𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 | 𝘴𝘢𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏.

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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏. - 𝐔𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐃

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𝐓he night had come faster than expected, the two men nestled themselves quietly into their sleeping bags. Thunder roared above, while lightning whipped and cracked at the darkened sky. The sound of water droplets making contact with the tent was present.
Sam couldn't help but feel uneasy as Colby fiddled with the camera, trying to reassure himself that the mic wasn't ruined by water. His uneasiness turned into annoyance as Sam ran a hand through his hair.
"I didn't know it was gonna rain, and it's fuckin cold." He complained with a slight hint of aggravation. Colby shrugged his shoulders before setting the camera aside, although it was still recording.
"There's not much we can do about the weather Sam. Really the only thing we can do is hopefully wait it out or sleep." Colby stated, he didn't seem as distressed as Sam currently was.
A yawn soon followed, contagiously it caught Sam as well.
"I guess you're right, the activity seemed to die down kinda..." The blonde trailed his sentence to pause.
"What?" Colby questioned lowly. Sam finally eased up and shook his head.
"Nothing, I just...I dunno." He stated with a half hearted huff. Sam allowed his body to relax and slowly meet the cushion of the sleeping bag. His gaze was fixated on the tent before Sam looked over to Colby.         Childishly Colby was recording himself making shadow puppets on the tent lining. 
  Colby turned back to Sam, zooming in on Sam's blank face before turning it to his own face. The two giggled for a moment before quieting back down. The small things, even in some terrifying situations mattered to them and always would.
"For real, what are we about to do?" Colby questioned. Before Sam could reply, a voice not far off was heard.
  "Man...what the fuck." The person cussed, the sound of sticks crashing and a ruckus of movement followed. Sam's eyes widened, he looked to Colby who had the same exact expression. Sam quickly mouthed,
'Turn it off...' Colby was quick to catch his drift and turn off the light, but allowed the camera to keep rolling. The tent was silent for a moment, the soft sounds of the rain's pitter patter was abundant.
  A light shined on the tent, causing Sam and Colby to shield their eyes and shy away for a moment. Colby was the first to make a move. The camera went rolling as he swiftly made his way to the tent's one and only exit. It wasn't long before it was unzipped. Colby shielded his gaze, wincing slightly.
"Oh shit, sorry..." The light was lowered. Colby was met by a girl, her clothes muddied, her knees seemed to be scrapped up and slightly bloodied.
  "Are you okay?" Colby quickly questioned as he observed in her current state.
"Uh...I could be better, my uhm...my horse spooked and left me to eat mud."
Sam soon peaked out, his blue eyes landed on the girl. His eyes looked to Colby for a moment.
"What are you doing out here? It's like...raining and cold." Sam asked.
"Well no shit," The curly haired girl snapped before softening up.
"Sorry, it's been a long fucking day...I was taking my horse for a hack, we went off trail...again she spooked and ditched me. Haven't seen her since." She explained.
  Colby and Sam looked to one another before Sam spoke up.
"Let's get out of the rain," He paused before quickly adding on,
"That's only if you're comfortable with being in the same tent."
"A tent sounds way better than being out in the woods alone." The girl stated with a soft hint of thankfulness for their invite.
  Thunder rumbled above as the three quickly got themselves situated in the tent. Thankfully it was big enough to fit roughly five people.
  "Fuck. The camera, I must've knocked it or something." Colby clenched his jaw as he looked over the device.
"What do you mean?" The blonde questioned.
"It's not turning on Sam."
"Let me look, you're probably just pressing too many buttons at once." Sam reassured. Grasping the camera, Sam looked it over. Finally it turned on.
  The curly haired girl glanced around the tent, her mind wandering if she had made the right decision. It was either stay in the cold, wet, uneasy woods...or spend the night  in a tent with random guys. She didn't have much of a choice. Sam looked to the girl, realizing they hadn't even got to each other's names.
"Uh...I'm Sam, and that's Colby. I dunno if you can tell, but basically we go to creepy places and try to-" He was cut off.
"Talk to the dead?" She seemed to finish his sentence.
  Sam flatted his lips, avoiding a smile but nodded.
"Kinda sorta."
There was a silence amongst the three before the curly haired girl nodded,
"That's kinda cool, I've always been into the paranormal thing...Ciara King." She offered a hand to Sam, he willingly took it before Ciara offered it to Colby. Colby took her hand, shaking it gently. The tension seemed to ease off the three as they made acquaintances.
  "Is it okay if we kinda like...interview you on camera? I think whatever spooked your horse, could be related to the things we're trying to figure out." Colby suggested, a hopeful look in his gaze, Ciara couldn't help but smile and nod.
"Yeah sure," She agreed softly. Ciara sat on the ground, comfortably crossing her legs. Sam and Colby did the same but were careful to give everyone just enough space.
  "So, Ciara...for one, do you believe in the paranormal? And for two, what makes you believe?" The blonde questioned.
"Well," Ciara paused to push back her off her head.
"Take it as you want, but I believe some 'energies' are kept here to remind us that we're not alone and there is another side. Almost like reassurance." The girl stated with confidence,
"When I was growing up, there would be a few weird things here and there...but nothing ever seemed to harm me. I never had nightmares, been physically touched, or anything of that sort...but I've seen things."
  Colby nodded slowly,
"Do you wanna tell us about like your horse and what happened then?" He questioned curiously.
Ciara audibly huffed,
"Well, my horse and I were off the public trail. Ya know, taking a hack. We ended up somewhere, I couldn't even fucking tell you, but I couldn't find the trail. It's like it disappeared."
Sam dropped his jaw, Colby held the same reaction as they looked to one another.
  "No way dude...there's multiple stories about this place, that talks about portals, trails disappearing, people getting lost, aberrations leading people the wrong way...all sorts of things." Sam listed on and on. Ciara placed her hand over her mouth,
"No fucking way...I actually have chills." Ciara replied before shoving the sleeve of her jacket up to show the camera the risen goosebumps.
"That's insane dude," Colby commented.
  "Long story short, when my horse spooked, my foot got caught in the stirrup and she dragged me for a few feet. I'm assuming, I had so much adrenaline and a crazy amount of pressure coursing through my body...that when I finally dropped out of the stirrup, I passed out. When I woke up, I was in a completely different place, and it was incredibly dark, cold, and rainy. Thankfully, for some reason I carried a flashlight in my back pocket, which I normally don't do. So, I tried finding my horse, and ended up finding y'all instead." Ciara explained as she motioned to her jeans which were muddied, holes had formed from the dragging, exposing her scrapped and bloodied knees.
  "Well, I'm glad you're pretty much okay...not out in the woods still. Who knows what kind of stuff could've happened." The blonde comforted.
"Yeah...believe it or not, this isn't even the worst thing that's happened to me regarding to horses." Ciara huffed out a soft chuckle as she looked to Sam,
"Yeah I'm never riding horses again after this story," Sam said talking into the camera before turning it back to Colby and Ciara.
  "You didn't see anything when your horse spooked?" Colby curiously asked,
"I didn't see, but i did hear...something. I don't even know. It sounded like rocks hitting trees, like someone throwing rocks. Then my horse acted like she saw something, and took off." The girl further explained. Sam turned the camera to Colby who looked perplexed. Turning off the camera, Sam set it aside (careful not to knock it like Colby had before).
"Well thank you, your story is wild Ciara. Again, we're just glad you found us in time." Colby nodded at Sam's words.
"I'm just as glad, thank y'all for letting the homeless spend the night...hopefully I can find my horse tomorrow." Ciara said softly with a scuff, Sam looked to Colby with a light smile. Something seemed to tell the two that this was just the beginning.

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AN- I hope y'all enjoyed the first chapter! More is to come🤍

1509 words (unedited)
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