June 20th, 2022

The rain was anything but kind as a couple drove down the long stretch of road hopefully leading to their destination. It was highly unlikely since their phones had no signals which meant they had to use an old fashion map to get her there. It was difficult to read since it got wet and the boyfriend Maxwell was bad with directions. He always relied on his phone but now since they had no signal he had to read the map. His girlfriend Rose had taken over the driving duties since Maxwell almost fell asleep at the wheel a couple of miles back.

Maxwell had somewhat long brown hair and green eyes that sparkled a bit in the starlight. He had freckles and light white skin as well as thin lips. He wore a red plaid shirt and blue jeans that had rips in them. He was not that fit of a guy just average if that but since he was going to be a camp counselor he was probably going to put on some muscle later on. His girlfriend Rose had long black hair and green eyes. She had tan skin from sunbathing in the sun for hours and thick red lips. She wore a tank top that was light green and white shorts as well as white tennis shoes.

"You have got to be kidding me; we have to be lost I can't find this road on the map anywhere," Maxwell informed sadly making Rose sigh in disapproval.

She slowed down and moved over to the side of the road and turned on the light to see it better. She looked at the map carefully and got out a pen. She drew an X at where they were at and a triangle at where their destination was. She put the pen up and gave the map back to him and he looked at her confused.

"X marks the spot, the triangle is where we are heading to. We called ahead and said we were going to be there a day early to help set up but no one answered which was odd. Do you think we should go to a hotel for the night? No one might be there," Rose informed.

"But we called ahead, someone has to be there right? Do you want me to dive; you have almost driven the whole way to the camp to the ground," he put in.

"Is this you asking me to take the map since you can't read paper maps?" she asked playfully.

"Yeah, I promise if I get too tired then I will let you drive again. I can't believe my job; is fifteen hours away from home. At least the pay is good. Might be able to fix your car up," he said.

"Yeah, plus eight weeks isn't that long if you think about it. Then we can get different jobs and hopefully go to college," she smiled.

"Yeah… let's go quickly. I don't like driving with a lot of woods around. Deer can mess up the car and a bear maybe," he informed as she rolled her eyes.

"Bears? Come on man there hasn't been a bear here for twenty years," she chuckled and they switched sides.

They drove a couple more hours until something jumped in front of them making Maxwell swerve off the road and into the woods. Rose helped miss several large trees and stumps and finally, Max hit the breaks making them hit a tree. They weren't going that fast so the airbags didn't go off but the front side of the car was banged up enough that it needed looking at.

"What the heck was that thing?!" Rose asked terrified.

"I thought it was a person…I was so sure it was a person! It just must have been a deer and my eyes were playing tricks on me. I'm so sorry Rose; are you alright?" He asked.

"Yeah but your car isn't, we need to look at it and hopefully it can take us to camp," she sighed.

"Fuck, my mom is going to kill me! I told her I would keep her spare car nice," he sighed.

"Hey, she will understand. Are you okay Maxwell?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm good…can you drive the rest of the way please?" He asked.

"Yeah, I can let's go look to see how bad the damage is," she suggested as she got out of the car.

She got took her phone with her and turned on the light to look at the damage. Max got out and went to the trunk and got the tools out of it. The forest seemed quiet except for the howl of a wolf making Max nervous. He wasn't a fan of wildlife and would rather be in his house than out in the great outdoors. A chill when went down his back as the cool aired him. He popped the hood and sighed looking at some parts that disconnected, luckily nothing too bad.

"I can fix this but we aren't getting far, we are stuck in the mud. This tire here is like five inches into this dumb hole, someone or something must have been digging here," he informed.

"Crap well looks like we are stuck here unless you want to go wait by the road once you're done. I am coming with you though, I heard a wolf," she sighed.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have swerved! God I hope we don't get eaten, I didn't even bring the bear spray or the Taser," he sighed.

"Not your fault, I said you could take the wheel and you were way too tired to drive. Instead of going to camp we need to find the closest motel and of anything have our car towed to camp," she said.

"Okay deal, I can get this fixed in ten minutes," he said making her smile.

"Great hopefully we can get a signal when we get to the road. If we can't we have to stay in the car, I don't want a pack of wolves chasing us," she informed.

Max started fixing the car up as Rose set up her phone so she didn't have to hold it. Rose didn't want anything to attack them while their backs were turned to the woods. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she looked around a bit just to make sure nothing was lurking around a tree.

"Maxwell," a voice quickly whispered making him jump and back away from the car.

"Dam it Rose! Why did you scare me?" He asked annoyed.

"What do you mean; I wasn't even near you," she informed.

"So you didn't say my name?" He asked.

"No… are you feeling okay?" She asked.

"Yeah I'm just really tired I guess," he answered softly.

She went back to watching the woods while he went back to fixing the car. He felt something watching him making him terrified. He started to hurry while Rose was remaining calm as can be. He felt something touch him and he quickly whipped around to find nothing was there. His whole body was messing with him now too.

"Maxwell," the voice said making him go to Rose.

"Did you fix it?" She asked.

"Um yeah… something is saying my name and I swear to god it was a ghost. It knows my name and I think I just need to sleep but I am so sure it's real!" He explained making her look at him worried.

"Okay let's get out of here then, we stay in the car tonight," she informed as he grabbed her phone and the toolbox.

They quickly got into the car and locked the doors after rolling up all the windows. Max was not the type to believe in ghosts, or anything supernatural. For him to even suggest that a ghost had spoken to him freaked Rose out. He could have been just tired but even when Max was tired and silly he never was afraid even when they locked themselves out of their car during a hail storm.

"I don't know what's wrong with me," he sighed as he laid his seat back as far as it could go.

"You are stressed that's it, I mean you haven't opened your college letter yet. You have had it for over a week now," she smiled.

"That's because if I didn't make it, our plans will be ruined. I don't want to mess up our lives together. You have been my girlfriend for seven years now, I want to marry you someday and make our lives perfect. Being twenty-two and not being in college seems wrong," he explained softly.

"Even if you didn't get in I will still love you, Maxwell. We can find you a new college to go to. I know you have had a couple of different ones lined up," she informed.

"But our dream is to be together threw this, I honestly feel like I'm holding you back," he sighed weakly.

"You aren't believing what my dad said, are you? He's a drunk dumb ass that can't even tie his shoes due to the beer belly he has. You are amazing and no matter what happens I will love you. Come on let's go to sleep and hope this all blows over," she smiled lovingly.

"Or we could you know sleep together," he informed.

"Not happening, last time we tried to do it in this car you got attacked by a spring. You still have that scar on your ass from it," she chuckled.

"It got fixed at least! I love you," he smiled.

"Love you too dork," she smiled as they went to sleep.

Maxwell heard a loud knocking on the window and jolted awake. He looked outside to see a very worried police officer looking at him with a flashlight. Rose woke up and almost screamed in shock when seeing him. The man was a little heavier set with gentle brown eyes and short brown hair. He had thin red medium-sized lips and a gentle smile. Max rolled the window down and the man smiled at him.

"I saw skid marks and found your car, what happened to you guys?" He asked as Rose sighed.

"Well my boyfriend thought he saw a person but I mean there is no one out here so it must have been a deer and he swerved to avoid it. One of our car tires got stuck in a hole of some sort and we can't get out," she explained.

"I don't think you almost hit a deer I think it was a wolf. You guys are lucky you didn't get bitten by one of those things. Some Jack ass brought wolves into the area and they are killing everything, they even killed off the last three bears that were in the area. They are extremely overpopulated around here, I can get you guys out of here but I suggest you go to a hotel," he informed.

"We are headed to camp Sunfire, we called ahead so we are expected there," Max informed.

"No one is there I just came from that way, some local kids use it for parties and other things when people aren't there. I have to keep going there as part of my patrol now," he explained.

"Seriously?" Rose asked.

"Yeah it's just like another abandoned building to them, anyway can I recommend a motel for you guys after I pull you guys out?" He asked kindly.

"That would be great thank you," Rose said.

"Okay, please stay in the car, don't want a wolf to get you," he said as a long howl rang off in the distance making the cop look worried.

He headed to the police car and hit a button on his radio.

"I thought you caught them all," he said as he got his car and moved it closer to Rose's and Maxwell's car.

"We are missing three still, you are near one right now. Do you think you can catch it or are you out?" the voice asked.

"I have two kids that almost hit something, must have been one of them. I'm driving them down to the motel," he answered.

"Okay get them there, safe travels," the man said as he hooked the car and pulled them out quickly.

"Okay, you two there is a motel about thirteen northwest from here. Instead of taking the northwest route to camp take the left road. I will follow you just in case you have car trouble. Looks like you hit that tree hard," he said looking at the hood.

"Okay thank you so much!" Maxwell said with a smile.

"He was so nice, I wish more police officers like him," Rose smiled.

"Yeah, there are some creepy cops in our town and I don't like them. Did I tell you I got pulled over by officer Dogwood again! I was going three miles over the speed limit. Fucking three!" He muttered.

"You know he is like sixty-five years old right? He could just be lonely and likes talking to you," she chuckled.

"Say that to the one hundred dollar ticket he gave me," he sighed weakly.

"A hundred-dollar ticket?!" She asked annoyed and shocked.

"I know! So messed up," he sighed.

The officer followed them closely and kept looking around to make sure they weren't being followed but as he looked in the mirrors he saw something big chasing them. He got out his bull horn and put a window down. He turned it on and it made the most unsettling high-pitched squeal making the thing run away.

"Ow! What the heck was that?!" Max asked as he tried covering his ears.

"Must be something wrong with the police radio," she informed.

"Well the least I can do is fix that for the poor guy when we get to the motel. He did pull us out of those woods," he said as they ended up at the motel.

It oddly enough had barbwire and fencing but it had to be because of the wolves around here. It was so odd that they were never told about the wolves but it was probably just bad at night. They parked their cars and the couple quickly got their room.

"Hey thank you so much, if you want I can look at your radio for you," Maxwell informed.

"Oh no thank you, the thing is older than me. It just needs to be replaced, has a great night guys, and don't go outside tonight. Just because the fence is up doesn't mean they can't get in okay. Here take this just in case," the officer said giving them his Taser.

"Are you sure you won't be needing this?" Rose asked.

"I got plenty and also a gun which you guys don't seem to have. Better to be safe than sorry," he smiled and then left them.

"They are safe, they won't come out of the motel till morning," he informed.

"Good, hurry back one is trying to leave the property," the voice on the radio informed.

"On my way, keep me posted," he said as he opened his laptop and saw several blips moving across the map he had set up.

He quickly took off and headed to the farthest blip in the woods.