Chapter 10
No one said a word about Dottie and what she had shared with them as everyone gathered their things from the hotel room and brought them out to the newly fixed truck Dave had picked up on their way back. The original air of excitement had returned to the truck while the air buzzed with plans of hikes, fires, and drinking.
The campsite was about a five to seven minute drive from the town, so not too far, but far enough by foot that they had zero interest in walking there. After pulling into the recreational area, Dave hopped out to grab a map and some firewood. They had reserved the campsite closest to the dense woods surrounding the park area in a C shape. The girls got out and refilled their water bottles while they waited for Dave to finish up.
Looking up, Kate could see directly across from them was a lake, shimmering in the midday sun.
"Oh, look at how pretty it is! I bet it'll be perfect for swimming and lounging!"
Adanna glanced over then smiled at Kate, saying nothing. She tried to make a face at Nessa telling her not to say anything, but apparently that was lost in translation.
"That's Dove Lake, dear." She said casually, "Don't think you wanna swim in that."
Her comment was followed by a stunned silence. Adanna sighed and herded them over to the truck to get back in now that Dave was loading the wood into the truck. She really didn't want the subject of Dove Lake and Dottie to come back up.
Dave looked pale as he finished loading up the car, quickly motioning for everyone to get in so they could go set up. He wasn't about to tell him about the chilling bulletin board he saw while inside. The ranger was an older gentleman who probably haven't even looked at the board in the past 20 years alone, but it was covered in missing persons and kids posters dating back to the time Dottie's family was in town.
He really just wanted to forget about everything and continue enjoying his vacation with his friends. He was determined to not let life get in the way of his only chance to get Adanna's attention, as she had slowly been warming up to his affections. Plus, he was going to keep her safe, keep them all safe, if it was the last thing he did.
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A little while later they were pulling up to a little campsite tucked away in the woods with a fire ring, picnic table, and electrical source. It was definitely spacious while also being cozy as a couple of trees created a slight dome shape over the top of the clearing.
"Wow, this is a great spot!" Nessa claimed as she hopped out of the truck. "You can't hear anyone else in here!"
They had passed a couple other tent campers, as well as a large family with multiple RVs. It was definitely lively around the camping area, but not too busy. The campsites were far apart, but not so much so that it was impossible to walk to another campsite in a reasonable amount of time.
Kasem hopped out of the car, and went to the back to get the tent out, while Adanna and Kate went to find some kindling for the fire. Nessa was getting the food ready by the time the tent was up and a fire was roaring.
The sun dipped below the tree line as the group of friends lounged in their comfy fold up chair around the fire, everyone getting a little buzzed off of the booze they brought. The conversation was lazy and pointless, the topic drifting from school to gossip, to video games the guys were interested in at the time. At around 12 am they started a game of charades that lasted a few hours.
The group of friends slowed down for the night to relax, and everyone but Dave and Adanna went to bed. They stayed up longer to watch the fire as it died down in front of them. Dave had wrapped her in a blanket as the heat died down along with the light, causing a slight chill to run down Adanna's back. Holding her close under the blanket he softly talked to Adanna about what he saw today.
"This place gives me the absolute creeps."
She grunted and looked up at him, "I know, but you said all those posters were old. They probably just never took them down."
He sighed, "But in order to remove a missing persons poster, you kind of have to find them first."
She grew silent and just pressed her face into his arm. They stood like that for a while, just watched the embers glow like rubies in the night. Around them the trees rustled in the breeze and the crickets chirped.
Until they weren't.
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Adanna stiffened and Dave warily looked up. She could see the whites of his eyes darting around the clearing, suspicious of the sudden amplified silence. A branch snapped in the distance and Dave protectively wrapped his arm around Adanna's waist. She was trembling as she grabbed a cup of water, dumped it on the embers, and led Dave into the tent with everyone else.
In the tent Dave pulled her next to him as she fell asleep on his shoulder, soft snores erupting from her little body. He clearly wasn't aas drunk as she was, as he couldn't fall asleep after what he had heard.
Back where he was from, his family was all hunters. The only time the forest grew that silent was when a predator was there. And he wasn't sure if he really wanted to find out. He sat there for a while, wondering what he should do.
Snap. Another branch snapped around the corner, making him flinch slightly. The sound of something sharp dragging on canvas made him jerk his head up. Horrified, he watched as the shape of a hand pressed into the side of the tent, and slid across towards the opposite end.
He sat up quickly, yelling "hey" as he did so. The hand disappeared without a single trace.
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