Chapter 1 > The Invitation ✉️
536 Words
Susan Parker hated camping.
She hated bugs.
She hated sleeping on the ground.
She especially hated creepy forests with centuries of ghost stories attached to them.
“So…” Caleb Mason grinned from across the university cafeteria. “You’re coming.”
Susan rolled her eyes.
“No.”
“You already said yes.”
“I absolutely did not.”
“You nodded.”
“I was eating fries.”
“Same thing.”
Their friends burst into laughter.
Liam nearly spilled his drink.
“You two argue like you’re married already.”
Susan threw a napkin at him.
“In your dreams.”
Caleb smirked.
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Across the table sat:
• Mia Thompson — Susan’s adventurous best friend.
• Ethan Brooks — the group’s jokester.
• Harper Collins — a photography student obsessed with abandoned places.
• Noah Reed — a quiet engineering major.
• Olivia Hart — fearless, sarcastic, and impossible to embarrass.
Mia unfolded a colorful camping brochure.
“Three days.”
“Black Hollow National Forest.”
“Campfire.”
“Hiking.”
“Fishing.”
“Bonfire.”
Susan stared at the brochure.
Then at the bold warning printed at the bottom.
VISITORS ARE ADVISED TO REMAIN ON MARKED TRAILS.
She frowned.
“That’s oddly specific.”
Ethan shrugged.
“Every forest says that.”
Harper leaned closer.
“Actually…”
“They’ve had people disappear.”
Everyone looked at her.
“What?”
She smiled.
“I researched the place.”
“There have been twelve disappearances over the last thirty years.”
The table became silent.
Liam laughed nervously.
“You’re kidding.”
“No.”
She pulled out her phone.
Newspaper headlines filled the screen.
LOCAL HIKER VANISHES
COUPLE MISSING IN BLACK HOLLOW
SEARCH CALLED OFF AFTER TEN DAYS
Susan felt a chill.
“Okay.”
“I’m definitely not going.”
Caleb smiled.
“That’s exactly why we’re going.”
Susan stared at him.
“You’re insane.”
“I prefer adventurous.”
Before Susan could answer…
An elderly janitor pushing a mop stopped beside their table.
His tired eyes fell on the camping brochure.
His smile disappeared.
“Black Hollow?”
Caleb nodded.
“Yes, sir.”
The old man became unusually serious.
“I grew up near those woods.”
No one spoke.
He looked at each of them one by one.
“If you hear knocking on your tent…”
“…don’t answer.”
Silence.
Caleb forced a laugh.
“Someone’s messing with us.”
The old man didn’t smile.
“People think the killer is the scariest thing in those woods.”
His voice became almost a whisper.
“It isn’t.”
He walked away.
Leaving six nervous students staring at one another.
Outside the cafeteria windows…
Dark clouds slowly gathered over the distant hills.
Far away…
Hidden beneath miles of towering pines…
Someone watched a dusty security monitor displaying the university parking lot.
A gloved hand circled one name on a sheet of paper.
Susan Parker.
Below it…
Another name.
Caleb Mason.
Then…
The figure quietly whispered,
“You’re coming.”
And somewhere deep inside Black Hollow Woods…
Something answered with a long, haunting howl.
- Writer
