Chills (Canceled Until Possible Reboot)

Don't Go into the Woods

This story was originally made by me for a writing contest between me and my friends. To my surprise, this became one of my favorite original stories, although the original version was choppy. I felt like it deserved better, so I decided to rewrite it for this series. It’s taken from the perspective of a detective's journal. Anyways, enjoy!

July 6, 2018

It’s been about two weeks since I was originally assigned to the Willow Creek disappearances. Yesterday, one of my co-workers stopped by my office while I was looking over the current evidence. He put a journal on the table and told me it was a diary belonging to one of the missing teens named Cali.

The diary had been filled with entries, each one explaining ideas and activities. However, none of them seemed unusual. That was, until I looked at the last eight that were written. Those days were around the time when they went camping.

When I first read it, I thought maybe she was a schizophrenic. However, none of her medical reports had evidence that she was, and none of her other entries showed signs that she had a mental illness. I started to wonder if maybe it was something else. I’ll write down the entries so you can see for yourself.

10/5/18, Sunday

We finally arrived at our camp site! The five of us found a spot in a small clearing surrounded by trees. There’s a stream nearby for fishing and the Forest will hopefully provide coverage for when we choose to hunt. 

It doesn’t look like there’s much deer around, though. They're probably just hiding. Although it doesn’t really matter since it’s not deer season. However, we do plan on hunting pheasants. We heard this area is known as a great place for pheasant hunting, so we might try to catch some. 

I made sure the guys packed our gear so we should be good to go. I have heard some black bears have recently been spotted in the area, but they tend to not bother us. I also heard that some wolves have also been spotted around here, but I’m not too worried about them. Wolves tend to be more scared of us then we are of them so we should be fine. 

Aside from bears, the only thing we need to worry about are snakes. As far as I know, there aren't any dangerous snakes in this area. While we do have garter snakes, their venom causes itching and swelling. 

Aside from predators, bison are probably the most dangerous animals in North Dakota, but they tend to stay in the flat lands. 

As for the cold, our coats should be able to keep us warm. But, if it gets too cold, there’s always the heater in the car. 

Anyways, that’s all for now. We’re gonna go to sleep then explore some more in the morning.

11/5/18, Monday

We woke up a bit early this morning. We first took a look at the stream. We followed it and found a big lake. It had a dock and some canoes. There was also a sign saying that visitors are allowed to use the canoes as long as they tie them back to the dock once they are done using them. 

We might use one of the canoes later on, but we decided that today we would just explore. We also saw what looked like bear markings. 

While black bears are less dangerous than brown bears, I don’t think I want to come face to face with one. 

Anyways, that’s about all that happened today. I’ll update this again tomorrow.

12/5/18, Tuesday

We woke up and immediately got to work. Brook and Andrew went to gather some firewood. Me, Beth and Drake decided to scout out the stream. 

As we were walking I noticed something red moving in the water. It took me a second to realize it was the leftovers of a fish floating towards the lake.