Name Calling

Have you ever heard your name being called, by a voice you don't recognize? Even if nobody was there you could have sworn your name was said aloud? We as humans tend to follow the voice that called our name, even if we don't necessarily know which direction we were called.

Following that disembodied voice however may be the last mistake you ever make. 

I've always loved hiking through the trails at my summer camp, and when I joined the staff it became an even bigger pastime of mine. I loved beginning at the cave and going up and around the cliff side(though the path really isn't used anymore due to erosion), I was a fan of climbing up and then taking the nice, more "level", path back down. Crossing the natural bridge,. sitting and looking down the creek at Peter Pan's, walking along the "state line"(a joke turned camp fact) and passing through mosquito rock that was my go to path whenever I had a break.

This particular week had been an overwhelming one to say the least, I was put on fishing and it was definitely not my forté. 

I had just gotten done with 30 some daycampers, who really liked swinging around any fish they caught on their rod. During the period it made me thankful that I didn't have those kids all day but also sorry for the exhausted day staff who did. I had two more groups left for the day but thankfully had a rest period in between them, the next period was better as the group was an older girls cabin, though one girl did catch a giant snapping turtle, that was a fun endeavor, trying to not lose a finger so the turtle didn't swallow a hook. As soon as the period was over and I put away the fishing gear, I grabbed my bag and was off into the woods. 

My phone was at 65% so I would've had to charge it at dinner but it should've been fine through my last couple periods. I got on the trail by the creek doing my usual path but backwards, I passed chicken tree going up to mosquito rock. Following the path you can find another path intersecting across going right and left. If I had gone left, to my usual hangout spot (Peter Pan's) nothing would've changed, I wouldn't know the things I know and fear the things I fear. Irresponsibly, I decided that I would try to find a trail I had only heard about, I knew the general direction, but had never been there myself. 

One of my poorer decisions that day was not telling anyone what I was doing, if I had, I wonder how the outcome might have changed. As I made my way down the path I listened to the birds whistling, the chipmunks and squirrels scurrying around, and the trees blowing and rustling in the wind. I enjoyed looking at all the different kinds of moss, mushrooms, and the plant life along the way, the sun shined through the canopy at times shining in my eyes. I continued for about 15-20 minutes, when I noticed all the noise in the woods had vanished. The animals, the wind, just gone, and I froze trying to process what in the world was going on. It was sudden but I became very self aware, it felt like I was being watched... by someone? Something? I'm not entirely sure... I heard a snap from the forest, I turned instantly to see a deer looking my way. It was a doe, her eyes looked strange, wide and bulging, like she was scared of me(or something following me). She stared for a second and then bounded away, I felt at ease knowing that my company was just a deer. I continued down the path, the silence in tow.

I have now learned since then, that the silence I experienced was an indicator of a predator being within the vicinity. I am an observant person... most of the time, but clearly not then.

I came upon split in the path that I've never heard about, (my friends who've hiked even more than me should've mentioned something like this, but it was never brought up when talking about this path) I stood confused confused weighing my options when I heard the first sound I've heard in a half hour. It was my name, clear as day I heard my name being called from... I don't know where. I waited a few moments standing perfectly still figuring out whether it was just in my head or not. I thought it came from my right, a path that veers into a deeper part of the forest that I didn't know was there. I've seen the camp's property overhead picture and realistically that path should not have been there. "Elįżå'' I heard it again, my name, the voice sounded fake, but it was so incredibly clear in my head that it was impossible to deny it. I tried to focus on what was happening but the silence was overwhelming. It felt out of body, all I remember of this next moment is just watching myself move without warrant. I took a step forward, then another one, every step towards the trail into the woods. I don't know how many steps I took, but it only felt like a few, by the time I "woke up" I was deep within the woods... It was dark out and I had no clue as to how long I had walked. When I woke up I was on my hands and knees and everything was spinning, I was so disoriented I wanted to throw up. I couldn't move, I'm not sure if it was fear or whatever that brought me here that was making me immobile but I wouldn't move an inch. My vision was all over the place, I was seeing eyes, so many eyes, bright white, burning eyes. The feeling of incredible vulnerability was suffocating me, and I frantically looked for an escape. I saw a flicker of light in the dark, a clearing in the forest.

Regaining some semblance of ability to stand, I got up and ran as fast as I could. I heard behind me what sounded like a person running after me, then whatever was chasing me dropped down onto all fours and started sprinting even faster. 

I never should have looked back, but something in me was telling me I had to know what the thing in the woods looked like. It had no real body, it was just a dark amalgamation, it looked fuzzy like tv static and had no defining features... Other than its eyes and smile, its eyes were like small white fires in deep black pits that I guess were supposed to be eye sockets. It smiled at me but not like it chose to like that's just how its face was set, it was thin and long, too long for its face, if you can even call it a face. Its arms and legs cracked and snapped in odd ways everytime it stepped. I looked forward and found I was at the clearing, it was sunny and the sun felt warm on my skin, heavily contrasting to the cold dark. As I made it halfway across the clearing I realized the footsteps stopped. The creature didn't follow, I looked back and it stood at the forest's edge staring... smiling. I blinked and it was closer, not the creature but the forest edge, I blinked again, and again it was closer. 

My eyes widened as whatever this thing was could manipulate and change the forest itself, turning around, I began to run in the opposite direction. After what seemed like an eternity of running I found a trail, a trail I recognized. I continued running until I got to a fork in the road, the straight path should lead back to camp. I made a break for the way to camp, and as soon as I crossed onto the straight and narrow path I tripped on a root and hurt my knee... I could feel it looking at me as I was on the ground. My entire body went rigid, feeling my heartbeat in my ears, sweat dripped down my forehead as I slowly turned around to meet this thing's gaze. It looked at me with those piercing white eyes and just stood there with its crooked smile. It slowly vanished, sounding like static and leaving my vision strained. As it left, so did the path that wasn't supposed to exist, I guess it never did... but where was I, if I wasn't in camp's property? Realizing that I didn't know how much time had passed, I frantically pulled out my phone to check the time. I was gone for about 2 hours and it was actually starting to get dark. My phone was almost completely drained of battery, I didn't understand why. I saw the multiple missed calls from lodge members, and I cringed at the fact that I was definitely going to be told off for this.

I got up and felt an intense stinging pain from my knee. Feeling blood pouring down my leg, I didn't care much. I just wanted to get to camp and as quickly as I could, I limped my way back to camp. 

The first person I saw was my friend Kaya, she was doing the rounds for the water coolers at the pavilion I stopped at. As soon as she saw me she gasped, I guess I didn't realize how much I went through because when I looked down I was covered in blood, mud, and a thick black substance. Being the amazing person she is, she immediately sat me down in the gator and took me to the nurse's cabin. Night program had started, I could hear the music, and it got louder as we drove past. A couple more staff saw me and followed to see what had happened to me in the 2 hours I was gone. As soon as we got into the cabin I got bombarded with questions, by the now 5 people in my company, of which were my friends John, Hannah, Christine, who was in lodge, along with Kaya and the nurse of course. I just stare at all of them, not knowing what to say of my nightmare encounter. 

I didn't say anything, in fact I couldn't say anything, I tried to move my mouth, but I couldn't even hear what they were trying to ask... the static... it was too loud.