Sweet Summer

Chapter Three :

The morning sun streamed through the cabin windows, casting a warm glow over the sleeping campers. Alina stirred first, her eyes fluttering open as she tried to shake off the remnants of a restless night. She sat up slowly, her mind still replaying the terrifying events of the previous evening.

To her surprise, she found herself back in her bed, the familiar surroundings of the cabin providing a brief moment of disorientation. She looked around and saw that Hayden, Natalia, and Parker were also waking up, their expressions mirroring her confusion.

"How did we get back here?" Hayden asked, rubbing his eyes and glancing around the room. "The last thing I remember, we were in the hollow tree."

Alina shook her head, trying to make sense of it all. "I don't know. Maybe we passed out and someone found us?"

"Maybe but what are the chances of someone being in a forest at night and finding us in a hollow tree?" Natalia asked, her voice trembling slightly.

Hayden frowned, his brow furrowing in thought. "It doesn't make sense. And why wouldn't they wake us up or tell us how they found us?"

Alina glanced around before saying "It's like someone—or something—wanted us to be safe but didn't want us to know how. Maybe the forest itself has some kind of protective magic?"

Parker scoffed, but his eyes held a glimmer of worry. "Protective magic? That's a bit of a stretch, don't you think?"

"Guys, maybe we should talk about this after breakfast. You know, to think about what happened." Natalia suggested which the group agreed to do as they were hungry anyways.

Later that morning after everyone had eaten, they were sitting at a bench table; discussing earlier events.

"I might have an idea of what made us all have that dream last night." Hayden said, taking his bag and digging through it before taking out the journal he found in the forest.

"When did you get that?." Parker questioned

"Where did you find that?.

"In the forest when we were hiking," Hayden answered. The group was silent at first before one began speaking. "But how do we know that the journal is what caused it?." Natalia commented.

"I don't know," Hayden admitted, glancing nervously at the journal now lying on the table. "But ever since I picked it up, things have been... weird."

Parker leaned forward, his expression serious. "Weird how?"

Hayden swallowed hard. "I've been having these nightmares. Really vivid ones. And sometimes, I feel like I'm being watched, even when I'm alone."

Alina shivered. "I've felt something too. Like a presence following us. Last night, before we got lost in the forest, I thought I saw something moving in the shadows."

Natalia looked thoughtful. "If the journal is cursed, we need to be careful. We don't know what it's capable of."

Parker frowned. "What should we do then? Get rid of it?"

Alina shook her head. "I don't think it's that simple. Curses aren't just about objects. They're about connections and power. Destroying the journal might not break the curse; it could make things worse."

Hayden nodded in agreement. "Maybe we need to understand it first. Find out where it came from and why it's cursed. There could be clues in the journal itself."

Natalia sighed, looking at the journal with a mix of fear and curiosity. "Alright. But we need to be prepared for whatever we might find."

Parker stood up, his resolve strengthening. "Then let's start by reading it. Together. We'll figure this out."

As the group huddled closer, Hayden slowly opened the journal. The pages were brittle and yellowed with age, filled with cryptic symbols and handwritten notes that seemed to swirl and shift on the paper.

"Look at this," Parker said, pointing to a sketch of a grotesque figure with hollow eyes and elongated limbs. "It looks like something straight out of a nightmare."

Natalia traced the lines of the drawing with her finger. "I've seen this before," she whispered. "In my dreams. It's like it's been haunting me."

Hayden turned to the next page, revealing a series of strange incantations. "These words... they're in a language I've never seen before," he said, his voice trembling slightly. "But somehow, they feel familiar."

Alina shivered as she glanced at the incantations. "Maybe it's not just the journal. Maybe it's something older, something powerful that's been waiting for us to find it."

The room grew colder, and the flickering flashlight struggled to penetrate the deepening darkness. A low, almost inaudible whisper filled the air, sending chills down their spines.

"Did you hear that?" Parker asked, his eyes wide with fear.

"It's like... voices," Natalia said, her own voice barely a whisper. "Whispering from the pages."

Suddenly, the journal's pages began to turn on their own, as if an invisible hand was guiding them. The group watched in stunned silence, unable to tear their eyes away. The pages stopped on a page with a single, ominous word scrawled in large, bold letters: "Beware."

Hayden slammed the journal shut, his heart pounding in his chest. "We need to find out more about this place, about this journal," he said, his voice firm despite the fear in his eyes. "But we have to be careful. Whatever this is, it's watching us."

Alina nodded, her determination steeling her nerves. "We'll get to the bottom of this. But we have to stick together. No more wandering off alone."

The group agreed, as their conversation was cut short as Consular Richard Caldwell's voice boomed over the intercom. "Attention, campers! Today we'll be doing nature study. Please gather in Discovery Glen in fifteen minutes."

"We'll talk about this later." Parker said.