Cameron Keen never expected her life to become entangled in the horrors of Blackwood Mountain.
Drawn back by a past she can't escape, she soon finds herself face to face with her old friend Josh Washington, a man haunted not just by grief, but...
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REAP WHAT YOU SOW.
[ December 28th, 2014 ]
Cameron's phone buzzed on the coffee table, jolting her out of her thoughts. She glanced at it and picked it up, catching the contact name: Josh.
Her heart skipped, and she bit her lip, fingers hovering just above the screen.
Over the past year, she and Josh had spoken sporadically—brief, aimless texts and a few voicemails that she'd never had the nerve to respond to in full. They were polite exchanges, but strained, distant.
She'd dodged nearly every request to meet up, using work as an excuse. She wasn't ready to face him, to face all that had happened since that terrible night on the mountain.
But curiosity tugged at her, pulling her finger down to tap on the message.
The text had a link attached to it, and she hesitated again. She tapped it, and a video filled her screen.
A second later, Josh appeared on camera, looking both familiar and unnervingly different. His hair was longer, eyes shadowed in a way she'd never seen before.
"Well hello, friends and fans!" Josh smiled brightly as he adjusted the camera. "I would like to welcome all my pals back to the annual Blackwood winter getaway!"
Cameron stared at her screen, unable to form a proper thought. He was already prepared to go back? So soon?
"Now let's address the elephant in the room." He gave a small, strained smile, looking almost lost in thought. "I know you're all probably worried about me, and I know it's gonna be tough on all of us going back after what happened last year... But I want you all to know it'll mean a lot to Hannah and Beth if you came."
A reunion—on the same mountain where they'd lost Beth and Hannah? The thought sent a chill through her.
As the video ended, her screen lingered on the final frame, Josh's face frozen mid-smile, his expression laced with both pain and hope.
She exhaled, her mind spinning. Could she really go back? After everything? And yet... the part of her that had missed him, longed to reconnect, even if it was wrapped in pain.
Her dad's voice pulled her back to reality. "Cam, food's almost ready. Everything okay?"
She forced a smile, tucking her phone away, her heart still heavy. "Yeah, Dad. Just... an old friend reaching out."
But as she sat down at the dinner table, Josh's words lingered in her mind.
