Camping With Strangers
If you want to enhance the reading experience for this story, give this playlist a listen on low volume while you read.
Sadie swatted a mosquito away as it buzzed unpleasantly past her ear. The blood-sucking parasites were everywhere — surrounding her, waiting for the perfect moment to land on an exposed patch of skin. Sadie simply despised camping. But when Warren suggested they go on a two day camping trip in Penwoods National Park after having gone on only three dates together, Sadie lied and said she’d love it. Their first two dates had been to the movies, then a third date at a run down bowling alley, and now this. Her sister’s friend had set her up with Warren a few weeks ago, and since they lived in a small town, Sadie’s options were limited. A camping trip would be a good chance to get to know each other. Really get to know each other.
The day had grown uncomfortably hot as Sadie lugged her camping pack on her back and followed Warren into the woods and towards their campsite. The air was sticky and humid. Strands of loose hair clung to Sadie’s forehead. They walked in silence most of the time. Sadie could feel the tickle of the long grass as it grazed along her ankles. Too nervous to check if it was grass — or something else — Sadie pressed on.
“How much longer until we reach the campsite?” Sadie asked, breathless and wiping the sweat off of her brow.
Without stopping, Warren turned his head ninety degrees so Sadie could see his profile, and calmly stated, “I’d say maybe another ten minutes.”
Warren reached into his tan coloured hiking trousers and pulled out a sleek black flip phone. Sadie hadn’t seen him with that phone before. She snorted.
“A flip phone? Since when do you have one of those?”
He quickly shoved it back in his pocket and sped up his pace, causing Sadie to follow suit. He didn’t reply. Warren wasn’t much of a talker. Sadie didn’t mind that about him, she could do plenty of talking for the both of them. Today, however, he seemed particularly quiet.
They arrived at their campsite some time after midday, and began to set up. Hunger gnawed angrily at Sadie’s stomach, making audible growling noises as she attempted to smooth out some ground to lay the tent down on.
“You know what… I actually have to uh… use the… pee box?” Said said, embarrassed that she had to talk about peeing on only their fourth date.
“Follow the path over there, into the woods. You’ll see the spot,” Warren pointed to a dirt path behind Sadie.
Sadie arrived at the aforementioned box, toilet paper roll in hand, and sighed. What am I doing here? She pulled out her phone — a single measly bar out here. A text miraculously chimed in from her sister.
Hey! Hope camping is going well! Not to freak you out or anything… and it’s probably nothing… but I heard from my friend that Warren has actually never been camping before. Didn’t he tell you he went all the time? Anyways, just be careful. I know how much you hate bugs…
Sadie hit reply, but her bars vanished before she could finish typing the full message. A rustling in the bushes made her heart jump, and Sadie looked up from her phone. She caught a glimpse of Warren down at the campsite. He was staring right at her. His beady eyes turned away when her gaze fell on his, sending a shiver running up Sadie’s neck.
She turned her back to the campsite, finished what she came there to do, and made her way back. Warren managed to finish setting up the tent and was getting started on a fire.
“Hungry?” Warren asked, reaching into his bag. Sitting in the shadows of the tall trees that surrounded them, his face looked dark. From his bag, Warren pulled out a short, sharp silver blade.
Sadie flinched. The silver hue reflected back at her.
“What is that?”
He looked at Sadie with a puzzled look on his face. “It’s a knife. To open the food with…”
Sadie relaxed. She was being unfair. Of course he would bring a knife on a camping trip. “Right. Yeah, I’m starving actually. Let’s eat.”
Sadie set her phone down on the log bench near the fire, and went to grab a sweater from her bag in the tent. She joined Warren by the fire for some food. Sadie tried to get Warren talking, but his focus remained on the fire blazing in front of them. Constantly fiddling with his knife in his hands, Sadie was growing more uncomfortable by the hour. When it was finally time to retire for the night, Sadie realized she hadn’t seen her phone in a while. She searched around the campsite without luck.
“You’ll find it tomorrow when the sun comes up,” Warren muttered.
“Alright well I’m going to head to sleep then,” Sadie yawned and stood up. “You coming?”
Warren looked up at her, “In a bit. You go ahead.”
Sadie forced out a smile, “Goodnight, then.” She snuck into the tent, glad to be away from Warren, zipped up her sleeping bag and put the thoughts out of her mind for the night.
The smell of smoke filled Sadie’s nostrils, and she jolted upright in a panic. It was completely dark around her. The kind of darkness where you’re not entirely sure if your eyes are even open. She quietly unzipped her sleeping bag and looked around. Warren was not next to her, so she crawled to the entrance of the tent and discreetly opened a small portion in order to peer out. Warren was still sitting at the fire. Eyes locked on the flames, he was mumbling something to himself. Then, Sadie saw as Warren grabbed the knife, pressed it hard against the inside of his palm, and sliced. Sadie let out a small squeal, covering her mouth at the sight of blood dripping off the blade and down Warren’s palm. He reached his bloodied palm over the fire and let a few drops fall in, before closing his fist tightly and placing it on his lap. Sadie couldn’t stand the sight of blood, so she retreated back into her sleeping bag and tried to stay calm.
The minutes ticked by, and Sadie was wide awake now. She could hear every rustle, every leaf blowing, every crunch, snap, and drag happening outside.
Warren never came to sleep that night.
When morning broke, Sadie scrambled out of her sleeping bag and reached for one of Warren’s camping packs in the tent. She started furiously rummaging through it, not knowing what she was looking for. In one of the side pockets, she found something she wasn’t expecting. Her phone. And it was off. Sadie tried to turn it on but it wouldn’t start up. She rushed out of the tent and found Warren awake as well, having coffee. The familiar smell gave Sadie a moment of reprise, and it transported her back home where she felt safe.
“Warren, what was this doing in your bag?” Sadie walked closer to him, eyeing his now bandaged hand, and holding her phone up in her hand.
“Oh,” He hesitated, “I just found it and put it away so you wouldn’t forget it here…” He trailed off, grabbing another tin mug. “Coffee?”
Sadie paused. She tilted her head up and stared at the sky. It really was peaceful here — just the two of them, surrounding by lush nature. She took a deep breath.
“No, I want to go home,” She stood firmly in the ground.
“Home? No, we can’t go home right now.”
“Why not?”
There was a brief silence between them, and Sadie saw something flash over Warren’s eyes. “Because there’s something I need to do first…”
Sadie recoiled, taking a step back as Warren took a small step towards her.
“Don’t be so panicked, Sadie,” Warren started, “But I do need you to do something for me.” He walked over to the fire pit and grabbed a bundle of old climbing rope. “I need you to hang up our food bag on that tree over there.”
Sadie swallowed hard and nodded as Warren approached her with the rope. When he was only a few inches from her, Sadie looked him in the eyes. This was the closest she had ever stood to him. She could smell the coffee on his breath, the campfire smoke embedded in his hoodie, and the sweat on his forehead. Sadie relaxed for an instant, letting the mess of events that led her to this moment slip from her memories. A tingle rose up from her fingertips into her wrist as she realized Warren had grabbed her hand. He moved his hand slowly up to her wrist, never breaking her stare. She felt a squeeze on her wrist, his grip tightening around it. She looked down and saw that he hadn’t tightened his hand, but instead he had bound the rope around her wrist. Nausea rolled up on Sadie as she tried to pull herself free and realized he had a firm hold on her, and was now binding her other wrist in rope as well.
“What are you doing?” She tried to stay calm, but her voice shook and cracked. It sounded so small and lost among the trees that engulfed them. Suddenly she felt like she was suffocating by the nature around her. Struggling to break free, Sadie began to panic.
He dragged her by her bound wrists to a nearby tree and tied her there.
“Don’t worry, Sadie, not much longer.” And he turned around and left her there, sobbing, screaming, sucking in as much air as she could. She watched helplessly as Warren walked out into the woods.
Hours must have passed, alone and tied to the tree. Sadie’s wrists were aching from the bruises, her voice was hoarse from her screams, and her face was stained with tears that no longer rolled down her cheeks. Warren returned once in the span of those hours to check on her — giving her a sip of water and stroking her check to calm her down. Then he left again without a word, drifting into the thick woods. Sadie kept her eyes on the lake in front of the campsite. In the distance she eventually spotted a canoe with a couple paddling in it. She yelled out for help at the top of her lungs, thrashing about until she could see that they both looked over in her direction. She continued to yell on — hoping they could hear.
To Sadie’s relief, it looked like they did. They switched directions and paddled towards the campsite. Within a few minutes the couple arrived — hurrying towards Sadie as she cried out the last words her soul could muster. They cut the ropes loose and Sadie fell to her knees. Together the couple rushed Sadie to their canoe where they pushed off and rocked into the open water. Now that Sadie could breathe again, she recounted the events to the couple. They listened intently and shared a few concerning looks. As they paddled away with Sadie in between them, she noticed something odd about the couple. Both of them had bandages wrapped across the palms of their hands…
That’s pretty creepy
I like that you used the music for the background. I haven't seen many fiction writers do that on Substack yet. It was a nice touch 😊