Northwoods

Chapter 10

            It was after midnight, but Frank could swear someone was calling his name.  He stood barefoot in the common room.  There was a night light on the wall in the kitchenette, but aside from the pale glow it cast, the room was dark.  He listened, but all he heard was a low rumble, a growl from somewhere close.  His digestive system lodged a formal complaint.  He wasn't sure the chicken kabobs he'd had for dinner were fully cooked.

            "Hello?" he whispered, not wanting to wake anyone else up.  He knew it wasn't Brian or Jake who was calling him, since they were both fast asleep in the room he shared with them.  He couldn't tell who it was, but it sounded vaguely familiar.  When he did hear it, the voice seemed like it was shouting from a great distance but he could make out the words as clear as a whisper in his ear.  Whoever it was, they weren't in the cabin.  But they needed help.

            He thought of the rumors and stories of rabid bears that had been flying around camp as of late and briefly considered waking someone else to go with him.  In the end he decided against it, opting to venture out of the cabin on his own.  Before he left, he grabbed Dan's halogen flashlight from the supply closet and threw his jacket on over his ratty T-shirt and shorts.  He slipped his sandals on at the door and stepped out.  It was chilly, as expected, but an otherwise still night.  The breeze had died off and the nocturnal animals all seemed content to be silent.  Only a few peepers chirped away in the marsh.

            "Hello?" he said again, circling around the cabin to the road.  He shined the light down both sides, but saw nothing.  He opted for the branch that led into the center of the camp.  Once he was further from Fox Den, he called a little louder.  "Who's there?  Do you need help?"

            Again he received no reply, so he kept moving, approaching the road's intersection with the main trail, down which they'd been chased last night.  He heard it again, a faint cry for help, and he turned onto the trail.  It was coming from somewhere near that outhouse.  He moved more reluctantly this time, thinking how ironic it was that he found himself on this path for the second night in a row.  He should have awakened one of his bunk mates to come with him, but Brian would be less than cooperative this time of the night, and Jake had been through so much in the last twenty-four hours that Frank didn't want to put another strain on his friend.

            He thought about the incident at the lake, how bizarre that was.  Jake was understandably upset over the whole ordeal, but he seemed to think there was something dangerous about the place before Katie even got stuck.  Frank was dying to know what was troubling him, and why he'd been acting so strangely.  He'd never seen his friend this way before.  He knew Jake would explain himself when he was ready, and until then, Frank would be there for him.

            He was a hundred yards down the trail when an ear-piercing scream ripped the silent night.  It was very close, somewhere in front of him.  He broke into a run, praying that his unreliable knees would hold out until he could reach the person in need.

            Jake sat up abruptly at the sound and his head made contact with the bottom of the upper bunk.  So much for his headache going away.  He fought the fogginess of sleep to process what he'd just heard.  Somewhere in the camp, someone had screamed.  It wasn't a little scream, either--this was a full-throated, terror-filled howl so raw that he couldn't tell if it was male or female.  What was going on?  Was this another of Its tricks, or was someone really in trouble?  Was there any doubt in his mind that either way, It was involved?  Not a chance.

            He knew he wasn't hallucinating when Brian leaned over the edge of the bunk and looked down at him with squinting eyes.  "What in God's name was that?"