Camden Falls

               It was a Tuesday perfect for summer when Adalea May was sitting on her porch reading a book, one of the newest in her collection. She was supposed to start school next Monday and she was starting to realize just how fast summer had gone. She was thinking about what to do for the last 6 days of summer she was starting to realize all she had done this summer was read her books she had read 8 full length chapter books that each had 600 pages she was unsure if she was gonna continue to read the book or go out and hang out with her friends. She called up her closest friend Annie and they talked about books for hours and decided to go explore the mountains because she lived in the middle of the forest so there was lots to explore. Annie suggested they go up Thomas creek and look at the water falls. The water falls were large and vast. One of the waterfalls, Camden falls, was so big you could park at least 2 semi trucks across and at the end of it was a 90ft drop straight into shallow water. Most of the locals knew not to go near Camden falls because it was named after the 7 year old boy that fell of about 10 years back he really liked the water fall and went to go check it out while his parents were at the camp site they had reserved for 9 days and by the time dusk hit his parents went looking for him and after not being able to find him they called search and rescue then after 3 weeks they found his body washed up on shore surrounded by flowers and bunnies and ever since then no one ever goes near that waterfall. On wednesday adalea and annie went up the mountain they saw several waterfalls on their way up the mountain and then they decided to come half way up to shifters creek. Once they made it to the spot they wanted to camp at they started to set up the tent and collect fire wood and began to make a fire. Towards the end of the night they made dinner and went to the creek to clean up. The night continued on well and although they heard a few sounds behind the tent they slept well, during the night they gossiped and talked about the summer and how it had gone so fast they both learned that summer seemed shorter than normal even though it was the same as all the rest. In the morning when they woke up the fire had been put out and they saw some weird looking tracks they appeared to be half bunny and something else they thought nothing of and remade the fire to make breakfast. There breakfast consisted of wild berries and some pancakes from the batter they made the day before. After eating breakfast they continued up the mountain stopping to look at the scenery and wild life. They saw 4 deer and a bear from a distance. Adalea thought it'd be a good idea to stop about ¾ s of the way up which gave them plenty of time to remake camp and set up a fire before it was dusk. At dusk they made dinner and played a game they had brought with them before they went to bed. At midnight both girls woke up to what sounded like a cougar growling. They opened one of the tent windows and looked outside to find nothing. They laid back down and sat in silence for roughly half an hour before hearing it again but this time it sounded like it was right outside the window so Annie carefully looked out but saw nothing. At this point in time they started to worry a little bit but they thought nothing of it cause they still had their fire going outside. They listened to the crackle of fire as reassurance then around 3 am right as they were almost asleep they heard the fire go out as the sizzle of water extinguished it. They thought they were there alone but then realized maybe there were other travelers so they peaked outside but saw nothing beside the trees. They decided to go to sleep because they had a long walk ahead of them. In the morning they woke up to a damp fire pit and a ripped up card from the game they played last night Annie immediately got frustrated because that game had cost her 60 dollars and something mercilessly ripped it up. Adalea instantly started to look for the shoes they left outside before going to bed and then she realized they were gone which made her curious on where they had gone. After pondering for a few the girls began to pack up camp so they could head farther up the mountain. The trail was rough without shoes and they thought about heading home and then decided they wouldn't give up cause they were almost there. Finally they made it to the top of the mountain and sent camp back up. While searching for firewood Adalea found her and Annie's shoes about 12 ft away from Camden falls. Adalea went back to Annie and tossed her shoes to her and they both started talking about how they could've made it up to the waterfall when neither of them had gone up there, especially not without each other. Annie soon changed the subject after getting an uneasy feeling, she said nothing to Adalea about it so she didn't worry her. After collecting a bunch of firewood they decided they were gonna camp her for a few days. Annie made dinner and at dusk both girls went into the tent and watched the sunset. After the sunset they went to sleep and woke up at 2 am to an odd sound outside the tent they held extremely still to make sure no one and nothing heard them. Then just the same as the nights before they heard water being poured on their fire. Annie being a short 5ft girl with anger issues got extremely angry and went out of the tent to confront whatever was setting out their fire but when she walked out there was nothing there but she immediately felt a pair of eyes on her from somewhere and she broke out into goose bumps she got scared and went back in the tent and told Adalea. After about half an hour Annie suddenly got this urge to go to the waterfall. She told Adalea and Adalea said they could go in the morning but the urge grew stronger and more difficult to fight so she laid down and went to sleep next to Adalea. In the morning they woke up and went outside to see everything was missing: the fire pit, the chairs, the fire wood and everything else. Adelea was looking around when she found a foot print of a bunny but it was mixed with a bear and human print. The print was a very large bunny with bear claws and was shaped like a human foot print. Adelea covered it up quickly so Annie didn't see it and then she felt it. A pair of eyes locked on her staring but not moving she turned around and saw nothing but the woods. Adelea was covered in goose bumps, they spread everywhere all over her arms, her neck, her legs, her stomach, and the rest of her body. Annie noticed the bumps and Adelea pushed them off as being cold trying not to raise caution to her best friend. After getting ready they headed to the water fall, camden falls was beautiful but it had a hint of danger. The rushing water sprayed mist through the air as it fell making everything damp and mossy. When Annie reached the fall she suddenly had the urge to to move closer to the cliff but not a small urge like last night the urge was strong like some sort of spell that swirled around her body pushing her towards the edge. She slowly walked over to the edge and realized the urge wasn't to look but to jump. She kept walking closer but she wasn't the one walking. It was like something took control of her body.Adelea felt the eyes on her again and realized her friend was about to jump off the fall when she grabbed her only 2 feet from jumping off the cliff and she asked what happened Annie, after annie told adela what happened Adelea informed annie about the eyes and they began to remember the story of camden falls. The little boy was heard screaming moments before death probably from whatever had just happened to Annie. The parents of camden said they slept at shifters creek the night before he died and they had issues with other travelers putting out their fire but when they left their tent there were no travelers. They had also reported the feeling of being watched and hunted but the only one who didn't leave that trip alive was poor little camden. As Adela was remembering this tale she and Annie began to hear a faint whisper that sounded like a scream. The scream sounded like a 7 year old boy but it wasn't quite human. It sounded like a kid but it was distorted like an old recording. As the girls looked around they still saw nothing but a single pair of grey sneakers they looked to be about a size 5 in kids which was exactly what the young boy was wearing 10 years ago. The screaming continued but it seemed to be getting closer but there was still nothing there, just a pair of kids shoes and screaming that was beginning to get very loud. Suddenly Adela and Annie felt something strange they were being pulled closer to the edge but how was this possible there was nothing there. Automatically their feet started moving them closer to the edge taking slow steps as they tried to fight it. Adela started making slow forceful steps away from the cliff but Annie wasn't as strong as her and Adela couldn't pull her after a few minutes of Adela fighting the pull she no longer felt it but right as she was about to help Annie she was launched off the side of the cliff. As Annie was falling Adalea stood on top of the cliff trying to process what had just happened to her best friend screams filled the air as Annie fell to her death. Adela began to cry as the screaming stopped and she processed what just happened as she was crying she began to scream “I knew the stories you shouldn't have come up here I should have known better!”