Samantha said sarcastically. "I really don't want to sleep at all tonight, no sirree-Bob". "Hey, it wasn't that bad of an idea, was it?" laughed Kristen. "Hmmm......hey, I know one!" Anna said. She told us a story about a little girl who lived with her parents and brother in her house with a little doll she once bought, and that every night, the doll came alive and killed one person in the house, eventually reaching the girl at the end, and that now the house is 'haunted' by the girl, who will attack all who come near it. "Ooh, scary" Kristen said sarcastically. "OK, fine. What's your scary story, huh?" Anna replied. "Umm...the one about the man who ate an apple?" We all burst out laughing. "Wow, is that the best you could come up with?" Kristen managed to say before laughing some more. Finally, we managed to stop laughing. "I gotta g-" Anna started to say, but was cut off by Samantha's snoring. "Wow, can that girl snore, or what?" I said. "As I was saying, I have to go to the bathroom. Who wants to come with me?" Anna asked. The only reason she asked is because we have to go with a partner if we go to the bathroom. "Actually, I kinda gotta go too. And since there's four of us, it looks like we're all going!" Kristen said. "Three, Samantha's in dream world," I said. We laughed then stepped out of the tent together, leaving Samantha in the tent to sleep. We crept silently over to the bathroom and stepped inside. Naturally, it smelt horrible inside. We were on our way back, when something in the woods beside us caught my eye. "Hold on a second..." I said. I squinted into the darkness, trying to see what it was. I saw that it was glowing, which made it even harder for me to tell what it was. When I realized what it was, I was so scared that I couldn't move, nor could I scream.



    5


    "What?! What's wrong Kayla?!" Kristen cried, shaking my arm. I pointed towards the woods. Kristen followed my finger... and gasped. There, grinning hideously at us, was a glowing white figure at least 10 feet tall. It looked a lot like a human, though there were some differences, like long, elf-like ears and glowing white eyes.Without realizing it, we found ourselves walking towards the...thing. No! Stop! Stop walking! I tried to tell my feet. But it was no use. As if I were being pulled towards the grinning figure, I slowly got closer. I suddenly realized that Kristen had managed to turn around and run. Thanks a bunch, Kristen. I really don't need your help at all, I thought bitterly. Desperately, I tried to turn around and run. But it was as if I were on a tread mill- I ran and ran, but never got anywhere. Suddenly, I felt a cold hand grip the back of my neck. I reached up, terrified, and tried to grab whatever was grabbing me... but instead, I went right through it, grabbing my own neck instead! I tried to scream, but couldn't either because I was so scared, or the hand was squeezing me too tightly. I struggled to break free of his grasp, but he-or, it- was too strong. Helplessly, I watched as he dragged me behind him to a cabin deep in the woods. I started to feel dizzy. No...don't faint now...hold on...I thought. Where...where is he taking me? I wondered. I tried to twist myself onto my stomach, but I was too weak to be able to, and his grip on me was still very strong. Luckily, however, I managed to turn my head. Just in time to see that the figure was heading to a little old cabin deep in the woods. I realized that his hands were so cold, my neck was numb. I shivered. I tried to struggle some more. But I noticed that every time I struggled, he tightened his grip on me. Well, struggling's out of the question...I'll just end up suffocating...I gotta find a way to escape...I thought. I remembered where he was taking me-the cabin. I decided to wait until we got there to see what he would do. If he left me alone for a bit, I could try and find a way to escape. If not, well...Suddenly, the dizziness began to feel worse. And the last thing I saw before being thrown into the cabin and then passing out was the evil smile on the figure that had dragged me all the way out here.



    6



    I awoke to find myself trapped inside the cabin. I remembered everything-the bathroom, the forest-and especially the creepy figure. I looked around and quickly realised that I wasn't alone. There was a boy sitting in the corner, unconscious, about my age. I stood up and walked toward him. I gave him a little nudge, but he didn't move. "Hey," I said." Are you okay?". Slowly, his eyes fluttered open. Immediately, I recognized him. He went to this camp last year! I remembered that his name was Max. " Max!" I said, relieved that he was okay. " What happened to you? How long have you been here?" I asked. " I...I don't remember..." he said, still a bit dazed. " All I remember was some sort of... ghost thing...". I gasped. " No way! That's what brought me here too!" I said. " Wow, really?" He asked. " Ya! It dragged me in here as if I weighed the same as a feather!" I replied. I looked around. " Well, first thing's first: we have to find a way out of here. Come on, help me see if there's any way out," I said to Max. He nodded and we both stood up. Even though it was obvious that it wouldn't work, I walked over to the door and tried opening it. To my shock, however, the door swung open easily. I turned around to tell Max, but he was no where to be found. That's odd...I thought. He was here just a second ago...I wonder where he went? I decided to go look around for him a bit before I left. I searched in what must have been the kitchen first. No sign of him. Next, I entered a small room at the back of the cabin. Maybe a storage area or something. I tried to find Max, but it was too dark in the room so I moved on to the next room. Max, where are you?! I thought frantically. But try as I might, I could not find him anywhere. I sighed, feeling defeated. I guess I'll just get outta here and go back to camp. I'm sure Max is OK anyway... I turned and slowly made my way back towards the door, taking my time so I could search for Max as I walked. Every shadow seem to jump out at me as I walked. I suddenly felt alone and closed in. Of coarse you feel alone, your by yourself in a cabin! I told myself. I walked up to the doorway and stopped. I turned around and scanned the room once more, making sure I didn't miss anything. I started to turn and run out the door. I stopped when I heard a slight rustling behind me. I spun around, hoping it was Max. I squinted, only to see that it was a mouse. Darn, so close... I started once again to turn around and run out the door. But I froze in terror when I saw the ghost standing right in front of me.




    7


    Without thinking, I slammed the door in his face and locked it. Bad idea. As I slowly backed away, the ghost slowly slipped through the door. No duh, genius, he's a ghost! Like a locked door is going to keep him out of here! I thought. Instead of angrily attacking me, like I imagined he would, He smiled. An evil smile. The evil smile. And then, to my amazement, he spoke. " Going somewhere?" he asked. But I could only stare at him in open-mouthed horror. He took a step toward me. I took as step back. His evil, annoying little smile remained on his face. It started to bug me. A lot. Finally, I decided to break the silence by asking him the question that kept bugging me. "What do you want with me? Why on earth did you drag me all the way out here in the middle of a forest?!" I asked. His smile quickly changed to a slight frown. " That's for me to know and you to find out... maybe." he replied, the smile returning. Will he ever get rid of that stupid smile? I thought. Of coarse, I didn't dare say it to his face. At least he doesn't have mind reading powers. Wouldn't that suck...? " Now, you just stay right here, got it?" he said, interrupting my thoughts. I smiled, mimicking his smile. " As if.." I muttered. " I heard that!" he said, sounding like he was loosing patience. Good, I thought, smirking, maybe if I drive him crazy enough, he'll let me go. " Ya sure, whatever," I said, waving my hand. If I'm lucky, he'll forget to lock the door again. No such luck. As he left and shut the door, I heard loud and clear the little ' click' of the lock. " Ya, I didn't think so..." I said aloud. I turned around and slunk into the corner, trying to think of a way out, which obviously wasn't going to be the door itself. Unless I break it down... No. That wouldn't work. He would either hear it or he would see it when he returned and come try to find me. I had to find a way out that was quiet and unnoticeable. Something like.... like... like a window, I thought. For some reason, I started laughing at the idea. Then I stopped. That might just work... I sprang up from the corner and darted to the kitchen, where I had earlier noticed a window. I tried opening it. Stuck. Didn't it figure? The idea of smashing the door returned to my head. Fine, fine, I'll do it! I thought. I grabbed a chair. I walked up to the door. This was it. I'm getting out of here.





    8



    I slammed the chair against the door wih all my might... and broke the chair. " Oh, come on!" I cried frustratedly. I angrily pounded my fists against the door, even though I knew that it wasn't going to do me any good. Finally, I sank back down to the floor, sighing. Suddenly, I heard laughing. In the room. It seemed to come from all around me. Then the ghost appeared in front of me. Oh look, it's jolly old mister White again... I thought bitterly. He looked around, making sure I was still here, then left. " Ya, thanks for the offer, I'd love to leave!" I called out sarcastically. To my surprise, his head popped right through the door and looked at me. " Sorry, no can do," he said, smiling again. I snorted at him then turned around. Go away, go away, go away... I wished silently. Soon, he did. But not soon enough for me. I could feel him staring at me. And it sure didn't feel good. I waited to hear the click of the lock, then spun around. I stood up and began wandering the cabin. Might as well do something if I'm going to be stuck here for God knows how long, I thought. I wandered into a small room with an old bed and an even older dresser next to it. I walked up to the dresser, put one finger on it, and jumped pack as it crumbled to pieces. Now THAT's old! I thought. I hope the ghost wasn't using that... I laughed at the thought of him coming back to a pile of rotting wood instead of a dresser. Snickering, I started to walk away. But then something in the pile of wood caught my eye. Now what could that be? I asked myself. It was a small piece of paper. On one side, it was blank. But on the other, there was a picture of a woman and a man. The man was holding a puppy while the woman was holding a baby. Cute dog... I thought. I put the old photo in my pocket, hoping that maybe it would help me later on. Next I wandered into a slightly bigger room with almost nothing in it except a couch and... a T.V? Now that's just plain lucky! I thought as I plopped down on the old, dusty couch. It was a plain red couch with room for about three people. Not bad... pretty comfortable for an old dusty couch. I looked around in hopes of finding a T.V remote. But the couch and T.V were the only things in sight. I got up and clicked a button on the T.V labeled 'power' and hoped it would turn on. Yes! The T.V showed a woman coming into focus. I realized it was the news. I also realized that there was no sound. I was about to turn on the sound when a familiar voice from the doorway asked," What do you think you're doing?"



    9



    I spun around, my heart beating like a drum. " I...I.." I sputtered. He walked past me to the T.V and turned it off. Then he turned around and grabbed me by the arm. His touch sent a shiver down my arm. "Hey!" I cried out and tried to pull away. But, once again, he was just too strong. He picked me up and brought me to the main room of the cabin once again. He put me down in the corner and looked at me sternly. " Quit snooping around!" He said, leaning close to me. " Well sorry," I said sarcastically," it isn't exactly Disney Land in here! I just wanted to watch T.V. What's so bad about that?" I challenged. He looked once again like he was loosing patience with me. " Just cut it out, OK? Stay here and stop snooping around," he growled then left again. What's his problem? I asked myself. I suddenly started to wonder what it was he did every time he left me alone here. Maybe he goes for a walk...ten times a day, I thought sarcastically. I decided not to worry about it. I didn't think it would make much of a difference weather I knew or not. Not caring about what he had said earlier, I stood up and quickly headed to the room with the T.V. I clicked it on again and turned on the sound. I still don't get why watching T.V is so bad to him. What, does he think the reporter is going to reach out and pull me to the spot where she is? I thought sarcastically. I wish. The lady started by introducing herself. " Good morning, everybody, I'm Sandy Fletcher, here with your local news..." she said. Wait a minute...morning? I was here all night? I had figured it was still nighttime. I couldn't believe it was already morning. I wondered if camp had left without me. Would they really do such a thing? I wondered. I continued to watch the reporter talk about fires and stuff like that. I started to get bored with that and was about to turn off the T.V when my name suddenly rang out like a bullhorn right against my ear, even though Sandy had said it regular voice. I listened carefully to the reporter. "... Two young, 11-year-old girls by the names of Kayla and Kristen were reported missing by the Cyrville Summer Camp. The camp had gone on a camping trip at Logos Land for the night. But this morning, the two campers were not found in the tent. Instead, the two other girls that had been sharing the tent were found shivering and terrified in the tent."


    10


    " Oh my gosh!" I said aloud. " So Kristen didn't make it back to the tent! But that means that no one knows what happened!" I was so shocked that I hadn't even noticed that the ghost was standing in the doorway, a huge scowl on his face, replacing the smile that was usually found on his face. I wanted it gone, but not turned into an angry scowl... I thought. " I thought I told you to stop wandering around!" he said angrily. He turned off the T.V again and looked at me, angrier than ever. " I...I...I..." I sputtered once again. He picked me up again and brought me back to the main room. He disappeared down the hallway. I waited silently, not daring to move a muscle. When he returned, I covered my head with my hands, terrified. When I didn't feel anything hard hit me, I looked up. He was still there, angry as ever, but he didn't hurt me. " I locked all the doors in the cabin. If that doesn't keep you from snooping, I'm going to have to find another way to get you to stay there," he told me. I simply stared at him with an innocent look on my face. He gave me one last angry glare, then slipped through the door again. " Whew... that was close..." I said aloud. I decided to see if he really had locked all the doors. I walk to the room with the T.V again and tried the door. Locked. Okay, so he was telling the truth... I'm just gonna have to find another way in, I thought. I remembered that there was another door in the room, but I had never bothered with it. I followed along the wall until I found the second door. Hope he didn't lock this one too... I thought as I turned the door handle. It creaked a little, then opened. Yeessssss! I almost started cheering. I walked into the room and unlocked the main door. Take that, ghost! You didn't lock ALL the doors! I thought happily. I walked over to the T.V. Mom always DID say I could never stay away from T.V, I snickered. I clicked it on. Obviously, the report about me and Kristen was over. So I decided to flip through the channels in hopes of finding something better. But the only thing I learned was that today was Tuesday. I always did hate Tuesday... I clicked off the T.V and decided to head back to the main room. It was about time for Grumpy to return.

    11
    I sat down in the corner just as Grumpy- that's what I had decided to call him- stepped into the room. He made sure I was still here and then left once again. " This is almost getting too easy!" I said aloud. All I have to do is make sure I'm sitting here when he comes to check on me and he doesn't suspect a thing! I thought happily. I got up and, instead of going back to the room with the T.V, I wandered the halls for something else to explore. I suddenly realized that this was a big cabin. A very big cabin. I wonder how many rooms there are in this place... I thought. I tried opening the first door I found. But when it didn't turn, I remembered what Grumpy had said earlier: I locked all the doors in the cabin. If that doesn't keep you from snooping, I'll have to find another way to get you to stay here. I sighed, disappointed. The only room you DIDN'T lock is the one with a T.V which is now useless... I thought glumly. I slowly made my way back to the main room and sat down, leaning against the wall. That didn't last long. I immediately became bored again, so I stood up and returned to wandering the halls. Maybe I'll find something to help me escape or to break down the door... I stopped. The door. I realized that when Grumpy had left, I didn't hear the click like I usually did. Maybe, just MAYBE... I thought. Maybe he forgot to lock the door again! I ran back to the main room and headed to the door. I jumped back, startled, when the handle suddenly started to turn. I quickly took a step back and sat down. Grumpy looked in at me with a suspicious look on his face. " What?" I asked, trying to sound calm and innocent. He study me carefully some more before saying, " You moved didn't you?" I stared at him. How could he know?! I thought. " What makes you say that?" I demanded. He frowned. " You're not in the same spot as when I last checked on you," He said, still frowning. I suddenly realized two things: One was that I had been holding my breath. Two was that, as it turned out, I was at the complete opposite end of the room from the spot I was at last time he came in.
    12

    " I...I...I was... uhh..." I said, my mind racing. " I was uhh... stretching?" I tried. He simply snorted at me. " Wow, is that the best you could come up with?" he asked. But I could only stare at him, shocked.