Into The Woods

It was just another typical summer day in the state of Maine. The birds were chirping high in the canopy, their songs echoing through the thick brush, and a pleasant, heavy warmth hung in the air. Overhead, the sky was painted with a light blue tint, decorated by white, fluffy clouds that floated lazily across that vast azure backdrop. For a young boy, however, a small town in rural Maine wasn't always the most exciting place to be. Truth be told, there simply wasn't much to do out here.

Adam Jacobson was a twelve-year-old boy with light brown hair and dark blue eyes. Today, he was wearing his favorite pair of light denim jean overalls over a light blue shirt. At the moment, he was sitting directly on a cold, concrete sewer grate at the edge of the road, staring down into the darkness. He watched the sluggish stream of water that trickled steadily out of the grate, tracking its path through the dirt. Bending over, he picked up a flat, smooth rock, weighed it in his hand, and skipped it cleanly across the surface of the small stream.

The only reason he was even out here in the middle of nowhere was because of his mother. She had decided it would be a fantastic idea for him to get out of the city and spend some time visiting his grandparents. Adam, on the other hand, didn't really want to be here at all. He would much rather be back home, locked away in the absolute comfort of his own bedroom, playing video games until his eyes grew blurry. But of course, his family had to drag him all the way out to the isolated countryside.

To make matters worse, he was trapped here with his two teenage sisters. They were at that annoying age where they were completely obsessed with boys and absolutely nothing else. Listening to them talk was exhausting, and Adam was genuinely starting to think that he was the only sane person left in this entire family.

As he reached for another stone, a sharp, sudden rustling broke the silence in the deep woods just a few feet away from him. Adam froze. He turned his head, squinting through the dense wall of pine and birch to look toward the exact spot where the sound had come from. The brush was still. Something about the silence that followed felt wrong—too deliberate, like whatever had made the noise was now holding perfectly still, watching him. It's probably just some kind of harmless woodland animal, he thought to himself, shaking off a brief wave of unease. There's no real need to worry about it.

He pushed himself up off the hard sewer grate, brushing the dust from his overalls, and slipped a pair of bright red sandals onto his bare feet. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his iPod, carefully unraveling the tangled cord. He pushed the classic white earbuds deep into his ears, clicked the wheel to turn on the device, and selected a playlist to drown out the silence of the country. With the music finally pumping, he turned and started the slow walk back toward his grandmother's house.

As he walked, his mind drifted to the rumors he'd picked up since arriving. There had been whispered stories about strange things lurking out here—stories about actual monsters hiding deep in the woods. He scoffed to himself. They were just stories. It was probably just some goofy urban legend that a bored kid at school had made up to scare the younger students. Adam was twelve now; he didn't believe in childish stuff like that anymore.

A few cars zoomed past him on the pavement, their tires roaring against the hot asphalt. Adam didn't even turn around to look at them. He couldn't hear the engines anyway, completely stuck in his own little world, listening to his music as he continued to trudge down the shoulder of the empty road. He pushed his hands deep into the sides of his denim overalls and looked up at the endless trees.

Maybe, just maybe, something genuinely exciting would happen to him today. He highly doubted it, though. He let out a soft, defeated sigh and kept walking.

Adam walked up the long gravel driveway and noticed his mother's sedan was gone. The empty space where it had been parked felt oddly conspicuous, like the house itself had been abandoned in a hurry. He kicked a piece of gravel and wondered, not for the first time, if there were actually any other kids his age living out here in the wilderness. The honest answer was probably not. Besides, this wasn't the city. He knew that even if there were other kids hidden out in these trees, they probably wouldn't want to do any of the same things he liked to do. City kids and country kids were just fundamentally different. Sure, they were both kids, but they grew up liking entirely different things, and he didn't exactly have a lot in common with people who spent all day outdoors.

Right on cue, his stomach let out a ferocious, loud growl, a sharp reminder that he had completely forgotten to eat anything all morning. He placed both hands over his complaining stomach, feeling the physical rumble beneath his shirt. The fact that the growling was steadily getting louder and more insistent meant he needed to find something to eat, and fast.

When it came down to it, the single best thing about being forced out to the country like this was his grandmother's cooking. He absolutely loved it. Her undeniable skill in the kitchen always made his stomach incredibly happy, and just the thought of her food brought a brief, genuine smile across his face.

He turned down the short, worn walkway that led directly to his grandmother's front door. It was a cozy, small house, distinguished by a classic red brick chimney. Adam always enjoyed watching the thick, gray smoke roll lazily out of the top and disappear into the sky. If he remembered correctly from his past visits, his grandmother still relied heavily on burning real wood for heat, and she used her wood stove to cook her legendary meals.

He walked up the weathered, crumbling concrete steps to the front porch, reached out, and pushed the squeaking screen door wide open, stepping into the house. The moment his feet crossed the threshold, the rich, intoxicating scent of freshly baked cookies hit his nose.

"Oh, coming to Grandma's is so awesome," he whispered to the empty hallway.

He absolutely loved that smell, and his senses immediately clued him into the best part: they were definitely chocolate chip cookies. He paused in the entryway, looking around for a minute or two, expecting someone to greet him. Instead, the house was entirely silent. Where was everybody? He shrugged softly to himself, not thinking much of it, and walked out of the living room and into the kitchen.

He walked over to the old refrigerator and pulled the heavy door open, leaning inside to scout for something substantial to eat. Unfortunately, there wasn't a whole lot of food in there—well, at least not the kind of food that he actually liked. He pushed past some jars of pickles and leftovers until his eyes spotted a fresh loaf of white bread, a package of lunch meat, and a few wrapped pieces of cheese.

"That's it!" he muttered.

He'd make himself a classic sandwich. He could manage that with zero problem, and the best part was that there was absolutely no cooking involved. He pulled the loaf of bread, the lunch meat, and two slices of cheese from the shelves, laid them out neatly on the counter in front of him, and quickly assembled his lunch. When he was completely finished making it, he carefully put everything back exactly where he found it in the fridge and cleaned up the crumbs. Grasping the sandwich firmly in both hands, he began to munch on it happily, enjoying the quiet.

"Weird that no one is here," Adam said aloud, his voice sounding small in the empty kitchen.

He shrugged again, walked out into the living room, and flopped down onto the old, faded brown couch that sat against the wall. He continued to chew on his sandwich while his eyes scanned the room, looking for something to occupy his time. There was an old television set in the corner, but it didn't have cable, and the over-the-air reception was terrible out where they lived. Sitting inside was clearly a dead end; he was going to have to go back outside if he wanted to find something to do.

Maybe he could actually find some local kids to go play with, though he knew he'd have to venture quite a bit away from the immediate safety of the house to do that. He thought back to earlier in the week; he was pretty sure he had seen a few old dirt trails winding into the brush while he was exploring before. Maybe he could go walk them today. They couldn't possibly lead to any place dangerous, he reasoned. This was just the peaceful country, after all. There wasn't any such thing as a dangerous place out in the country, right?

Deciding that hiking the trails was actually a rather good idea, a smile spread across his face as he finished the last bite of his sandwich. He pushed himself up off the soft cushions of the couch and walked back toward the front entrance. He pulled the screen door open and stepped back out into the bright afternoon sun.

If he was going to explore, he wanted his bike. His heavy-duty mountain bike had to be around here somewhere. As he scanned the yard, a detail finally clicked in his brain that he hadn't noticed when he first came inside: one of the family cars was completely gone. Maybe his mom and sisters had left while he was down by the sewer grate.

"Weird," he thought, scratching his head. "I really should've heard them drive away."

Ultimately, it didn't matter. He had been trapped in his own little world ever since they arrived at his grandma's house anyway. He walked around the side of the house and into the backyard, where a small, weathered brown tool shed stood near the woodpile. He walked over, unlatched the door, and swung it open. Inside, leaning against some old garden tools, was his brown, black, and silver mountain bike. He grabbed the rubber handlebars, wheeled the bike out of the dark shed, and walked it onto the gravel driveway.

Just as he reached the road, a sudden, powerful gust of wind blew through the tops of the pine trees, making a strange, low howling sound. It felt unnatural for a warm afternoon, and Adam instantly got a cold chill down his spine. The trees swayed violently for a moment, their branches creaking and groaning like something massive had just passed through them.

"That was strange," he muttered under his breath, looking up at the swaying branches.

He shook off the feeling, hopped up onto the bicycle seat, and slammed his feet onto the pedals. As the bike picked up speed and the wind rushed past his face, he soon forgot all about the strange breeze. He rode his bike about a mile down the rural road, watching the trees blur past, until he came to a clearing that looked like an abandoned, torn-up train track bed. He skidded to a halt and looked down at the dirt. There, pressed fresh into the soft mud, were distinct tire marks—marks that looked like they came from a mountain bike just like his.

"Hey!" a sharp voice suddenly called out from behind him.

"Huh?" Adam gasped, his heart skipping a beat.

He quickly turned around to look behind him, trying to see who had caught him off guard. Standing near the edge of the brush were two kids who looked to be right around his own age. The first was a girl with sandy brown hair and bright, light blue eyes. She was dressed in a casual pair of jeans, simple flip-flops, and a distinctive black-and-purple camouflage shirt. The other kid was a boy with short, dark hair, wearing heavy camo cargo pants, a black tank top, and a pair of scuffed black-and-silver sneakers.

"I'm Grace," the girl announced boldly, pointing to herself with her thumb while offering a soft, confident smile. "And his name is Jacob," she continued, shifting her hand to point at the boy standing beside her.

As Adam looked past them, he noticed two separate bicycles had been ditched carelessly in the thick bushes nearby.

"Come on, what's your name?" Grace asked, stepping a bit closer.

"Adam," he said, his eyes locked onto the girl. He felt a small, shy smile forming on his face.

"Okay, Adam. You have to ditch your bike in the bushes right now, or the older kids around here will definitely steal 'em!" Grace warned, smiling at him sweetly.

Adam nodded quickly, trusting her judgment. He got off his bike, walked it over to where Jacob and Grace were standing, and pushed the heavy metal frame deep into the thickest part of the bush. Once it settled, it couldn't be seen at all from the main road, and it probably wouldn't be noticed by anyone who happened to be walking down the old train tracks either.

After Adam successfully stashed his bike, he turned around to face his new companions. The three of them meeting out here in the middle of nowhere felt incredibly weird. It was almost as if they were completely supposed to meet in this exact way, at this exact moment. We're just kids, we shouldn't be thinking about weird destiny stuff like this, Adam thought, shaking his head. What are we actually gonna do now?

He wondered silently as he glanced at Grace, feeling a bit self-conscious, before looking away toward the horizon for a moment.

"So, what are we doing today anyway?" Jacob asked, breaking the silence as he adjusted his tank top.

"My dear Jacob," Grace said, a mischievous spark lighting up her blue eyes as she looped her arm casually around Jacob's shoulder and smiled softly. "You see that, Jake?"

She raised her free hand and pointed directly in front of them, past the old train bed. Branching off into the deep wilderness was a giant, spooky-looking trail. It looked dark, swallowed by thick shadows, like the exact kind of place that common sense told you that you shouldn't really go. But did Grace care about common sense? Hell no. She absolutely lived for adventure. She genuinely liked the feeling of being scared, and today was even better because neither her grandparents nor her parents were anywhere around to watch them. With the adults completely out of sight, she could finally feed her endless need for thrills!

"Yeah," Jacob said slowly, nodding his head with a heavy dose of skepticism.

"We're gonna go right in there!" Grace declared in a highly enthusiastic voice.

"I heard that specific trail is totally haunted," Jacob countered, crossing his arms tightly.

"Silly, Jake," Grace giggled, reaching over and smacking Jacob's cheek softly with her palm. "That's exactly the reason why I wanna go in!" She flashed a big, fearless smile.

A haunted trail? Adam thought to himself, his interest immediately spiking. That might actually be kinda fun and exciting. He didn't want to seem like a coward in front of his new friends, so he decided he was totally in. Just from watching them for a few minutes, he could already tell that Grace was the undisputed leader of their little group, and it looked as if Jacob wasn't ever really sure what was happening or if he wanted to be involved. A slight, knowing smirk came over Adam's face, and he pushed his hands deep into the pockets of his overalls. He looked back and forth between both of them, shrugging softly as he studied their behavior. To his surprise, they seemed kinda alright for country folk.

So, the plan was set: they were gonna hike deep into the woods to see if this old trail was actually haunted or not. Adam knew for a fact that if his grandmother or his mother were anywhere around right now, they would probably scream and try to stop him. But adults didn't know how to have real fun anyways, so what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

"So, I take it you're the boss around here, huh?" Adam asked, looking directly at Grace.

"Leader? No way, she's just someone who constantly gets me into massive trouble," Jacob corrected, chuckling under his breath.

"Jakey, it's not 'trouble,' I get you into 'adventure!'" Grace countered playfully, rolling her eyes. She turned her full attention back to Adam, her eyes locking onto his. "You in or what?"

"Yeah, sure," Adam said, shrugging his shoulders like it was no big deal.

"Alright!" Grace cheered enthusiastically, clapping her hands together.

"I am absolutely going to regret this," Jacob groaned, shaking his head from side to side in defeat.

Deep down, Jacob knew there was no turning back now, especially with how stubborn Grace could be once she made up her mind. He and Grace had lived just down the road from each other their entire lives, and they had been best friends since all the way back in preschool. They were almost teenagers now, and Jacob honestly liked how things were between them. He secretly hoped they would stay close like this until they were fully grown up.

Suddenly, Jacob paused, tilting his head. He heard something strange off in the distance—it sounded like a lone dog howling or crying out. The sound was wrong, though—too deep, too guttural to be any dog he'd ever heard. He tried to rationalize it; it was perfectly normal to hear weird animal noises in this rural part of Maine, since it was nothing but endless country land out here. It's probably just someone's hunting mutt got stuck in an old bear trap or something, he reassured himself, shivering slightly. It really can't be anything other than that.

"Alright, let's move out!" Grace commanded. She bent over, scanned the ground, and grabbed a big, sturdy fallen stick. She quickly picked up two other thick branches and tossed them over to the boys so they each had a stick too. Grace knew they absolutely needed a way to defend themselves if they ran into anything dangerous out here. They were in the deep Maine woods, after all.

We could run into literally anything out here, Grace thought as she gripped her weapon. Coyotes, wild wolves, a legendary monster, or maybe even some crazy old guy by the name of Stephen who writes scary books about crazy creatures that live right here in the Maine woods.

She smiled at the goofy thought and looked over at the newcomer. She had never seen his face around town before. She kinda thought that Adam looked like a typical city boy. Grace had been to the big city once before with her family, and she didn't like it at all; she thought it was way too noisy and crowded for her taste.

Grace confidently walked in front of the two boys, and they followed closely behind her footsteps. Jacob fell into step right next to Adam, still wondering where the new kid had come from. He supposed that in the grand scheme of things, it didn't really matter. Another kid around these isolated parts was just another kid, and that meant a whole new person to pal around with, explore the outdoors, and possibly play video games with. Jacob wondered if this city kid liked to play video games as much as he did. He knew for a fact that Grace loved games, mostly because she always found a way to beat him mercilessly. Jacob chuckled quietly to himself. Grace really was a total brat sometimes.

Now that they were officially under the thick canopy of the trees, it was time to turn their attention to much more serious stuff—like how exactly they were going to do this safely. How should they approach a supposedly haunted trail? Most likely with extreme caution, since none of them actually wanted to die out here. They wanted to experience a grand adventure, sure, but they also wanted to come out on the other side completely happy and unharmed.

What puzzled them more than anything, though, was wondering where all their parents had gone today. Adults don't just randomly get up and completely vanish into thin air, do they?

The only genuinely good thing about today was the gorgeous weather. It really was a perfect day for a long hike. All of them wanted to see this through, and that meant they had to keep their feet moving forward. The very first one to get moving was Grace, the self-appointed leader of the bunch. Many of the older folks back in town openly thought she was completely crazy, and looking at her now, maybe she actually was. She just liked adventure too much, and she craved the intense thrill she got from it. No one in her family would ever willingly let her do anything dangerous like this. Therefore, she had to let herself do it; she knew that if she didn't take the chance right now, then what kind of wild stories would she have left to share when she was old and gray?

Truth be told, Grace had heard about the dark legends surrounding these woods from some older teenagers. That terrifying local lore was what had made her so interested in doing this in the first place.

She started to march up the long, heavily beaten path. As she walked, she noticed that several large tree branches had been forcefully pushed to the side, and thick twigs were cleanly snapped in half. The damage was high up on the brush—at least seven or eight feet off the ground—and it looked like something incredibly big had bulldozed its way through here recently. The broken branches were still fresh, their pale inner wood exposed and oozing sap. Probably just a massive moose or a black bear, right? Grace told herself, her heart beating a little faster. It couldn't have been one of those legendary things...

Grace stopped walking for a second and continued the terrifying thought in her head: If this monster actually did exist in real life—it probably wouldn't come out this close to the town anyway. Would it?

Grace shook her head vigorously to clear the cobwebs from her brain. She looked back behind her to check on the two boys following close behind her heels. They were only a few feet away, talking and whispering to each other. She smiled; it was good that they were getting along so quickly. For a minute back at the tracks, she didn't think that a city kid like Adam and a country kid like Jacob would actually get along at all. That was a crazy worry, huh?

Suddenly, the sharp sound of a twig snapping right beneath them made her jump in total alarm. She quickly looked down at her feet and noticed she had simply stepped on a dry twig herself, and she let out a breathless, relieved chuckle at her own expense. Why on earth was she being so jumpy today?

The peaceful sounds of birds chirping filled the hot air as she continued to hike along the dusty path. For the most part, there wasn't anything out of the ordinary; it seemed like a perfectly normal, boring hiking trail. Every now and then, the distant sound of cars driving by on the main road would echo through the trees, reminding them that they were only a few minutes off the path. She continued to walk forward, aggressively swiping her big defensive stick at a buzzing fly or a stray bee that got too close to her face. It definitely wasn't smart to piss off a wild bee. They could mess you up pretty bad if they swarmed. Grace had been stung a few times when she was younger, and it wasn't fun at all. She was actually highly allergic to bee venom, and her skin would swell up like a giant balloon. She absolutely could not afford to get stung out here, especially since there wasn't a proper hospital for about forty-five minutes away. She realized, with a sudden wave of seriousness, it would be very bad if any of them got seriously injured this deep in the forest.

"Is she always this intense?" Adam whispered quietly to Jacob, pointing his stick toward Grace's back.

"Yeah," Jacob said, nodding his head with a smirk. "Pretty much 24/7."

"That's just great," Adam said, rolling his eyes, though he was secretly enjoying the excitement.

Adam and Jacob seemed to get along for the most part, finding a quick rhythm. There was absolutely nothing they could see right now that would make them not get along. They walked in a neat line behind Grace, and every so often, either one or the other of them would look up and glance at her backside as she marched forward. Deep down, they both knew they were crazy for blindly following Grace into this creepy forest. It was undeniably exciting, but it was also something neither of them would ever have the guts to do normally on their own. He guessed they just needed an unpredictable girl like Grace to make them do crazy, stupid stuff like this. Objectively speaking, this was really stupid. Really, really stupid. Guess you just have to live and learn, right? Adam thought to himself, gripping his branch tightly. If this didn't happen today, neither of them would have anything cool to talk about for the rest of the summer.

The thick country air smelled sweet, but it was cloying and heavy today. The overlapping sound of birds chirping, along with the annoying flies and bees buzzing incessantly around their ears, filled the entire area. To any outsider, it would look like just another normal summer day. The hot sun had recently moved from behind a bunch of puffy white clouds and was now out in the wide open sky, beating down relentlessly on the boys' necks, and it was beating down heavily on Grace too. Adam knew it was perfectly okay for boys to sweat a lot when they were running around, but it usually wasn't considered very okay for girls, since they generally didn't like to smell rank. To boys, of course, that kind of hygiene stuff didn't matter at all. Most boys he knew back home regularly had literal 'stink-off' contests to see who could smell the absolute worst after a football game; they actively liked smelling stinky. It was like a weird badge of honor for them.

As the trail grew steeper, Adam found himself wondering what he was even doing here. Why am I really out here? Do I actually want to do this? It heavily seemed like he was starting to have serious second thoughts about the whole adventure. To be completely honest, he wondered for a second if he'd even had real first thoughts before jumping into the bushes. He chuckled to himself softly at the thought, and then, without warning, he heard a sharp rustling in the bushes that they were walking right past.

Adam stopped in his tracks, his eyes rapidly scanning the dense area, expecting a monster to leap out. A slight, relieved smile lit up his face when he saw it wasn't much of anything—just two wild deer calmly chewing on green leaves and berries in a small sunlit patch. The sight was peaceful and serene. It was definitely not something that he would've ever gotten to see back home in the crowded city.

But instead of fully enjoying the nature around him, Adam had other, more practical thoughts racing through his head. He wondered why Jacob followed Grace so closely and listened to everything she said. He shrugged it off, realizing it didn't really matter to him either way, and he continued to walk along the dusty path. He still wondered if the dark tales that he had heard in town were really true, or if they were probably just stories made up by parents to keep kids from wandering off into the dangerous wilderness.

As it turned out, Jacob was thinking the exact same thing Adam was. Were the old stories that were spread around the town really true? If they are, what would this monster really look like in person? Jacob looked down at the dirt as he pondered the terrifying thought, and he nearly tripped over a sharp, pointy rock sticking out of the ground. He stumbled and walked around the rock, glaring down at it. As he looked at the shape, he realized he'd sworn that he had seen this exact rock before.

Oh yeah, the old swimming hole, he thought to himself, a wave of recognition hitting him.

This definitely wasn't their very first trip up into this part of the woods. He and Grace had been up here several times before during the hotter months to go swimming and cool off. That meant there should be a hidden lake coming up pretty soon on the trail. They still had to walk a little ways through the thick brush before they would find it, though. That lake was their private swimming hole, a place where he and Grace would escape to every so often whenever they got into trouble or wanted to get away from their parents' constant yelling.

Now that he thought about it, it really seemed that they'd been escaping out here a lot more times lately than ever before. It felt like both of their parents had been coming down especially hard on them over the last few weeks. Jacob didn't really know why they were always so stressed. Did the adults just want to bring them down and ruin their summer? Probably. Jacob absolutely didn't like all the strict, annoying rules at his house. That was the exact reason why he escaped into the woods every single moment he possibly could. He didn't like being at his house one bit.

Truth be told—none of the kids in their neighborhood really liked it at their houses. That was the real reason why he and Grace always hung out together every day. No matter how bad things were, he could always find a way to make her laugh, and in return, she always brought him out on some grand, unforgettable adventure.

Of course, what she proudly called an 'adventure' was usually just some kind of stupid, reckless idea that she had dreamed up. It would almost always end up getting him in massive trouble with his folks, but that did not matter to him in the slightest. He was with her, and most times, just being around Grace was more than enough to make him feel really happy. He had absolutely no idea why it made him so happy, and he didn't want to overthink it.

Suddenly, he lifted his head high as a strange noise echoed in the far distance. It almost sounded like a deep, guttural growl or a long howl—the same sound he'd heard earlier, but closer now. Much closer. A wild wolf or a coyote's call? Jacob wondered, his skin breaking out in goosebumps. Nah, that couldn't be it. It's still broad daylight out, and those predators almost always come out exclusively at night.

He gulped softly, his throat dry. Maybe it actually was one of those terrible monsters that he had heard the older kids gossiping about. He shook his head to snap himself out of it. No, that's completely insane! There are no such things as real monsters!

He wasn't a little kid anymore. He didn't believe in fairy-tale monsters, evil spirits, or ghosts. He was practically a man now, and he had to start acting like one. To prove it to himself, he swiped his stick violently at a big fly that had buzzed right past his nose. He missed it completely, of course. Oh well, he thought, there was always going to be another fly to smash with his mighty stick! He chuckled and laughed quietly to himself. He really was a total doofus sometimes.

A few minutes later, he started to smell the distinct, crisp scent of open water. They had to be getting incredibly close to the watering hole. By his count, they had to have been walking for about forty-five minutes straight now. It usually took exactly that long to walk from the train tracks to the watering hole, if he remembered the path right.

He knew that there was a small wooden dock built at the edge of the watering hole that had been constructed by somebody a long time ago. It was completely rotting away by now and was very dangerous to walk on. If you stepped on the planks, it made all sorts of terrifying creaking noises. In fact, Grace had almost fallen right through a rotten board into the deep mud one summer when they were a bit younger. Jacob laughed quietly when he thought about all the stupid, reckless things they used to do when they were young kids.

Now that he was thinking about the history of the place, he began to wonder: How did a wooden dock even come to be built out at this isolated watering hole in the first place? Did someone used to live out here in the woods?

Hours later, deep in another part of the Maine wilderness, something else was stirring. Something ancient and desperate. A father searching for his missing son—a creature the world had long dismissed as myth.

But then a darker thought crossed his mind: Would a wild hermit try to kill them on sight, or would he try to befriend them?

He really, really hoped the person would be friendly. His young mind was going at a hundred miles a minute, spinning wild theories.

"You're acting really strange today, Jacob," Adam said, noticing the boy's blank staring.

"Shut up, Adam," Jacob said, a playful, friendly smile breaking across his face.

They had been walking for a very long time now, and the physical toll was starting to show. Are we anywhere near our final destination? Jake looked around at the thick trees to try and get his bearings. No, we definitely have a long ways to go still.

They were all getting a little tired, their legs feeling heavy. Jacob thought to himself: Maybe we should stop and rest our legs for a few minutes.

But he quickly corrected himself: No, Grace would absolutely not want that, and knowing how she is, we won't get to rest a single second until we reach the exact spot where we're going.

There were a lot of overlapping sounds echoing through the woods now. The wet sounds of croaking frogs from the nearby banks and small birds tweeting up in the trees warred with the harsh, unpleasant sounds of loud caws coming from the sky. Adam looked up and noticed a group of large ravens and crows were circling in a tight pattern high above the trees.

Maybe something is dead nearby, Adam realized, his stomach twisting slightly. Most likely a dead moose or a deer.

It was Maine, after all; there were a lot of deer and wild moose running around these parts. It was probably just some local hunter's left-behind scraps or a poacher's illegal kill. It didn't matter to them, though. The ravens and crows were clearly gonna have a massive feast on something's rotting flesh today.

Grace looked up toward the dark sky and saw the black ravens and crows circling over the treeline too. She knew exactly what that meant: something was definitely dead down there. She desperately hoped that they wouldn't accidentally stumble across whatever had died. She really, truly hated the way rotting flesh smelled, especially animal flesh that had been lying around under the hot summer sun for a while. The wild birds had probably already pecked out some of the corpse's eyes, and disgusting maggots were probably crawling all over the skin.

"Yuck," she muttered, visibly shivering.

She absolutely hated the way maggots looked when they were spread out all over a dead carcass, wriggling over each other and eating it piece by piece. She knew they had to eat to survive, right? But it was just so disgusting to think about. She shivered a second time. She forced herself to realize she couldn't keep thinking about gross stuff like that. The monster—that's what she really wanted to focus her thoughts on. What would a real monster actually look like? Was it really a monster, or just an oversized animal? There were so many fascinating things to think about while she walked.

To distract herself, she kicked a few small pebbles lying on the ground. They danced across the dirt path, bounced sharply off a large rock, and disappeared completely into the tall grass. What was this creature going to look like when they found it? It would probably look pretty hideous and horrendous. She honestly couldn't wait to find out!

Suddenly, she wondered how the two boys were holding up behind her. She turned her head back to look at both of them. They weren't talking anymore; they were just walking silently, staring at the ground. That was okay, she figured. This whole hike had been incredibly fun in the very beginning, but she had to admit it was starting to get a little bit boring. She raised her hand and wiped a thick layer of sweat off her brow. It was getting really, really hot out now.

Thankfully, they were almost near their destination. There were a bunch of steep hills rising up directly in front of them, and they would have to climb completely over them to finally get to the hidden watering hole. This would be the very first time Adam had ever been to this spot. They were all looking pretty sweaty by now, and they were probably all completely exhausted from walking so much under the blazing sun.

They finally reached a small clearing in the woods where there were a few old wooden stumps where giant trees had once stood proud. It looked like a perfect place to rest. Grace, Jacob, and Adam walked over to a huge, flat stump and plopped down onto it as a group, letting out a sigh of massive relief. Their feet were seriously starting to hurt. Having sore feet was a very bad thing when you were this far out in the wilderness, and it would make the long walk back home rather difficult.

As they sat on the stump, there was a sudden, dramatic shift in the air. It wasn't a feeling that any of them had ever felt before in their lives. It was a completely strange, heavy sensation. Without warning, each of them felt a sudden, powerful wave of intense sadness and pure despair come right over them.

What was wrong with this specific place? Grace and Jacob had been here dozens of times, and they had never felt anything like this before. Maybe there was something hidden in the clearing causing this dark feeling in all of them. It was an incredibly odd and unsettling feeling. It almost felt like an invisible spirit was desperately trying to tell them a dark secret. Maybe somebody, or something terrible, had died nearby recently. Stuff like that did happen in the deep woods. Maybe they had just encountered a wandering ghost that was trying to talk through people that were still alive—that is, if you actually believed in spooky supernatural things like that.

Grace felt suddenly very warm, and she desperately wanted to strip off her heavy camo shirt. She knew she couldn't do that because she was around two boys, so instead, she grabbed her sleeves and rolled them up as far as they would go. She might have been wearing a short-sleeved shirt, but she was roasting alive. She wiped her sweaty brow with the back of her hand and looked over toward Jacob, who was sitting right next to her. Grace smiled sweetly at Jacob. He was always so nice to her, and he always willingly did all the wild stuff that she liked to do. It was honestly so cute of him. She knew deep down that she put him in danger a lot, but she also knew that a part of him secretly liked the thrill just as much as she did.

"How's everyone holding up?" Grace asked, breaking the eerie silence as she looked back and forth between Jacob and Adam.

"Fine," the two boys answered together, their voices sounding tired.

"This place is really weird though," Adam said, shivering despite the heat. He had definitely noticed that bizarre, heavy feeling that had come over all of them a moment before. "I seriously don't like the way it feels out here," he added, looking over at the two country kids.

"I agree completely," Jacob chimed in, looking around the clearing warily.

"There's no turning back now though," Grace stated firmly, her stubborn nature taking over.

"I know," Adam and Jacob said in perfect unison, sighing.

Despite the creeping dread, there was still a great, undeniable sense of adventure about this whole thing. It was something that most ordinary people wouldn't ever dare to do. Normal, sane people would definitely not be sitting on a random stump out in the deep woods, discussing haunted trails like this.

As they talked, heavy gray clouds began to roll in overhead, and the afternoon grew noticeably darker. What was going to happen next? Was it just going to rain, or was something else, something far worse, going to happen? There wasn't always a logical explanation for the weird stuff that occurred deep in these isolated woods. The sharp sound of woodland creatures was still prominent all around them, but they all wondered what that dark, oppressive feeling was that they had felt moments before. Could it just be their young minds playing tricks on them, or was it truly something more sinister?

They ended up resting on the stump for about half an hour, talking and joking around to try and lighten the heavy mood. Then, all three of them were back on their feet again, gripping their defensive sticks tightly in their hands, ready for whatever action came their way. They ventured over several more steep hills until they finally reached the edge of the watering hole.

Their favorite swimming spot was located at a wide clearing that clearly had not seen much human action lately. The wild razor grass along the path was very long and sharp. Any person foolish enough to be wearing shorts today was definitely going to get cut up. They carefully pushed their way through the sharp grass and approached the edge of the lake.

Adam looked across the water and saw a long footbridge going all the way to the other side of the lake. To the right of the bridge, there was the old rotted-out wooden dock Jacob had mentioned. Up close, it was in noticeably worse condition than it had been the last time Grace and Jacob were here.

Suddenly, excitement took over, and they all ran down toward the water. They scrambled down a steep, sandy hill to get right down to the shoreline of the lake. They were all genuinely happy for a brief moment that they had successfully made it here in one piece. But as they stood by the water, they all wondered what lay beyond the lake. Grace and Jacob had never once gone to the far side of the lake before; they had always just come here to play safely on this side of the shoreline. Adam and Jacob stood quietly behind Grace, staring across the water.

"So, here we are, huh?" Adam asked, looking around.

"Yeah," Grace said, nodding her head slightly.

"Now what do we do?" Jacob asked.

"I don't know," Grace said, shrugging her shoulders softly. "We could always explore more," she added, a sly, familiar smirk coming over her face.

"You always want to go exploring..." Jacob said, rolling his eyes playfully and pushing his hands back into his pockets.

Grace knelt down on the beach, her knees digging right into the soft sand, and she turned to look up at Jacob, watching him sit down right next to her. A small, genuine smile crept over her face. For some strange reason, she felt incredibly happy whenever she was with him. It was a strange, warm feeling. She laid all the way back on the sand, her hands propping her upper body up as she looked up toward the darkening sky. It felt like there wasn't anything they couldn't do together. She really wondered what was waiting for them beyond those distant hills. That curiosity was going to bother her endlessly until they all got up and explored over there. It probably couldn't be much—likely just another boring section of the woods. Nope, there probably wasn't much there at all.

Jacob knew exactly what Grace was thinking just by looking at her. She wanted to go on another grand adventure across the water. But weren't they originally here to find out if there was really some kind of monster in these woods? That was the exact reason why she had dragged them all out here in the first place, after all. Maybe Grace had totally forgotten all about the monster by now, but it didn't really matter to him. They were here together, and that was enough.

After a few minutes of sitting quietly and watching the small waves crash on the sandy shoreline, Jacob got up and reached down, helping Grace up from the ground. In a moment, they were on their way again, with Adam trailing closely behind them. They could stay out as long as they wanted today. They had absolutely no adults around to bring them down or tell them they were doing something stupid. This was going to be a day to remember. A truly grand day.

They all walked back up the sandy hill and marched over to the bridge that spanned across to the far side of the water. The bridge was a crude suspension structure made entirely of thick rope and weathered wooden planks. It looked like it was completely man-made by hunters years ago. All three of them stepped onto the wood and began to walk slowly across. As they moved, the bridge would sway heavily from side to side whenever the wind blew. It was incredibly scary. It was a huge, dangerous drop into the deep water if any of them accidentally fell off the edge. If they fell, it would hurt bad, and they'd still have to swim through the dark water to get to the shore.

After a few tense minutes of careful walking, they finally made it across safely. The moment they stepped off the bridge, they noticed this side of the woods seemed darker. A lot darker. Is it just because there's more shade from the trees, is that why it looks so dark? Grace thought to herself, looking up at the thick canopy. Odd, maybe.

They had to press on anyway, no matter what. There was an undeniable, dark feeling coming from this side of the woods. It felt like there was something hidden beyond these trees that should never be seen by human eyes. But it didn't matter to Grace; they had to press on. Grace led them forward no matter how bad this place felt. It was gonna be worth it; she just knew it would be.

Grace walked confidently on the narrow dirt path right in front of them. As she looked down, she suddenly noticed bright spots of a red liquid on the ground. What could it possibly be? Something that had spilled accidentally—maybe some fruit juice, or leftover paint? She shrugged her shoulders and continued to walk casually on the trail. Of course, the two boys followed close behind her heels. She knew for a fact that neither of them were gonna let her out of their sight today. It was kinda sweet of them if you really thought about it.

As they moved deeper, Grace pushed some thick tree branches out of her face. She let go too quickly, and the branches snapped violently back, almost hitting the boys on the rebound. The boys had to quickly duck and push through the heavy branches as well. It was getting incredibly dark now; you could barely see any light at all. The hot sun wasn't out anymore, and the trail was completely shaded and gloomy. A few hidden forest critters started making sharp, strange noises in the brush. The unexpected sound made all three of them jump in fear.

Jacob remembered hearing talk in town about an old hunting camp being located up this way somewhere. Maybe that's exactly where this creepy path led. A few minutes later, they finally found a small clearing with a little bit of natural light shining down on them. The sun is finally out again, Grace thought happily. Maybe they would actually have a little light to show them where they were going.

But then, the trail suddenly shifted into three completely different paths. One went to the sharp right, one went to the left, and one kept going straight ahead. There are three of us, so maybe we should split up and check them all? Grace considered for a second, but she immediately shot the idea down. No, that would be rather stupid. That is exactly how people die in scary movies; we should definitely all stay together.

She decided firmly on the center path.

They ventured deeper and deeper into the dark woods, and that's when they suddenly stumbled right into what looked like a massive hunting camp.

It was a total mess. There were large canvas tents set up everywhere in the clearing, but there was absolutely no one around. What was truly bizarre was that there were highly dangerous weapons lying completely abandoned on the ground. Expensive rifles, assorted firearms, hunting knives, and boxes of live ammunition were just scattered in the dirt. It was incredibly strange, and all of them knew right away that it was bad news.

Who in their right mind would leave this kind of dangerous stuff lying around? Grace thought, her heart racing.

That heavy, dark feeling they had felt on the stump had officially returned, and all three of them knew deep down that they were in for something terrible. They knew they didn't want to be anywhere near this creepy place anymore, even though this exact kind of mystery was what they had ventured out here for in the first place. They wanted a great story they could tell people back in town if they managed to get out of here alive, and it heavily looked like they were definitely going to get it.

All three of them stopped and looked ahead into the dark tents. They wondered what they would find if they ventured on even deeper into the camp. They would probably come face-to-face with a real monster. That is exactly what we were looking for, right? Adam worried silently, his hands shaking in his pockets. They all looked somewhat scared and in total disbelief that they had actually come this far in their travels, yet they still felt a strange, irresistible need to press on. Coming this far and turning back now just wasn't an option anymore. Especially not for someone as stubborn as Grace. Jacob knew for a fact that if they turned back now, they wouldn't hear the end of it from Grace for the rest of their lives.

"I've got a really bad feeling about this, Gracie," Jacob said, his voice barely a whisper.

"Me too," Adam chimed in, gripping his branch like a baseball bat.

"We can't turn back now, boys!" Grace forced a brave smile, though her lips were trembling.

They continued to press on slowly through the abandoned hunting camp. As they walked between the tents, they noticed huge puddles of a thick red liquid all over the ground. It was heavily staining the earth, which was a mix of brown dirt and weird, burnt grass. It looked like there had been something incredibly serious happening here in the last few days. What could these huge puddles of red liquid possibly be? Was it real blood?

Adam and Jacob passed right next to a few of the largest puddles of liquid and stopped to look down at it. They both knelt, stuck their bare fingers directly into the puddles of the liquid, and brought it to their noses. They sniffed it.

Yup, it was definitely fresh blood, and it was still warm. Could it just be puddles of deer or bear blood from a successful hunt? If so, they had absolutely nothing to worry about, right? They desperately tried to convince themselves of that.

They continued to walk, but that foreboding feeling was growing heavier with every step. There was something deeply sinister hiding in these woods, and they knew it.

Suddenly, a deafening roar shattered the silence off in the distance. It was a horrific sound—something that sounded like it was about forty feet tall screeching in the dark woods, something completely evil. Yes, that had to be it. This had to be the terrifying thing they had been searching for all this time. From a distance through the trees, it looked like it could be a giant bear or something massive. They couldn't really see it all that clearly yet through the thick brush, but it looked like it was coming directly towards them at full speed. It was swinging its massive arms madly from side to side, cleanly cutting down the large trees that stood in its way.

As it crashed closer into the light of the clearing, it looked like a giant grizzly bear, but it had long, razor-sharp claws like an oversized badger. The most terrifying thing about the beast was its dark red eyes that glowed with hatred, and its mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. It was completely rampaging through the camp, and it had started to snarl horribly. It clearly did not like to be bothered by anyone, especially by humankind.

All three of them looked at the monster that was tearing through the woods in absolute shock and paralyzing fear. It was coming right towards them.

We don't want to die! Adam thought frantically.

They needed to get the hell out of here, and quick! As one single unit, they turned and started to run back through the woods the exact way they came. They had wanted to see the monster, sure, however, they definitely didn't want to get eaten or slain by the monster! They ran for their lives through the ruined hunting camp and into the surrounding woods. They were all completely terrified. What kind of an adventure was this for them? They weren't going to die today, they couldn't! But this terrifying thing would certainly try to tear them apart if it caught them!

They knew the monster was right on their heels. They could almost feel its hot breath breathing down their necks as they sprinted. Jacob risked a quick look back to see that the creature was indeed running after them, smashing through the brush. This had been such a bad idea. How could Grace have talked them into doing such a dangerous thing? Adam thought to himself that maybe one of them should have been smart enough to grab a loaded rifle when they ran through the camp. Too late now. They were running for their bare lives.

If they survived, this was going to be a great story to tell. They would tell it to all the people back in town. Derby, Maine, actually had absolute truth to its terrifying legend. Who knew? Now they just needed to get back to the safety of the town alive in order to tell everyone what they saw. They pushed their way violently through thick tree branches, sharp bushes, and wild shrubs, tearing their clothes. They could hear the distant rumbling of cars out on the main road somewhere. It sounded so distant though—way too distant to the terrified kids.

They deeply wished they hadn't listened to Gracie about going into the woods today. But there was no use in thinking about that now. Behind them, the monster moved its massive arm in a furious slashing movement, and a big burst of wind picked up a giant pine tree, knocking it completely over with a large, crashing sound. The heavy tree landed almost directly behind the three kids. It made a small shockwave in the ground that shook their feet, and they all ran even faster. They had to get out of this forest right now if they wanted to stay alive.

They finally came running out of the trees to the man-made suspension bridge that they had to cross to get over the lake and back near the safety of the road. They all ran across the swaying wooden planks as fast as humanly possible, with the beast roaring right behind them. As they all scrambled onto the safe side of the shoreline, the monster reached the edge. The monster swiped its massive paw in a rage and cut the thick support ropes, causing the entire bridge to fall down into the deep lake below with a splash.

They stopped for a second and watched it drop, hopeful that maybe the deep water would keep the monster from getting over to them. Without looking back a second time, they turned and ran down the trail they knew would bring them straight back to the main road.

They all continued to run at full speed until they literally couldn't run anymore. They found a small, secluded spot off the path, and after listening intently for a moment and hearing absolutely nothing, they collapsed onto the dirt to rest. Was this a smart move? Not really. Their lungs burned like fire, and their chests heaved up and down trying to get air. The monster could still be running after them through the brush. It didn't matter, though; their bodies were done, and they could not run anymore. They desperately needed to catch their breath. They knew if the monster caught up with them here, they would need to start running again instantly.

What a hellacious day it had been for them. What a story they had indeed. After a few moments of quiet rest, and not hearing the monster crashing through the brush anymore, they pushed themselves back up. Knowing that they needed to get completely out of the woods before the monster could possibly find a way around the lake and catch up with them again, they moved fast. They ran quickly down the remaining trail, and after about half an hour of running, they finally made it to the glorious opening of the woods.

They all grabbed their bikes from the bushes where they had stashed them, hopped onto the seats, and rode them furiously all the way down the paved road about a mile or so back to Adam's grandmother's house.

"We can rest safely in there," Adam gasped, completely out of breath as he ditched his bike carelessly in the grass on the left side of the gravel driveway.

"Okay," Jacob panted, dropping his bike right next to it.

"I am so hungry," Grace said, her belly letting out a timely, loud growl.

All three of them walked over to the house and hurried up the porch steps. Adam was the first one through the door, and he held the screen door open wide for Jacob and Grace. Adam's grandmother and mother still weren't home yet, and Adam was starting to worry a little bit about where they could possibly be. His new friends walked straight into the living room and sat down on the old brown sofa.

Adam walked into the kitchen to make them all some instant ramen noodles. It wasn't too hard to do, since it was the quick microwaveable kind. After a few minutes, the food was completely done, and he walked back into the living room carrying three hot bowls of noodles. He sat down next to Jacob and Grace, and they took their meals gladly. They all looked at each other in silence, contemplating the madness they had just been through. They deeply hoped they never had to go through anything like today ever again.

"Let's promise to never talk about this day to anyone," Adam said seriously, looking at them both.

"Agreed," Jacob said without hesitation.

"Yeah, but I don't think that terrifying thing is gone," Grace said quietly. She looked at both of them and let out a long sigh. "Fine, tomorrow we will all just return to our normal lives like this never even happened."

"Yup. I'm going back home to Bangor tomorrow anyways," Adam added, wrapping his arms around his bowl.

With that final agreement, all three of them ate their ramen noodles and did just what they had promised. A little while later, Adam's mother and grandmother finally returned from a long day together in town with his sisters.

The day after their wild adventure, the kids returned to their normal, quiet lives, but there were still terrifying thoughts lingering in the back of their minds. What if this thing hadn't actually drowned or stayed on its side of the lake? They kind of figured it had, but they never wanted to revisit that trail to find out. Something that ancient and evil doesn't just die. It would undoubtedly haunt them for the rest of their lives. But they all knew one thing for sure: they had bonded deeply during this experience, and theirs was a friendship and a bond that would last forever