Blind date

Sarah set her GPS to Woodlane County in the Western Groves. She had never been to that area before, but then again, she had never even gone out with a random person before.

It had all begun when her friend had suggested Sarah to make an id on a new social dating site. At first, Sarah had taken it lightly but eventually, she began taking interest in the different messages she received.

All of the members of that dating app who had shown interest in her had been, either too old or too creepy. This one guy, however, caught her eye and Sarah decided to message him. Given that the guy was good looking, Sarah had assumed that she was not going to get a reply.

She was pleasantly surprised when Blake had messaged back. It had been one month since and not a day had gone by where they didn't talk over text. Sarah found him interesting and his good looks proved to be the icing on the cake. Owing to Sarah's introvert nature it took her two months to set her mind to go on a date with a guy she had never met before.

Now that she was turning the corner towards his house, she began to realize that she did not know him all too well. Sure, she knew what his favourite color was and what band he listened to, but did she really know what kind of man he was?

As if her mind was looking for evidence to support her unease, she realized she was looking at stock of plastic wrapping and duct tape lying on the sidewalk of the driveway to his house.

Panic hit her as she realized what was going to happen but was her panic really justified? Was it paranoia destroying the beautiful relationship that she had built online? Sarah knew that she would never be able to meet him again if not that day. Taking a deep breath, Sarah got out of the car and headed towards the apparent empty house; she thanked God that he was not standing there to greet her otherwise, he would have seen her in that condition.

Despite herself, she went to the window nearby and checked to see if there was anyone inside. Sarah felt her legs weaken as she saw a set of knives and straps laid on the table in the room inside surrounded by pictures of mutilated corpses.

Swallowing hard, Sarah ran back to her car and fumbled with the key until the car was in ignition again. Fate had been on her side this time, but she needed to get out of that place as fast as she could.

As Sarah hysterically pulled the car from his driveway, she saw a fash in her rearview mirror as the sun hit the mirror. For a second, she could have sworn she saw something move behind her, but she did not have the time to think. She hurried the car out of the lane and down the mainstreet as her eyes fell on the rearview mirror again.

The grey eyes that stared back at her from the backseat were quite similar to the one she had seen in the picture online; the blade, however, was nowhere on the profile page.        

Bruce

Daniel shifted in his makeshift bed once more. Surely, Bruce had been lying about the restricted section of the camping area, otherwise, their parents would have never agreed for them to spend the night there.

Although Daniel knew that Bruce had been messing with him when he had narrated the story of the wolf child who haunted the woods, Daniel could not help but wonder if the story was true. After all, these woods had been famous for a lot of supernatural activity that no one could account for.

Daniel was not a superstitious person, but he was very curious about the restricted section of the camping site. When he could no longer concentrate on any activities arranged by the management, Daniel decided it was time to visit the site in question.

The details of Bruce’s story were both disturbing and intriguing. There lay a part of the jungle which the government had restricted where the camping site once had extended. Rumors had it that a man had hung himself along with his children just to take revenge against the campsite owner who had taken their land without their consent.

To this day their bodies hung in the restricted area along with other dark objects like goat’s bones and filthy pieces of flesh which had gone dark and rotten. Daniel was already feeling a little nervous by the time night fell but he was determined to see the place himself for once. He had to know if Bruce was telling the truth or not.

At two in the morning sharp, Daniel grabbed his torch and followed the directions he had downloaded from a map online to find his way to the restricted section of the campsite. Unlike the advertisement, the place was not restricted at all and there was no secure boundaries around the rusty signboard which hung lopsidedly and read beware.

Daniel opened the creaky door to enter the other side of the camp but there were no signs of any supernatural activity so far. Daniel continued to walk for at least ten minutes before he heard animals hooting around him. He was not even sure if it was an own or a raven who had scared his heart out of his chest; he just knew that it was time to head back.

Just as Daniel was heading back, he collided into something soft and squishy only to find a wolf hanging from the tree. Daniel screamed and ran fast as he could but he could not miss the words shining in blood on one of the trees; it was his name.

Daniel could not breath properly now. At this point, he just wanted to go home away from all this. He was feeling sick from the disgusting image which had carved in his mind but then he saw something move. Daniel may have been panicking but he could not mistake the obvious silhouette of Bruce retreating from the scene.

At once, Daniel realized that Bruce must have set him up. Struggling his way through the bushes and the heavy woods, Daniel came back looking for Bruce. He must be close by, thought Daniel, after all, he had just seen him.

The teacher had been waiting with his arms crossed. He looked livid with Daniel as he had broken the rules.

“What is the meaning of this?” he asked.

“Sir, whatever Bruce has told you, he is lying!” explained Daniel.

“What are you talking about? Who is Bruce?”

“Bruce Baldwin is lying!”

“Son,” said the teacher, “Bruce Baldwin never came to this trip. He got sick and canceled at the last moment.”