shelbym14
The California trip was supposed to be fun.
A break. A reset.
A last adventure before senior year swallowed them whole.
Amber, Kacy, Rowan, Taylor, and Hunter planned everything - the playlists, the campground, the late-night talks under a sky full of stars. It was supposed to be perfect.
It wasn't.
The first night in the California woods, Kacy disappears.
Later, she's discovered in the back of some beat-up pickup, trembling so hard her teeth chatter. Bruises blooming. Eyes unfocused. And all she can say is that a man-one who somehow knew every single one of their names-told her they "weren't supposed to be there."
Fear settles over the group like fog.
Trust cracks.
And the trip that was meant to bring them closer starts tearing them apart.
Rowan becomes distant. Restless. Always disappearing into the trees.
Kacy won't go near him.
Taylor suspects him.
Hunter defends him.
Amber tries to hold everyone together - until Rowan vanishes too, leaving only his jacket behind.
The police call it suspicious.
Taylor calls it obvious.
Kacy calls it her fault.
Amber calls it something else entirely.
Because Amber found something the others didn't:
Rowan's sketchbook.
Hidden in the dirt.
Filled with drawings that don't make sense.
And one final sentence that changes everything:
I tried to stop her.
A fun trip to California becomes a nightmare none of them can wake up from.
Because once the truth starts unraveling in the woods...
Someone always gets lost.